45 of the 2,009 complaints filed about the Volkswagen Golf are about the steering — 2% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 2015.
45
Complaints
2%
Share of all complaints
1
Crashes
0
Fires
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Failure of wheel speed sensor in front right wheel. This is the THIRD time I have had a wheel speed sensor fail on this car, which has 35,000 miles on it. Failure caused loss of power steering, airbags, abs, etc.
NHTSA complaint #11610366 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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Travel Assist is disabled which includes Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Keep Assist. The warning lights flash on and off, sometimes multiple times a second, sounding a loud beeping each time. It is triggered at engine start and persists through all speeds. I have experienced it 0-70 mph. The flashing lights and associated rapid beeping indicating the failure is extremely distracting while driving. Warning lights and warning sounds are designed to alert the driver to a potential safety issue so ignoring the lights and sounds is dangerous in the event it is a different caution/warning. However, also not ignoring it is dangerous because of the frequency of the warnings which causes the driver to look away from the road. After speaking with the maintenance department at my VW dealership, they indicated that this is a widely known problem that is remedied only with the replacement of the steering wheel. There are several other sensors that are triggered by the same issue I was told by the maintenance department. They are uncertain at this time if it impacts the airbag system which is another potential safety concern. The steering wheel can only be ordered after inspection by the maintenance department and there is shortage and/or back order of the part to fix the problem. I also drive my car quite often since it’s the car I use to commute to work and it is 70 miles each way (140 miles round trip) so there is no warranty anymore as I have exceeded mileage so they will not repair. This is a huge safety concern and very known issue with this model car.
NHTSA complaint #11576559 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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There is a peeling plastic/metal chrome trim piece on the steering wheel that cause a finger laceration.
NHTSA complaint #11570664 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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Travel Assist is disabled which includes Adaptive Cruise Control and Lane Keep Assist. The warning lights flash on and off, sometimes multiple times a second, sounding a loud beeping each time. It is triggered at engine start and persists through all speeds. I have experienced it 0-70 mph. The flashing lights and associated rapid beeping indicating the failure is extremely distracting while driving. Warning lights and warning sounds are designed to alert the driver to a potential safety issue so ignoring the lights and sounds is dangerous in the event it is a different caution/warning. However, also not ignoring it is dangerous because of the frequency of the warnings which causes the driver to look away from the road. After speaking with the maintenance department at my VW dealership, they indicated that this is a widely known problem that is remedied only with the replacement of the steering wheel. There are several other sensors that are triggered by the same issue I was told by the maintenance department. They are uncertain at this time if it impacts the airbag system which is another potential safety concern. The steering wheel can only be ordered after inspection by the maintenance department and there is shortage and/or back order of the part to fix the problem
NHTSA complaint #11569645 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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I was coming back from work and was driving on the highway at around 80 mph. All of a sudden, literally out of nowhere, the car started shaking violently, and the steering wheel was shaking super fast violently (vibrating) and was very heavy and hard to move. Also, the D started flashing. I was struggling to control the car. I noticed that the Abs light, steering light, suspension light for DCC, and a whole bunch of other lights except the engine light. The car was in custom mode. Sport steering and sport Suspension, Normal for powertrain. All windows and sunroof were fully open, and music was playing. When all this occurred, I could hear outside the car something that sounded like metal tinging or metal contact. idk. This was while the car was still moving. When I pulled over, all the lights went away. I turned off the car for a few minutes and turned it back on. The lights did not come back, and it drove like nothing ever happened. The car is currently at VW Dealership awaiting a response from VW helpline (VTA) as of 1/17/24. I have been doing research on this issue and I have found multiple VW GTI/R owners who are currently and/or have experienced this issue. A Golf R (Model year 2018) owner with about 19.5k miles said "The real problem was the electric power assist motor, the part that controls how heavy the steering is when you change modes. But it can't be serviced. So the whole thing has to be swapped. It needed the entire power steering rack assembly replaced". He took this to a VW dealership and was covered under warranty. I strongly believe VW needs to release a recall for this as it is very dangerous to happen while driving especially at highway speeds like it did to me and many others.
