Volkswagen Announces Major Recall Over Fuel Leak Risks [California]

CALIFORNIA (February 23, 2024) — Volkswagen has issued a recall for over 261,000 vehicles in the United States, citing concerns over a potential fuel leak that could elevate the risk of fires. 

The recall encompasses a range of models, including certain Audi A3s, VW Golfs, GTIs from the 2015 to 2020 model years, 2015 to 2019 Golf Sportwagens, and 2019 to 2020 VW Jettas, all equipped with front-wheel drive.

Owners can verify if their vehicle is affected by entering their 17-digit vehicle identification number (VIN) on Volkswagen’s recall lookup tool. The VIN can be located at various points on the vehicle, such as the base of the windshield or the driver door jamb.

The Volkswagen recall stems from a defective pump seal within the fuel tank, part of the emissions control system, which may result in fuel leakage and significantly increase the fire hazard. Volkswagen plans to address this by replacing the faulty pump at no cost to the vehicle owners, with notification letters to be dispatched starting April 12.

This recall marks a repeated effort, following a similar action in 2016 for the same issue, which affected approximately 110,000 vehicles. Despite the replacement pumps from the initial recall also showing failures, there have been no reported fires linked to this defect.