2002 Volkswagen GTI problems
Owners have filed 141 complaints with NHTSA about the 2002 Volkswagen GTI. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 34% of complaints. Next are air bags (16%) and wheels (16%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 141 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 34% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 14 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 19,000 miles 98 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 | 53 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 19 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 11 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 2 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 2 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 98 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 19,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 8,000 miles (34 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 14 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2002 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Volkswagen GTI with enough data (127 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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2002 volkswagen gti. While driving 75-80 MPH, the side air bags deployed without warning and the vehicle lost complete power. As of december 13, 2007, the dealer had not inspected the vehicle. The current and failure mileages were 67,000. Updated 3/4/08 the dealer decided to fix the vehicle at their expense.
I was driving my company car (golf gti 1.8t - mi license vvd 493) along 86th street in indianapolis, in on saturday 25th may 2002 with mr dario rossi (sales manager of magneti marelli motorsports) sitting in the passenger seat; when crossing ditch rd at about 20 MPH I hit a pothole that was not signaled with the right front wheel and the two side airbags on the passenger's side went off (from the passenger seat and from the roof), hitting mr.rossi. Also the ignition cut off and shut down the engine.
When the vehicle is placed into gear it shakes/vibrates excessively, making it undriveable. Dealer has diagnosed problem as a defective coil pack. Ph
Coilpacks are prone to failure, causing the car to violently lose power. Also having an issue where the car is trying to start itself again with the clutch depressed.