RoadVitals

2022 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.
24
Latest Jun 7, 2023
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.
30%
of 81 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 2022 Volkswagen Golf submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 24 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

Engine
Filed Jun 7, 2023

Third time today I saw my radiator loose from passenger side and was rubbing on ac compressor pulley. Noticed gouge in elbow coming from lower coolant hose. I could lost all coolant on highway then lead to engine shutdown.

NHTSA ID
11525862
Incident
Jun 5, 2023
Engine
Filed Dec 6, 2022

My 2022 Golf GTI SE is part of the recall with NHTSA ID of 22V707 (Radiator and Coolant Hose). The issue is the radiator comes loose causing a hose and housing to make contact with the accessory belt eventually causing a leak. In my particular instance, I caught the problem early. My radiator had become loose (wasn't loose on previous checks) but hadn't dislodged to the point of causing damage. Per this recall, there's no "fix" for my issue as only the house/housing/pulley/belt are fixed if required. This leaves me waiting on on Volkswagen to issue an ACTUAL fix for the underlying problem (radiator mounting) rather than a fix for only the symptoms. At this point, I'm unable to drive my car for fear of failure and potential engine damage.

NHTSA ID
11496207
Incident
Dec 5, 2022
EnginePowertrain (other)
Filed Nov 19, 2022

Poor quality of the shifter knob component and installation from the factory for the 6-speed manual transmission variant of the 2022 VW GTI. The shifter knob can come loose and pop out of the metal shaft while shifting gears in the drive. The poor quality of the knob develops a crack in the corner of the component which can cause the knob to detach from the transmission over time and make the car undrivable. Since taking delivery of the car from the dealership, the shifter knob appears to not be installed properly as the component can feel loose and pop out of the metal shaft and get detached from the transmission. This incident of the shift knob popping out occurred a few times while driving. As changing gears with the shifter knob is a crucial aspect of driving the car, the current component poses a serious quality and safety issue for the car that was overlooked by the manufacturer.

NHTSA ID
11494263
Incident
Nov 17, 2022
Engine
Filed Oct 13, 2022

Shift knob came off of lever. Plastic sleeve broke above metal clamp. Available for inspection. Could have caused an accident if happened while driving. Has not been inspected by dealer yet. Will take it o next visit. Knob was suddenly loose. Happened while backing out of garage. Replaced knob with aftermarket one. This problem has happened to many VW mk8 GTI/R drivers.

NHTSA ID
11489160
Incident
Sep 12, 2022
Engine
Filed Oct 4, 2022

Low coolant light appeared on dashboard. Radiator assembly had became dislodged and caused a coolant leak. Required immediate pullover on the interstate.

NHTSA ID
11487780
Incident
Aug 4, 2022
Engine
Filed Sep 15, 2022

The radiator fell out of it's harness, which cause the coolant hose to rub against a belt. The cooling hose broke, causing all coolant to leak out of the car. The car is now unable to be driven. This is a prevalent issue I heard about throughout the community, but has not been addressed by Volkswagen in any way. The only warning I received from the vehicle was that the car was low on coolant.

NHTSA ID
11484620
Incident
Sep 15, 2022
Engine
Filed Sep 13, 2022

Radiator hose hit the serpentine belt and caused full loss of coolant. I currently have 1,483 miles on my car bought new from the dealership. I haven’t even opened my hood until today when I was alerted to low coolant levels and had them all spilling out on my driveway.

NHTSA ID
11484274
Incident
Sep 13, 2022
Engine
Filed Sep 7, 2022

Radiator came loose allowing the lower return hose to contact the AC pulley and become damaged. Car lost substantial amount of cooling fluid and had to be parked. Eventually it was driven a short distance to the dealership for repair involving replacement of the radiator and hose. Dealer did not advise on any modification past returning car to previous state.

NHTSA ID
11483304
Incident
Jul 4, 2022
Engine
Filed Sep 4, 2022

Common problem on 2022 VW GTI models - radiator comes loose from upper clip mount on passenger side of vehicle, causing radiator to fall out of place. This causes the lower radiator to move enough so that the coolant hose rubs against a nearby serpentine belt, resulting in a hole in the hose and loss of coolant. This happened to me on Saturday, August 6. I was alerted with a LOW COOLANT warning in the dashboard. I immediately pulled over to check it out, saw the problem, and drove straight to dealer. Technician looked at it and said, "yep, I've done two of these already in the last month". This is a widespread issue as reported on vwvortex.com and the VW Mk8 group on Facebook. My car has been at Stohlman VW for over four weeks now, awaiting parts. Some owners have had the issue multiple times.

NHTSA ID
11482809
Incident
Aug 6, 2022
Engine
Filed Sep 1, 2022

When driving at highway speeds, coolant sensor light stated there was a problem. Pulled off of freeway and noticed that coolant was spewing everywhere. Opened hood and radiator had come loose and damage to coolant lines when coming in contact with belts.

NHTSA ID
11482335
Incident
Aug 19, 2022
Engine
Filed Aug 28, 2022

July I broke down with a "low coolant" light, I pulled tot the side of the road, opened the hood and had a low coolant level. After further inspection of why - my radiator had come loose, pushing parts of it into the serpintine belt causing coolant to splew all over the engine bay. After a month of being at VW, they "Fixed" it. I picked up my car after they had called me yelling about the rental car they had given me, to bring it back at x date and time. So I had to break my Vacation in Oregon short which was about a 959 mile drive for me and get my car. Which, a week later broke down again from the same issue and left me stranded for 24 hours. I have pictures/videos of this.

