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2018 Volkswagen Golf gti

The Verdict

92 Smooth Ride

The 2018 Volkswagen Golf gti has 33 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are body (15 complaints) and engine (11 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 92/100, it earns a "Smooth Ride" rating. If you're shopping for a Volkswagen Golf gti, consider the 2020 model year which has 75% fewer complaints.

Safe Bet

The 2020 has 75% fewer complaints

View the 2020 Volkswagen Golf gti dashboard →

92

Klunk Score: Smooth Ride

This vehicle year has significantly fewer complaints than average. A reliable choice.

How is this calculated?

The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.

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Under the Hood

Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.

YearBodyBrakesElectricalEngineTransmission
201643617758
20177363210613
20181523112
20191415366
202020060
202112311
2022372152722
2024145315

By Category

Body
15
Engine
11
Electrical
3
Brakes
2
Transmission
2

By Severity

1
18
2
13
3
2

Worst Problems

Complaints

Engine 1

Volkswagen Wastegate Turbo Failure / design flaw and “wrongfully and intentionally” concealed a defect from consumers that could cause their vehicle’s engine turbocharger to fail prematurely at any time. Drivers have been unfairly forced to pay thousands out of pocket to repair and my estimate from a VW. dealer is: $4199.21 and I had to pay a $200 diagnostic fee. This is a major safety issue for the vehicle will lag and not accelerate. There is a class action lawsuit filed and settled but I cannot get Volkswagen to help me.

14mo ago
Body 3

There is an issue with the gear shift cover trim. The piece that goes around the gear shift has a chrome coating that has been pealing off. Over multiple occasions that pealed off piece of metal has cut my finger causing bleeding. There seems to be a recall on the DSG GTI for this, but not the MT. I am having the same exact issue as the DSG and the replacement part is the exact same (likely same original part). The safety issue is that this has cut my finger multiple times with bleeding and can be quite painful. I called VW and was told my car was not part of the DSG recall 34J7/34L9, but clearly it has the same issue. Here is the case number from that call: VW Customer CARE [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

20mo ago
Engine 1

Cannot fill gas tank. Recall issued February 2024 no remedy available still. 24V110

24mo ago
Engine 1

I have a recall for the jet pump in the fuel tank of my vehicle. I have had fuel leaking from my charcoal canister. The vehicle is at the dealership right now, and they have confirmed this. Yet they will not make a repair on it and have been without my vehicle for over a week now. I am stuck in limbo with no date when anything will be done. I am unable to drive my vehicle due to he leak as it is unsafe and a fire hazard. The vehicle will also cut off while driving and will not start, even though it says there is still fuel in it. This should be due to the leak, and the dealer will do nothing to fix my problem until they are notified by Volkswagen themselves. This is ridiculous as i am without a vehicle, which i am still paying a loan on and insurance every month. Yet i have called Volkswagen and have been offered no solution on this matter. I have been told to wait for the recall, but this issue has been known about since February. Am i just supposed to wait indefinitely for a solution while i can't work or drive anywhere, while i continue to pay for this vehicle? I need a solution and Volkswagen to fix my issue and to be help responsible.

24mo ago
Body 2

There is a peeling plastic/metal chrome trim piece on the steering wheel that cause a finger laceration.

29mo ago
Electrical 1

I was coming back from work and was driving on the highway at around 80 mph. All of a sudden, literally out of nowhere, the car started shaking violently, and the steering wheel was shaking super fast violently (vibrating) and was very heavy and hard to move. Also, the D started flashing. I was struggling to control the car. I noticed that the Abs light, steering light, suspension light for DCC, and a whole bunch of other lights except the engine light. The car was in custom mode. Sport steering and sport Suspension, Normal for powertrain. All windows and sunroof were fully open, and music was playing. When all this occurred, I could hear outside the car something that sounded like metal tinging or metal contact. idk. This was while the car was still moving. When I pulled over, all the lights went away. I turned off the car for a few minutes and turned it back on. The lights did not come back, and it drove like nothing ever happened. The car is currently at VW Dealership awaiting a response from VW helpline (VTA) as of 1/17/24. I have been doing research on this issue and I have found multiple VW GTI/R owners who are currently and/or have experienced this issue. A Golf R (Model year 2018) owner with about 19.5k miles said "The real problem was the electric power assist motor, the part that controls how heavy the steering is when you change modes. But it can't be serviced. So the whole thing has to be swapped. It needed the entire power steering rack assembly replaced". He took this to a VW dealership and was covered under warranty. I strongly believe VW needs to release a recall for this as it is very dangerous to happen while driving especially at highway speeds like it did to me and many others.

