towing VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 2012 Owner's Manual

When not to tow your
there is in the tr ansmission be­
cause of damage to you r it must be moved
with the drive wheels off the ground . The vehicle
can only be towed if its ignition is switched on and
i ts electrica l system is operating. the following
situat ions, the vehicle cannot be towed at
the front and rear whee ls can not turn .
the vehic le battery is dead {because the elec­
troni c steering column lock engages and cannot be
r e leased).
you have to tow an automatic transmission
vehic le more than 30
first read and note the introduc­
on page
Towing eye; tow rope or tow bar
A towing eye is included in your vehic le 's tool kit. This can be inserted in a threaded hole in the front
bumper and used when your vehicl e is being tow­
ed by ano ther vehicle.
The tow rope should be flexib le enough to he lp
protect both vehicles from damage. Use a synthet­
ic fiber rope or similar rope .
Attach the tow rope or tow bar only
to the towing
eye in the vehic le
For the towed vehic le, note the following :
Put the transmission in Neu tral (N) .
Do not tow faster than 30 mph (50 km/h). The
drive rotates while the i
s being towe d with its rear wheels off the ground. This can damage the automatic transmission .
can
Do not tow more than 30 miles (50 km).
When a commerc ial towing truck is being used,
the must be towed with the front
wheels
transmiss ion fluid ha s out of the trans ­
mission.
the re is in the transmissio n be­
cause of damage to your vehicle, it must be moved
w ith the drive whee ls off the ground.
the front and rear whee ls cannot turn.
When the vehicle battery is dead , since the
steering may remain disabl ed, and it may not be
poss ib le to rele ase the electronic steering column
lock.
you have to tow an auto matic transmiss ion
veh icle mor e than 30 miles (50 km).
A veh icle can be towed only if the electronic steer ing column lock is r e leased. case of a
power system,
the engine may have to be jump-started in order to release the electronic steering column lock . Pract ical tip s 331

right front bumper : Remove cover.
first read and note the introduc­
on page
There is a threaded 180.
33 1.
Take the towing eye, the
Push on the cover at the bottom marking =>fig. 179 (arrow ) so that it pops out.
Remove the cover and it hang from the
b um per.
332 Do
F ig .
Screw the towing eye counterclockwise into
the threaded
Use the
When towing is to remove it.
Posit ion the of the cover in the open ­
ing in the bumper and
Push on the upper part of the cover the
upper i n to
m ake sure the towing eye is screwed the way into threaded s o that it is secure.

N
right rear bumper : Remove cover.
on page
for the towing eye
in the right rear bu mper 182 .
the rear towing eye
Take the tow ing eye , th e wrenc h, and the
screwdrive r out of the vehicle gage compartment
Push on the cover at the bottom marking 181 (arrow) so that it pops out.
Remove the cover and let it hang from the
bumper .
the towing eye counterclockwise int o the th readed as far as it go (arrow) 182 Use the lug wrench to turn and
t ighten th e towing eye.
Driving tips while towing
tory information and hee d the on page
Tow ing requires some experie nce , whe n
u sin g a tow rope. Both drivers must be familiar with
the techniques required for towing .
drivers should not try to tow a that is being towed.
Do not
in towing eye.
When towing is complete , unscrew the towing
eye clockwise to remove it.
Position the of the cover in the ing in the bumper and the
Aiways make sure the towing eye is screwed so that is secure. not, it out
your turns even if the eme rgency flashers are activated ,
as
i n the way. The em ergency flashers
go off as long as the turn signal is As soon as the turn re turns to its
Pr actica l tips

