The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2011-2015 Touareg Hybrid vehicles manufactured March 20, 2010, to April 11, 2015. The hybrid battery tray may not drain water sufficiently. If water collects in the hybrid battery tray, it may cause an electrical short in the high voltage battery.
The risk
An electrical short in the high voltage battery increases the risk of a fire.
The remedy
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will install a fitted drain valve to allow water to drain properly, free of charge. The recall began late February 2016. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this 53B8.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid | 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 |
Components: HYBRID PROPULSION SYSTEM
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid | 2011 | 0 | 2 |
| Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid | 2012 | 0 | 2 |
| Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid | 2013 | 0 | 1 |
| Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid | 2014 | 0 | 1 |
| Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid | 2015 | 0 | 1 |
Other hybrid propulsion system recalls in 2016
4 of the 919 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2016 concerned the hybrid propulsion system; Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. filed 321 campaigns in all.
| 16V852000 28 Nov 2016 | Autocar, LLC |
| 16V527000 12 Jul 2016 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 16V521000 8 Jul 2016 | General Motors LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2016