Volkswagen has issued quite a few recalls already this year, and the count has now reached 13 after the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that VW is recalling over 208,000 crossovers and SUVs for a fault on the steering column. Due to corrosion, a bolt attaching the steering rack to the subframe could break, which could break the steering rack housing, potentially leading to a loss of steering.
The good news is that, while the recall affects some of the VW Group’s most popular products in America – the Tiguan, Atlas, and Audi Q3 – only certain examples were fitted with the potentially faulty steering rack, and because steering loads are particularly high at low speeds, when one is parking or maneuvering through a tight space, the housing fracture is more likely to occur when a driver can easily and safely stop the vehicle.
208,724 Volkswagen and Audi Vehicles Recalled
Autoblog
The NHTSA recall report says that only around one percent of the 208,724 vehicles named therein are estimated to have the defect. The affected models and their potentially affected numbers are listed below:
- 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas (82,601 units, produced between Nov 30, 2016-Sep 22, 2018
- 2018 Volkswagn Tiguan (85,713 units, produced between Mar 22, 2017-Jun 18, 2018
- 2019-2021 Audi Q3 (40,410 units, produced between May 21 2019-Jul 16, 2021
The first field report for this issue appeared outside North America in October 2024, and over the following months, VW investigated, performing vehicle inspections and engineering evaluations, but it was only in August 2025 that a second, similar field report, again outside the North American Region, was received. This prompted Volkswagen to expand its investigation scope, and then a third field report, once again outside North America, was received in December. The investigation and field tests continued, and while Volkswagn and Audi are not aware of any issues relating to the steering rack problem appearing within the North American Region, and there’s no mention of this problem with the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation, the automaker brands are playing it safe and issuing a voluntary recall.
What VW and Audi Owners Need to Know
Autoblog
The issue Volkswagen and Audi identified within the steering racks of the Atlas, Tiguan, and Q3 was phased out of production between June 2018 and July 2021 for all affected U.S. models, but those who are impacted can expect a recall notification letter to be mailed on November 10. Dealers have already been informed and VINs are searchable on nhtsa.gov, but it’ll take a while to ship the new part. Because no North American vehicles have been reported to exhibit the issue described in the recall, there’s no need to replace anything other than the potentially faulty bolt, which dealers will do with a new component that features a “highly corrosion-resistant polymer coating.” Until then, there’s nothing to worry about, but if, on the off chance, you hear a snap or clunk, or your steering starts failing during or after a low-speed maneuver, contact your dealer as soon as possible – VW will want to investigate further.
