2004 Volkswagen Golf problems
Owners have filed 33 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Volkswagen Golf. Fuel system is the most reported problem area, at 21% of complaints. Next are electrical system (12%) and engine (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 33 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Fuel system 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 1
- Typical mileage
- 35,000 miles 28 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 | 6 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 3 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 28 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 35,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 3 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 1 death reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2004 ranks 16th most-complained-about out of 20 model years of the Volkswagen Golf with enough data (27 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 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.
Owner was driving in the cruise control mode and the cruise control stayed engaged at 55 MPH and vehicle went off the road into a ditch. Vehicle went through all kinds of debris, and hit a tree stump. Then, went airborne into a tree. The driver was killed instantly.
Dt: the consumer states that on june 30, 2005, his vehicle burned to the ground, VW 2004 turbo diesel golf. The consumer was driving on the freeway, the consumer started smelling smoke. A few minutes later the vehicle was filled with smoke and the consumer could not see. The consumer stopped the car in the middle of the road and jumped out of the car. After the consumer ran away from the vehicle, he turned around to see the vehicle engulfed in flames from the back seats.
The engine made a sound as if air under pressure was being released, along with a quite noticeable vibration when turning it off on the evening of 30 aug 2005. Enroute to the dealer to be checked on 31 aug 2005, when attempting to stop, I pushed the brake pedal to the floor, twice, with no response from the brake system. As a result, I hit the trailer hitch of a stopped SUV. Minimal damage to the SUV; however, considerable damage to the golf. No repair work done yet; the brake pedal has slight resistance now.
While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle swerved to the right without warning. The consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle and pulled over. The consumer noticed that the tread was separating from the front passenger tire. Please provide further details. The consumer replaced both front tires and had the repairs made. When the vehicle was serviced the consumer was told that the rear tires (both orignal tires) were low on air.
The dual-mass flywheel came apart in my volkswagen golf tdi (2004) causing difficulty in shifting and need for premature clutch replacement. The problem started nearly a month before I had it diagnosed at the dealer as a bad clutch.