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What 4 owners told NHTSA about the 2013 Volkswagen Golf R
These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.
1 of 4 complaints match · Suspension · clear filters
Jan 18, 2021Suspension
REAR SUSPENSION COIL SPRING FRACTURED RESULTING IN A SHARP LOOSE PIECE OF STEEL. THIS HAPPENED WHEN I WAS DRIVING THE CAR, AND THE CAR STARTED TO MAKE AN UNEXPECTED METALLIC NOISE. THIS LOOSE PIECE COULD HAVE RUPTURED THE TIRE AND CAUSED A SAFETY ISSUE OR ACCIDENT. THE REPAIR SHOP DEEMED THE CAR NOT DRIVABLE DUE TO SAFETY. I PAID TO HAVE BOTH REAR SPRINGS AND SPRING PADS REPLACED. THIS CAR HAS LESS THAN 51K MILES. THIS IS A SURPRISING FAILURE AND I WAS CONCERNED FOR MY AND OTHER OWNER'S SAFETY. THIS SAME EXACT FAILURE IS THE SUBJECT OF AN NHTSA RECALL FOR 2015 AND LATER VW GOLFS, THE SAME MODEL I HAVE. I CONTACTED VW AND THEY SAID THEY WOULD NOT COVER THE COST OF THE REPAIR.
NHTSA ODI 11388660
Working with the data? Download all 4 complaints as CSV · fetched from NHTSA July 19, 2026
How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your
pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the
full 2013 Volkswagen Golf R verdict →