Electrical System Problems of Volkswagen Golf - part 1

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.

See all problems of the 2017 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2022 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

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 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.

See all problems of the 2018 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

Back up camera not working due to infotainment system not working. Dealer is aware, says they are waiting for a software update.

See all problems of the 2023 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

The contact owns a 2019 vw Golf. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 23v604000(electrical system) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The local dealer was contacted and it was confirmed that the part was not available. The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced the failure. The VIN tool confirms parts not available.

See all problems of the 2019 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

I smelled a strong odor coming from the heater that turned out to be burnt plastic and wiring associated with the auxiliary heater. This is an obvious fire/ smoke hazard that could have been deadly if other nearby components caught fire.

See all problems of the 2015 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

I have errors popping up on my dashboard. It says “travel assist is currently not available “ or “emergency assist is currently not available “ . This does not happen every time I drive the vehicle but it happens quite frequently. When it happens it flashes and beeps constantly for a couple of minutes or even longer. Sometimes it beeps during the whole 30+ minutes trip. There is no way to turn it off. This is not just an annoyance but also a safety concern because it’s distracting. I brought my car to the dealership in September and after a couple of days they said that they’re not able to reproduce the problem. The problem still exists.

Infotainment system fails to start/load. Infotainment screen provides multiple error messages such and “component protection active” and/ or “you can activate this function at dealer” and subsequently becomes inoperable, including multiple safety related features: back up/ rear view camera freezes image or does not turn on at all. Autonomous emergency braking (front assist) fail light comes on. Park distance control fail light comes on. Have been to the vw dealer on two different occasions for these issues specifically and the systems and problems not resolved. They reset/ updated the infotainment system at 1st visit. System failed again/ unresolved. Took back to dealer and they called vw corporate for help. Picked up from 2nd visit and systems promptly failed again. Online search suggests common, unresolved problem. Thank you for aiding consumers in resolving these safety issues.

I turn my vehicle on and immediately and presented with a message on the dashboard display: "sos emergency call function not available: see dealer. " indicating that the emergency call function of the vehicle is not working and inaccessible. The problem was reproduced/observed by my Volkswagen dealer and was inspected/confirmed to be defective. There was no indication before this warning message that there was an issue with the emergency call function in the vehicle. Without this safety feature, I am unable to make an emergency call if I/my family are in an accident putting us and others in danger. The original issue was reported to my Volkswagen dealer in September, 2023 and I was told the part is "on backorder" with no promised date when it would become available. The part involved is number j949 - emergency call and communication unit.

See all problems of the 2020 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

Having consistent issues with safety features and infotainment system that locks up with errors. Since new my vw gti has been experiencing drivers' assistants' issues. At times the backup camera does not work. At times the the whole infotainment system will have various different errors that prevent any of the safety features to be turned on. The errors don't easily go away unless turning off the car and trying to restart it all.

Infotainment center will randomly go into "component protection" mode, and the center console will become stuck in a loop of rebooting. While component protection is active, the following systems become unavailable: backup camera, radio, climate controls, advanced driver assist systems, park assist system, drive mode button, cruise control situations that have occurred to me personally: climate control fan becomes stuck on high, radio stops functioning, radio power button does not respond, parking menu button does not respond, car drive mode button does not respond, advanced driver sensor assist button does not respond, climate control button does not respond. Attempt to resolve this issue through Volkswagen certified technicians 6+ times.

While driving suddenly falsely detects obstructions and auto brakes , the acc system entirely turns on and off while driving , same with forward collision and lane keep assist. The dangers I’m having of auto braking on false obstructions is unfit for driving daily and is causing a road hazard as it almost has made me have accidents.

Airbag light came on, then all electrics to steering wheel failed, including the horn. Clock spring failed. Safety issue with no airbag and no horn. Known that vws have a problem with clock spring failure. Should be a recall.

