1998 Volkswagen Golf problems
Owners have filed 28 complaints with NHTSA about the 1998 Volkswagen Golf. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 21% of complaints. Next are electrical system (18%) and exhaust system (18%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 28 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 0 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
What the data shows
None of these complaints report a crash, fire, injury or death. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 100% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 17th most-complained-about out of 20 model years of the Volkswagen Golf with enough data (25 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
When pulling out the rpms reached up to 40,000 before transmission was shifted to the next gear and this is an automatic transmission. Dealer has been contacted.
The consumer has been experiencing problems with head restraints. Head rest drops down with a heavy impact. The manufacturer has been contacted.
ABS brake problems; intermittently when applying brakes on regular road conditions, brake pedal became very hard and there was no braking ability. Dealer could not find a problem with the brakes. This happened when the weather was cold. Please provide any further details.
Electrical defect: when turning ignition on and engine running, I experience a total loss of headlights, A/C fan motor, defroster, drl, fog lamps, rear-window defogger, and heater. (all other electrical systems continue functioning.) sometimes the problem is intermittent where everything functions; most of the time none of these units function electrically. Additional note: the "brake" lamp glows on in the dash when this electrical problem occurs. (emergency brake is not engaged.) cannot drive at night.
The vehicle's transmission would not shift from 2nd to 3rd gear. As a result the vehicle could not be driven more than 40 MPH. Please provide any additional information.