Shifting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Vehicle key safety in terlock . . . . . . . . . . . 166
B
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Brak ing assistance systems . . . . . . . 185
Battery Rep laceme nt in rem ote cont rol vehicle key 39
Before taking the vehicle in to the shop . . 297
Belt pretensioners
D isposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Belt warning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Bottle holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Brake
Brake booster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Brake nuid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Brake nuid level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Brak e pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Braking assistance systems . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Bre aking
in the brake pads . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Chang ing brake nuid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
brake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 2
Warning l igh t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Brake Assist (BAS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Brake booster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 , 185
Brake fluid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Spec ificati ons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Brake
system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Malfunction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Braking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
Braking assistance systems . . . . . . . . . . . 18 5
Break-in period
E ngine .
.......................... 283
The fir st few miles (k ilometers ) . . . . . . . . 283 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Breakdown the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Breaking in
B rake pads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 183
Breaking in the brake pads
Care
. . . . . . . 136
Catalytic
converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
I ndicator light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . 157
. . . . 288
Center
armrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Center
console . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13
Changing a
light bulb Indicator light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Changing a wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 313
Wheel bolls 311 Wheel change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Chang i
ng bulbs changing light bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changing light bulbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . fr on t bumper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323 . . . . . . . . . . . 325 th e headlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322 the rear hatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324 License plate ligh t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324, 325
Characteristics Rad io reception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Checking
leve l . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Gelling ready . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 an eme rgen cy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Lifting veh icle with jack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Light bulb replacement . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . 321 for changing a wheel 311 Safety belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
U phol stery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Checks
while refueling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Child res
traint and fron t airbag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Child safety lock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Tire identification number . . . . . . . . 272
Tire i nflation pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Tire
. . . . 261, 273
UTQG classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Valve caps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Wear indicator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Wheel balancing . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . 268
Wheel rims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Winte r tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
Tire wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Tongue weight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Trailer loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Tools kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tow-starting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Towing ............................. 331 Driving tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Front towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Manua l tr ansmission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Rear towing eye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333 considerations . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Tow bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Tow rope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 Tow truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Trail er
Connec ting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
151 Driving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Driving with a trailer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Head
light settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Hitching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 LED taillights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Load ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Ou ts ide mirrors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Sa fety chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Ta illi gh ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Tongue weight ................. 149,151
Towing capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Trai ler towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
hitch
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Transporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Driving tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Driving with an open rear hatch . . . . . . . . 138
Driving with a trai ler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Luggage compartment pass-thro ugh . . . . 144
Roof rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146, 148
Shopping bag hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Stow
ing luggage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138 Tie-downs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Trailer loading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Trailer towing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Tran
sporting children in vehicles . . . . . . . Tread depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
T urn s
ignal leve r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
u
Undercoating ....................... . 249 Unidirectional tires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Unlocking From inside the vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
From outside the vehicle . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
wi th Keyless Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Upholstery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251 .......... ................... 252
. . . . . . . . . . . . 252
. . . 252
. . . 255
UTQG classification 292
v
Valve caps Vehi cle 265
L oad ing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
37 Lock ing from the outside . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
grade . . . . . . . . . . 183 Stopping on an grade . . . . . . . . . . . 183 Unlocking and locking from the ins ide . . . . 43 U nlocking from the outside . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Vehicle battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Au toma tic deact ivation . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Battery acid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Battery runs down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
347

New
tion to the period of this written warranty.
2310(d) with respect to the New
Vehicle Limited Warr anty. You may a ls o be quir e d to u se the BBB
section of this booklet for more information.
Covera ge
Thi s limite d wa rra nty covers any repai r to corre ct a
m anu
factur er's defect in mate rial or workmansh ip
except wheel a lignme nt, tir e balance, and the
ufactu rer specifica tions, brake discs worn below manufact urer specificat ions, and light bulb s 1
)
placed for wear and tear, are cove red up to one
year or miles , w hic heve r occurs first. Wiper
blades replaced for wea r and tea r are cove re d up
t o 6 months or mil es, whichever occurs first.
Original Equipment Battery
Original equipm ent batte ries are cove re d p arts a nd labor for 2 yea rs or mil es, eve r occ urs first, for defects in material or man ship.
Mechanical
Adjustments
Mechan ical adjus tments not associa te d wit h a
fect in materia l and workma nship , a re cove re d up
t o one year or
24-H ou r Roadside Assistance Services include th e
fo llowing:
Towing
for a mechanical breakdown or sion
Battery jump start
Fl at tire se
rvice
Lock-out service
Fu el delivery se rvice
Tri p
interruption ben efits
R efe r to
the 24- Hour Roadside Ass ista nce
be honored by any thorized Volkswagen dealer in the United States ,
including its te rri tories.
your Volkswagen model is brought to an
including its te rrit ories , this limi ted war ra nt y not
apply . D efects in mat erial or wo rk m ansh ip be
correc ted under the terms of the limited warranty
f o r new Volkswagen vehicles in effect in th at try (excep t Canada).
W a
rranty re pairs while t raveling in Canad a
Warranty repairs while t rave ling in Canada shoul d
be perfo
rmed by an au thori zed Volkswage n dea le r.
New Veh icle Limit ed Warrant y, Ca nad ia n
dealers can su b mit a claim. Pro of of Uni ted reside nce is req uired . the Ca nadia n d eale r not submit you r claim, you may be asked to pay for
t h e repa ir. your ret urn to the United States,
p lease present th e invoice to yo ur United Volkswagen dealer , who s ubmi t a claim on
yo ur behal f an d ob ta in re imb urse ment for you.
When the warranty period begins
T he warra nty period begi ns on the date the vehicle
i s del ivered to e ither the original purc h aser or the
orig in al lessee; or if the vehic le is fir s t placed in service as a or "co mpany" car, on
the date su ch vehicle is first placed in se rvi ce.
miles , whichever occurs first. Headlight bulb s damaged by outsi de are not covered .
Warranty