2024 Volkswagen GLI
The 2024 Volkswagen GLI is sold in the U.S. as a gas compact sedan with 2 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the GLI, is EPA-rated at 30 mpg combined. NHTSA lists no recall campaigns for this model year so far (Safety Signal A).
Specs & fuel economy
Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov| Configuration | Powertrain | Drive | Engine / motor | City | Hwy | Comb | Annual fuel* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GLI | Gas | FWD | 2.0L 4-cyl turbo | 26 | 36 | 30 | $2,250 |
| GLI | Gas | FWD | 2.0L 4-cyl turbo | 24 | 35 | 28 | $2,400 |
*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 48455, 47057.
Emissions & certification
Source: EPA emission certificates| Configuration | Smog rating | Emission standard | Where it can be sold new | SmartWay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GLI | 7 / 10 | Federal Tier 3 Bin 30 / California LEV-III SULEV30 | All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards | — |
| GLI | 7 / 10 | California LEV-III SULEV30 / Federal Tier 3 Bin 30 | All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards | — |
Certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S.
The smog rating scores tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, 1 (worst) to 10 (best), and is comparable only within a model year. The standard is the federal bin or California tier the configuration was certified to. Both come from the EPA certificate behind the window sticker.
Dimensions & weight
Source: Transport Canada| Length | 185.8 in |
| Width (body, without mirrors) | 71.3 in |
| Height | 57.5 in |
| Wheelbase | 105.9 in |
| Track, front | 60.6 in |
| Track, rear | 60.6 in |
| Curb weight | 3,225 lb |
| Weight distribution, front/rear | 59/41 |
Measured by Transport Canada for its Canadian Vehicle Specifications database, which covers the North American versions of each model — here one configuration: Jetta 4-door Sedan. Where a range is shown, those versions differ. Width is the body without mirrors, which is why it can read narrower than a brochure figure. Before we used it we checked it against the US manufacturer press kits we hold (27 Sep 2026): wheelbase agreed within 1% on every vehicle we could compare, length on 98%, and the curb weight fell inside the manufacturer's range on 96%. Source dataset. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Licence.
The cheapest ownership win
Insurers price the 2024 GLI very differently, and the gap between the best and worst quote on the same car and driver is usually larger than any option you are weighing on this page.
How to compare cover →Affiliate disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links. If you request a quote or buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Nothing on this page changes because of it.
Recalls (0)
Source: NHTSA recall databaseNo NHTSA recall campaigns are on file for the 2024 Volkswagen GLI. New campaigns appear here within a week of NHTSA posting them.
These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.
Hear about a recall before the letter does
The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2024 Volkswagen GLI, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.
What the 2021 carried
Source: same nameplate, earlier model yearNothing is on file against the 2024 Volkswagen GLI: no recall campaign, no owner complaint and no service bulletin.
So here is the nearest year of the same nameplate that does have a record — the 2021 Volkswagen GLI, 3 years earlier:
Those campaigns covered Back Over Prevention.
Read this as history, not as a forecast. These are the 2021 car's records and they belong to it. We do not know from federal data where one generation ends and the next begins, so we will not tell you a fault carried over — a redesign can replace the part a campaign was about, and a carry-over year can keep it. Take it as the question worth asking the dealer, and check back here in a few months: every year of the GLI, side by side →
Parts & accessories for the 2024 Volkswagen GLI
Search by fitment on eBay Motors — OEM take-offs, aftermarket, and the trim pieces dealers no longer stock. The listing and the price are the seller's.
Find parts for this GLI →Owner complaints
Source: NHTSA complaint databaseNo owner complaints on file with NHTSA for this model year.
Crash ratings
Source: NHTSA NCAPNHTSA has not published 5-Star crash ratings for this model year.
