RoadVitals

2017 Volkswagen Golf Engine Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the engine system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Engine reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
18
Latest May 5, 2026
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
16%
of 115 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
0
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
0

What this page shows

Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2017 Volkswagen Golf submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 18 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming engine

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

ElectricalEngine
Filed May 5, 2026

Driving my 2017Golf the check engine light came on. The light was steady. I called my dealer and got it in for service. They report to me that the Thermostat housing needs to be replaced and oxygen sensors need replacing also. I just had the manifold replaced 6 weeks ago. I found on line that this is a common problem . Why isn’t this a Recall Repair?

NHTSA ID
11735790
Incident
Apr 28, 2026
EngineFuel system
Filed Nov 1, 2023

Fuel evaporation canister started leaking raw fuel after a strong gas odor was present before hand. The fuel suction pump failed and pressure built up in my gas tank. I was at risk because the presence of raw fuel near ignition sources can cause a fire. Verified at Volkswagen dealership. No warning signs by car when issue first started. Only sign of problem before raw fuel leaking was poor car performance, car stalled and I could not put more than a gallon of gas in the fuel tank.

NHTSA ID
11552952
Incident
Oct 14, 2023
EngineFuel system
Filed Sep 25, 2023

Vehicle EPC light comes on dash. OBD code is "P00AF00 - Turbocharger Boost Control "A" Module". This error causes sudden loss of power and loss of driver assistance (forward collision assist, blind spot assist, cruise control, etc.). Vehicle is available for inspection upon request. Upon checking turbo charger, the wastegate actuator arm is seized up, keeping the wastegate from functioning properly, failing to maintain boost pressure and entering limp mode causing sudden loss of power and acceleration. This has happened while on the roadway, attempting to merge into highway traffic, change lanes & pass other vehicles. This caused the vehicle behind me to close the distance very rapidly almost resulting in multiple rear end collisions. The vehicle has not been inspected by others, yet. The only warning that came on was when it first did it. I had a sudden loss of power, a warning beep from the dash and the EPC light illuminated. It fixed itself after a few moments then occured again. It is now stuck with this error and will not operate accordingly.

NHTSA ID
11546483
Incident
Sep 25, 2023
BrakesEngineFuel system
Filed Jul 12, 2023

Breaks are not fuctioning well Engine is not fuctioning well

NHTSA ID
11531806
Incident
Jul 12, 2023
Engine
Filed Jun 16, 2023

The thermostat housing leaked all my radiator fluid across the front of the engine block. I have to refill the reservoir every 2-3 days in order to keep the coolant in the engine and to keep it from overheating. Low coolant lights came on at a stop light, to initially alert me of the problem. There's currently a class-action suit against VW for this and it's time to issue a recall.

NHTSA ID
11527425
Incident
Jan 31, 2023
ElectricalEngineFuel system
Filed Jan 17, 2023

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.

NHTSA ID
11502182
Incident
Jan 16, 2023
EngineFuel system
Filed Nov 15, 2022

My car started sputtering randomly while I was driving and loosing power. Then when I tried to gas up my car, the car wouldn’t accept the gas. When I got home, gas started overflowing out of the tank all into my garage. It also soaked the whole wheel well with gas. There was no check engine line that came on. There is a current recall for this same issue which VW said is a suction pump problem on other GTI’s but not my car. There are tons of over videos on Facebook/YouTube of the exact same thing happening to them. I had the problem fixed at the dealer but it cost 3500 dollars. I still have all the receipts from the repair cost and I would like to be reimbursed since they expanded the recall but my car hasn’t received this recall even though it is the exact same issue.

NHTSA ID
11493720
Incident
Jul 28, 2022
EngineFuel system
Filed Jul 22, 2022

The 20Y6 recall for VW Golfs is exactly what my 2017 VW Golf GTI experienced. I am surprised the 2017 model year is not included. I did not feel safe driving my car with a failing fuel suction pump causing engine issues in traffic. When I finally made it home there was smoke coming out of my exhaust and fuel spilling out of the rear passenger wheel well.

NHTSA ID
11475400
Incident
Jul 19, 2022
Engine
Filed May 24, 2022

absurd oil consumption. I have never experienced a vehicle burning oil like VW golf. The vehicle manual states to check the oil every time filling the gas and it is normal for VW golf to burn oil. That said, I have owned more than ten cars in my lifetime, and I have never experienced an engine burning more than a quart every 700 to 1000 miles. I did not have any issues until ~35K miles. After hitting ~35K, I started experiencing the problem. VW service states to do the oil change every 10K, which if I wait, the engine will be toast. I have topped off at almost 10 to 13 quarts of additional between the oil change, i.e., between 10K change I am not sure what kind of complaints NHTSA has received, but I find many owners having similar issues doing google search. It seems VW is getting away with significant flaws with their engine burdening VW owners with the cost of additional oil and flawed design engine minimal lifetime. I will appreciate it if your organization looks into this issue and has VW take responsibility.

