Problems · by component
2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid service brakes problems
29 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2013 Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid cite service brakes, 5% of all 585 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
29
5% of all complaints
Crashes
5
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the service brakes
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“I would assume the issue had something to do with the power train. 2 days after i had bought the car my wife and i were on our way to the gym and we had just came to a complete stop. Upon entering the highway the car would no longer accelerate no matter how much pressure was put on the accelerator pedal. The engine light also came on. Luckily there were no cars behind me and I was able to pull over with the car moving on its own. This is really dangerous. This has happened to me multiple times. I have taken it back to the dealership i had bought the car from and they have a private mechanic that solely works for the company. He has scanned for any codes and has told me no codes are populating so he’s not sure why the engine light is still on. It was taken to a VW dealership and the vehicle will no longer start. There was an electrical issue at some point and now might be a transmission issue along with other things.”
“I was driving on a rainy day on the freeway where my breaks went out on me. I pressed down all of the way and the car wouldn’t stop. After I let go of the break I then pressed on the break again and they seemed to have locked on me. I ended up using my emergency breaks and was able to get off the freeway and luckily no one was hurt. Soon after they started working again and I was able to get it safely to a near by shop.”
“The car automatically locked its brakes without me even touching the brakes while I was going 60mph and almost lost control. My safety was put at risk because the car locked its brakes without me pushing the breaks, they would not disengage and was stuck in the middle of the road with the brakes not releasing and almost caused an accident. I has happened multiple times but not confirmed by dealer or independent mechanic.The vehicle has been inspected by VW dealer. No warning lights came on the dash.”
“The brake system has malfunctioned, and I would be happy for you to inspect it. The brakes come on suddenly when the foot brake is not being applied. The car will not move when this happens, creating a very dangerous situation on the road. I have been stranded in a lane with cars zooming around me. Everyone is at risk. A tech on the VW helpline confirmed the problem with my mechanic and suggested two very expensive fixes which have not resolved the problem. There have been no warning indicators for this problem. It happens randomly and unexpectedly.”
“The transmissions on the 2013-2016 Jetta Hybrids have an extremely high failure rate. These transmissions fail without warning and leave the car without propulsion and deactivate the regenerative brakes causing the car to behave erratically. VW issued a recall (19V866000) but are claiming owners within those model years with the exact same issues are "not covered". I have experienced this myself and you can find many many many examples on the complaints section of this website. VW issued a recall but is claiming everyones vin is not included.”
“The ABS lights go on and the speedometer stopped working and all the lights have activated. the abs module has been reported that there is a defect in most of the jettas and so i believe that this should be a recall issue.”
Showing 6 of 29 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 11, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.