See all problems of the 2016 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

I was driving down the freeway on the way to work at 75 mph when all of a sudden my epc went off in my 2013 volkswagon gti my entire car shut down (manual transmission) I lost all steering ability while on the freeway going 75 mph I couldn't get over to the shoulder due to loss of brakes due to entire car shutting down . I was almost smashed by a semi due to inability to steer my vehicle to total loss of power . I got the vehicle towed to a service shop they tell me that my timing chain had stretched and timing chain tensioner has failed, which caused significant damage to my engine . I bought the vehicle used and have taken meticulous car on it since I have owned it 3k oil changes ,proper oil ,proper, premium gas as notated milage based maintenance. The service center then notifies me that there was a class action lawsuit about failing timing chains and tensioners but when I called my local volkswagon dealership they told me it only covers up to125,000 miles but what I don't understand is that this issue almost cost me my life this is a known issue hence a class action lawsuit but to actually take care of the situation they refuse to do so I do enjoy the vehicle but I almost lost my life.

See all problems of the 2013 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

Clock spring issue in vw Golf’s should re reinvestigated. These are failing on these cars and companies are not looking into fixes or warranty help for these devices that should last. It’s shortsighted for consumers to continue to deal with this issue.

My vw Golf has experienced rear door lock issues where both rear dock locks no longer work (lock or unlock) when pressing the lock button on the key or inside the vehicle. The only way to get the doors to lock is by manually locking the doors via a little slot in the door sill on each side. While it can be unlocked internally by just pulling the handle one time. This is a safety issue as door locks are a necessity for a vehicle to prevent theft of vehicle or items inside. It can also cause safety concerns for passengers in the rear(which is usually children. This also poses a danger to children due to the ease of unlocking from inside the rear passenger seats. The problem was confirmed to be the rear door latches via a dealer on 2/23/2024, however after replacing both latches with new parts, nothing was resolved. This issue is not the first time, as it is known that vw locks and many electrical components may randomly stop working, I have experienced the issue with a previous Volkswagen vehicle as well (2009 vw jetta). There are no warning lights on the dashboard or other signs of the failure.

Car will stutter and stall. Usually after multiple short trips (5 stops and starts) in a short period of time (2 hours). 1 min/1000 gauge is fluttering around 0. 75 on gauge when stopped. When car stalls it can be when pulling out at a stop sign. It will stall when gas is applied and then I need to coast around a corner. Occasionally the car will stall out when driving between 20 and 30 miles per hour. When this happens it is extremely dangerous because I am driving in traffic and need to pull over to the side of the road. I had this problem fixed at the dealership once before in 2021 and it cost $559. 08 then. I was told at the time that gas sometimes has sediment in it and I should not get gas at grocery store pumps where the price is lower. I should stick to better gas stations. I now am getting my gas at the same two better places all the time hoping that the problem wouldn’t happen again. The problem started two weeks ago and is following the same pattern. I scheduled a service appointment again for them to check my car but it never displays any codes and it is difficult for them to recreate the stalling. My car is almost at 85,000 miles when my warranty runs out.

Faulty door wiring harness leading driver side blinkers to stop working, windows randomly rolling down, rear collision detector errors, engine start/stop errors.

See all problems of the 2021 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

Electronic issues with the infotainment screen that have caused the backup camera to fail to work on multiple occasions. The parking sensors also don't always work properly.

The car constantly says the travel and emergency assist do not work. It’s constantly dinging. I bought the car with the expectation of having these safety features. Many if not all of these generation of gti have this issue and vw has no fix.

Vehicles infotainment system does not turn on at startup - several error messages for safety features by most importantly, rear camera does not work when infotainment system screen is down and requires the dealer to activate it or fully black screen. Took to vw three times and they cannot determine the issue. Says it’s a software issue, but also showing “low voltage” warnings in computer diagnostics. Audi, owned by Volkswagen, just issued a recall for infotainment systems disabling rear cameras due to low voltage issues. The symptoms are identical to the vw issues. This is Audi recall internally coded 91ei and it impacted many makes and models. I believe the components are possibly shared and the recall needs to extend to the gti as well. Contacted vw and they have been unresponsive to me. I have video of the issue that shows the issue in more detail. Also attached the work order from vw that noted “low voltage”.

