The car just started on fire while I was driving and nearly killed me and my boyfriend lucky someone was honking and flagging down and when we tried stopping the car wouldn't brake and we had to jump out when it was still rolling. We were bout to get on the high way lucky someone stopped us be we did so.
The worst 2003 Volkswagen Golf problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Airbags11
- Electrical4
- Seats4
- Suspension3
- Transmission2
- Engine1
- Fuel system1
- Lights1
- Seat belts1
- Wheels1
Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Volkswagen Golf
Recalls 2
Air bags: frontal: driver side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2003 Volkswagen Passat sedan, Jetta, Jetta wagon, Golf, EuroVan, EuroVan Camper Van and EuroVan Chassis vehicles. Upon deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to explode.
- Risk
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could explode with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began May 2, 2019. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1‑800‑893‑5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69X3.
Recall number 18V406000 · Recall details
Exterior lighting: brake lights: switch
- What is wrong
- On certain passenger, wagon, and convertible vehicles equipped with or without cruise control, a brake light switch may malfunction if it was installed incorrectly.
- Risk
- The brake lights could become inoperative, or remain on. Failure to provide the proper signal when braking could lead to a crash without warning.
- Remedy
- Dealers will install the newly designed brake light switch free of charge. The recall began on april 27, 2007, and will be conducted in several staggered mailings through september 21, 2007. Vehicles within the make, model, and model year of this population may be involved in either this recall or 06v‑183, but not both. The remedy is the same for each recall. Volkswagen dealers will apply the remedy based on the VIN number of the vehicle. Owners may contact vw at 1‑800‑822‑8987.
Recall number 07V063000 · Recall details
See all 2 recalls for the 2003 Volkswagen Golf
Defect investigations
Engine stalling
By letter received on june 24, 2005, mr. Ronald m. Strickland of raleigh, nc, submitted a petition requesting that the agency investigate the performance of the ignition coil plugs on model year (my) 2000-2003 volkswagen jetta, golf and passat sedans.the petitioner alleges that he had experienced multiple stalling events as a result of one or more ignition coil plugs malfunctioning on his 2002 vw jetta sedan.as a result of the engine stalling, the petitioner experienced a loss of power steering and increased braking efforts when he pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road to control the vehicle.after a few minutes parked on the shoulder he was able to restart the vehicle although the engine operated at reduced power.vw issued a customer satisfaction campaign (csc) on january 31, 2003 to instruct their dealerships to inspect the vehicles for any malfunctioning ignition coil packs and to replace them at no cost to the consumer.consumers were notified to bring their vehicles to their dealerships via owner letters mailed out on june 6, 2003.while vw initially instructed the dealerships to only replace the malfunctioning ignition coil packs, a revised csc was issued to dealerships in december 2003 and january 2004, instructing dealerships to replace all ignition coil packs regardless of their performance.a reminder to the dealerships was sent by vw on april of 2004.although the concerns of the petitioner could theoretically create a safety problem, the risk is very small, due to the engine still running on either 3, 5, or 7 cylinders.there are no reported crashes or injuries due to the alleged defect.once drivers are aware of the problem (loss of power due to one of the ignition coil packs malfunctioning), drivers are able to take precautionary and compensatory measures and still maintain control of their vehicles.in addition, four fires were reported to odi.these were ignition coil burnouts with no additional damage to the vehicle and were localized on top of the engine. During the last 24 months the number of stall and drivability complaints reported to odi has greatly diminished from a peak of 195 in january of 2003 to only 3 in august of 2005.this coincides with the csc released by vw.a safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time and further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that no safety-related defect exists.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
DP05004
Inadvertent side-airbag deployment
The subject vehicles are equipped with side-thorax and side-head curtain airbags to protect the front and rear outboard occupants in a side-impact crash.this investigation identified a total of 499 reports (482 owners reports and 17 warranty claims).the crash sensing system?s algorithm may recognize certain non-crash impacts (wheel, tire and undercarriage impacts) as deployable events.the 97 alleged injuries were minor in nature and consist of abrasions, bruises, ear ringing and headaches.there was no alleged loss of control crash as a result of side-airbag deployment.odi also obtained counts of alleged inadvertent side-airbag deployments from peer manufacturers.the data shows that the subject vehicles are not unique in being subject to such allegations.the complaint rate for non-subject individual model vehicles varies widely.the rate for the subject vehicles is comparable to three peer models, each with compact chassis/wheelbases.odi has not identified any component failure or manufacturing trend that may relate to a component or manufacturing issue.a safety-related defect trend has not been identified at this time.further use of agency resources does not appear to be warranted.accordingly, this investigation is closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist.the agency will take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
PE04081
Technical service bulletins for the 2003 Volkswagen Golf 217
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- Update to Volkswagen engine oil standards
- Volkswagen Engine oil quality standards, update to attachments.
