2015 Volkswagen Golf R
Complaints about this year name off far more often than the model's other years — 19% of them, about 47× the usual rate of 0.4%.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 123 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 6 |
| Involving a crash | 6 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| EPA combined | 26 mpg |
Also unusual this year
- replaced — 15% of complaints, 39× usual
- pump — 14% of complaints, 35× usual
- just — 14% of complaints, 35× usual
What owners wrote
Alarm went off in car - said coolant was low - had to pull over. Luckily was in neighborhood but could have been on highway. Gas station confirmed issue and let me know that the water pump and entire thermostat housing system had to be replaced - very expensiv…
THIS IS A SECOND REPAIR FOR A FAILED THERMOSTAT HOUSING/WATER PUMP ON THIS VEHICLE. THE FIRST TIME, JANUAARY 2019, THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING AND RELATED SEALS WERE REPLACED. THIS TIME THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING AND WATER PUMP WERE BOTH REPLACED.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volkswagen Golf R was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2015 Volkswagen Golf R? What happened to yours?
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