NHTSA complaint #11565903 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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One night I started hearing a crunching noise while I was turning my wheel at low speeds. I backed out of a parking spot and started to turn the wheel to hear the full extent of the noise. The next morning, I got up and went out, backed up the car, turned the wheel to the same noise coming from the steering wheel. About an hour later, I drove home and turned into my parking spot, when the noise got worse and then stopped. At the end of the noise, two error codes arose: Airbag and transmission error. The steering wheel controls, such as volume and song control do not work, as well as other functions on the wheel, such as the dash control and cruise control buttons. I quickly googled the symptoms around the make, model and year and saw mass amounts of Volkswagen vehicles around 2015 that experienced the same issues, and the issue of a faulty clock-spring being the culprit. With this in mind, I reached out to a Volkswagen dealership to relay my concerns and the conversation ended with an appointment booked and a consensus that the issue was a faulty clock-spring, as many have had this issue. This issue seems to be widespread throughout many years and models of the Volkswagen line, however, my car follows a wide group of cars by one year in manufacture date, yet it lacks a recall part, despite the believed widespread affected group of cars. My appointment with the Volkswagen dealership went as expected- they found that my clock spring was indeed the issue. The service advisor admitted that the "clock-springs are bound to break." However, my car is 6,000 miles out of warranty to be able to cover the cost of this repair at the moment of typing this. And with further confirmation, the clock spring part is not a recalled part, thus deeming the uncovered service, despite the admittance to a faulty and common issue. I drove a significant distance to reach my dealership with the fear of my stearing wheel locking up while I am driving on the freeway. It has yet to lock.
NHTSA complaint #11537537 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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My GTI currently needs a new steering wheel per my dealership. However VW is unable to provide any new steering wheels or get me into a safe car. My car started having an issue around 2 months ago where I will get random cruise control, emergency braking and other safety related system errors. When this happens, it dings, disables anll buttons on the steering wheel and abruptly shuts off all safety features, including cruise control if it’s active. This poses a safety risk that could potentially cause accidents or worse. There are currently 8 GTIs waiting for a new steering wheel at my dealership, with more across the country at other dealerships waiting for a steering wheel.
NHTSA complaint #11526043 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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red power steering system light turned on and flashed/beeped 3X. steering wheel locked up and I could not turn. I was on the freeway in the far right lane and managed to force push the steering wheel to the right and slowly merge over to the shoulder. Volks in Kearny Mesa confirmed issue with steering gear after inspection on 6/21/2022. The steering gear needs to be replaced as the first step. No symptoms prior to malfunction. I could have died if I was in any other lane as there was a lot of cars on the freeway. I got lucky.
NHTSA complaint #11475447 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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Driving 65 mph down highway vehicle shut off with no warning. Fault code shows defective injector #1. Vw tdi (post fix dieselgate). Dealer will not fix because I cleared the code to drive home. Irresponsible for vw to make a car that shuts down completely with no limp mode or short time to clear road.
NHTSA complaint #11459772 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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Faulty clock spring causing passenger airbag warning and loss of steering wheel controls, ie: horn, volume, cruise…
NHTSA complaint #11442725 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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2019 GTI 6MT STALLS. THE ISSUE PRESENTS ITSELF SLOWING DOWN TO A STOP, WHERE THE ENGINE WILL SOFT STALL AND REQUIRE RESTARTING. THIS HAS HAPPENED WHEN STOPPED AT A LIGHT, AS WELL AS WHEN IN MOTION, COASTING TO A STOP. IT HAS HAPPENED ON THE HIGHWAY, IN HEAVY TRAFFIC, AS WELL AS PARKING IN A PARKING SPOT. THE UNSAFE CONDITION IS WHEN IN HEAVY TRAFFIC, IN RUSH HOUR ON RT 287 (MAJOR HIGHWAY) COASTING TO A STOP, THE ENGINE DIES AND I LOOSE CONTROL OF THE STEERING WHEEL CONTROL AND ACCELERATION. THE START STOP BUTTON NEEDS TO BE PUSHED TO GET THE CAR TO START UP AGAIN. THE CAR IS BRAND NEW AND HAS ROUGHLY 650 MILES ON IT.
