Recall Register

2003 Volkswagen Golf: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 2 recall campaigns for the 2003 Volkswagen Golf. The newest campaign is 18V406000. NHTSA received the report on 13 Jun 2018. The NHTSA record gives the component Air Bags / Frontal / Driver Side / Inflator Module. NHTSA has 27 complaints on file for this model year. 2 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 18V406000, in the NHTSA record

Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began May 2, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69X3.
NHTSA VIN lookup

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 .

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

2 campaigns, newest first. 1,004,564 units in total.

  1. 18V406000Received . 2,564 units.

    Air Bags / Frontal / Driver Side / Inflator Module

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2003 Volkswagen Passat sedan, Jetta, Jetta wagon, Golf, EuroVan, EuroVan Camper Van and EuroVan Chassis vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to explode.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could explode with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began May 2, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69X3.

    Report filed by Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.. Manufacturer campaign number 69X3. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  2. 07V063000Received . 1,002,000 units.

    Exterior Lighting / Brake Lights / Switch

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    On certain passenger, wagon, and convertible vehicles equipped with or without cruise control, a brake light switch may malfunction if it was installed incorrectly.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    The brake lights could become inoperative, or remain on. Failure to provide the proper signal when braking could lead to a crash without warning.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealers will install the newly designed brake light switch free of charge. The recall began on april 27, 2007, and will be conducted in several staggered mailings through september 21, 2007. Vehicles within the make, model, and model year of this population may be involved in either this recall or 06v-183, but not both. The remedy is the same for each recall. Volkswagen dealers will apply the remedy based on the VIN number of the vehicle. Owners may contact vw at 1-800-822-8987.

    Report filed by VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC. Manufacturer campaign number N4. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

27 complaints, 33 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. This model year has fewer than 50 component mentions, so the table shows the number of mentions only.

2003 Volkswagen Golf: component mentions in complaints
ComponentMentions
Air Bags11
Seats4
Electrical System4
Suspension3
Power Train2
Exterior Lighting2
Unknown or Other2
Equipment1
Fuel System, Other1
Engine and Engine Cooling1

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 12.

Complaints that report a crash
0
Complaints that report a fire
7
Injuries in the complaints
4
Deaths in the complaints
0
Date of the newest complaint
26 Oct 2022

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

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.

Complaints about the 2003 Volkswagen Golf, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2003, with 6 complaints.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 2003 Volkswagen Golf
NumberTypeSubjectComponentOpenedClosedCampaign
DP05004Defect petitionENGINE STALLINGElectrical System / Ignition / Module11 Aug 20058 Dec 2005
PE04081Preliminary evaluationINADVERTENT SIDE-AIRBAG DEPLOYMENTAir Bags / Side/Window16 Dec 20041 Apr 2005

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

  1. 19855
  2. 19864
  3. 19873
  4. 19885
  5. 19893
  6. 19904
  7. 19912
  8. 19921
  9. 19934
  10. 19944
  11. 19954
  12. 19961
  13. 19970
  14. 19981
  15. 19994
  16. 20005
  17. 20015
  18. 20023
  19. 20032
  20. 20042
  21. 20052
  22. 20061
  23. 20070
  24. 20080
  25. 20090
  26. 20104
  27. 20116
  28. 20126
  29. 20135
  30. 20145
  31. 201512
  32. 20169
  33. 20175
  34. 20186
  35. 20196
  36. 20202
  37. 20211
  38. 20220
  39. 20230

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. 2003 Volkswagen Golf: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/volkswagen/golf/2003/. 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
30 Sep 2026
First complaint in the file
1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 2003 Volkswagen Golf?
1,004,564 units in 2 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Volkswagen Golf have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 54 recall campaigns for the Volkswagen Golf, model years 1985 to 2023. 2 of them name the 2003 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 2003 Volkswagen Golf name most often?
Air Bags: 11 of 33 component mentions.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 2003 Volkswagen Golf open?
No. Each of the 2 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.