Car has Manual transmission. The gear shifter knob plastic near base where it attaches to shaft is cracking in two places. Cracks are getting worse and seem like they may fail. Dealer inspected and will replace. Appeared within 2 months of ownership.
2022 Volkswagen Golf
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
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Mileage at the reported incident
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What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Power Train. Review the 25 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Forward Collision Avoidance. Review the 17 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine And Engine Cooling. Review the 14 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
Power Train complaints
25 reportsWhile shifting the manual transmission, the shift knob and boot came up and off the shifter. Being totally unexpected, I was temporarily shocked, surprised and confused. Luckily, I was on a country road with no other traffic around me and coasted to a stop. I realized what happened and was able to still shift the transmission a…
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While shifting the manual transmission, the shift knob and boot came up and off the shifter. Being totally unexpected, I was temporarily shocked, surprised and confused. Luckily, I was on a country road with no other traffic around me and coasted to a stop. I realized what happened and was able to still shift the transmission and get home. Been waiting two months for the part to come in at dealership.
Radiator/coolant line busting all over engine. Dealership had no clue but deduced it was the incorrect mounting of the radiator. Then came across an article about this scandal. In the shop for a week-dealership was terrible too. Included a photo after problem was fixed, but the dealership neglected to clean the engine. You can …
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Radiator/coolant line busting all over engine. Dealership had no clue but deduced it was the incorrect mounting of the radiator. Then came across an article about this scandal. In the shop for a week-dealership was terrible too. Included a photo after problem was fixed, but the dealership neglected to clean the engine. You can see where the coolant dried.
During operation, the manual transmission shift knob will become detached from the shift lever and the driver is unable to shift gears. This has occurred while the vehicle was in motion at city and highway speeds.
The shift knob for the manual transmission cracked at the base, causing it be become dislodged from the transmission during use. I still have the broken knob for later inspection. This was a safety risk as I was unable to put the car in gear while in an intersection. This made me unable to continue my motion out of the intersec…
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The shift knob for the manual transmission cracked at the base, causing it be become dislodged from the transmission during use. I still have the broken knob for later inspection. This was a safety risk as I was unable to put the car in gear while in an intersection. This made me unable to continue my motion out of the intersection until the problem was identified and fixed. The specific incident resulted in no further damage as there were no other vehicles at the intersection at that time. The vehicle has been brought to a certified VW dealership and identified as a problem with the hardware (meaning the technician recognized it was not due to improper use). Neither the vehicle nor the broken shift knob have been inspected by any other official bodies (i.e. manufacturer, police or insurance representative). There were no warnings of any type prior to the problem occurring, nor have there been any indicators signaling a problem since (no warning lamps or messages).
My shift knob would pop out of place easily almost everyday. One day it popped out of place and when I popped it back in it wouldn’t go into any gear at all. I was stuck on the side of the road until it eventually let me go into 1st, 3rd, and 4th but not 2nd. It took longer for it to even let me into 2nd. My car is also having e…
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My shift knob would pop out of place easily almost everyday. One day it popped out of place and when I popped it back in it wouldn’t go into any gear at all. I was stuck on the side of the road until it eventually let me go into 1st, 3rd, and 4th but not 2nd. It took longer for it to even let me into 2nd. My car is also having electric issues. Out of nowhere it’ll say that my front sensors aren’t working. My parking brake also has gone out a few times to where I can’t even safely exit my car worried it’ll roll away. The car had a sound coming from the engine and come to find out a sensor was causing an oil leak and oil was getting on one of my belts. My shift knob also has a crack on it and it’s been there since before I hit 1k miles. My car has been at a VW shop for 2 months with no eta on parts.
Shift knob cracked at union with dust boot. Concerned that continued use will cause knob to break off the stem or cause cuts/lacerations of fingers or hands. Issue has been reported on VW GTI Group Pages/forums impacting many owners. Repair of existing OEM part under factory warranty does not fix issue as the cracks will occur w…
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Shift knob cracked at union with dust boot. Concerned that continued use will cause knob to break off the stem or cause cuts/lacerations of fingers or hands. Issue has been reported on VW GTI Group Pages/forums impacting many owners. Repair of existing OEM part under factory warranty does not fix issue as the cracks will occur with the replacement part a second time. Seems the only option is for an aftermarket solution.
As I was shifting into second gear to merge onto the highway, the shift knob detached from the gear selector resulting in me being temporarily unable to select a gear. I was able to partially reattach it, but it is still very loose and comes off easily. It is available for inspection, but I will be trying to bring it to my loca…
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As I was shifting into second gear to merge onto the highway, the shift knob detached from the gear selector resulting in me being temporarily unable to select a gear. I was able to partially reattach it, but it is still very loose and comes off easily. It is available for inspection, but I will be trying to bring it to my local VW dealer ASAP. My safety was put at risk by virtue of being unable to accelerate while merging on the highway. Yes, the problem has been been reproduced by myself - the shift knob is still loose and will come detached if extreme care is not exercised when shifting. I have not had a chance to bring it to my local VW dealer yet, but plan to ASAP. There were no warnings that a malfunction was imminent until the knob came detached.
Shift knob broke off.
The Radiator was loose when I inspected it. Seems the radiator clips were not in place causing the radiator to become loose. Which would cause it to fall against the accessory pulley while running causing a hole in the radiator thus creating a over heating problem. Luckely I caught the issue before it became competently dislodge…
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The Radiator was loose when I inspected it. Seems the radiator clips were not in place causing the radiator to become loose. Which would cause it to fall against the accessory pulley while running causing a hole in the radiator thus creating a over heating problem. Luckely I caught the issue before it became competently dislodged. So far it seems VOA doesnt have a recall or a permanent fix for the issue so the DIY community has come up with a temporary fix which is not ideal. My car was manufactured in may 2022. If the radiator would come loose driving it could cause an accident on the highway putting other motorist lives in jeopardy.
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
0No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.
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