The 1985 Volkswagen Cabriolet has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 278,520 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 6 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the electrical system. Last updated July 5, 2026.
FUEL PUMP, LOCATED INSIDE FUEL TANK, COULD SEIZE DURING HIGH AMBIENT TEMPERATURES BECAUSE OF AN EXTREME FINE MESH FUEL FILTER RESTRICTING THE FUEL FLOW.
FUEL SUPPLY TO ENGINE WOULD BE PARTIALLY INTERRUPTED,RESULTING IN STALLING.
INSTALL A MODIFIED FUEL PUMP AND FILTER.
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.
“Power steering belt located too close to wheels, allowing water to splash onto belt from wheels, causing belt to fail/steering to lock. The steering has locked several times when driving through water due to this problem, once resulting in an accident.”
“Electrical system fails to operate when first starting vehicle, causing headlights/dash lights to dim until reaching speeds greater than 5 mph.”
“The electric cables situated between alternator and battery where they are clampt to hot water pipes carbonize, resulting in electrical system failure and stalling. *ak”
“Electric cables between alternator/battery were connected to hot water pipes going to water radiator. Due to extreme external summer temperature in southern switzerland, electric cable carbonize, causing vehicle to malfunction. *ak”
“Front end metal fatigue. *sd”
“Premature metal fatigue of front end. *skd”
There is no summary currently available
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1985 Volkswagen Cabriolet as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.