VEHICLE SUDDENLY WENT INTO A FAILURE MODE WHERE THROTTLE IS CUT SUDDENLY, ALMOST NO POWER. THEREAFTER CAR ONLY MOVES A MAXIMUM OF APPROXIMATELY 20MPH, MANY LIGHTS ARE ON INST. PANEL. IT CANNOT BE RESET WITHOUT SPECIALIZED DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT. THE CODES GENERATED ARE IN BOTH THE ENGINE COMPUTER AND THE ABS RELATED CONTROL UNIT. SINCE THEY ARE IN THE LATTER, THEY CANNOT BE CLEARED WITH TYPICAL OBDII CODE READERS EITHER. WITHOUT FULLY CLEARING THOSE CODES, THE THROTTLE IS NOT RESTORED. IT HAPPENED ON FREEWAY AT 65+ MPH. THIS IS 3RD TIME IT HAS HAPPENED IN LAST THREE MONTHS, EACH TIME WITH DIAGNOSTICS AND REPAIRS ATTEMPTED. THE CAR WAS RECENTLY PURCHASED AND HAS NO ACCIDENT HISTORY OR ANY SERIOUS WORK BEYOND ROUTINE MAINTENANCE, ALL DONE BY THE PRIOR OWNER ACCORDING TO THE FACTORY MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE BY A VW DEALER. TROUBLE CODES INDICATE IT IS AN ELECTRONIC THROTTLE MALFUNCTION, AND BY THE THIRD INCIDENT A CODE ALSO INDICATED THERE WAS A DEFECT. ONLINE SEARCHES ALSO INDICATE EARLIER YEAR VW/AUDI MODELS WITH SIMILAR ENGINES AND THROTTLES WERE RECALLED FOR DEFECTIVE WIRING INVOLVING THE THROTTLE. THIS VEHICLE ONLY HAS APPROX. 10,000 MILES, AND FIRST INCIDENT OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 7,000 MILES. TO BE CLEAR, THE COMPLAINT IS ABOUT BOTH THE THROTTLE OR ITS WIRING AND THE FACTORY FAILURE MODE PROGRAMING. THE THROTTLE IMMEDIATELY GOES ALMOST DEAD IN THE FAILURE MODE. WHEN IT HAPPENS AT FREEWAY SPEEDS, IT IS DIFFICULT OR SOMETIMES IMPOSSIBLE TO EVEN GET TO THE SIDE OF THE FREEWAY I
2012 Volkswagen Golf R
Routine
Owners filed 1 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the electrical system. No safety recall has been issued.
What fails
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
What owners reported
Newest filingsElectrical System
Filed Nov 25, 201810,000 milesCA
1 of 1 complaints, reproduced as filed.
Reading this record
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.