2002 Volkswagen Golf problems
Owners have filed 99 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Volkswagen Golf. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 25% of complaints. Next are electrical system (15%) and engine (14%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 99 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 25% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 13 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 51,000 miles 64 complaints with mileage
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%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 9 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 16 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 13 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 12 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 6 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Of the 64 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 51,000 miles. For air bags specifically, the median reported mileage is about 57,000 miles (16 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 13 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 8th most-complained-about out of 20 model years of the Volkswagen Golf with enough data (81 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
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.
Dt: the rod that connects the brake pedal to the brake booster broke at the welled. This problem occurred under normal driving conditions. There was an accident because of this on 8-20/21-205. The passenger sustained facial injuries, and the driver sustained bruises. The vehicle was totaled. Updated 11/4/2005 - when the brake pedal and brake booster were removed the consumer noticed that the rod between the pedal and booster was hollow.
Car was rear-ended at a stop light. Car cascaded into the cars in front. Airbags did not deploy on drivers side. Airbags (4) deployed on passenger side only. There was no passenger. Seems I could have used the airbag protection on my side. (driver).
Spontaneous air bag deployment on right side of my 2 door 2002 VW golf tdi while driving on a smooth blacktop road. While driving at approximately 30 MPH, the left side curtain and seat air bags deployed by them selves. The vehicle did not hit a bump or pothole or anything else in the road. The vehicle was not hit by anything. The vehicle was not involved in an accident prior to or during the air bag deployment. My wife was in the passenger seat and was hit by the deployed air bag.
Intermittently vehicle will lose all power without warning when driving. Dealership indicated that it is a result of a problem with ignition coil.ts.