There are 17 owner-reported engine complaints for the 2017 Volkswagen Golfin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Turbo Wastegate actuator rod/flap failure/seizure. VW dealership & Independent service center both diagnosed the issue as a seized wastegate actuator flap/rod. This is due to poor design and is a common issue on all 2015-2020 VW/Audi 1.8l TSI engines. This issue causes intermittent engine codes for "low boost" related codes. P00AF00 and similar codes without warning. A key cycle usually temporarily fixes the problem until under boost again. This prevents safe operation of the vehicle while on highways and freeways. Engine shaking & prevention of acceleration and shifting happens after the engine code occur and the car is put into a limp mode. It is unsafe to maneuver the vehicle to the side of the road during these events.
Fuel evaporation canister started leaking raw fuel after a strong gas odor was present before hand. The fuel suction pump failed and pressure built up in my gas tank. I was at risk because the presence of raw fuel near ignition sources can cause a fire. Verified at Volkswagen dealership. No warning signs by car when issue first started. Only sign of problem before raw fuel leaking was poor car performance, car stalled and I could not put more than a gallon of gas in the fuel tank.
Turbo wastegate actuator arm seized casing turbo failure. Wastegate stuck in the semi-open position.
The thermostat housing leaked all my radiator fluid across the front of the engine block. I have to refill the reservoir every 2-3 days in order to keep the coolant in the engine and to keep it from overheating. Low coolant lights came on at a stop light, to initially alert me of the problem. There's currently a class-action suit against VW for this and it's time to issue a recall.
Design flaw on thermostat housing leaks causing coolant loss. Common issue that is expensive to repair and should be recalled.
My car started sputtering randomly while I was driving and loosing power. Then when I tried to gas up my car, the car wouldn’t accept the gas. When I got home, gas started overflowing out of the tank all into my garage. It also soaked the whole wheel well with gas. There was no check engine line that came on. There is a current recall for this same issue which VW said is a suction pump problem on other GTI’s but not my car. There are tons of over videos on Facebook/YouTube of the exact same thing happening to them. I had the problem fixed at the dealer but it cost 3500 dollars. I still have all the receipts from the repair cost and I would like to be reimbursed since they expanded the recall but my car hasn’t received this recall even though it is the exact same issue.
The 20Y6 recall for VW Golfs is exactly what my 2017 VW Golf GTI experienced. I am surprised the 2017 model year is not included. I did not feel safe driving my car with a failing fuel suction pump causing engine issues in traffic. When I finally made it home there was smoke coming out of my exhaust and fuel spilling out of the rear passenger wheel well.
absurd oil consumption. I have never experienced a vehicle burning oil like VW golf. The vehicle manual states to check the oil every time filling the gas and it is normal for VW golf to burn oil. That said, I have owned more than ten cars in my lifetime, and I have never experienced an engine burning more than a quart every 700 to 1000 miles. I did not have any issues until ~35K miles. After hitting ~35K, I started experiencing the problem. VW service states to do the oil change every 10K, which if I wait, the engine will be toast. I have topped off at almost 10 to 13 quarts of additional between the oil change, i.e., between 10K change I am not sure what kind of complaints NHTSA has received, but I find many owners having similar issues doing google search. It seems VW is getting away with significant flaws with their engine burdening VW owners with the cost of additional oil and flawed design engine minimal lifetime. I will appreciate it if your organization looks into this issue and has VW take responsibility.
Yes my concern is the water pump that is made out of plastic which is notorious to fail at low miles. My car only has 64k on it. This water pump was not build well and VW really should designed a better one. To replace this pumps are costly and its guarantee it will not be needed to be fixed again in a short time. My pump will cost me around $ 1700 to repair. These pumps are a ticking time bomb waiting to happen.
Leaking water pump at less than 80,000 miles causing engine to overheat and become damaged.
Thermostat Housing Issue and Coolant Loss
My 2017 VW Golf has been leaking oil and coolant. It was taken to a VW dealership where the problem was diagnosed as a leaking auxiliary bracket gasket behind the thermostat housing. The service advisor told me that the car could randomly undergo a catastrophic loss of power if the component were to totally fail. He advised me not to drive the vehicle due to this possibility and the safety issues involved with abrupt loss of power, especially at highway speeds. I requested that this component be repaired under the VW Powertrain Warranty which is still in force for my vehicle but this coverage has been denied by VW Customer Care. The car continues to leak but has not yet lost power. I am concerned that this is a major safety issue for my car. The car is available for inspection upon request.
Issues with thermostat housing: the part fails, causing a slow coolant leak. Coolant light eventually comes on. I bought my car in fall 2016. Issue first occurred and was diagnosed and fixed by dealer under warranty in April 2020. It has now (August 2021) reoccurred and has been diagnosed again by the dealer as the same issue. This should be a lifetime part. I should not have had to replace this part twice within a little more than a year, on a car that is just about five years old. Safety issue: possibility of sudden failure/overheating that might leave the driver stranded by the side of the road. Numerous others have reported this issue occurring repeatedly; please see https://www.reddit.com/r/GolfGTI/comments/drna5m/mk775_thermostat_housing_issue_and_coolant_loss/ VW has also settled a class action on a similar issue on an older generation of cars (Coffeng, et al. v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.) A class action involving the current generation of cars is currently in progress (Zhao, et al., vs. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., et al.).
REPLACED MY WATER PUMP 2 TIMES ALREADY. NOW I AM REPLACING THERMOSTAT HOUSING. ALL THIS UNDER 45000 MILES
LEAKING THERMOSTAT HOUSING
THERMOSTAT HOUSING AND WATER PUMP, COOLANT LOSS AND LEAK. DEALER REPLACED THERMOSTAT HOUSING MARCH 2019 (24,000MI), 12/22/19 (37,400MI) ANOTHER COOLANT LEAK LIKELY FROM SECOND THERMOSTATE OR ORIGNAL WATER PUMP WHICH WAS SAID NOT TO HAVE BEEN REPLACED. CAR IS WELL MAINTAINED AND CARED FOR PREEMPTIVELY AS A GERMAN CAR SHOULD.
VEHICLE HAD 300 MILES ON ENGINE WHEN LOW OIL PRESSURE INDICATOR REGISTERED. CAUSE WAS METAL SHAVINGS IN OIL, ACCORDING TO MANUFACTURER AS TOLD TO DEALER. MANUFACTURER INSTRUCTED DEALER TO REPLACE ENGINE AND ALL ASSOCIATED PARTS LUBRICATED BY ENGINE OIL AND SEND NON-FUNCTIONING ENGINE TO MANUFACTURER'S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FACILITY; STATED THAT PROBLEM HAS HAPPENED, ALBEIT INFREQUENTLY, TO OTHER LIKE ENGINES. WARRANTY COVERED ALL COSTS. I HAVE INVOICES FOR AUTO PURCHASE AND REPAIR.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026