- Engine oil quality standards, update to attachments.
- Update model year applicability to include 2023.
- Battery testing and charging using special tools VAS6161 & GRX3000VAS Charger
- This special notice is to inform dealers to return the parts listed if it meets the criteria provided.
- This bulletin contains general instructions for software updates.
- Update engine oil quality standard lists (attachments)
- Tool number added to table
- Updated to include additional models and model year applicability.
2003 Volkswagen Golf fuel economy
Official EPA estimates in miles per gallon (MPGe for electric). Ranges cover trims that share the same engine.
| Engine | Drive | City | Highway | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.9L 4‑cyl Diesel | FWD | 29-35 | 40-44 | 33-38 |
| 2.0L 4‑cyl | FWD | 20-21 | 27-29 | 23-24 |
What 2003 Volkswagen Golf owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
The airbag control module has failed and needs to be replaced. Without it, there is no guarantee that the airbags will function properly, if at all, in the event of an accident. Volkswagen refuses to even help with the over $1,000.00 repair cost. (the airbag warning light came on, so the vehicle was taken in for diagnostics.)
My son was parking his car at a state park and driving less than 2 miles a hour when the passenger airbags deployed. Several people heard the loud sound and ran over to see if anyone was hurt. His girlfriend's arm became red, with a rash and swollen. The seat and headliner are now damaged, and it would cost more to replace the airbags, seat and headliner than the car is worth. The insurance co will not cover the cost because there was no accident. Now, he will need to purchase another vehicle. There have been at least 107 reported complaints regarding airbags for 2001-2003 vw golf and jetta. If my son had been driving on a main road or highway, this incident could have caused an accident. There should be a recall on the airbags before someone gets seriously hurt, if that hasn't already occurred.
I had the hatch open on my golf and started to smell an electrical fire. I seen smoke coming from the cargo light and when I opened the taillight access panel there was a small fire that I immediatley put out. Thankfully I caught it in time and didn't close the hatch and walk away. It could have been much worse. I have pictures I can send upon request.
Ditto on the "the federal safety agency id number: 10252376". My 2003 base model golf's airbags were turned off (airbag light on), and the issue was one of the 3 sensors in the driver's seatbelt latch stopped working. It's been many years ago (I bought it new), and I don't remember what year that was, but I did contact vw on this, and believe I also sent an e-mail to both the federal safety agency & iihs on this. This is an inexcusable design (gm is having a similar issue with its ignition switch & airbags being turned off). The seatbelt latch was replaced, and has been working fine for years now. It currently has 167,000+ miles on it. It does have some positives. The front brakes have never been replaced, and didn't have to replace the rear brakes until 90,000. The clutch has never been replaced, and still works good (even with a ton of stop-n-go traffic). There should be a legal requirement that all of the airbags are always on, no matter what, when the vehicle is moving, whether or not the ignition is on, the seatbelts are latch, etc. Also, there should be a legal requirement that all rear turn signal lights must be bright orange, not red. This is a safety issue. A bright orange light stands out as a turn signal, whereas a blinking red light could be the driver tapping on the brakes. Not easy to tell when you can only see one corner of a vehicle.