30mo ago
Body 1

Second occurrence of this issue approximately two years apart, unresolved and unaddressed by manufacturer. Driving during evening on lit city street at night traveling in lane of traffic. In normal course of driving (~25 mph) vehicle applied full brakes with no advance notice in the middle of road. Forward Collision Assist had been activated by what appeared to be a patch of ice on the road ahead. Full braking while driving posed significant risk of rear collision due to automated full brake application without input or forewarning to the driver.

30mo ago
Electrical 1

Hello my left front headlamp failed. Initially both my headlights were sweaty/foggy, which started early 2021 but no light present. This is a safety issue especially when driving at night. It is available for inspection. The vehicle was inspected at the dealer Galpin VW. AFS light came on when system failed.

34mo ago
Engine 2

During refueling after low fuel indicator, fuel tank was not able to accept any fuel. During a second attempt, vehicle accepted 0.25 gallons but all of this fuel came gushing out of the tank from the inlet and from the passenger side rear wheel well. Fuel kept leaking for another 20miles until vehicle was taken to the Rochester Hills, MI VW dealership. The vehicle continued to leak fuel at the dealership and I was requested to park outside due to the risk of a fire. During this 20mile trip, engine was very hesitant and spluttered and almost stalled. No warning lights on dash. My personal safety was at risk since any ignition source would cause a fire due to this fuel leak, vehicle did not show any warning lights besides low fuel. VW dealership information was that the fuel tank suction jet pump needs replacement. No information was shared if the component will be sent to the manufacturer for inspection. No information how this new pump will not cause a repeat event.

35mo ago
Engine 1

I have owned the 2018 VW GTI since new. With 105,000 miles, following a 30 minute highway drive, the EPC light came on and the vehicle entered limp mode. After turning car off, letting it sit 5 minutes, and restarting, EPC light went off and no limp mode. Drove car daily for another week with no observed issues until appointment. Brought car to dealer. They identified the fuel injector wiring harness was faulty and needed to be replaced, and fuel injector #3 was dirty and needed to be replaced, at total cost of $1,756. Online search turned up VWP-23-03, a FUEL INJECTOR WIRING HARNESS LIMITED WARRANTY EXTENSION up to 10 years or 120,000 miles for similar VW cars: 2018-2019 Tiguan 2018-2019 Beetle 2018-2020 Passat So the same exact part, on thousands of other VW models produced at the same time, is covered by a warranty extension. The dealer declined to cover this repair. VW Customer Care declined to cover this repair or offer partial coverage. The car has been repaired by dealer (harness was shorted). I am not asking for special treatment. I am looking for fairness. If VW has identified a given component as defective on three different models, and the same component fails on my GTI, then VW should also cover the GTI under the Warranty Extension.

36mo ago
Body 2

We were driving on the highway when the sunroof exploded. There were 4 of us in the car and none of us recalls anything striking the sunroof. Glass exploded wverywhere.

