Random engine hesitancy reducing acceleration while driving. Vehicle maintained by the dealer for all scheduled maintenance and service visits. Within 30 days of a manufacture's repair that dealt with the HVAC and air filter AND a service visit to change oil and rotate tires, the hesitancy during driving was more pronounced. The dealer's service center stated the air filter was flooded from an HVAC leak and a clog. I have found similar owners have had problems like this and VW will not address it systemically. I otherwise enjoy my vehicle, but am concerned that it will not accelerate when needed and is potentially dangerous without warning. It should not take loss of life or property to have this corrected.

- Waldof, MD, USA

2016 Touareg was towed to OStein VW service after engine would not accelerate and ran rough when got onto the interstate. OStein VW diagnostic was water into the air filter that got into engine and now need to replace engine block because of water getting into the air filter from the rain drain system system getting clogged for the Touareg. VW Service says can hear engine valves chattering. I see at NHTSA that at least 60 other complaints have been filed about this problem of water getting into the air filter.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

There is an ongoing issue with the drain from the air cleaner box clogging and water collecting in the box and then being ingested into the engine. On other occasions I had drained water from the box and changed the wet air filter to a dry one. Today (5/26/2021) I pulled out of my driveway and car started stalling. I got a transmission fault notification and immediately returned to my home. After raising the hood I noticed a noise from the left side of the engine bay and checked the drain for the air cleaner box. It was of course clogged. I opened the air cleaner box and approximately 6" of water ran out of the box. I restarted the engine and no longer had a transmission fault but an engine management warning. The engine while running was running roughly. I contacted the nearest VW dealership and they stated that this was a known issue, that there was no recall, that VW had come up with a "fix" for the issue and that, of course it was not covered under the powertrain warranty. The vehicle is not driveable and will be towed to the dealership for diagnosis and repair.

- Elizabethtown, KY, USA

Vehicle intermittently loses power when accelerating. Would describe the feeling as ranging from a shudder or "hiccup" to a dropping sensation. Occurs at any point of acceleration - whether from low rate of speed to high (as in entrance ramp acceleration) or from cruising speed to higher cruising speed (as when speed limit increases). Identified this sensation within weeks of taking delivery of vehicle and it has continued.

- Columbus, OH, USA

Engine air filter compartment fills with water under normal, in-motion operating conditions, leaving a spongy, moldy mess of the air filter and extremely poor engine performance as well as engine overheating during summer months. Have replaced the filter repeatedlly. This is a serious and dangerous design flaw.

- Fairfield, CT, USA

At 18,293 miles the vehicle entered "limp mode" while under normal driving conditions. The problem was diagnosed as the engine air filter being saturated with water due to a clogged air box drain holding water. At 26,054 miles, the filter was again found to be saturated with water. This required replacement of the air filter a second time. Normal air filter replacement is recommended at 60,000 miles. At last replacement, VW dealer "modified" the air box drain to improve drainage

- Madison, WI, USA

The vehicle was left parked on my driveway for 4 days, during so heavy rainstorms passed over my area. When I went to go start the car after 4 days, a sunny dry day finally, its sputtered and suffocated when starting up. Having heard these vehicles have water problems with the air intake for the engine I immediately shut off the car. When I opened the air filter housing there were about 2 inches of water in the housing that undoubtedly got sucked into my engine when it was started. With the vehicle, not being driven at all during the rain, heavy spray from the road or other cars can be ruled out as a cause and I figure there must be a defect in the seal or design of the air intake. Especially, since VW china recalled these vehicles for the exact same issue earlier this year. Additionally, the car was parked on a typical inclined driveway about 8 feet in front of the garage door, in no precarious position. Now the vehicle continues to sputter and lose revs when starting up.

- Shorewood, IL, USA

Water from rain enters the air filter housing while parked outside, and soaks the air filter and doesn't drain so the engine ingests water and hydrolocks when pulling out into traffic. Volkswagen refuses to warranty this known problem. Car has 1600 miles on it. Bought new maech 2018. 40 days out of service so far.

