Engine & Cooling Problems are among the top complaints received by the NHTSA from vehicle owners
The 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI and Golf R went on sale in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2021.
Sales seem to be going well since by mid-2022 they had topped 5,391 which is not much less than the total 6,537 sales made during 2021. That said, they are a long way off the best ever Golf sales of 68,978 of 2017
While consumers haven’t registered any complaints with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about the Golf R yet, there are 10 complaints on file for the GTI. Interestingly, there are still no complaints about the 2021 Volkswagen Golf R and only 2 about the Golf R.
But as many as 4,269 of the two models have a recall that affects the engine. The recall notice warns that high acceleration driving maneuvers can loosen the engine design cover. If this happens, it may contact hot surface in the engine compartment and melt, increasing the risk of fire.
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The problems consumers are reporting to the NHTSA about the 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI are varied. But the most common issues relate to the engine and engine cooling, and are primarily complaints about coolant loss caused by loose radiators. Another serious issue involves sensors that fail intermittently. There are also complaints about faulty brakes.
| Complaint Category | Number of Complaints |
|---|---|
| Power Train | |
| Unknown Or Other | |
| Electrical System | |
| Engine | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Warnings | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Adaptive Cruise Control | |
| Forward Collision Avoidance: Automatic Emergency Braking | |
| Lane Departure: Assist | |
| Engine And Engine Cooling | |
| Back Over Prevention: Rearview System Braking |
Describing it as a factory defect, many 2022 Volkswagen Golf owners describe how radiators that are not firmly attached to their vehicles pull loose, and the coolant leaks out.
One complaint draws attention to the fact that there have been numerous complaints about the issue on social media and in forums on the internet. But, “for whatever reason, VW doesn’t seem to be addressing this issue.”
“After 3500 miles my radiator came loose and pushed a lower coolant hose into the alternator belt, chewed through the hose and all the coolant leaked out. Now my car is sitting at a dealer lot awaiting the replacement hose which is on back order in the entire country with no ETA.”
Another complaint states that the radiator came loose when the car had less than 200 miles on the clock. “Radiator was loose from the factory where it clips to (the) intercooler allowing movement of (the) radiator within (the) engine bay. Lower radiator hose then hit (the) crank pulley from movement in (the) radiator causing loss of coolant. Dealer replacing radiator hose, radiator and intercooler.”
It’s essentially the same complaint, over and over again.
“Clips that hold radiator failed, allowing a coolant hose to come into contact with a pulley, resulting in the immediate and complete loss of coolant. This is not an isolated issue – many owners in online forums have experienced the same issue, generally at 300-3000 miles.”
Is your coolant leaking or are you experiencing this issue? Read our post about VW Golf Coolant System issues.
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One of the complaints that highlights sensor-related problems states, “Various software glitches that can lead to anything from cruise control being disabled for no reason to the buttons on the steering wheel becoming not responsive. Audio glitches can sometimes happen where no audio can be heard from the cars speakers, even parking assist sensor sounds. Backup camera flickering is another issue that can happen sometimes. Issues are all intermittent.”
Another two, from the same person, also mentions faulty parking sensors. They relate to two 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTIs that both had exactly the same issues.
“All of the sensors relating to parking, rear cross traffic, ACC, etc. fail intermittently. (They all fail simultaneously and resolve simultaneously.) This has now occurred on two separate cars that I have owned (same make, year and model). The first was repurchased as a lemon, but the exact issue is now present on the second car (see separate report). The issue is dangerous since these are core safety features (e.g., rear cross traffic, emergency braking). The issue has been confirmed by a VW dealer on both vehicles. I also have photographs of the warning messages and lights on both vehicles.”
The warning messages noted are:
A complaint about faulty brakes states that after only driving about 200 miles in the new VW, “while driving at various speeds, the hill assist engaged the brake longer while the brake pedal was not depressed.” The car then stalled. Because he was able to restart the car, no repairs were needed.
If you believe you have bought a lemon, you need a legal firm like Lemberg Law to negotiate on your behalf. We have negotiated many settlement deals for clients with very varied vehicle problems.
All you have to do is contact our Helpline so that we can assess your problems. You’ve got nothing to lose because the law says Volkswagen must pay the legal fees of lemon law cases.
Brian Jones spent more than 30 years working as an ASE Certified Master Tech and Parts Specialist at multiple dealerships. Brian has become an authority in the industry, traveling across the country to consult for car dealerships and contributing his expertise as a writer for several major automotive publications. In his spare time, Brian enjoys working on pickup trucks, muscle cars, Jeeps and anything related to motorsports.
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Shift knob has come off multiple times. Also has a minor chip missing at the bottom of it. I filed a complaint with NTSB. I took the car into the dealership and they immediately took it in and gave me a loaner. I would encourage anybody that has this problem to report this problem to NSTSA, they have an online form that you can fill out and submit. This is a major safety problem and there needs to be fix by VW.