Radiator came loose and cause a catastrophic coolant loss while driving leaving me stranded, a lot of people are having this problem
2022 Volkswagen Golf
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Limited comparison data
There is not enough comparable history to draw a useful model-year comparison.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Golf years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
Limited mileage data: 1 of 81 reports include usable mileage. There isn’t enough coverage to show a useful chart.
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
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.
What owners actually said
81 reportsThe radiator is loose, causing one of the hose to rub against the engine. It drilled a hole into the hose and leaked all the coolant in the car. The coolant light came on, and the car had to be towed away or it would have been overheated. Coolant splashed all over the engine bay. The car had 95 mileage.
Radiator is not clipped in properly at the factory and causes the lower radiator hose to come intro contact with belts and pulleys. This in turn causes all antifreeze to leak out into the roadway and causes engine to overheat. Both can be dangerous and cause vehicle to catch FIRE. The plastic connector on the lower radiator h…
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Radiator is not clipped in properly at the factory and causes the lower radiator hose to come intro contact with belts and pulleys. This in turn causes all antifreeze to leak out into the roadway and causes engine to overheat. Both can be dangerous and cause vehicle to catch FIRE. The plastic connector on the lower radiator hose rubbed on the pully and melted. Vehicle is still at the dealership waiting on parts. A search online shows this problem started in Feb 2022. I just bought my vehicle and it has less than 1000 miles on it.
Clips that hold radiator failed, allowing a coolant hose to come into contact with a pulley, resulting in the immediate and complete loss of coolant. This is not an isolated issue - many owners in online forums have experienced the same issue, generally at 300-3000 miles.
Various software glitches that can lead to anything from cruise control being disabled for no reason to the buttons on the steering wheel becoming not responsive. Audio glitch can sometimes happen where no audio can be heard from the cars speakers, even parking assist sensor sounds. Backup camera flickering is another issue that…
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Various software glitches that can lead to anything from cruise control being disabled for no reason to the buttons on the steering wheel becoming not responsive. Audio glitch can sometimes happen where no audio can be heard from the cars speakers, even parking assist sensor sounds. Backup camera flickering is another issue that can happen sometimes. Issues are all intermittent.
I am reporting this same issue for two separate vehicles (same make, model and year): All of the sensors relating to parking, rear cross traffic, ACC, etc. fail intermittently. (They all fail as simultaneously and resolve simultaneously.) This has now occurred on two separate cars that I have owned (same make, year and model). …
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I am reporting this same issue for two separate vehicles (same make, model and year): All of the sensors relating to parking, rear cross traffic, ACC, etc. fail intermittently. (They all fail as simultaneously and resolve simultaneously.) This has now occurred on two separate cars that I have owned (same make, year and model). The first was repurchased as a lemon, but the exact issue is now present on the second car (see separate report). The issue is dangerous since these are core safety features (e.g., rear cross traffic, emergency braking). The issue has been confirmed by a VW dealer on both vehicles. I also have photographs of the warning messages and lights on both vehicles. This problem is reported by many other owners of 2022 VW Golfs. For example: https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/mk8-computer-gremlins.9497807/ In addition to my vehicle, the dealer has another brand new 2022 Golf in the service department with the same issue. The warning messages are: "Rear Traffic Alert is currently not available." "Error: Park Distance Control" In addition, the parking sensors do not work.
I am reporting this same issue for two separate vehicles (same make, model and year): All of the sensors relating to parking, rear cross traffic, ACC, etc. fail intermittently. (They all fail as simultaneously and resolve simultaneously.) This has now occurred on two separate cars that I have owned (same make, year and model). …
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I am reporting this same issue for two separate vehicles (same make, model and year): All of the sensors relating to parking, rear cross traffic, ACC, etc. fail intermittently. (They all fail as simultaneously and resolve simultaneously.) This has now occurred on two separate cars that I have owned (same make, year and model). The first was repurchased as a lemon, but the exact issue is now present on the second car (see separate report). The issue is dangerous since these are core safety features (e.g., rear cross traffic, emergency braking). The issue has been confirmed by a VW dealer on both vehicles. I also have photographs of the warning messages and lights on both vehicles. This problem is reported by many other owners of 2022 VW Golfs. For example: https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/mk8-computer-gremlins.9497807/ In addition to my vehicle, the dealer has another brand new 2022 Golf in the service department with the same issue. The warning messages are: "Rear Traffic Alert is currently not available." "Error: Park Distance Control" In addition, the parking sensors do not work.
Radiator was loose from the factory where it clips to intercooler allowing movement of radiator within engine bay. Lower radiator hose then hit crank pulley from movement in radiator causing loss of coolant. Dealer replacing radiator hose, radiator and intercooler. Factory defect, happened with less than 200 miles on the car.
After hearing reports that some 2022 VW GTIs were suffer total coolant loss due to a loose radiator I checked my own new GTI. I found that my GTI’s radiator was unsecured at the top on the passenger side and it could freely move back and forth approximately 1.25 inches. This could allow the radiator, shroud and fan to contact …
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After hearing reports that some 2022 VW GTIs were suffer total coolant loss due to a loose radiator I checked my own new GTI. I found that my GTI’s radiator was unsecured at the top on the passenger side and it could freely move back and forth approximately 1.25 inches. This could allow the radiator, shroud and fan to contact moving parts in the engine bay. Might be duplicate report, I tried earlier and got an error message.
Radiator not firmly attached to the car. Radiator freely moves back and forth about one inch at the top on passenger side. Radiator, fan and shroud at risk of hitting other engine parts. I investigated this after seeing reports on internet and found that my vehicle has this problem.
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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