Volkswagen is recalling 48,165 Jetta sedans from the 2025 and 2026 model years in the United States because a transmission ground wire may not have been connected during assembly. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the resulting open circuit can draw excessive current and increase the risk of a fire. The campaign is NHTSA 26V138 and Volkswagen recall 97TC.

The fault sits in a small electrical connection

The wire is part of the electrical circuit for the oil pressure unit. Volkswagen’s Part 573 filing says the vehicles in the recall population may have been built without the transmission ground wire connected to the left-side member stud. The same report identifies the relevant oil pressure unit as HW 05, part number 09U927152, and says that the disconnected ground leaves an open circuit.

That description matters because it does not mean that every recalled Jetta has a failed oil-pressure system. The recall population was identified from production records covering cars built from March 3, 2025, through February 17, 2026. Volkswagen estimates that less than 1% of the affected population is expected to contain the defect. All 48,165 vehicles are included in the campaign so dealers can check the physical connection rather than asking owners to diagnose it from symptoms.

There may be no warning before the problem develops. The NHTSA report lists no warning indication for the defect. A working dashboard, normal engine operation and the absence of a warning light therefore do not confirm that a particular car is unaffected. The relevant question is whether the VIN belongs to the recall population and whether the dealer inspection has been completed.

What Volkswagen found

The chronology filed with NHTSA starts in December 2025, when Volkswagen received two field cases and carried out on-site inspections. On February 19, 2026, the company said its analysis had confirmed the electrical consequence of a disconnected transmission ground wire. The North American Region Product Safety Committee reviewed the issue on February 26, and Volkswagen’s Product Safety Committee decided on a recall on March 4.

Volkswagen reported six confirmed claims from the United States and Canada. Three involved melted wires or a melted connector associated with the oil pressure unit. Three involved engine-compartment fires, with two incidents in the US and one in Canada. The filing says the claims involved vehicle damage only and that no injuries were reported. Volkswagen also stated that it was not aware of crashes, injuries or deaths associated with the defect.

Those details set a narrower boundary around the story. The regulator and manufacturer describe an increased fire risk, not a guarantee that all affected cars will catch fire. They also do not say that every reported fire has been independently reproduced in testing. The recall is the safety action taken after the production issue and field claims were assessed together.

The free repair

Volkswagen dealers will inspect the transmission ground wire and repair it when necessary at no cost to the owner. The filing says the repair uses hardware identified as HW 06. Volkswagen does not plan a separate reimbursement programme because the affected vehicles are within the new-vehicle limited warranty period.

The NHTSA acknowledgement lists May 8, 2026, as the planned owner-notification date. It also says the VINs became searchable through NHTSA on March 13, 2026. US owners can contact Volkswagen at 1-800-893-5298 and quote recall code 97TC. The safest way to confirm the status is to use the vehicle’s 17-character VIN and then arrange the dealer inspection.

The recall is not a request to replace an entire transmission. The remedy is focused on a connection that can be inspected and, if needed, repaired. Because the report records no warning indication, owners should not wait for a dashboard message before checking. A recall status also changes after the repair, so a vehicle history report alone may not provide the latest answer.

What European owners should take from it

The NHTSA paperwork concerns Volkswagen Group of America and US-market Jettas. It does not establish that European-market Jettas or cars sold in Romania are part of the same campaign. The report identifies Volkswagen de Mexico in Puebla in the component information, but that production detail is not proof that all Jettas built at the plant share the same specification or market configuration.

An imported US Jetta can still be checked through NHTSA and a Volkswagen service centre, using its VIN. A European car should be checked through the recall and service system that applies to its market. Matching the model name and model year is not enough: safety campaigns are normally VIN-specific and may depend on the wiring configuration, production record and destination market.

If an owner notices smoke, a burning-plastic smell or visible heat damage, the appropriate response is to stop in a safe place and request assistance. The recall report does not impose a blanket do-not-drive instruction for every vehicle in the population, so that emergency advice should not be confused with a universal recall directive. It does, however, give owners a concrete reason to verify an open campaign promptly rather than relying on the absence of a warning light.

Sources