2012 Volkswagen Golf problems
Owners have filed 68 complaints with NHTSA about the 2012 Volkswagen Golf. Fuel system is the most reported problem area, at 24% of complaints. Next are engine (16%) and air bags (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 68 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Fuel system 24% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 6 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 14,000 miles 57 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 | 31 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 11 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 5 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 57 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 14,000 miles. For fuel system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 13,000 miles (15 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 6 complaints mention a crash; 5 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2012 ranks 12th most-complained-about out of 20 model years of the Volkswagen Golf with enough data (57 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 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.
I was traveling on a highway in dallas. There was a 2003 toyota tacoma two lanes to the left of me. He apparently wanted to take an exit that was rapidly coming up. He had a dresser in the bed so he asked his wife if it was clear to cut across all 5 lanes to take the exit. I was two lanes over and rear ended him. He brake when he saw me and I had little time to react, so I hit him front distributed to rear distributed. My air bags did not deploy.
This car was involved in a vehicle crash. Impact was to the driver's side primarily to the door and front end. Despite the severity of the impact, no air bags deployed from the driver's side or the steering wheel. I sustained an injury to the shoulder and am concerned about the safety of the vehicle.
On 12/24/2012, returning from a restaurant with my family, I heard a bang and my engine died while driving on a city street at 35 MPH. I was able to safely put the car in neutral and roll off the street. I found out on 12/26 that my water pump had fallen apart, destroying my timing belt and engine head. Several vehicles with the build date of my car have experienced water pump failures that destroy the timing belt and cause catastrophic engine failures.
While operating the vehicle under normal conditions, I heard a rattle from the engine, followed by the sound of something rattling in the engine compartment and then falling out. The engine died immediately and I was able to coast to the shoulder. After the dealer inspected the car they found that the water pump was faulty and it caused the water pump pulley to come off and cause damage to the cylinder head, valves, cover, water pump, and timing belt, in addition to the water pump pulley falling off.