At the New York inspection station
Source: New York State DMVIn New York’s inspection lanes over the 12 months to Oct 10, 2026, the 2024 Volkswagen GLI failed the safety inspection on 0.98% of first inspections — higher than the 0.74% for every 2024 model-year vehicle inspected.
failed the safety inspection
205 initial inspections of 202 vehicles.
| Measure | The 2024 GLI | Every 2024 vehicle | Behind it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Failed the safety inspection | 0.98% | 0.74% | 205 |
| Air-bag warning lamp stayed lit | 0% | 0.17% | 205 |
| Miles driven a year | 10,311 | 9,424 | odometer at inspection |
| Average odometer | 24,252 | 21,104 | odometer at inspection |
Fewer than 200 emissions tests are on file for it, so no emissions rate is shown. First inspections only, so a car that failed and came back is counted once; private and special plates, not taxis, livery or commercial plates. A rate appears only where at least 200 inspections stand behind it. “Every 2024 vehicle” is every 2024 model-year car, SUV and pickup inspected in the same window, all makes. This is the state’s record of test results, not a reliability score by itself. Source: New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Vehicle Inspections (data.ny.gov, Open NY terms).
GLI by model year
all years, side by side →Common questions about the 2024 GLI
Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kitsDoes the 2024 Volkswagen GLI have any recalls?
No NHTSA recall campaigns are on file for the 2024 Volkswagen GLI. New campaigns appear here within a week of NHTSA posting them, and a clean sheet on a recent model year often just means the vehicle is new. For context rather than prediction: the 2021 Volkswagen GLI carried 1 campaign. Those records belong to that model year — a redesign can replace the very part a campaign was about — but they are the right question to ask. See the 2021's record.
How safe is the 2024 Volkswagen GLI?
NHTSA has not published a crash-test rating for the 2024 Volkswagen GLI yet. On the recall record WhichTrim grades it A (100/100), which measures open and severe recalls rather than crash protection. Treat that grade as provisional. It starts at 100 and subtracts for each recall, so a model year nothing has been filed against scores well by default — not because it has proven itself but because it has not been driven long enough to be tested. The 2021 graded A.
What is the fuel economy of the 2024 Volkswagen GLI?
Across the 2 EPA-rated configurations of the 2024 Volkswagen GLI, the best EPA combined figure is 30 mpg. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.
What are the dimensions of the 2024 Volkswagen GLI?
Transport Canada measured it at 185.8 in long, 71.3 in wide (body, without mirrors), 57.5 in tall, on a 105.9 in wheelbase. Curb weight: 3,225 lb. Those are its measurements of the North American versions; every figure is in the table above.
How clean is the 2024 Volkswagen GLI?
The EPA smog rating for the 2024 Volkswagen GLI is 7 out of 10. That score covers tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, and it only compares vehicles within the same model year. It is certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S. Its configurations were certified to different standards — California LEV-III SULEV30, Federal Tier 3 Bin 30 — which the table above lists per configuration.
How does the 2024 Volkswagen GLI do at state inspection?
In New York’s inspection lanes over the 12 months to Oct 10, 2026, the 2024 Volkswagen GLI failed the safety inspection on 0.98% of first inspections — higher than the 0.74% for every 2024 model-year vehicle inspected. The figures are New York State DMV’s own inspection records, first inspections only, and the table above sets each one against every vehicle of the same model year.
What we hold, and what an empty row means
Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.
| Data | Held | Source | What it covers — or what empty means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel economy & configurations | 2 configurations | EPA certification records | Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures. |
| Emission certificates | 2 configurations | EPA emission certificates | Smog rating, standard and the sales area that decides where the car can be sold new. |
| Recalls | none | NHTSA recall campaigns | No campaign has been filed. Because the register is complete, an empty row here means there is nothing to find — not that we are missing it. |
| Owner complaints | none | NHTSA complaint database | No owner has filed one. On a car that sold in small numbers this says very little either way. |
| Crash ratings | none | NHTSA NCAP | NHTSA has not tested this model year. Cars are selected for testing, so untested is not unsafe. |
| Service bulletins | none | NHTSA manufacturer communications | The manufacturer filed nothing for this model year — usual on a car that has only just gone on sale. |
| Investigations | none | NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation | No defect investigation has been opened. |
| Driver-assist crash reports | none | NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01 | No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like. |
| Specifications filed with NHTSA | none | NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns | We had no VIN pattern to decode for this model year, or the manufacturer filed nothing usable. |
| Measured dimensions | 7 fields | Transport Canada, Canadian Vehicle Specifications | Length, width, height, wheelbase, track and curb weight, measured on the North American versions. |
| Trims, pricing & equipment | none | Manufacturer press kit | We have not transcribed a press kit for this model year yet. This is our gap, not the manufacturer's — the one row here where an empty cell means we are behind. |
Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.
Sources & method
Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.
EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly.