Worried about potential repair costs? An extended warranty can provide peace of mind.
Chart based on 36 repair trips. The repair cost chart excludes repairs made under warranty, do-it-yourself repairs, and repair trips that include maintenance.
2012 Volkswagen Golf / Rabbit / GTI
Engine not specified
3000 mi
US $44
Two front wheel center caps fell off during normal driving. Upon inspection of center caps, it was found that the clips that hold it into the wheel had snapped. Dealer claimed that they were not covered because they were a trim item.
Subframe bolts needed replacing. Symptom was creaking while driving and turning.
2300 mi
Rear windshield washer nozzle clogged. When used first time, line burst leaking into trunk
1240 mi
Noise from driver's door when car is in motion. Found loose bolt on striker. Tightened bolt and adjusted door.
2000 mi
replaced warped right front wheel well liner
15500 mi
US $35
left rear bumper reflector cracked. Replaced with new part. Dealer claimed rock damage, but an odd location for this. Friend had same problem with his car.
Roof bracket around sun roof was rattling and needed to be replaced.
13000 mi
The knob to adjust the outside mirrors broke off with normal use and was repaired under warranty
45880 mi
Haven't attempted a fix. pushing it back in does not solve problem
21000 mi
The dashboard developed a bubble and had to be replaced.
50000 mi
US $10
Rear cargo cover/parcel shelf hinge pin broke off. Drilled out old pin, used a nut/bolt and nylon standoff to replace the pin.
60000 mi
Windshield is delaminating at several places around the edges. Very unusual for a 3 year old car, typically not seen until 15+ years. Purely a cosmetic problem at this time.
A rattle came from front passenger side door at speeds below about 40 mph. Tech located rattle on rear driver side door, cleaned window and door seals and applied silicone lubricant to that area. This did NOT fix the reported rattle.
4500 mi
Front Passenger Seat-belt buckle rattles if the road is bumpy. Replaced under warranty.
72000 mi
US $148
In addition, the passenger side rear tail light bulb assembly had a broken clip and kept popping out. Had been broken for some time and I had ignored it. Reported at last scheduled maintenance (March), part ordered and arrived in mid-April. Replaced during this visit.
35000 mi
Hatch area makes noise. Dealer claimed it is the tools squeaking and they cannot stop it
Driver's side tail light wasn't sealed properly, condensation appearing in tail light housing.
14000 mi
Loud buzzing noise from right passenger vent when over course roads. Dealer noticed noise and replaced vent. So far noise is absent.
28000 mi
Replaced broken A/C vent.
30400 mi
Rear taillight full of water
21000 mi
Interior panels popped off, replaced under warranty
36000 mi
Foam on drivers side seat back split and allowed metal bar in the seat back to contact the drivers back. Repair covered under warranty.
23800 mi
GTI logo in steering wheel silver trim almost completely worn off. I asked dealer to replace that trim part under warranty. Was told that they can't replace just the trim. They've ordered a completely new steering wheel.
26000 mi
Light switch cracked. Dealer replaced at no charge despite this not being covered by warranty.
Headliner came loose. Since it's a TDI and going back from whence it came soon, I just stapled it up.
4700 mi
One side of the rear-spoiler's glue didn't hold (Dealer installed, optional spoiler). Took it to the dealer who re-installed it properly. Hasn't moved since.
21400 mi
Simple dash and panel rattles.
10000 mi
Sunroof leak. Water ran down A pillar behind the dash, and onto the floor. Sunroof seat was repaired, car dried out
16300 mi
Sunroof leak
35960 mi
Inside cover of hatch came loose, screw fell out. Dealer repaired under warranty
Sunglass compartment overhead kept popping open. Replaced under warranty
1000 mi
Driver's side front door squeaked. Dealer readjusted the mounting of the door and solved problem.
Left B-pillar creaked loudly whenever going over bumps or when torsion applied to frame. Solved by "Universal spray at some B-pillar points and lubed weather seals in contact with door and body."
After hail repair, both narrow "headliners" running fore-and-aft over the tops of the front doors----not the "big headliner" over the entire cabin-----separated at their joints about 4 inches back from the upper corners of the windshield.
5700 mi
Passenger side visor broke off under slight stress. Dealer replied under warranty.
37000 mi
I had the dealer install a factory navigation system when I purchased the car July 2012. They had to install a shark fin antenna. In April of this year I noticed water in the rear drivers side footwell. The roof antenna had leaked.
Paint is chipping off car everywhere. VW said they will cover only 1 of the many areas. Still working with the dealer, but it looks like they will not stand behind it. Paint started coming off in non-wear areas at about 20K mi.
46000 mi
Paint chipping off all over the place. Rust beneath the paint on the tailgate. Do not buy a white Volkswagon. The paint is horrible. Volkswagen will only repair about 30% of the problem areas. Their paint warranty SUCKS. Don't trust VW.
47000 mi
Peeling paint, rust. Many locations on body. Took several trips to body shop to get it fixed and there are new ones being repaired now
48000 mi
Bad Paint from factory. Repairs done by incompetent body shops. Volkswagen denies some rust repairs while telling me on the phone that "volkswagens don't rust". Terrible manufacturer, avoid at all costs. Denied problems exist for 2 years
I had a rattle in the passenger side door and a wind noise in the drive side door. The dealer applied a rattle kit to the passenger side door and adjusted the driver side door.
See our lemon odds and nada odds page to see vehicles with no repairs or vehicles with more than three repairs. To see how
frequently 2012 Volkswagen Golf / Rabbit / GTI problems occur, check out our car reliability stats.