Vehicle exhibits multiple electrical and systems faults related to the airbags, tmps, abs, etc, as similarly described in 07/26/2019 Volkswagen technical tip 97-1902tt. Vehicle interior and sunroof tray is wet in various places. These issues raise concerns as they relate to safety and drivability. Upon inspection, the plastic sunroof tray is apparently cracked in multiple places as described in 12/06/2016 Volkswagen TSB 2045403 (supersedes v601608 November 22, 2016) and referenced again in Volkswagen update 60c7. According to dealership records, the sunroof tray was claimed repaired per Volkswagen update 60c7. This does not seem to be true.

First, the airbag warning light came on, then followed by the horn not working and cruise control was lost. I also suspecting the power steering is also gone. This is related to the clock spring failure from my research online. This should have been recall because this is a safety hazard.

This is related to vw recal 37m2. My VIN is not in the recall list, but it has the exact same issue with the shifter assembly. The car does not recognize when the transmission is placed in park. Unable to lock doors.

Travel assist (acc)light pops up for any reason, that scares you at the beginning because when you are driving you think is something big and could be if you are driving and crash for put attention to the warning light. I tried to desactivate but the function says is unavailable, I did my homework to investigate a little bit more and there’s more cars like mine doing the same thing. The light goes away for days or hours but later come up again.

The problem is component protection, when the car goes into component protection you lose a/c and defrost, crash protection, it has been see by a Volkswagen dealer.

Fuse f16 (30a) in the engine fuse plate, melted instead of breaking - causing half of the cars lights to stop functioning including turn signals and brake lights. Cannot be fixed with replacing the fuse as it was never tripped but instead the whole fuse plate needs to be replaced. No warning lights preceded the event, all lights went out while driving. Vw dealership requires a new plate to be put in with no explanation of what caused the melt and no guarantee that it won’t happen again. Multiple online forums suggest a similar finding, and even other models have tickets for recalls (same problem, same part) but not the 2011 Golf tdi.

See all problems of the 2011 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

Nearly every morning on my way to work I get error codes warning me of front assist systems not working. It stays on for a while then disappears. It's so sporadic. Sometimes it will stay on the whole way to work. I then park the car for the day and when I come out to start the car to return home, the codes are gone. I'm even getting the error codes on the vw app that communicates with the car. This is a major safety feature with the car and vw has done nothing to correct it. I've had this issue since I bought the car in December 2021.

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.

Air bag light came on and it was determined that the clock spring failed. This car has only 38,118 miles on the speedometer.

While driving on the freeway the car stopped accelerating and would only rev when gas pedal was pressed. I coasted to the fast lane shoulder and put on hazard lights. Chp had to stop freeway traffic to push me to the side of the freeway. Car eventually restarted and let me put into gear. I drove to auto repair store and they scanned car. Code u0103 came back: no communication with gear shift module.

See all problems of the 2014 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

At first, my vehicle dashboard warning light came on saying I have 9 different lights out(headlight, high beam, brake light, turn signals, etc). I thought it was odd for all these to go out at once, so I took it to the dealership for them to look at it. They couldn’t find anything and gave it back. It went off for a while but then the warning lights came back on. I again took it to the dealership, they told me I would have to leave it for an unknown amount of time for them to look at it. I wasn’t able to do that because it was my only motive transportation. After looking online to see if anyone else had the same issue I found multiple people who said they have the same issue. The fuse box under the hood has begun to melt, which affected the green 30 fuse which was almost completely melted. I replaced that fuse with a new one and that fixed the warning lights. I feel it is still a safety issue because the fuse box is going to continue to melt which could produce a fire.

See all problems of the 2012 Volkswagen Golf 🔎.

Electrical short caused catastrophic fire in engine compartment, suspected issue is a water leak due to faulty manufacturing. Leak was noted by Volkswagen repair facility and was to be inspected and repaired within 30 days.

Clock spring failure, air bag error, loss of horn and steering wheel button controls such as cruise control.