- Lutz, FL, USA

Water in engine airbox. Noticed air filter saturated with water when changing at 21,000 miles. Appears to be a known problem that is not being addressed by VW in the us.

- Wells, ME, USA

Due to a engineering fault water is a getting into the air intake and soaking the bottom of the air intake where its deteriorating the filter and also endangering the engine of sucking up water and hydrolocking. This is a known issue and has caused other vehicles of this make and model to lock up and disable the engine. It is not due to driving through water but simply faulty engineering that allows water to flow from the front of the car down into the air intake.

- Pigeon Forge, TN, USA

Water gets into air take system. Took vehicle to dealer for car wash and also purchased a air filter. Came to replace air filter and old filter was damaged and waterlogged.

- Oak Lawn, IL, USA

Faulty air intake system allows water to be ingested. Air filter becomes soaked with water, and will ultimately fail if left unchecked. Bits of soggy filter media will damage turbocharger and possibly reciprocating components requiring engine replacement. Engine can fail at any time without warning, causing an unsafe condition. Water ingestion can occur with vehicle stationary or being driven in wet conditions. This is occuring in light rain, and vehicle has not been driven through standing water.

- Temple, GA, USA

When it rains heavily, my Touareg air filter is very easy to get into the water. I checked the information on the internet, it said in other countries, there are lots of reports that the same model of imported Touareg has lost the power on free way because of the water filter entering the water.

- Glendale, WI, USA

My engine was damaged and brought to the dealership. The dealer is suggesting I have gotten water in the intake box and the drain was clogged resulting in engine damage. They are asking that I pay for the damages and I believe it is a design flaw. This was a reclass by VW globally but not in America.

- Northglenn, CO, USA

Drove in rainstorm and car shut off and came to a complete stop. Could not start back up. After service inspection, I was told that the engine ingested a substantial amount of water and the engine would need replaced.

- Newtown Square, PA, USA

Engine light came on after driving three miles in dry weather. After seeing recalls in china about water entering the air filter box and saw that the bottom.25% was soaked. Saw many other Touareg owners on forums with same problem. Dealer towed vehicle in and falsely claimed car was sitting in water. Reset the engine code and charged me $50+ for a new air filter and delivered the car back to me, with the engine light still on. I've called the service manager and waiting on a call back.

- Lutz, FL, USA

During a rain storm and with my wife driving on a busy neighborhood throughway our 2016 VW Touareg lost all power from the engine and power steering. She was forced to stop on the side of the road and push the car to safety. Upon research we learned about a problem with water getting into the air filter and subsequently into the motor. The next day, after the rain cleared I unlatched the air filter and found water pouring out of the filter box and had completely saturated the air filter to that of a soaking wet sponge. I have towed the Touareg to the dealership and am awaiting the diagnostics. How could such a simple flaw remain such a major issue with out any action from Volkswagen? I only hope I do not have to pay for a new motor just because we drove in a daily summertime Florida rain storm.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

Water in air intake box, discovered when changing air filter. Vehicle has 12,6xx miles on it. No prior off road or deep water use.

- Towson, MD, USA

Air intake water ingestion brand new vehicle with only 134 dealer miles on it. Went from delivery truck to driveway where it was parked (no plates yet, so has not been driven). Opened air filter box to inspect filter element...bottom 2-3 inches of the filter was soaked. This is consistent with complaints documented on the clubtouareg forum, and the recall issued by VW china. This also needs to be a recall in the usa since water ingestion may lead to hydro-locking and sudden and catastrophic engine failure at highway speeds.

- Dunnellon, FL, USA

While reading a VW forum I became aware of a known problem with the air filter housing drain becoming clogged and the air filter becoming wet and water being ingested into the engine, hydrolocking the engine and requiring the installation of a new engine. I then checked my air filter and found the bottom 3" - 4" of the air filter completely soaked, to the point that water was dripping from the foam portion of the filter. I contacted VW and they have noted my concerns but there is currently no recall for this problem. I am now hesitant to drive the vehicle at all. As this has been a known problem for a number of years with this vehicle I am surprised that there is no recall in place.

- Elizabethtown, KY, USA