klepZ OwnerReports
Volkswagen / Rabbit / 2009

2009 Volkswagen Rabbit problems

Owners have filed 123 complaints about the 2009 Volkswagen Rabbit with NHTSA. Service brakes account for 31.7% of them — the clear leader, ahead of electronic stability control (ESC) at 20.3%.

Complaints123
Crashes10
Fires5
Injuries5
Deaths1

What owners report breaking

Service brakes 31.7% · 39
Electronic stability control (ESC) 20.3% · 25
Electrical system 8.9% · 11
Steering 8.1% · 10
Vehicle speed control 4.1% · 5
Power train 4.1% · 5
Service brakes, hydraulic 4.1% · 5
Air bags 2.4% · 3
Severity

Of those complaints, 10 describe a crash, 5 describe a fire, 5 report an injury and 1 report a death.

Reading the numbers

Filings have fallen off, 8 in the last three years against 13 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.

The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 100,000 miles.

In owners' own words

Took my vehicle in as the abs, brake, esp/asr lights came on and were beeping. Replaced the rotors, brake pads, etc. When I came back to pick up my vehicle, the vag com had multiple faults still showing, come to find out I need the control panel replaced. Vehicle has less than 59k miles, dozens of folks have reported a similar situation in 2009 vw model cars, abs system malfunctioning w less than 60k miles Service brakes · reported at 59,000 miles
My 2009 vw Rabbit has had intermittent abs issues for a few months now. The car has 67k miles. Occasionally, when the abs activates the the dash will light up with the abs, brake, and esp light. The car will also beeps a few times. After this happens, the car will have no abs or stability control. Restarting the car will make the lights turn off, but the issue will happen again when the abs is activated. Service brakes · reported at 67,000 miles
Driving into a curve, my abs brake module failed, turning off my traction control, abs disabling my power steering. As I was trying to come out of the curve, the steering failed to respond temporarily. I almost t-boned another vehicle, scaring that driver to death...I was able to pull the car out of the turn, over correcting almost putting it in a a ditch... This is a known issue. Service brakes · reported at 112,000 miles

Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.

Safety recalls

Checking NHTSA for open recalls…