2015 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF Complaints

As I was leaving work yesterday, I noticed that the Air Bag indicator was showing on the dash. It was not showing when I drove it to work. I also noticed that my Cruise Control is no longer working.

Driving on thruway at 65 when the left rear coil spring broke. There was a loud bang and pieces of the spring exited out onto the highway where several vehicles ran over them before they bounced off the road.

Air bag error appeared on dashboard. Horn is not functioning as well. May be due to a faulty switch in the steering.

I was putting gas and it started shooting out gas from the tank fuel. I had filled up 2 gallons and the entire two gallons ended up on the floor of the gas station. I took the car to an old Volkswagen specialist and he suggested I get an evap system smoke test to determine what the problem is. I did the test and it came back as a faulty evap canister. That the evap vent valve is stuck closed and purge is allowing fuel into the canister. So I bought an oem canister and replaced the old one. For one day the car drove fine with no issue putting gas or any leaks. The next day I noticed the smell of gas and saw that it was leaking gas from behind the rear wheel. I took it to a local mechanic and the car leaked the remaining 60 miles of gas on the floor. Also the new canister is filled with gas again.

Over the last two months, I've had over 30 incidences where the car will either randomly shift extremely hard into a gear or will hesitate, stutter, lose power while accelerating. Some of the shifts have been so hard that they've thrown me forward. Some of the losses of power are extremely dangerous as I'm accelerating at highway speeds. I have a full log of at least 30 of these incidents (and detailed as best I could) and they are attached. I picked May 11th because that was the hardest shift/loss of power which caused me the greatest harm. I've been able to reproduce the errors in drive, sport, and Tiptronic mode. The errors occur in all gears, but are most common in 2nd and 3rd (although the higher gears are involved as well), which leads me to believe it's not the transmission, yet the mechatronics unit or something outside of the transmission and engine itself. The troubling issue here is that the car is recording absolutely zero fault codes for diagnosis; that is, the car is shifting, stuttering, hesitating randomly and erratically and no diagnostics are being provided to resolve the issue. Technicians are able to guess what the issue is, but cannot give a guarantee what the problem is without the fault codes. This is the greatest safety concern, but luckily no crashes so far. I was interested to learn that there was a recall on the same model by the Australian government related to the pressure accumulator and I'd like to see if this could be the issue, since I'm experiencing the same symptoms as those described in the recall: https://www.vehiclerecalls.gov.au/recalls/rec-005369. The contact stated that the loss of power issue still persists. The contact stated the issue is a faulty crank trigger.

Ever since I purchased the car new, the backup camera goes blank above 5 mph. It is a major annoyance and safety issue to suddenly have to change my rear viewing options. When cold, the car fast idles at 6 or more mph in reverse with the camera offering no assistance. Complaints to the dealership yielded the answer that the factory had no fix. Now I see Honda recall 23V046 about the same condition that I'm experiencing and that appropriately Honda is fixing their problem. Can VW be invited to fix my problem (its problem)? I understand that my son's Toyota camera blanks above 30 mph, more than reasonable.

Left rear coil spring failed and is not available for inspection. The car was difficult to control when the spring failed which put driver safety at risk. The car was brought to an independent service center and confirmed that the failure was a left rear coil spring which required replacing both the left and right rear coil springs. The component was not inspected by the manufacturer. There were no warning signs or symptoms of the problem prior to failure. The car suddenly start making a loud noise in the rear left section of the vehicle while driving.

Discovered several inches of water in the spare tire boot area. The entire back seat was also soaked through. Water appears to be leaking into the car from rear pressure vents behind the bumper or from another undetermined source, posing risks including black mold and damage to the spare tire.

The frame and track of the sun roof has developed a crack. It is available for inspection upon request. Because the frame/track developed a crack in the structural material, I can hear it rattling when I drive, which tells me it is loose. A loose sun roof structural system is not good, as driving on a freeway / highway at a higher speed could possibly cause the sun roof to become detached and fly off of the vehicle, or dislodge enough to distract the driver. Another secondary problem that has happened because of this loose, cracked sun roof track/frame, is that water has now been leaking into the car (possibly causing mold and condensation which has fogged up the windshield while driving) and slippery conditions all over the track/frame. This water drips through the overhead electrical panel, the headliner and down into the speakers. This can cause an electrical shortage in the vehicle, or shock. Water dripping into the car while driving on a rainy day on the freeway, can cause major distraction to the driver in dangerous conditions. The vehicle and sun roof issue have been inspected by the VW dealer, auto shop, and insurance. The VW dealer did tell me they have this issue often for these same models (they were fixing one as i was talking to them) and I have seen lawsuits online for this same issue. The car has never warned me about this issue, there are no warning lamps or messages pertaining to this. Nothing has ever severely impacted the car to cause this problem (It has never been in an accident). Please note, I have not used / opened / activated / operated this sun roof since this issue began back in December 2021. Car Insurance has offered to pay for a new headliner, but not for sun roof repair. The lifetime warranty has declined to pay for the repair because water has been involved (even though water is a secondary issue to the initial issue of a crack developing in the sun roof track/frame under normal dry warm conditions).

I backed up my car and upon turning the wheel I heard some crackling from the steering wheel. The airbag and transmission error lights came on and I lost functionality of all the buttons on the steering wheel and the horn. Based on research, this is a clock spring that has been recalled for other model years.