There are 4 owner-reported speed control & cruise complaints for the 2009 Volkswagen GTIin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
ABS FALIURE. ABS WARNING LIGHT ACTIVATES, ACTIVATES SPORADICALLY WHILE DRIVING RANDOMLY, BRAKING ABILITY IS HAMPERED, DOES NOT WORK NORMALLY. OCCASSIONALLY ANTILOCK BREAKS ENGAGE AT LOW SPEED BREAKING. BRAKES DO NOT FUNCTION NORMALLY. SPEEDOMETER EXPERIENCED MALFUNCTION, FLUCTUATIONS NOT RELATED TO SPEED OCCURED. STABILITY MALFUNCTIONED DURING BREAKING AND AUTOMATIC DOWNSHIFTING.
THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES BEGINNING IN MARCH, 2018. EPC LIGHT COMES ON (SEEMINGLY) RANDOMLY. OCCASIONALLY, CHECK ENGINE LIGHT/SERVICE ENGINE NOW WARNING WILL ALSO COME ON. SOMETIMES THEY ALL SHUT OFF AFTER LETTING THE CAR SIT OVERNIGHT. EPC LIGHT COMES ON SOMETIMES WHEN WE TURN THE CAR ON AND SOMETIMES WHILE DRIVING. WE HAVE HAD THREE INCIDENTS WHERE WE TRY TO GET ONTO THE INTERSTATE (70MPH) AND CAN'T GET ABOVE APPROX 40MPH. I'VE ALMOST BEEN REAR-ENDED TWICE BECAUSE OF THIS. ON ANOTHER OCCASION, I COULDN'T GET THE TURBO TO KICK IN. SO, DRIVING AT 65MPH AGAIN ON THE INTERSTATE, I COULDN'T GET UP HILLS AND WOULD END UP AT APPROX 55PMH BY THE TIME I REACHED LEVEL GROUND. AGAIN, CARS SWERVING TO GET AROUND ME. MY HUSBAND HAS HAD A COMPLETE LOSS OF CONTROL OF ACCELERATION AND HAD TO COAST OVER ONTO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. I HAD IT HAPPEN ONCE AT A STOP LIGHT, TAKING A LONG TIME AND A LOT OF COAXING OF THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL JUST TO GET UP TO 40MPH. THESE ALL HAPPENED ON STRAIGHT STRETCHES OF ROAD AND NORMAL WEATHER CONDITIONS. RESTARTING THE CAR MAY OR MAY NOT RESET THE ACCELERATION ISSUE AND THE EPC LIGHT. COMPUTER SCAN FROM VW DEALER SHOWED THROTTLE BODY SENSOR, SO WE REPLACED THAT WITH SAME SYMPTOMS AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS. THEN, COMPUTER SAYS IT'S ACCELERATOR PEDAL SENSOR. REPLACED ALSO WITH SAME RESULTS. REPLACED SPARK PLUGS, AIR FLOW SENSOR, CLEANED OTHER SENSORS, STILL THE SAME. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. I SEE IN FORUMS THAT WE ARE NOT THE ONLY ONES. IT IS EXPENSIVE TO KEEP CHASING THE PROBLEM BUT LIVES ARE AT RISK. SOMEONE IS GOING TO GET SERIOUSLY HURT BECAUSE THEIR LIMP CARS CAN'T KEEP UP WITH TRAFFIC. VW SEEMS STUMPED. THE ONLY SOLUTION I SEE IS GETTING RID OF THIS DANGEROUS CAR BUT I'D HATE TO PASS THAT RISK ONTO ANOTHER PERSON EITHER! PLUS, DEALERS PAY VERY LITTLE TO TAKE THIS OFF OF OUR HANDS FOR THE SAME REASONS. PLEASE HELP!!!!
EPC LIGHT ISSUE -WHICH MEANS ELECTRONIC POWER CONTROL THE VEHICLES COMPUTER SUDDENLY CUTS POWER AWAY FROM THE ACCELERATER PEDAL CAUSING RAPID DECELERATION LEAVING THE DRIVER HELPLESS TO CONTROL THE VEHICLES SPEED. I WAS MERGING ONTO A INTERSTATE INTO 70MPH TRAFFIC AND MY EPC LIGHT ACTIVATED AND LEFT ME UNABLE TO CONTROL MY SPEED AND SAFELY MERGE INTO TRAFFIC ALMOST CAUSING A MAJOR ACCIDENT -- VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION
WHEN I STARTED THE VEHICLE AFTER IT HAD SAT FOR A WEEK WITHOUT STARTING, WARNING LIGHTS APPEARED FOR ABS, TRACTION CONTROL, AND BRAKES. I DROVE IT AROUND THE BLOCK TO TEST THINGS OUT, AND THINGS SEEMED TO BE RUNNING PRETTY MUCH LIKE NORMAL, SO I DROVE IT TO A MECHANIC. THEY RAN A DIAGNOSTIC, AND 8 CODES CAME UP, ALL HAVING TO DO WITH THE ABS SYSTEM. IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE ABS CONTROL MODULE WOULD NEED TO BE REPLACED. I DIDN'T WANT TO DO THE REPAIRS AT THAT MECHANIC, SO THEY TOLD ME I COULD DRIVE THE CAR, BUT THAT I WOULDN'T HAVE ABS OR TRACTION CONTROL. UPON DRIVING IT A FEW MILES, THE LIGHTS TURNED OFF, AND EVERYTHING WAS FUNCTIONING AS NORMAL. WHEN I STARTED IT THE NEXT DAY, THE LIGHTS WERE BACK ON, BUT I DECIDED TO DRIVE IT TO WORK, BASED ON WHAT THE MECHANIC HAD TOLD ME. ABOUT A MILE DOWN THE ROAD, THE SPEEDOMETER STOPPED WORKING, AND THE CAR THEN BEGAN TO CHANGE GEARS AT RANDOM, WHICH PRESENTED AN ALL NEW SAFETY RISK. AT THIS POINT I ALSO LOST POWER STEERING. I MANAGED TO PULL OVER AND TURN OFF THE CAR. WHEN I STARTED THE CAR AGAIN, JUST THE BRAKE WARNING LIGHTS WERE ON, SO I DECIDED TO DRIVE HOME, CONSIDERING I WAS ONLY ABOUT A MILE AWAY. EVERYTHING WAS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY ON THAT DRIVE. MY COMPLAINT MOSTLY HAS TO DO WITH THE ABS CONTROL MODULE, AS IT APPEARS THAT THIS IS A RELATIVELY COMMON ISSUE FOR THIS MODEL YEAR, AND IT DEFINITELY PUTS PEOPLE AT RISK, ESPECIALLY IF IT IS AFFECTING OTHER SYSTEMS, AS WELL. *TR
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 26, 2026