NHTSA ID
11466014
Incident
May 17, 2022
Engine
Filed Mar 30, 2022

Thermostat Housing Issue and Coolant Loss

NHTSA ID
11458954
Incident
Dec 1, 2021
Engine
Filed Feb 23, 2022

Yes my concern is the water pump that is made out of plastic which is notorious to fail at low miles. My car only has 64k on it. This water pump was not build well and VW really should designed a better one. To replace this pumps are costly and its guarantee it will not be needed to be fixed again in a short time. My pump will cost me around $ 1700 to repair. These pumps are a ticking time bomb waiting to happen.

NHTSA ID
11453632
Incident
Feb 2, 2022
Engine
Filed Sep 7, 2021

My 2017 VW Golf has been leaking oil and coolant. It was taken to a VW dealership where the problem was diagnosed as a leaking auxiliary bracket gasket behind the thermostat housing. The service advisor told me that the car could randomly undergo a catastrophic loss of power if the component were to totally fail. He advised me not to drive the vehicle due to this possibility and the safety issues involved with abrupt loss of power, especially at highway speeds. I requested that this component be repaired under the VW Powertrain Warranty which is still in force for my vehicle but this coverage has been denied by VW Customer Care. The car continues to leak but has not yet lost power. I am concerned that this is a major safety issue for my car. The car is available for inspection upon request.

NHTSA ID
11432063
Incident
Aug 12, 2021
Engine
Filed Aug 11, 2021

Issues with thermostat housing: the part fails, causing a slow coolant leak. Coolant light eventually comes on. I bought my car in fall 2016. Issue first occurred and was diagnosed and fixed by dealer under warranty in April 2020. It has now (August 2021) reoccurred and has been diagnosed again by the dealer as the same issue. This should be a lifetime part. I should not have had to replace this part twice within a little more than a year, on a car that is just about five years old. Safety issue: possibility of sudden failure/overheating that might leave the driver stranded by the side of the road. Numerous others have reported this issue occurring repeatedly; please see https://www.reddit.com/r/GolfGTI/comments/drna5m/mk775_thermostat_housing_issue_and_coolant_loss/ VW has also settled a class action on a similar issue on an older generation of cars (Coffeng, et al. v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.) A class action involving the current generation of cars is currently in progress (Zhao, et al., vs. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., et al.).

NHTSA ID
11428661
Incident
Aug 5, 2021
Engine
Filed Apr 6, 2021

REPLACED MY WATER PUMP 2 TIMES ALREADY. NOW I AM REPLACING THERMOSTAT HOUSING. ALL THIS UNDER 45000 MILES

NHTSA ID
11406710
Incident
Apr 6, 2021
Mileage
45,000 mi
Engine
Filed Feb 4, 2021

LEAKING THERMOSTAT HOUSING

NHTSA ID
11394610
Incident
Feb 1, 2021
Mileage
79,323 mi
Engine
Filed Dec 22, 2019

THERMOSTAT HOUSING AND WATER PUMP, COOLANT LOSS AND LEAK. DEALER REPLACED THERMOSTAT HOUSING MARCH 2019 (24,000MI), 12/22/19 (37,400MI) ANOTHER COOLANT LEAK LIKELY FROM SECOND THERMOSTATE OR ORIGNAL WATER PUMP WHICH WAS SAID NOT TO HAVE BEEN REPLACED. CAR IS WELL MAINTAINED AND CARED FOR PREEMPTIVELY AS A GERMAN CAR SHOULD.

NHTSA ID
11290702
Incident
Dec 22, 2019
Mileage
37,400 mi
Engine
Filed Feb 2, 2018

VEHICLE HAD 300 MILES ON ENGINE WHEN LOW OIL PRESSURE INDICATOR REGISTERED. CAUSE WAS METAL SHAVINGS IN OIL, ACCORDING TO MANUFACTURER AS TOLD TO DEALER. MANUFACTURER INSTRUCTED DEALER TO REPLACE ENGINE AND ALL ASSOCIATED PARTS LUBRICATED BY ENGINE OIL AND SEND NON-FUNCTIONING ENGINE TO MANUFACTURER'S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FACILITY; STATED THAT PROBLEM HAS HAPPENED, ALBEIT INFREQUENTLY, TO OTHER LIKE ENGINES. WARRANTY COVERED ALL COSTS. I HAVE INVOICES FOR AUTO PURCHASE AND REPAIR.

NHTSA ID
11066587
Incident
Nov 7, 2017
Mileage
300 mi
ElectricalEngine
Filed Apr 13, 2017

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2017 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE CHECK ENGINE INDICATOR ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE VEHICLE HAD MISFIRED IN ALL CYLINDERS; HOWEVER, THEY WERE UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. THE DEALER CLEARED THE SYSTEM AND WARNING SENSORS AND ADVISED THE CONTACT TO ALLOW THE VEHICLE TO WARM UP BEFORE DRIVING. IN ADDITION, THE FAILURE RECURRED TWO WEEKS LATER. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN BACK TO THE DEALER WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT IT NEEDED A SOFTWARE UPDATE; HOWEVER, AN UPDATE WAS NOT AVAILABLE AT THE TIME. THE FAILURE OCCURRED A TOTAL OF THREE TIMES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURES. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 1,300. ..UPDATED 05/15/17 *BF *CN

NHTSA ID
10972264
Incident
Mar 9, 2017
Mileage
1,300 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

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Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

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