Volkswagen Golf: recalls and complaints by model year
NHTSA lists 54 recall campaigns for the Volkswagen Golf, model years 1985 to 2021. NHTSA has 637 complaints on file for this model line. 29 of the 35 model years have a page on this register.
Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .
Model years
The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.
- 19855
- 19864
- 19873
- 19885
- 19893
- 19904
- 19912
- 19921
- 19934
- 19944
- 19954
- 19961
- 19970
- 19981
- 19994
- 20005
- 20015
- 20023
- 20032
- 20042
- 20052
- 20061
- 20070
- 20104
- 20116
- 20126
- 20135
- 20145
- 201512
- 20169
- 20175
- 20186
- 20196
- 20202
- 20211
| Model year | Recall campaigns | Complaints | Share of the line average | Units in the campaigns |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Volkswagen Golf NHTSA page | 1 | 0 | 0% | 32,048 |
| 2020 Volkswagen Golf | 2 | 0 | 0% | 557,301 |
| 2019 Volkswagen Golf | 6 | 0 | 0% | 1,355,047 |
| 2018 Volkswagen Golf | 6 | 0 | 0% | 1,039,852 |
| 2017 Volkswagen Golf | 5 | 0 | 0% | 356,591 |
| 2016 Volkswagen Golf | 9 | 0 | 0% | 1,233,057 |
| 2015 Volkswagen Golf | 12 | 0 | 0% | 1,291,965 |
| 2014 Volkswagen Golf | 5 | 0 | 0% | 1,439,509 |
| 2013 Volkswagen Golf | 5 | 0 | 0% | 1,439,509 |
| 2012 Volkswagen Golf | 6 | 0 | 0% | 1,607,784 |
| 2011 Volkswagen Golf | 6 | 0 | 0% | 1,607,784 |
| 2010 Volkswagen Golf | 4 | 9 | 49% | 1,327,164 |
| 2007 Volkswagen Golf NHTSA page | 0 | 1 | 5% | |
| 2006 Volkswagen Golf NHTSA page | 1 | 6 | 33% | 1,002,000 |
| 2005 Volkswagen Golf | 2 | 12 | 66% | 1,021,284 |
| 2004 Volkswagen Golf | 2 | 23 | 126% | 1,021,284 |
| 2003 Volkswagen Golf | 2 | 20 | 110% | 1,004,564 |
| 2002 Volkswagen Golf | 3 | 69 | 379% | 1,467,000 |
| 2001 Volkswagen Golf | 5 | 108 | 593% | 1,804,168 |
| 2000 Volkswagen Golf | 5 | 85 | 467% | 1,779,876 |
| 1999 Volkswagen Golf | 4 | 60 | 330% | 1,073,209 |
| 1998 Volkswagen Golf NHTSA page | 1 | 18 | 99% | 4,243 |
| 1997 Volkswagen Golf NHTSA page | 0 | 23 | 126% | |
| 1996 Volkswagen Golf | 1 | 36 | 198% | 238,000 |
| 1995 Volkswagen Golf | 4 | 42 | 231% | 529,000 |
| 1994 Volkswagen Golf | 4 | 41 | 225% | 529,000 |
| 1993 Volkswagen Golf | 4 | 7 | 38% | 529,000 |
| 1992 Volkswagen Golf NHTSA page | 1 | 6 | 33% | 358,000 |
| 1991 Volkswagen Golf | 2 | 8 | 44% | 434,000 |
| 1990 Volkswagen Golf | 4 | 10 | 55% | 1,095,000 |
| 1989 Volkswagen Golf | 3 | 17 | 93% | 1,084,000 |
| 1988 Volkswagen Golf | 5 | 9 | 49% | 1,086,684 |
| 1987 Volkswagen Golf | 3 | 4 | 22% | 938,520 |
| 1986 Volkswagen Golf | 4 | 13 | 71% | 1,028,520 |
| 1985 Volkswagen Golf | 5 | 10 | 55% | 1,027,095 |
The share is the complaints of the model year divided by the average of the line for one model year. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
A model year with fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints has no page here. The link in its row opens its NHTSA page.
Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.
Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.
Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.
Components in the complaints
904 component mentions.
A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.
| Component | Per 1,000 | Mentions |
|---|---|---|
| Engine and Engine Cooling | 142.7 | 129 |
| Electrical System | 126.1 | 114 |
| Air Bags | 113.9 | 103 |
| Visibility | 96.2 | 87 |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic | 65.3 | 59 |
| Power Train | 61.9 | 56 |
| Exterior Lighting | 50.9 | 46 |
| Fuel System, Gasoline | 43.1 | 39 |
| Latches/Locks/Linkages | 42 | 38 |
| Equipment | 38.7 | 35 |
Counts by year
Other model lines of the make
- Jetta79 campaigns
- Passat54 campaigns
- Beetle32 campaigns
- GTI34 campaigns
- Touareg12 campaigns
- Eurovan6 campaigns
- New Beetle5 campaigns
- Cabrio5 campaigns
- Corrado6 campaigns
- R323 campaigns
- Fox5 campaigns
- Rabbit20 campaigns
- Vanagon15 campaigns
- Cabriolet6 campaigns
- EOS7 campaigns
- Routan8 campaigns
- Tiguan39 campaigns
- CC12 campaigns
- Scirocco16 campaigns
- Quantum4 campaigns
- Camper6 campaigns
- Dasher5 campaigns
- Type III7 campaigns
- Atlas48 campaigns
- Atlas Cross Sport30 campaigns
- ID.426 campaigns
- Beetle Convertible6 campaigns
- Golf R16 campaigns
- Golf Sportwagen9 campaigns
- Type I16 campaigns
- Type II13 campaigns
- Passat Wagon3 campaigns
- E-Golf8 campaigns
- Karman Ghia5 campaigns
- Taos8 campaigns
- Touareg Hybrid3 campaigns
- Arteon6 campaigns
- Jetta Hybrid3 campaigns
- Syncro3 campaigns
- Golf Alltrack4 campaigns
- Thing3 campaigns
- ID. Buzz2 campaigns
Volkswagen: all 43 model lines
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Official channels
- NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
- NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
Cite this page
Recall Register. Volkswagen Golf: recalls and complaints by model year. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/volkswagen/golf/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .
Sources
- Source
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
- Licence
- US government work, public domain
- Recall file through
- 30 Sep 2026
- Complaint file through
- 29 Mar 2018
- Manufacturer in the recall file
- VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA,INC
The model name is the name in the NHTSA files. NHTSA keeps a variant of a model as a different line. How the register is made. Report an error.
Questions
- Which Volkswagen Golf model years have the most recall campaigns?
- 2015 with 12, 2016 with 9, 2019 with 6. A campaign that names 3 model years is in the count of each of the 3.
- Which Volkswagen Golf model year has the most complaints?
- The 2001 model year, with 108 of the 637 complaints for the line. A newer model year has had less time to get complaints.
- Which components do the complaints about the Volkswagen Golf name?
- Engine and Engine Cooling: 142.7 per 1,000 component mentions. Electrical System: 126.1 per 1,000 component mentions. Air Bags: 113.9 per 1,000 component mentions.
- How many NHTSA investigations name the Volkswagen Golf?
- 21 investigations name one or more model years of the line. The page of each model year lists its investigations.