NHTSA complaint: 2024 VOLKSWAGEN GTI — POWER TRAIN
I am [XXX] and have only ever owned manual transmission cars. I bought a 2024 GTI/Manual Transmission a few months ago. I also have a 2017 GTI Sport, 6MT. All purchased new. I was so used to the way the 2017 utilized hill hold and had not experienced a hill in my test drive before buying the car. I also drove other brands manual transmission and they all worked in a similar manner. The "Hill Hold" feature on this 2024 GTI/Manual Transmission vehicle is dangerous and does not release when it is supposed to. It is extremely aggressive in the amount that it is holding. In fact, I was rear ended 1 mile from the dealership after picking up the car because of this issue...no kidding. My current workaround is to release the brake, wait a couple of seconds until the car releases its "Hill Hold", rolls backward, and then give throttle/release the clutch. This is a safety concern in many ways. I could get rear ended again because the rear brake light goes out when I release the foot brake, even though I have to wait a few seconds to move forward. Also, in an emergency, if I had to move quickly, the car would likely stall if I tried to overcome the "Hill Hold" brake before it releases itself. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration — Office of Defects Investigation