Driving late at night, hit pothole that badly dented right front rim, caused passenger side curtain airbags to deploy, filling car with smoke and cutting off ignition. Contacted vw of america to advise them of incident. Will contact insurance, local vw dealer and collision shop for analysis this week.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen golf. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact noticed that the air conditioner, windshield wipers and headlights became inoperable, as well as the turn signals. The contact performed repairs to the vehicle himself and replaced the ignition switch. The contact detected the ignition connector housing had overheated which caused the plastic to melt. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 88,000. Updated 09/27/11*lj updated 2/23/12
Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen golf. While attempting to park, the contact noticed that the passenger side air bag suddenly deployed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and they stated that the air bag needed to be replaced. The current and failure mileages were 22,400.
Engine overheated due to water pump failure, requiring water pump replacement. Plastic impeller degraded and failed. Use of plastic for impeller is a design flaw in the water pump otherwise made of aluminum, and should be recalled and replaced by vw under warranty.
2003 vw golf gl-I bought new & am the only driver of it. And just over 80,000 miles, the airbag warning light came on. I had to drive it around for over a couple of weeks before any of the vw dealerships would schedule me an appointment to spend a couple of minutes to connect their hand-held diagnostic tool to find out what the exact cause of turning on this light was. (I went to 3 separate dealerships in 3 different cities.) it turned out to be a defective seatbelt latch sensor. Even though the seatbelt light turned off indicating it was latched, the same latch also determines independently on whether or not to enable the airbags. I just had this part replaced today-12/20/08-at a cost of over $430. I found out that when the latch "thinks" the seatbelt is not connected, that it disables all of the 6 airbags, making the car that I thought I had at least most of the airbags still functioning, completely airbag-less. This is a severe safety issue, by vw's manufacture design to turn off all airbags based on a seatbelt latch, not a malfunctioning airbag. If the latch is giving valid feed back to turn off the seatbelt light, then there is no reason to have a separate contact in this latch for the airbags that disables all of the airbags. Safety parts like airbags should also be required to have the extended manufacturer's warranty like the seatbelts themselves & the emission equipment like the catalytic converter, which is around 150000 miles, isn't it? This is an extremely poor & dangerous design, to turn off all airbags even though there is nothing wrong with them. By the time the airbag light comes on to when owners can get it serviced, the owners unknowingly are driving in an unsafe vehicle that had its working airbags completely turned off because of a seatbelt latch switch that was working well enough to tell the seatbelt light on the dashboard to turn off. This alone should be enough to keep all of the working airbags functioning.
Compare the 2003 Volkswagen Golf
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Questions about the 2003 Volkswagen Golf
Is the 2003 Volkswagen Golf reliable?
Owners have filed 26 complaints about the 2003 Volkswagen Golf, close to a typical Golf model year.
What is the 2003 Volkswagen Golf year score?
The 2003 Volkswagen Golf scores 67 out of 100 (average). The score compares it with the other model years of the Volkswagen Golf: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.
What is the most common problem with the 2003 Volkswagen Golf?
Airbags, with 11 complaints, typically around 80,200 miles. Next is electrical (4).
How many recalls does the 2003 Volkswagen Golf have?
2 recalls, covering air bags and exterior lighting.
Was there a recall on the 2003 Volkswagen Golf airbags?
Yes, 1 recall: 18V406000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.
What year does the Volkswagen Golf have bad airbags?
The Volkswagen Golf model years with the most airbags complaints are 2001 (32 complaints), 2002 (22 complaints) and 2015 (21 complaints).
What gas mileage does the 2003 Volkswagen Golf get?
Official estimates for the 2003 Volkswagen Golf range from 23 to 38 mpg combined. The most efficient version (1.9L 4-cyl diesel, FWD) gets 29-35 city and 40-44 highway.
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