NHTSA complaint #11281274 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2019 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS STATIONARY AT A STOP SIGN, IT STALLED, SHUT OFF, AND THE STEERING WHEEL SEIZED. WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS RESTARTED, IT RESUMED NORMAL OPERATION. RIVERSIDE VOLKSWAGEN (8330 INDIANA AVE D, RIVERSIDE, CA 92504, (951) 509-2100) WAS CALLED AND STATED THAT THEY WOULD ATTEMPT TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 40.
NHTSA complaint #11254728 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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WHILE IN THE NUMBER 2 LANE ON THE FREEWAY, USING CRUISE CONTROL, WE APPROACHED A SEMI TRUCK IN THE NUMBER 3 LANE. WE WERE MOVING MORE QUICKLY THAN THE SEMI TRUCK AND DID NOT CHANGE LANES NOR DID THE SEMI TRUCK. THE FREEWAY WAS STRAIGHT. THE AUTOMATIC BRAKING SYSTEM TURNED ON AND ENGAGED THE BRAKES WHEN OUR CAR REACHES APPROXIMATELY THE REAR AXLE OR IS NEXT TO THE BACK MIDDLE OF THE SEMI TRUCK. BRAKES ENGAGE IN THE SAME FASHION THEY DO AS IF THERE WAS A HAZARD IN FRONT OF US. TO BE CLEAR, NOTHING AT ALL IS IN FRONT OF US, JUST THE SEMI TRUCK TO OUR RIGHT.
NHTSA complaint #11210177 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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KEPT HEARING A CLICKING NOISE WHEN TURNING STEERING WHEEL. TODAY WHEN BACKING INTO A PARKING SPOT, THERE WAS A REAL LOUD CLICK, ALMOST LIKE A SNAP, AND MY AIR BAG ERROR MESSAGE IMMEDIATELY SHOWED UP AND NONE OF THE BUTTONS ON MY STEERING WHEEL WOULD WORK ANYMORE
NHTSA complaint #11208694 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V464000 (STEERING, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM). THE PARTS TO DO THE REPAIR WERE UNAVAILABLE. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME FOR THE RECALL REPAIR. VOLKSWAGEN OF CHERRY HILL (2261 MARLTON PIKE W, CHERRY HILL, NJ 08002, (888) 486-1840) WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT THE PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE FOR THE RECALL REMEDY. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND WAS NOT ABLE TO CONFIRM WHEN THE PARTS WERE TO BECOME AVAILABLE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. VIN TOOL CONFIRMS PARTS NOT AVAILABLE. *BF
NHTSA complaint #11180256 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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DESPITE A 2015 RECALL, 2016 GOLFS ARE STILL BEING AFFECTED BY FAULTY CLOCK SPRING SETUPS AND A LACK OF SOME TYPE OF COVER THAT IS PREVENTING DEBRIS FROM GETTING INSIDE AND BREAKING THEM. WHILE DRIVING THE CAR, THE AIRBAG WARNING LIGHT WENT ON. I THEN NOTICED THAT NONE OF THE CONTROL FEATURES ON THE STEERING WHEEL WORKED.. NO CRUISE CONTROL, NOT HORN, NO SYSTEM DATA, ETC. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION I DISCOVERED THAT THE CLOCK SPRING WAS THE REASON FOR THE PROBLEM AND THAT THIS HAS BEEN AN ONGOING PROBLEM THAT VW HAS KNOWN ABOUT SINCE 2011. ONLY AFTER AN INVESTIGATION WAS VW FORCED INTO DOING A RECALL IN 2015. THE PROBLEM OBVIOUSLY STILL EXISTS SINCE THERE ARE A NUMBER OF CONTINUED COMPLAINTS STILL BEING FILED.
