The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) lists 5 official safety recall campaigns for the 2016 Volkswagen Passat in AutoUtility's current federal dataset. The primary affected vehicle systems include Other / Miscellaneous, Engine & Cooling, Exterior Lighting. The 2016 Volkswagen Passat belongs to the North American NMS Generation (NMS / Typ A32) platform.

Key Recall Findings
  • Official Recall Campaigns: 5 campaigns on file with NHTSA
  • Primary Affected Subsystems: Other / Miscellaneous, Engine & Cooling, Exterior Lighting
  • Official Remedy: Detailed per campaign in official NHTSA records below
  • Most Recent NHTSA Report: May 5, 2021
VIN-Specific Notice: Safety recall campaigns apply to specific production date ranges and vehicle identification numbers (VINs). A campaign listing on this model-year page does not establish that every vehicle or trim is affected. Check your 17-digit VIN at NHTSA.gov or with an authorized dealer to verify whether a safety repair is needed.
Official Recall Campaigns
5
Listed in current NHTSA data
Affected System Areas
4
Broad component categories
Latest NHTSA Filing
May 5, 2021
Most recent campaign report
VIN Verification
Required
Exact applicability depends on VIN

Vehicle Systems Involved in Recalls for 2016 Volkswagen Passat

Distribution of official safety recall campaigns across automotive subsystem domains

Vehicle Subsystem 2 campaigns

Other / Miscellaneous

NHTSA records also contain 8 consumer complaint filings involving this same system. View Complaints →
Vehicle Subsystem 1 campaign

Engine & Cooling

NHTSA records also contain 17 consumer complaint filings involving this same system. View Complaints →
Vehicle Subsystem 1 campaign

Exterior Lighting

NHTSA records also contain 5 consumer complaint filings involving this same system. View Complaints →
Vehicle Subsystem 1 campaign

Fuel & Propulsion System

NHTSA records also contain 18 consumer complaint filings involving this same system. View Complaints →
Domain Mapping Methodology: A single NHTSA recall campaign may involve more than one vehicle subsystem (such as electrical wiring affecting fuel delivery), so domain totals can exceed the total number of unique recall campaigns. Complaint and recall counts are grouped by broad vehicle system; component co-occurrence does not establish that an individual owner complaint is related to a specific recall campaign.

Official NHTSA Recall Campaigns (5)

Complete safety campaign filings including defect descriptions, safety hazards, and free dealer remedies

NHTSA Campaign #21V321000 Other / Miscellaneous
Affected Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
NHTSA Report Date: May 5, 2021
Safety Defect Summary:

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2017 Touareg GP, Tiguan, Golf A6, E-Golf GP, CCF, 2016-2017 Passat GP, 2018-2019 Golf R GP, and 2018 Atlas vehicles. These internal-use vehicles were sold without confirmation that they were built to all applicable regulatory requirements and may have been modified prior to sale. As such, these vehicles may fail to comply with the requirements of various Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Safety Risk / Consequence:

Vehicles that do not meet all regulatory requirements may have an increased risk of injury, crash, or fire.

Authorized Remedy Instructions:

Volkswagen will repurchase the vehicles. Owner notification letters were mailed May 20, 2021. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 01F1.

Manufacturer & NHTSA Notes: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
NHTSA Campaign #20V561000 Other / Miscellaneous
Affected Component: UNKNOWN OR OTHER
NHTSA Report Date: September 16, 2020
Safety Defect Summary:

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Golf R and Atlas, 2017 Golf Alltrack and E-Golf and 2016-2018 Passat vehicles. These internal use vehicles were sold without confirmation that they were built to all applicable regulatory requirements and may have been modified prior to sale. As such, these vehicles may fail to comply with the requirements of various Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Safety Risk / Consequence:

Vehicles that do not meet all regulatory requirements may have an increased risk of a crash or injury to vehicle occupants.

Authorized Remedy Instructions:

Volkswagen will notify owners and will repurchase the vehicles. The recall began October 6, 2020. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 01E9.

