2011 Volkswagen Golf
Complaints about this year name neutral far more often than the other years of this generation — 12% of them, about 16× the usual rate of 0.7%.
Generation 1 of the Volkswagen Golf, which began in 2010 and ran to 2014. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 110 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 28 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 3 |
| Recalls | 6 |
| EPA combined | 29.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- move — 14.5% of this year's complaints, against 0% across the other years of this generation (72.7×). Owners wrote it as: move, engage, rental, heavy.
- fuse — 8.2% of this year's complaints, against 1.4% across the other years of this generation (5.6×). Owners wrote it as: fuse, melted, plate, melting.
- near — 10% of this year's complaints, against 2.9% across the other years of this generation (3.5×). Owners wrote it as: near, nearly, engine stopped, accelerating.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- during — 10% of complaints, 25× usual
- mode — 9% of complaints, 23× usual
- golf tdi — 22% of complaints, 3× usual
What owners wrote
Fuse F16 (30A) in the engine fuse plate, melted instead of breaking - causing half of the cars lights to stop functioning including turn signals and brake lights. Cannot be fixed with replacing the fuse as it was never tripped but instead the whole fuse plate…
WHILE IN MOTION AND UNDER POWER, CAR SUDDENLY LOSES DRIVE; ACTS AS IF SHIFTED INTO NEUTRAL. SOMETIMES A FLASHING WRENCH INDICATOR IS SEEN IN PLACE OF THE GEAR NUMBER IN THE INSTRUMENT DISPLAY. THIS IS HAPPENING INCREASINGLY OFTEN. AT LEAST ONCE PER DAY.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V329000 UNKNOWN OR OTHER Fixed free of charge.
- 18V148000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V078000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 15V483000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 11V490000 FUEL SYSTEM, DIESEL Fixed free of charge.
- 19V862000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volkswagen Golf 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 2011 Volkswagen Golf? What happened to yours?
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