There are 7 owner-reported electrical system complaints for the 2007 Volkswagen GTIin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
PASSENGER SIDE HEADLIGHT (PLEASE SEE ATTACHED PHOTO "HEADLIGHT.JPG"): THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED FOR THE FIRST TIME THE DAY WE BOUGHT THE CAR, RIGHT AFTER WE PULLED OUT OF YOUR LOT. WE PULLED RIGHT BACK IN AFTER CIRCLING THE BLOCK, BUT AFTER LEORE TURNED THE ENGINE OFF AND ON AGAIN EVERYTHING WAS FINE THEN. I HAVE NOT FOUND A WAY TO DUPLICATE THIS. IT SEEMS TO HAPPEN RANDOMLY, BUT USUALLY WITHIN THE FIRST MINUTE OR SO OF DRIVING. THERE ALWAYS SEEMS TO BUT BE A BRIGHT FLASH FROM WHICH ONE OF THE LIGHTS DOES NOT RECOVER. DASHBOARD MESSAGE: THIS ONE LOOKS LIKE IT MAY BE RELATED TO THE FIRST ISSUE (AGAIN, PLEASE SEE ATTACHED PHOTO NAMED "MESSAGE.JPG"): THE MESSAGE READING "FRONT RIGHT DIPPED BEAM NOT WORKING!" USUALLY DISPLAYS WITHIN THE FIRST FEW SECONDS AFTER STARTING THE ENGINE. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIND A WAY TO DUPLICATE THIS AT WILL. IT ALSO SEEMS TO RANDOMLY HAPPEN, BUT A LOT MORE OFTEN THAN THE FAILING HEADLIGHT UNDER ISSUE #1 DOES. THE PASSENGER DOOR POWER LOCK SEEMS TO WORK ONLY ON AND OFF. ALL OTHER LOCKS (I'M NOT POSITIVE ABOUT THE TRUNK ACTUALLY) SEEM TO WORK FINE. ALIGNMENT: THE VEHICLE PULLS TO THE LEFT ON THE FREEWAY. I BOUGHT A USED VEHICLE FROM STEVENS CREEK VOLKLSWAGEN THAT WAS UNSAFE WHICH WAS MY UNDERSTANDING IT WAS SAFE. I HAVE ATTEMPTED TO GET IT RESOLVED THROUGH THE DEALERSHIP AND MANUFACTURER BUT MAJORITY OF THE ABOVE LISTED ITEMS IN FIRST PARAGRAPH (I.E., TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR, SPEED, HEADLIGHT) ARE STILL UNRESOLVED.
THE SPEEDOMETER ON MY CAR IS INACCURATE AND DISPLAYS A SPEED THAT IS 10% FASTER THAN I AM ACTUALLY TRAVELING. MY LOCAL DEALER APPLIED A PROGRAMMING FIX (TSB), BUT THAT DID NOT CORRECT THE PROBLEM. *TR
THE MIL OR CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WOULD COME ON REPEATEDLY. EACH TIME THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER FOR THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, THE ERROR CODE WAS "FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR." AFTER 5 SEPERATE TRIPS TO THE DEALERSHIP FOR THE SAME ISSUE, THE DEALERSHIP HAS REPLACED THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL PUMP, THE LOW PRESSURE FUEL PUMP, THE FUEL FILTER, THE FUEL REGULATOR, THE LOW PRESSURE FUEL SENSOR, AND MOST RECENTLY THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL SENSOR. I BELIEVE THAT THE HIGH PRESSURE FUEL SENSOR WAS AT FAULT FROM THE VERY BEGINNING.
I HAVE BEEN ENJOYING MY 2007 GTI BUT THERE IS ONE FEATURE THAT I THINK IS DANGEROUS AND INCONVENIENT AND REQUEST YOU CHANGE ON FUTURE MODELS. IF THE VEHICLE STALS, I FIND THAT I MUST TURN THE KEY COMPLETELY OFF BEFORE I CAN RESTART IT. WHEN I STALL IT ON RARE OCCASIONS, IT PUTS ME IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION WHERE TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE. YOUR FEATURE 1. REQUIRES EXTRA TIME. 2. IT IS ILLOGICAL. THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED IT TOOK ME AT LEAST 20 SECONDS TO RESTART THE VEHICLE SINCE I HAD TO FIGURE OUR THIS FEATURE. DURING THIS TIME I WAS SITTING IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC! 3. I LOOSE OTHER VEHICLE FUNCTIONS SUCH AS POWER STEERING WHEN I HAVE TO TURN THE KEY OFF. (THE VEHICLE COULD STILL BE MOVING). AS A RESULT IT INCREASES THE DRIVERS DANGER IN THESE SITUATIONS. PLEASE CHANGE THE ELECTRONICS SO THAT THE CAR CAN BE RESTARTED BY SIMPLY TURNING THE IGNITION TO THE ON POSITION. *JB
