Volkswagen Golf fire or smoke problems

Filed May 8, 2026 · Airbags, Seats · MA

Heated seats get extremely hot. Smell of burning. Possible to catch fire or burn people Vw patrick volkswagen auburn ma confirmed that electrical inspection to rule out seat recall No. No recall has been submitted yet When i first bought the car in 2025

Filed Nov 26, 2023 · Electrical · WA · fire

I smelled a strong odor coming from the heater that turned out to be burnt plastic and wiring associated with the auxiliary heater. This is an obvious fire/ smoke hazard that could have been deadly if other nearby components caught fire.

Filed Oct 26, 2022 · CO · fire

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.

Filed Jul 22, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · OH

The 20Y6 recall for VW Golfs is exactly what my 2017 VW Golf GTI experienced. I am surprised the 2017 model year is not included. I did not feel safe driving my car with a failing fuel suction pump causing engine issues in traffic. When I finally made it home there was smoke coming out of my exhaust and fuel spilling out of the rear passenger wheel well.

Filed Jul 18, 2022 · Engine, Fuel system · TX

The car had a few hiccup on the freeway. Eventually the car had a strong gas smell, did not allow to add/fill up gas and was leaking gas at the back of the car. The car could have caught fire without us knowing. The problem was reproduced and known to the dealers. The second dealer Hewlett had seen another 3 cars with same issue as my car! Please see all invoices showing the parts and issues with car. suction pump in the fuel tank, fuel pump gasket, purge valve, evap canister, N80 valve. There is a recall for same issue but my car was never recalled! Recall 16V647000 Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2015-2016 Volkswagen Golf, Golf SportWagen, GTI, Audi A3 sedan and A3 Cabriolet vehicles. Due to a problem with the suction pump inside the fuel tank, fuel may flow into the evaporative emissions (EVAP) system. Recall 16V647000 Consequence As fuel accumulates in the EVAP system, it may leak out through the charcoal canister filter element. A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source increases the risk of a fire. Recall 16V647000 Solution Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the suction pump, free of charge. The recall began November 2016. Volkswagen owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1‑800‑893‑5298, Audi owners may contact Audi customer service at 1‑800‑253‑2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 20Y6 and 20Y5.

Filed Jan 31, 2019 · Engine · 50,000 miles · FL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen golf. While driving 45 MPH, the contact noticed black smoke underneath the hood. The contact pulled over and observed flames. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact was able to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who repaired the coil pack, harness wiring, and electronic control module. The vehicle caught fire twice after the repair. The dealer and manufacturer were not notified. The failure mileage was 50,000. The VIN was unknown.

Filed May 16, 2018 · 32,000 miles · MD

Premature clutch failure at 32,000 miles (this car already had two defective parts at 9,000 miles - the timing chain cover and oil level sensor.) car started making screeching noise when driving, had it towed to dealer who said it wasn't making any sound when they drove it, and they didn't see anything wrong. One week later, burning smell from vents, now dealer says clutch has failed.

Filed Jan 10, 2018 · Brakes, Electrical · 24,650 miles · NM · fire

I drove the car to a meeting on thursday evening, jan 4th, 2018. Parked it in a residential home office parking area in santa fe, nm at 6pm. At 6:10pm another person arrived to the meeting and said she saw flames by a red car. It was my golf. Several of us went out with pots of water and a hose to contain the fire. Moved the other vehicles away from it to avoid it spreading. The flames came down from the engine onto the ground in front of the bumper. It was smoky and smelt horrible. We were able to contain the fire. When the fire dept arrived they used a special tool to pry the hood open and used the residential garden hose to douse the engine to stop the smoldering and reduce the heat of the vehicle to assure it would not ignite again. The car was assessed as totaled. I just bought it from vw uptown abq. It was a tdi that had the modification for the emissions class action suit.

Filed Sep 8, 2015 · Electrical · 90,000 miles · NY · fire

Instrument cluster fire in 1999 vw golf tdi: 2003-01-14, mileage 88290, lights and gauges on instrument cluster were acting flaky and not working properly. Some lights were dim and some were burnt out. 2003-02-05, I bought new instrument cluster. Plan was to have dealership replace faulty one with new one on 2003-02-10. A few days after I bought new one, the cars existing one suddenly emitted sparks while I was driving in a snow storm, and caught on fire! Thick, acrid smoke billowed from underneath the dashboard, forcing me out of the car. I put out the fire with my jacket and some snow. 2003-02-10, dealership replaced instrument cluster. During the first heavy snowfall after that, car started bucking at low rpms and when attempting to shift gears. Speedometer started fluctuating wildly, showing me going anywhere from 0 to 120 MPH. Temperature gauge started fluctuating between 0 and danger zone, and temperature alarm sounded whenever the gauge jumped into the danger zone. Fuel gauge dropped to empty. Odometer froze up. 2003-04-04, mileage 90906, technician at dealership found 300 kilo-ohm resistance in wiring harness grounds. The four main ground wire ends were horribly corroded. As a result, there was no power going to the engine coolant temperature sensor, vehicle speed sensor, or coolant bottle sensor. Technician left the existing wiring harness in place, since most of the harness wires were working fine. He disconnected and capped the ends of the four corroded wires. He then ran new wires to the affected sensors (creating an overlay harness), crimped new connectors on the ends, and used heat shrink on the crimps. I haven't had any instrument cluster fires since then; however, I have replaced the ect sensor 7 times during the 15 years I have owned this car, possibly because of lingering grounding issues. Current mileage is about 392,000.

Filed Jun 8, 2015 · Engine · 44,000 miles · FL · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2011 volkswagen golf. Moments after parking the vehicle, it caught fire. The fire department extinguished the fire. The contact indicated that the fire originated in the engine compartment; however, the cause of the fire was not determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 44,000.