Volkswagen CC: Years to Avoid and Best Years to Buy
Volkswagen CC: 7 model years scored from 604 NHTSA owner complaints and 33 recall campaigns. Worst year 2012, best year 2017.
Volkswagen CC: which years to avoid
Across 7 scored model years the Volkswagen CC ranges from 36/100 in 2012 to 89/100 in 2017 — a 53-point spread, so which year you buy matters more than whether you buy a CC at all. The weakest year’s complaints concentrate in Air Bags (86 of them).
Avoid: 2012 — scored below 45 on the complaint and recall record.
Safest years: 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 — scored 70 or better.
Scored from NHTSA complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. How the score works · every car’s years to avoid.
How the CC changed, run by run
The federal record falls into 2 stretches of years that behave alike. A redesign shows up here as a step in the complaint rate that then holds.
2012–2013
Mean score 44/100, about 14 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Air Bags more than anything else (175 complaints). 8 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
2014–2017
Mean score 82/100, about 3 complaints per year on the road. Owners of these years complain about Air Bags more than anything else (72 complaints). The record improves by 38 points against the years before it. 11 recall campaign(s) in this run touch fire, crash or stall risk.
Year-by-year data table
Best year in our data: 2017 (score 89). Worst: 2012 (score 36, AVOID).
| Year | Score | Verdict | Running cost / yr | NHTSA complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 89 | BUY | $4,958 | 4 | 3 |
| 2016 | 83 | BUY | $5,039 | 26 | 6 |
| 2015 | 85 | BUY | $5,181 | 30 | 4 |
| 2014 | 71 | BUY | $5,396 | 80 | 5 |
| 2013 | 52 | CAUTION | $5,626 | 148 | 5 |
| 2012 | 36 | AVOID | $5,762 | 230 | 6 |
| 2011 | 76 | BUY | $5,648 | 86 | 4 |
Running cost is fuel or energy plus the maintenance band midpoint for that car at its age today, re-priced to your country. Purchase price, insurance and depreciation are not included.
Photographs and every generation of the CC, through the years →
CC sub-models & family
Variants & trims on record
Body, powertrain and trim variants of the CC on the federal record. Variants folded into this nameplate are counted in this page's data; the rest have too thin a record for a page of their own yet.
What goes wrong on the Volkswagen CC
Across every CC model year in our index, owners report these component groups most often. The cost beside each one is the representative repair for that group at a US independent shop, re-priced to your country.
- Air Bags279 complaints across all CC years · typical job: Airbag module, clockspring or sensor replacement$600–$1,700
- Fuel/Propulsion System119 complaints across all CC years · typical job: Fuel pump or injector replacement$680–$1,620
- Engine119 complaints across all CC years · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair$1,040–$2,220
- Electrical System84 complaints across all CC years · typical job: Alternator, battery-drain or body-module diagnosis and replacement$540–$1,310
- Steering38 complaints across all CC years · typical job: Electric power-steering rack or column motor replacement$1,020–$2,500
- Unknown Or Other14 complaints across all CC years · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair$360–$940
Flat-rate labour hours x local shop rate plus a parts band. An estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote. Formula.
FAQ
Which Volkswagen CC years should I avoid?
On the NHTSA record the years to avoid are 2012 — each scores below 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. The 2012 is the weakest at 36/100, with its complaints concentrated in Air Bags.
What are the best Volkswagen CC years to buy?
2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 all score 70 or better. The strongest is the 2017 at 89/100, on 4 complaints and 3 recall campaigns.
What is the most common Volkswagen CC problem?
279 of the complaints filed against the CC across all its model years sit in the Air Bags group — more than any other component.
Compare with
Sources: NHTSA, EPA · Methodology · Updated 2026-10-04