AutoUtility currently tracks 545 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2019 Volkswagen Jetta. Powertrain & Transmission issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 162 complaints (29.7% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 19 filings cite a crash, 3 cite a fire, 23 report one or more injuries. The 2019 Volkswagen Jetta belongs to the 7th Generation (A7 / Typ BU) platform.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 545 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Powertrain & Transmission (162 reports • 29.7% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (153), Engine & Cooling (139)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 19 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 23 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
545
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
19
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
3
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
23
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2019 Volkswagen Jetta

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 29.7% of complaints

Powertrain & Transmission

162 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 3 crash reports 🩹 5 injury report entries
#2 Problem Area 28.1% of complaints

Electrical System

153 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 3 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
⚠️ 2 crash reports 🩹 6 injury report entries
#3 Problem Area 25.5% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

139 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 4 crash reports 🔥 1 fire report 🩹 4 injury report entries
#4 Problem Area 6.2% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

34 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 5 crash reports 🩹 5 injury report entries
#5 Problem Area 6.2% of complaints

Brakes & Traction Control

34 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 6 crash reports 🩹 6 injury report entries
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Symptoms Mentioned in NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Volkswagen Jetta

Specific mechanical, electrical, and driver-assist defect symptoms identified via deterministic narrative analysis

AutoUtility uses deterministic phrase matching to identify recurring symptom descriptions within consumer-submitted NHTSA complaint narratives.

Powertrain & Transmission 2.6% of complaints

Loss of Motive Power While Driving

14 complaint narratives describe this symptom
Symptom Identification Method: A complaint may describe more than one symptom, so percentages may sum to more than 100%. Symptom identification reflects text contained in consumer-submitted complaint records and does not establish a confirmed mechanical diagnosis.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2019 Volkswagen Jetta

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Suspension NHTSA ODI ID: #11756651
Filed: 08/13/2026

"Left coil spring suddenly broke while driving at highway speed which could have punctured the tire. This is part of NHTSA 19V188000, however my VIN was not included in VW recall code 42J5."

Incident Date: 04/17/2024 • Raw NHTSA Component: SUSPENSION
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11755224
Filed: 08/06/2026

"Ignition switch off, safely stop the vehicle” or “Starter system faulty” Error was shown on a hot day. The vehicle turned off"

Incident Date: 08/02/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE
Suspension NHTSA ODI ID: #11754994
Filed: 08/05/2026

"VW 2019 Jetta R-line had rear coil spring failure (cracked) at 55,000mi. VW did have a NTSB recall on 2019 Jettas, however the VIN was not included. At 107,000mi the rear coil spring on the other side failed (cracked). VW dealer indicated replacements are on back-order and they don't know when they..."

Incident Date: 07/20/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: SUSPENSION
Other / Miscellaneous NHTSA ODI ID: #11754584
Filed: 08/03/2026

"The electronic dashboard does not display critical information like speed, engine RPM, engine warning lights, etc. The electronic dashboard stopped working and remains a black screen with no information about vehicle speed and other important infomation available to the driver. VW has a technical..."

Incident Date: 06/15/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Electrical System NHTSA ODI ID: #11751887
Filed: 07/21/2026

"The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Jetta. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the message "Starter System Failure" was displayed and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and was diagnosed with ignition failure. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The..."

Incident Date: 07/15/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Volkswagen Jetta

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Volkswagen Jetta 194 8 8 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Volkswagen Jetta 162 18 5 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Volkswagen Jetta 159 18 7 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Volkswagen Jetta 31 1 3 View 2018 Problems →
2019 Volkswagen Jetta Current Page 545 19 11 Current
2020 Volkswagen Jetta 51 1 6 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Volkswagen Jetta 66 3 4 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Volkswagen Jetta 42 1 1 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Volkswagen Jetta 42 1 0 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Volkswagen Jetta 40 2 0 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Volkswagen Jetta 24 4 2 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Volkswagen Jetta 0 0 1 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2019 Volkswagen Jetta

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 105 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 109 1 0 2 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 63 0 0 0 0
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 54 0 1 1 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 51 0 0 11 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 24 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE 19 1 0 1 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 15 0 0 4 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 12 0 0 1 0
Fuel & Propulsion System NHTSA category: FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 12 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 9 1 0 1 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 9 0 1 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 7 2 0 1 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 7 1 0 1 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 6 0 0 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE 5 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 5 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
Fuel System NHTSA category: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE 4 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 4 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 4 0 0 0 0
Suspension NHTSA category: SUSPENSION 4 0 0 0 0
Vehicle Speed Control NHTSA category: VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 4 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 3 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 3 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 3 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 3 0 0 1 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 3 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 3 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,SEAT BELTS 2 1 0 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER 2 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,STRUCTURE,ENGINE 2 0 0 1 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 2 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 2 0 0 0 0
AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 1 0
AIR BAGS,STRUCTURE,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 1 0
AIR BAGS,WHEELS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 4 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEAT BELTS,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Lane Departure Warning NHTSA category: LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
PARKING BRAKE,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ENGINE,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,WHEELS 1 0 0 0 0
Seats & Restraints NHTSA category: SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,LANE DEPARTURE 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 1 0
STEERING,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 1 0
STEERING,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,ENGINE 1 1 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC),ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 1 0 0
SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,POWER TRAIN,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 1 0
SUSPENSION,SEATS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
SUSPENSION,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 1 0 0 0
WHEELS,SERVICE BRAKES 1 1 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (545). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.

Official NHTSA Defect Investigations (2)

2 CLOSED

Formal safety defect inquiries and engineering analyses opened by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI)

Official Federal Inquiries: NHTSA opens a defect investigation when safety screening or consumer defect trends indicate a potential unreasonable safety risk. An open investigation is a formal inquiry and does not by itself confirm a defect or result in a mandatory recall.
CLOSED Recall Query (RQ) ODI Action #RQ23007
Opened: 2023-12-12 • Closed: 2024-07-01

Fuel Leak due to Suction Jet Pump Failure within Fuel Tank (Remedy Effectiveness of Recall 16V647)

Affected Component: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:EVAPORATIVE EMISSIONS:CANISTER

On December 12, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened RQ23-007 to investigate the remedy repair effectiveness and scope of Volkswagen (VW) recall 16V-647. Recall 16V-647 was issued on September 2, 2016, for a defective suction jet pump (SJP) inside the fuel tank. Failure of the SJP could lead to a fuel leak from the vehicle. This recall covered certain model year (MY) 2015-2016 Volkswagen Golf and Audi A3 passenger car vehicles....

✓ Resulted in Safety Recall Campaign: 24V110 Official NHTSA File →
CLOSED Defect Petition (DP) ODI Action #DP19003
Opened: 2019-09-03 • Closed: 2020-06-30

Vehicle Stalling - Manual Transmission

Affected Component: ENGINE

The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has completed its review of a defect petition received on 14 August 2019 requesting an investigation of an alleged defect of the manual transmissions in Model Year (MY) 2019 Volkswagen (VW) GTI, Golf GTI and Jetta GLI vehicles. The stalling incidents cited occurred without warning as the vehicle slows to a stop or prepares to make a turn across traffic with the clutch pressed in and the vehicle in neutral...

Closed without associated recall campaign. Official NHTSA File →
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.