2007 GTI 2.0, PACKAGE2, DSG. VEHICLE SPEEDOMETER IS NOT ACCURATE. IN ORDER TO TRAVEL 60 MPH, THE SPEEDOMETER MUST READ 65 MPH. THE ONLY WAY TO SEE THE CORRECT SPEED, IS WITH THE CLIMATRONIC. HOLD DOWN ECON AND AIR UP BUTTONS AT SAME TIME. TURN DRIVER'S SIDE KNOB TO 19.0, TURN MIDDLE KNOB UNTIL SAYS 19.1. THE UNCORRECTED SPEED IS SHOWN IN THE PASSENGER SIDE CLIMATRONIC WINDOW. THE UNCORRECTED SPEED MATCHES UP TO OTHER VEHICLES AND IS ACCURATE FROM ALL TESTS. VOLKSWAGEN IS TAKING THE ACTUAL SPEED, AND MAKING IT WRONG, AND SENDING TO THE SPEEDOMETER. THE SAME HOLDS TRUE IN EVERY 2007 GTI WITH 18" WHEELS. A VEHICLE COSTING OVER $25,000 SHOULD AT LEAST BE ABLE TO GIVE ACCURATE SPEED. IT IS VERY DANGEROUS TO HAVE TO LOOK DOWN TO CLIMATRONC TO GET ACCURATE SPEED. *NM
THE SPEEDOMETER ON MY 2007 VOLKSWAGEN GTI IS OFF BY ABOUT 10 PERCENT OR TO PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE, WHEN MY SPEEDOMETER IS READING 90 MPH, ACTUAL SPEED IS 81-82 MPH ACCORDING TO MY GERMAN NAV SYSTEM. THE CAR IS AS IT LEFT THE FACTORY WITH FACTORY TIRES AND WHEELS. I BELIEVE MY ODOMETER MIGHT BE OFF A SIMILAR AMOUNT AS WELL. I CONTACTED VOLKSWAGEN ON THE MATTER AND THEY TOLD ME THAT IT WAS NORMAL FOR THE SPEEDOMETER TO BE OFF BY THAT MUCH. I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS AS MY 1995 FORD F-150 WORK TRUCK READS EXACTLY AS IT SHOULD !!! (AGAIN MEASURED BY MY PORTABLE NAV SYSTEM. I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND WHY I WAS ALWAYS GETTING PASSED ON THE FREEWAY AND SOMETIMES GETTING RUDE VERBAL AND HAND GESTURES EVEN THOUGH I WAS TRAVELING ABOVE THE POSTED SPEED LIMIT. THIS HAS OCCURRED EVER SINCE I HAVE OWNED THE CAR AND HAVE ONLY JUST DISCOVERED THE DISCREPANCY VERY RECENTLY (WITHIN A COUPLE OF WEEKS). I HAVE LISTED THE NUMBER OF FAILURES AS 365 BECAUSE I HAVE OWNED THE CAR SINCE NEW AND BELIEVE THE SPEEDOMETER AND ODOMETER HAVE BEEN INCORRECT SINCE NEW. IM NOT EVEN GUESSING AS TO HOW MUCH THE MILEAGE ON MY CAR MIGHT BE OFF YET. THE CAR CURRENTLY HAS 11000 MILES. THIS IS A CONCERN WHICH SHOULD BE LOOKED INTO AND THE MANUFACTURER IS NOT WILLING TO DO A THING ABOUT IT APPARENTLY, SO I TURN TO YOUR ORGANIZATION IN HOPES THAT SOMETHING MIGHT BE DONE ABOUT THIS DISCREPANCY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER IN ADVANCE. *TR
VEHICLE: 2007 VW GTI W/DSG TRANSMISSION SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE CONSISENTLY OVERSTATES ACTUAL SPEED ABOVE 20 MPH. THE OVERSTATEMENT VARIES FROM 1 MPH (AT 30 MPH) TO 5-6 MPH (AT 65 MPH). THE SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE ALSO DISAGREES WITH THE SPEED REPORTED BY THE VEHICLE'S ELECTRONIC TRIP COMPUTER. BASED ON ALL MY TESTS IN OPEN-ROAD DRIVING CONDITIONS, THE ELECTRONIC TRIP COMPUTER IS PROVING ACCURATE INFORMATION-- THE SPEEDOMETER NEEDLE (WHICH GETS ITS INPUT FROM THE ELECTRONIC TRIP COMPUTER) HAS BEEN DELIBERATELY DESIGNED OR DELIBERATELY CALIBRATED TO OVERSTATE VEHICLE SPEED. THE DEALER HAS CHECKED THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OUT, FINDING NO RECORDED FAULTS IN THE SYSTEM. ALL KNOWN TSB'S HAVE BEEN APPLIED. THE DEALER REPORTED THAT THEY CHECKED OUT OTHER SIMILAR VEHICLES AND FOUND IDENTICAL SPEED OVERSTATEMENT ISSUES. THE DEALER FURTHER STATED THAT THEY HAD CONTACTED VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA REGARDING THIS ISSUE AND WERE TOLD THAT THE OVERSTATEMENT OF SPEED WAS "WITHIN OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS". THE FUNCTION OF A SPEEDOMETER IS TO PROVIDE A REASONABLE DETERMINATION OF ACTUAL VEHICLE SPEED. WHILE A 1-2 MPH VARIANCE IS REASONABLE, A 5-6 MPH VARIANCE IS NOT. AT INTERSTATE HIGHWAY SPEEDS, DRIVERS ARE UNABLE TO REASONABLY DETERMINE THEIR SPEED WITHOUT MENTALLY ADJUSTING FOR A CORRECTABLE DESIGN DEFICIENCY
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026