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
ComponentReportsCrashesFiresInjuries
Electrical System1
000

What owners reported

Newest filings
Electrical System
Filed Nov 25, 201810,000 milesCA

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

1 of 1 complaints, reproduced as filed.

Across model years

Worst on record: 2017
YearComplaintsRecallsFiresDeathsAssessment
20263000Routine
20250100Routine
202412100Routine
20236300Routine
202210500Routine
20196200Routine
20189400Routine
201715000Routine
201612400Routine
20151000Routine
20134000Routine
2012 — this page1000Routine

Compare every Golf R year →

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.