Volkswagen Says a 2015 Clockspring Repair Is Covered to 2030

Volkswagen says an owner whose clockspring was repaired in 2015 has coverage until 2030 for a second repair if the first one fails, according to a statement the company gave Torque News on Nov. 10. The written warranty terms count the 15 years from a different starting point, the car’s original in-service date, so the two methods can produce deadlines five years apart.

The clockspring keeps electrical connections intact as the steering wheel turns. When its flat cable tears, the driver’s frontal airbag can be disconnected while the car still steers and drives normally.

What Volkswagen told Torque News

Torque News contacted Volkswagen on Nov. 9, three days after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) closed engineering analysis EA18-003 on Nov. 6. The investigation concerned clockspring failures, including failures after the recall remedy.

Volkswagen representative Michael Lowder replied that a vehicle that has not yet received the recall repair will be fixed free of charge, whenever the owner brings it in. For vehicles under the 15-year extended warranty with unlimited miles, he said, an owner has 15 years from the date of the first repair to get a second one free if the first fails. His example was a repair in 2015, covered until 2030. Lowder limited that explanation to vehicles under the 15-year extension and to a second repair after a failed first one.

Where the written terms differ

Volkswagen’s owner notice for cars whose recall 69L2 is already completed extends clockspring coverage for certain 2010-2014 vehicles to 15 years with unlimited mileage from original in-service. Warranty bulletin VWP-18-11, dated April 27, 2023, uses the same starting point. It lists two categories: U37, 15 years with unlimited mileage for certain 2010-2022 vehicles, and U36, 10 years or 120,000 miles, whichever comes first, for certain 2010-2018 vehicles.

Original in-service means the date the car was delivered to its first buyer or lessee, or its earlier first use as a demonstrator or company car. The extension passes to later owners, but buying a used car does not restart the clock.

Take a car first placed in service in 2010. Under the published terms, its 15 years end in 2025. Under Lowder’s repair-based example, a qualifying first repair in 2015 pushes the second-repair deadline to 2030. Torque News reported that Volkswagen did not name a bulletin that replaces the 2023 one, did not say which first repairs qualify and did not say whether installing the protective cover starts the repair-based period.

Which recall and which remedy

The original campaign is NHTSA recall 15V-483, which Volkswagen calls 69L2. It covers certain 2010-2014 CC, Eos, Golf, GTI, Jetta, Jetta SportWagen, Passat and Tiguan vehicles, and the VIN decides whether a given car is included. Owners can check a VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls, and recall repairs are free at a franchised dealer.

The remedy depends on the dashboard. A car with no airbag warning light gets a protective cover over the clockspring. If the light is on, diagnosis determines whether the clockspring must be replaced. Hair or other fibers entering the assembly can tear the spiral-wound cable, according to Volkswagen’s documents, and NHTSA says the failure does not impair steering, braking or acceleration.

What it means for owners with a returning warning light

Under the published warranty extension, coverage requires malfunctioning steering-wheel controls and an airbag light that stays on. The dealer must confirm a torn clockspring, and the 2023 bulletin also calls for fault code B10001B or VAG00588 in the diagnostic record. The extension excludes unrelated problems, specified branded-title vehicles and damage from accidents, misuse or neglect.

That makes the first repair order the document that settles two questions: whether the dealer installed a cover or replaced the part, and what date a repair-based period would start from. The owner notices list Customer CARE at 800-893-5298 and describe a reimbursement process for owners who paid for a qualifying replacement earlier.

Why NHTSA closed the investigation

NHTSA’s opening record estimated an investigation population of 1,215,547 vehicles. That figure sized the investigation, and the number of vehicles entitled to any one repair program is smaller or different. According to the agency’s database, the Nov. 6 closure rested on the failure’s high detectability and on Volkswagen’s warranty extensions, and NHTSA reserved the right to act further if circumstances warrant. The database also records the early-2023 expansion that moved certain vehicles from 10 years or 120,000 miles of coverage to 15 years with unlimited mileage.

A disconnected frontal airbag can fail to deploy in a sufficiently severe crash, which is why a lit airbag light still needs diagnosis while the coverage dates are sorted out.

Source: Torque News