2016 Volkswagen Golf
Complaints about this year name pump far more often than the other years of this generation — 24% of them, about 4× the usual rate of 5.7%.
Generation 2 of the Volkswagen Golf, which began in 2015 and ran to 2021. 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 | 232 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 28 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Recalls | 9 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 29 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- replacement — 11.2% of this year's complaints, against 4.3% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: replacement, aftermarket, rest, dealer warning.
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
- leaking — 22% of complaints, 3× usual
- tank — 17% of complaints, 4× usual
- water — 15% of complaints, 4× usual
What owners wrote
Repeated issues with leaking water pump and broken seals under the intake manifold causing vehicle to be underivable.
WATERPUMP HAD TO BE REPLACED AT 49,000 MILES WAS LEAKING COOLANT. THIS IS A WIDESPREAD ISSUE WITH THE EA888 ENGINE AND NEEDS EITHER A RECALL OR WARRANTIES EXTENDED.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 18V464000 STEERING Fixed free of charge.
- 18V329000 UNKNOWN OR OTHER Fixed free of charge.
- 19V188000 SUSPENSION Fixed free of charge.
- 19V615000 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM Fixed free of charge.
- 16V403000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 16V647000 FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE Fixed free of charge.
- 15V705000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
- 22V543000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
Showing 8 of 9. The rest are on NHTSA's site.
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 2016 Volkswagen Golf? What happened to yours?
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