Manufacturer & NHTSA Notes: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
NHTSA Campaign #19V389000 Exterior Lighting
Affected Component: EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS
NHTSA Report Date: May 22, 2019
Safety Defect Summary:

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2012-2020 Volkswagen Passat and 2018-2019 Atlas vehicles. The blocking cap disabling the adjustment of the headlight's horizontal aim may not have been installed. As such, these vehicles fail to conform to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

Safety Risk / Consequence:

Without the blocking cap, the headlight aim can be adjusted out of specification, reducing visibility and increasing the risk of a crash.

Authorized Remedy Instructions:

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, as necessary, block the headlight horizontal adjustment, free of charge. The recall began July 16, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 94L9.

Manufacturer & NHTSA Notes: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
NHTSA Campaign #16V403000 Fuel & Propulsion System
Affected Component: FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM:FUEL RAIL
NHTSA Report Date: June 6, 2016
Safety Defect Summary:

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2016 Jetta vehicles manufactured October 31, 2015, to January 21, 2016, 2016 Passat vehicles, equipped with 1.8T engines manufactured November 13, 2015, to December 9, 2015, and 2016 Golf vehicles manufactured November 5, 2015, to November 11, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the fuel rail may detach from the cylinder head and result in a fuel leak.

Safety Risk / Consequence:

A fuel leak, in the presence of an ignition source, can result in a vehicle fire.

Authorized Remedy Instructions:

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the cylinder heads, free of charge. The manufacturer has not yet provided a notification schedule. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-822-8987. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 15F7.

Manufacturer & NHTSA Notes: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
NHTSA Campaign #15V705000 Engine & Cooling
Affected Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
NHTSA Report Date: October 26, 2015
Safety Defect Summary:

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Jetta, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Passat, Golf and Golf SportWagen vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the camshaft lobe that drives the brake vacuum pump may shear off, resulting in a loss of brake assist.

Safety Risk / Consequence:

If the camshaft lobe shears off there would be a loss of brake assist, lengthening the distance needed to stop the vehicle and increasing the risk of a crash.

Authorized Remedy Instructions:

Volkswagen dealer will update the engine control module (ECM) software. The recall began March 2016. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-822-8987. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 23R1.

Manufacturer & NHTSA Notes: Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.
Source Data Notice: Campaign summaries, safety consequences, and remedy descriptions are direct text extracts published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation.

Recall History for Volkswagen Passat

Official safety recall campaign volume across sibling model years (2015–2022)

Model Year NHTSA Recalls NHTSA Complaints Detailed Report
2015 Volkswagen Passat 7 243 View 2015 Recalls →
2016 Volkswagen Passat Current Page 5 106 Current
2017 Volkswagen Passat 7 110 View 2017 Recalls →
2018 Volkswagen Passat 4 45 View 2018 Recalls →
2019 Volkswagen Passat 1 12 View 2019 Recalls →
2020 Volkswagen Passat 3 16 View 2020 Recalls →
2021 Volkswagen Passat 1 0 View 2021 Recalls →
2022 Volkswagen Passat 0 12 View 2022 Recalls →
Historical Reporting Note: Recall campaign counts are shown by model year and should not be interpreted as a vehicle reliability score. Campaigns may cover multiple model years, and newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time for new safety campaigns to be issued.

VIN-Specific Recall Verification

How to confirm whether an individual vehicle requires an authorized safety repair

Safety recall campaigns on this page are associated with this make, model, and model year in NHTSA federal records. A campaign may apply only to certain vehicles based on production date, equipment, manufacturing details, or other campaign-specific criteria.

AutoUtility cannot determine whether a particular VIN is affected or whether a recall remedy has already been completed.

For vehicle-specific recall status, check the 17-digit VIN using NHTSA's official recall lookup or contact an authorized dealer. Campaign-specific remedy information shown above is reproduced from official NHTSA recall records.

Official NHTSA Safety Resources: NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline: 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 711)
Official US Government Data Provenance

Recall records published on this page are retrieved directly from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Safety Recalls Database.

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