Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (engine, cooling system, oil leaks, timing chain, exhaust).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2009 Volkswagen Routan owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2009 Volkswagen Routan. The contact stated while at a stoplight, the vehicle stalled. There was an abnormally high pitch noise detected. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was jump-started by the police and was restarted. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the starter needed to be replaced. The failure mileage was approximately 54,000.
Over the past 2 months, our 2009 vw Routan has repeatedly shut down while driving. The engine will stop, causing the power braking and power steering to go out. Once we pull over and turn the vehicle off, we can restart it. However, recently it's started to again stall within only a couple of miles of the first stall. We replaced the erg valve already. In doing some research, it appears that this dangerous problem May be due to an ignition switch problem. Our vehicle is one that is part of the recall that vw issued over 7 months ago! I called vw customer care yesterday and was told that the recall part still isn't available but it should be "ready soon." the person I talked with had no idea when "soon" would be. He said the parts are coming from a different manufacturer. He told me to bring our vw to a vw dealership to have them complete a diagnosis on it. …
While driving at 65 MPH on i35, the car's transmission acted like it slipped into 2nd gear and the tack went to 5000rpm. I tried to just slow down and get off the road, turned the car off and back on when I got to a parking lot. I then started driving again and it appeared to be alright. Within a few days it did it a couple times more, this time turning on the check engine light. Took it to the dealer and they couldn't duplicate problem in the week they had it. Picked it up from the dealership and was about 10 to 15 miles away and it did it again. I took it back to the dealer the next day and it has been there for two weeks. They told me an engineer from corporate came to check it out and during that time they had another car - same year, same style, even same color come into the shop with the same problem and they verified the problem on both of the cars. …
Vehicle will intermittently not start even after multiple try's. Vehicle shuts off during driving events city and highway. ABS lights come on and stay on. Interior lights come on automatically during driving. Have had the vehicle to a vw dealer 4 times for this issue and they cannot diagnoses, nor remedy the issue. I have spent well over $2,000 for these vw dealer visits. This vehicle was built by Chrysler for vw and Chrysler issued a recall on the TIPM for the Chrysler vehicles. Vw refuses to issue a recall for the TIPM. This is a major safety issue that causes the vehicle to shut off during driving and all power and braking functions are lost. At this time, I have no choice but to pay an additional $1,500 to have vw replace the TIPM in the hopes that it resolves this dangerous safety issue and keeps my family safe. …
Tl* the contact owns a 2009 Volkswagen Routan. While driving between 30 to 65 MPH, the vehicle randomly jerked forward and backward as if it were skipping a gear. In addition, the check engine indicator illuminated afterwards several times. The contact spoke with two unknown dealers and then contacted an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the underdrive solenoid circuit of the transmission was malfunctioning. After conducting some research, the contact found that the manufacturer placed a Chrysler engine and transmission into her Volkswagen vehicle. The independent mechanic completed the repairs with another new Chrysler transmission solenoid part. While the contact was driving on the highway, the vehicle lost complete acceleration and had to be pulled over to the shoulder of the road. …
The first incident with a "clunking" noise of the transmission began on 7/10/2014 at 51,496 miles. When shifting from reverse to drive car makes a "clunking" noise and jerks the car forward. It was noted by dealership after a test drive no faults found. On 3/19/15 at 58,611 miles car returned to dealership. Same clunking and grinding noises. Faults: p0868, p1790 & p0944. Pressure readings to low in TCM control wires. Transmission to be replaced per dealership. Findings: under drive clutches worn out, sungears and assembly damaged with metal metal fragments. On 4/30/2015 and 59,215 miles, car returned to dealership for same grinding and clunking noises. Dealership performed another "quick learn test." as of 5/19/2015 and 60,001 miles, transmission is still grinding and clunking on occasion during acceleration and/or transmission shift from reverse to drive. …
Vehicle has been moving and will suddenly shut down while driving. All power steering, braking and electrical systems go out. I have to try to manually swerve off the road and put the car in park. Take the key out of the ignition and restart. I understand that this problem had been fixed in 2015 under a recall with the win module and vw indicates that since it's been fixed they only offer a 12 month warranty. For me to get a new win module, the dealership said it would be $2,000 and a long estimated time without the car. This car is blue booked as only worth $3,500.00. This is again a faulty piece that should be covered by the recall. The car only has 75K miles. There's no reason to have a car with 75K miles and need two win modules so far. …
When slowing down to turn into the parking lot at the local library the vehicle stalled and lost power. After coming to a stop the van would start fine and was able to finish the trip. A few days later this same issue occurred while coming to a stop. We returned the car to dealership for work on a faulty radio and mentioned this issue. The dealership had the radio replaced and took it to a vw dealership to have the ignition switch replaced under a safety recall. It worked fine for about a week then started happening again. The van was taken in for an oil change at an independent shop and they checked about the stalling issue. They could not find any codes indicating a problem, but after the oil change the van worked better for a few days. It now stalls multiple times per day, usually going less than 30 MPH. …
For years I have experienced intermittent failures in starting my car, each time if I wait a while it will start. Additionally, beginning in feb 2016, my engine will simply shut down while the car is in motion (pretty scary). I have dealt with vw several time to no avail and always at my expense. This latest development May cost me or someone else their life. Vw acts like this has not happened to anyone else and if they can't recreate the issue they can't address the issue, really! This is criminal! I have had a starter replaced as well as a switch and no change. All I get from vw is "you can take it to another dealer and get a second opinion we will cover 1 hour of the cost to diagnose the problem" really no greater expertise no information sharing, just another dealer, the third of which will likely tell me, we can't create the problem!
While taking my grandson to school this morning on a very curvy country road the engine died on my 2009 volkswagon routain. Having no brakes and no power steering made it very difficult to control vehicle. I turned on emergency flashers when car finally stoped turned to off position then restarted engine. This is not the first time this has happened to me and my wife. Problem cannot be diagnosed by dealer why can't Chrysler fix this serious problem before someone gets injured or killed. I know as well as NHTSA that this has happened to many people. Previous recall fix for ignition switch at wv dealer to solve this problem did not work . Its a shame that many people have to injured or killed by a serious known problem like this before companies are forced to fix them.
Engine complaints in other Routan years
Frequently asked questions
How common are engine problems on the 2009 Volkswagen Routan?
NHTSA has 83 complaints about the engine & cooling of the 2009 Volkswagen Routan, 28% of the model year's 294 complaints. The component named most often is exhaust system (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2009 Volkswagen Routan engine problems?
No. NHTSA lists no engine & cooling recall for the 2009 Volkswagen Routan, though it has 6 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2009 Volkswagen Routan engine problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 69,000 miles, and 8% before 25,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.