41mo ago
Electrical 2

Headlights don't turn on immediately upon ignition start. Error message appears on infotainment and dashboard. The temporary fix, Turned off the vehicle and locked the car, and tried again and it worked just fine. I took the car for regular service when I had mentioned to them that my headlights were acting up. they told me they found no fault codes and could not do anything about it. I spoke to a manager and they told me to take pictures if it happens again, so I did. (The picture in the dark) The headlights would not turn on once again in evening in the Auto setting and I had to cycle the car off and on to get them working properly again. Once turned on the driver-side headlight is now a yellow color similar to a halogen light. (The picture in the daytime) Last week I went to warm up the car for 3-5 minutes and when I returned to the vehicle I noticed the driver-side headlight DRL was not Illuminated. I went into the vehicle and saw that there was an error message on the infotainment screen regarding the headlights. I cycled the car on and off and the vehicle went back to "normal" These issues happen on both headlights but is more persistent on the driver side headlight on my vehicle.I mentioned this on a Facebook group to ask if anyone has experienced this and many people are/did, unfortunately, experience this issue, even as far back as the 2015 Model years. Many people mentioned that they went to the dealership(s) and they would not cover the headlight under warranty as according to them it's impossible to have both headlights inoperable at the same time. I am lucky to have a good dealership to where to they actually are replacing the entire headlight assembly on the driverside. But i am worried even with a new headlight assembly, in a few years it will happen again. If this would have happened while driving at nighttime I would’ve not had any visibility whatsoever. Please recall the LED headlights in these vehicles

42mo ago
Transmission 2

Received a low coolant warning and then checked the coolant level. Coolant was low and was topped off. One week later the issue recurred as the coolant level and dropped below minimum levels again. Thermostat housing had a slow leak which was discovered by the dealer. This seems to be a flaw in the design of the thermostat housing as multiple owners are reporting the same issue with the same flaw in the thermostat housing.

45mo ago
Engine 2

Vehicle intermittently stalls when coming to a stop in traffic while in gear. Has occurred on multiple separate occasions, but cannot be easily re-produced. When vehicle stalls it can be difficult to restart while in traffic and occurs without warning creating safety hazard. Usually there are no codes stored by the computer when this occurs, but check engine light has been noticed. Vehicle has been brought to dealership 3 different times for same issue. Upon first visit starter was replaced. Upon 2nd visit an oxygen sensor was replaced. Upon 3rd visit no further action was taken and I was told by dealer vehicle tested normal with no further repairs being authorized.

46mo ago
Engine 1

Fuel leaking from charcoal canister next to exhaust can lead to fire. Fuel leaking on to ground by passenger side rear wheel. Strong smell of gasoline outside and inside car. Caused dizziness while driving can harm children. No warning or any lights other then strong odour of gasoline from inside/outside of vehicle Similar to safety recall 20Y6 Parts requested for repair by dealer -EVAP can system -Fuel Tank

48mo ago
Body 2

I was driving west on I-80 and my sunroof exploded/shattered. There was no rock to be found anywhere.

49mo ago
Body 1

Had forward collision assist (turned on by default at engine start) turned on. When entering an intersection, vehicle stopped short to a full stop right in front of a metal plate on the road in the intersection. Had there been a vehicle behind me, the system may have needlessly caused a collision.

52mo ago
Body 2

UNKNOWN We have Hankook Ventus S1 Noble 2 225/40R18 tires on our 2018 VW GTI that came OEM, and are the same on the car as when we took possession of the car from the dealer in 2018. The front right tire, has two substantial cracks and one section where a more open gap occurred in the exterior sidewall. In this latter section, it is very near the tire's tread. We have less than 14,000 miles on this vehicle, as we are retired and did not drive much to begin with, but even less after the Pandemic occurred. Additional Details (below) - I first saw the tire issues on 11/10/2021, but the tire has not yet failed. Per Hankook's earlier recall, I am concerned that the cracks/opening are precursors to failure while in use.

57mo ago
Body 3

TRIM ON CENTER CONSOLE ABOVE SHIFTER AND BELOW CENTER CUBBY IS RAZOR SHARP AND HAS CUT MY HAND DEEPLY TWICE WHILE PARKED AND CLEANING INTERIOR SINCE PURCHASING THE CAR.

63mo ago
Body 2

AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM ENGAGES WITHOUT CAUSE OR WARNING. AT BOTH SLOW AND MODERATE SPEEDS WITH NO OBSTACLE IN FRONT OF CAR. RISK OF CAUSING A REAR-END ACCIDENT VERY HIGH. DEALERSHIP RAN DIAGNOSTIC AND FOUND NOTHING. RECOMMENDS DISABLING SYSTEM IF ISSUE PERSISTS.

66mo ago

33 total

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