2016 Volkswagen Golf Sportwagen: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 72 complaints
72
Total Complaints
44,000mi
Median Mileage
AIR BAGS
Top Issue
2
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

35,207 25th Percentile
44,000 Median Mileage
66,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

AIR BAGS
15
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
10
ENGINE
9
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
6
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
6
POWER TRAIN
4
SUSPENSION
4
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
3
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
3
STRUCTURE:BODY
3

Severity Assessment

2
Crashes
0
Fires
0
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"CLOCK SPRING FAILURE IN UNDER 2 YEARS (LESS THAN 20,000 MILES ON THE CAR). WHEN CAR WAS TURNED ON ALERTS CAME UP THAT THE AIRBAG HAD MALFUNCTIONED, AND AUTOMATIC CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTION, NONE OF THE STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS WORKED, AND THE HORN WAS NON-FUNCTIONAL. A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH LED ME TO B..."
"CLOCK SPRING FAILURE IN UNDER 2 YEARS (LESS THAN 20,000 MILES ON THE CAR). WHEN CAR WAS TURNED ON ALERTS CAME UP THAT THE AIRBAG HAD MALFUNCTIONED, AND AUTOMATIC CRUISE CONTROL MALFUNCTION, NONE OF THE STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS WORKED, AND THE HORN WAS NON-FUNCTIONAL. A QUICK GOOGLE SEARCH LED ME TO B..."
"WHILE DRIVING I COMPLETED A U-TURN AND MY AIRBAG LIGHT CAME ON. I TOOK IT TO THE DEALER AND THEY SAID IT WAS THE CLOCK SPRING MECHANISM THAT FAILED AND WAS NO LONGER UNDER WARRANTY. WARRANTY WAS 3 YEAR OR 43,000 MILES, MY VEHICLE HAD 48,846 MILES. THE COST WAS $545.95 TO REPLACE THE PART. I RESEARC..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28