Problems · by component

2019 Volkswagen Golf engine problems

37 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2019 Volkswagen Golf cite engine, 45% of all 82 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
37
45% of all complaints
Crashes
1
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the engine

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“When I take my foot off the brake to accelerate, the car jerks backward and shudders. It feels as though it’s about to stall. When pressing the gas pedal, the car also has delayed acceleration. Both of these issues create dangerous driving conditions. The car hesitates when accelerating from a stopped position, nearly causing me to be rear-ended at traffic lights on multiple occasions. I’ve also experienced a couple of close calls while making right turns on red, as the car hesitates and won’t accelerate immediately. I feel unsafe driving the vehicle. Have had the car to one independent mechanic, the sister dealership of where it was purchased from, and two VW dealerships. They have acknowledged an issue as they have replaced the motor mounts and mounting plate. It did not resolve the issue. The car does operate as designed. There are no fault codes or engine lights so they have advised me to continue driving until it gets worse. It is unsafe to drive since there is an issue with accelerating. The service team at Mossy VW replicated the backward jerking motion during a test drive and confirmed that the vehicle is exhibiting a delayed throttle response. While…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 15, 2025Power train, Engine, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11636066
“While driving, all vehicle gauges and HVAC suddenly stopped working. Car beeped, and screen said "pull over safely" (or something like that), and then said "Check starter system". Turned car off, and then eventually it turned back on. Same thing happened again, but I was able to continue driving (engine kept running), with no HVAC, no speedometer, no tachometer, nothing. I don't know if turn signals or exterior lights were working.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 16, 2023Electrical system, Engine, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11539008
“The engine completely failed while driving normally and lost power while on the highway, doing highway speeds. I had no power to safely exit the highway and it became extremely dangerous for surrounding traffic as I had to slow down. The problem has been confirmed by a Volkswagen dealer. Yes the vehicle has been inspected by Volkswagen. No warning lights or check engine lights prior to the failure”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 9, 2023EngineODI 11521144
“Faulty/unreliable water pump resulted in sudden coolant leak and subsequently overheating the engine. This seems to be a common problem when looking at reports/discussion from other owners of this vehicle online. It’s a known issue that the stock water pump is bad.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 7, 2023Unknown or other, EngineODI 11500632
“Multi-system failure - multi incidents; Dealership has confirm and 'corrected' but several electrical/engine issues persist. Vehicle has been inspected by three VW dealerships (Royal Motor Sales in San Francisco, Serramonte, CA and Kalispell VW in Montana). Several issues were observed while driving - multiple system failure warnings, and also engine failure multiple times. The last time the engine failed while driving 75 miles an hour and there was no where to pull off nor shoulders.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled May 12, 2022Electrical system, Air bags, EngineODI 11464370
“The car idles rough during initial cold start up, intermittently hesitates during acceleration and feels like it misfires during cruising. My dealer found that the ignition timing was retarded by 5º and told me to use better gas, citing a VW field service action (https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10176770-0001.pdf). The problem persisted after they treated the fuel. The car has never thrown a code causing the check engine light to turn on, and so the dealer has declined to investigate further. My records show the car was only filled with premium fuel, using VW recommended brands (BP, Exxon, Mobil, Shell) in the 2,000 miles prior to the service appointment and was only filled with regular fuel twice (due to the Colonial Pipeline shutdown) since the car was delivered new from the dealer.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Aug 31, 2021Vehicle speed control, Engine, Fuel/propulsion systemODI 11431238

Showing 6 of 37 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 10, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.