NHTSA complaint #11099933 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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TAKATA RECALL- 2015 GTI. TURNED CAR ON AT 5:30 AFTER WORK AND AIRBAG ERROR LIGHT CAME ON, NO CONTROLS IN STEERING WHEEL WORKING LIKE VOLUME , BLUE TOOTH CRUISE CONTROL AND HORN. CAR WAS PARKED FOR 8 HOURS. LIGHT DRIVING CITY TRAFFIC USUALLY FROM AND BACK TO WORK. THERE WAS NO INDICATION, JUST STOPPED. 44.000 MILES. CAR WAS BOUGHT AT 34500 MILES EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO (2017) NO HORN AND NO AIRBAG WORKING AS OF YESTERDAY IS A SAFETY ISSUE AND DEALERSHIP SAID THERE IS NO RECALL ON THIS PARTICULAR MAKE MODEL YEAR !
NHTSA complaint #11076024 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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STEERING COLUMN CONTROL MECHANISM, AIR BAG SENSOR, LOCK MECHANISM. SAW AN ARTICLE POSTED LAST WEEK ABOUT PREVIOUS RECALL NOT RESOLVING A KNOW ISSUE WITH AIRBAGS THAT AFFECTS THE STEERING COLUMN. I JUST HAD TO PAY $641.10 TO HAVE THIS REPAIRED. IF THIS IS SOMETHING THAT VW SHOULD HAVE HAD TO PAY FOR I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO RECOUP MY MONEY.
NHTSA complaint #11047379 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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ON TWO OCCASIONS, ABOUT TWO WEEKS APART, THE POWER CUT OFF WHILE DRIVING. THE CAR BECAME VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER. THE ALTERNATOR LIGHT CAME ON. AFTER TURNING THE IGNITION OFF AND ON AGAIN ONCE OR TWICE, THE CAR STARTED AGAIN, AND THE LIGHT WAS NO LONGER ON. ON THE FIRST OF THESE OCCASIONS, THE CAR WAS BEING DRIVEN ON A CITY STREET. IT WAS A MINUTE OR TWO AFTER FIRST STARTING THE CAR THAT DAY. THE SECOND WAS ALSO ON A CITY STREET. THIS ALSO OCCURRED JUST AFTER STARTING, WHILE TURNING A CORNER. ON A THIRD OCCASION, ABOUT ONE WEEK BEFORE THE ABOVE-MENTIONED TWO INCIDENTS, THE EPC LIGHT CAME ON AND POWER WAS DIMINISHED, BUT THE ENGINE DID NOT CUT OUT TOTALLY. THIS OCCURRED ON AN EXPRESSWAY, AFTER THE CAR HAD BEEN DRIVEN FOR SOME TIME. AFTER DROPPING IN SPEED, THE ENGINE RETURNED TO NORMAL BEFORE THE CAR STOPPED. BOTH PROBLEMS WOULD APPEAR TO BE ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS. VW CUSTOMER SERVICE TOLD ME THAT AS THERE WAS NO LIGHT ON THE DASHBOARD, THEY COULD NOT DIAGNOSE THE PROBLEM. NEEDLESS TO SAY, THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS PROBLEM.
NHTSA complaint #11025069 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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MY LOCAL VOLKSWAGEN DEALERSHIP STATED THERE IS A RECALL ON CERTAIN VW MODELS FOR THE CLOCK-SPRING LOCATED INSIDE THE STEERING COLUMN. MY VEHICLE HAS BEEN MAKING A TERRIBLE NOISE WHEN I TURN THE WHEEL IN EITHER DIRECTION, WHICH VW ATTRIBUTES TO THE CLOCK-SPRING. THEY TOLD ME THE 2012 GOLF TDI MODEL IS NOT COVERED UNDER THE RECALL BUT APPARENTLY THIS CLOCK-SPRING PROBLEM IMPACTS OTHER MODELS. THEY WARNED THE PROBLEM WILL GET WORSE AND EVENTUALLY IMPACT THE STEERING, AIRBAG, TURN SIGNALS, HORN, AND OTHER ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS INSIDE THE STEERING WHEEL. THEY QUOTED THE COST TO REPLACE THE CLOCK-SPRING IS $890. SO MY QUESTION IS CAN THE RECALL BE BROADENED TO INCLUDE 2012 GOLF TDIS AS WELL?
NHTSA complaint #11011753 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.