2001 Volkswagen GTI problems
Owners have filed 97 complaints with NHTSA about the 2001 Volkswagen GTI. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 25% of complaints. Next are air bags (20%) and wipers, windshield & visibility (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 97 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 25% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 12 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 49,000 miles 69 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 | 6 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 21 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 13 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 9 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 10 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 69 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 49,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 50,000 miles (19 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 12 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2001 ranks 6th most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Volkswagen GTI with enough data (71 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.
Revised/update: original complaint 10222650 3-29-08. As per tire forensics specialist right rear tire has 2 nail punctures likely picked up on the freeway, unforeseen. He said that due to punctures,slow to fast pressure changes, the tire heated up, inner sidewall de-vulcanized. So my tire flattened, car lost control, fishtailed across fwy, I collided with big rig and eventually came to stop on shoulder. Do tire manufactures test for these possibilities for tires they market? If not, why not?
Steering is having problems. When trying to change gears on a turn, vehicle locks up. Had no control of vehicle and it ran off the road. Contacted dealer. Consumer also states that vehicle pulls sharply.
My blinkers stopped working in august 2002. Dealer repaired under warranty. January 2003 check engine light came on. Car off warranty; turbo cut off valve replaced and coolant temp sensor. Check engine light came on a couple weeks later. Took gti to dealer again. Dealer replaced the fuel pump relay. Now, 3 days later the check engine light came on again. *nlm
Dt: the engine will buck or stall and then completely shut down. This happened at all speeds and even at an idle. Has been to the dealer 4 times. The dealer cannot find the cause of the problem. Vehicle has been diagnostically tested. Also, fuel injection wa scleaned. At another trip to the dealer, and they replaced the fuel pump and filter, and did another diagnostic test. Currently, the vehicle is in the dealership for the same reason awaiting repairs.