1996 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF — Complaint #797712
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about VISIBILITY:WINDSHIELD WIPER/WASHER:SWITCH/WIRING filed July 7, 2010
NHTSA complaint #797712 (ODI reference 10341796) concerns a 1996 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF and was filed on July 7, 2010. The owner reports the failure occurred on June 30, 2010. The vehicle had 110,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Indiana based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as visibility:windshield wiper/washer:switch/wiring, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same VOLKSWAGEN GOLF cohort independently describe similar visibility:windshield wiper/washer:switch/wiring failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1996 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1996 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF. THE CONTACT WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY BETWEEN 65 AND 70 MPH IN RAINY WEATHER CONDITIONS WITH THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS ENGAGED WHEN SUDDENLY, THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS STOPPED WORKING AND SMOKE BEGAN EMITTING FROM THE STEERING COLUMN. THE CONTACT PULLED OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE ENGINE WAS TURNED OFF. WITHIN A FEW MINUTES, THE SMOKE SUBSIDED AND THE CONTACT WAS ABLE TO CONTINUE DRIVING NORMALLY. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED BY REPLACING THE IGNITION AND THE WINDSHIELD WIPER SWITCH. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 110,000.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 797712 |
| ODI Number | 10341796 |
| Date Filed | July 7, 2010 |
| Failure Date | June 30, 2010 |
| VIN | 3VWFA81H1TM |
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.