NHTSA ID
11481597
Incident
Aug 26, 2022
Engine
Filed Aug 19, 2022

While driving warning lights started flashing stating car was over heating. Had the car towed to VW dealership and was informed that the coolant hose was leaking and needs to be replaced. This problem has been reported by many other GTI owners. Was old it will take between 1 to 4 months to secure the part.

NHTSA ID
11480176
Incident
Aug 14, 2022
Engine
Filed Aug 10, 2022

Radiator became loose causing radiator to have play, which in turn caused it to push the radiator hose into the drive belt causing the vehicle to spill coolant everywhere and overheat

NHTSA ID
11478703
Incident
Aug 2, 2022
Engine
Filed Aug 10, 2022

driving along normally with 1600 miles on the car and a low coolant message and tons of other warning lights came on. Radiator came loose from its mount, causing a cooling hose to contact engine pulley and fail. Towed car to dealership and 6 weeks later they finally fixed it.

NHTSA ID
11478621
Incident
Jun 27, 2022
Engine
Filed Aug 10, 2022

Passagner side radiator housing clip is loose and can disloge the radiator allowing the coolant sensor to make contact with the serpentine belt gear and break the coolant hose connector that can casue a catasrophic coolant system failure. Multiple ownsers are also complaining of the same issue. https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/coolant-system-failure.9496016/ video showing the issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWZuAx7tA8w Local dealer states: no repair available at this time when I brought it to the dealer to address before it became an issue. I already had to reclip it twice.

NHTSA ID
11478520
Incident
Jun 16, 2022
Engine
Filed Aug 9, 2022

Radiator LOOSE causing excessive rubbing on coolant hose causing leak and leaving vehicle stranded. This is happening to HUNDREDS of VW MK8 GTI's. This is a massive quality control issue and VW needs to address this very prevalent issue. This is causing owners to zip tie their radiators to prevent movement. My vehicle is brand new, just purchased new at dealership 2 weeks ago, mine is loose as well. Had I not been on enthusiast forums, I would have never know about it. Terrible quality control by VW!! This is a serious issue. https://www.facebook.com/DeutscheAutoParts/videos/1232366914233838

NHTSA ID
11478379
Incident
Aug 6, 2022
Engine
Filed Aug 8, 2022

Radiator came loose and cause a catastrophic coolant loss while driving leaving me stranded, a lot of people are having this problem

NHTSA ID
11478096
Incident
Jul 17, 2022
Engine
Filed Aug 2, 2022

The radiator is loose, causing one of the hose to rub against the engine. It drilled a hole into the hose and leaked all the coolant in the car. The coolant light came on, and the car had to be towed away or it would have been overheated. Coolant splashed all over the engine bay. The car had 95 mileage.

NHTSA ID
11477068
Incident
Jul 30, 2022
Engine
Filed Jul 19, 2022

Radiator is not clipped in properly at the factory and causes the lower radiator hose to come intro contact with belts and pulleys. This in turn causes all antifreeze to leak out into the roadway and causes engine to overheat. Both can be dangerous and cause vehicle to catch FIRE. The plastic connector on the lower radiator hose rubbed on the pully and melted. Vehicle is still at the dealership waiting on parts. A search online shows this problem started in Feb 2022. I just bought my vehicle and it has less than 1000 miles on it.

NHTSA ID
11474648
Incident
Jul 16, 2022
Engine
Filed Jul 7, 2022

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.

NHTSA ID
11472713
Incident
Apr 7, 2022
EngineTransmission
Filed Jun 2, 2022

Radiator was loose from the factory where it clips to intercooler allowing movement of radiator within engine bay. Lower radiator hose then hit crank pulley from movement in radiator causing loss of coolant. Dealer replacing radiator hose, radiator and intercooler. Factory defect, happened with less than 200 miles on the car.

NHTSA ID
11467237
Incident
May 28, 2022
EnginePowertrain (other)
Filed May 27, 2022

After hearing reports that some 2022 VW GTIs were suffer total coolant loss due to a loose radiator I checked my own new GTI. I found that my GTI’s radiator was unsecured at the top on the passenger side and it could freely move back and forth approximately 1.25 inches. This could allow the radiator, shroud and fan to contact moving parts in the engine bay. Might be duplicate report, I tried earlier and got an error message.

NHTSA ID
11466314
Incident
May 26, 2022
Engine
Filed May 27, 2022

Radiator not firmly attached to the car. Radiator freely moves back and forth about one inch at the top on passenger side. Radiator, fan and shroud at risk of hitting other engine parts. I investigated this after seeing reports on internet and found that my vehicle has this problem.

NHTSA ID
11466312
Incident
May 26, 2022
BrakesElectricalEngine
Filed Mar 28, 2022

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Golf. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the hill assist engaged the brake longer while the brake pedal was not depressed. The contact mentioned that the vehicle stalled afterwards. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200.

NHTSA ID
11458589
Incident
Mar 24, 2022
Mileage
200 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.

Other components reported on this vehicle

Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

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