10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 3 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 0 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
At a red light, upon releasing the break to accelerate, the vehicle turned off. Meaning, the vehicle went from drive mode "D" to park "P" when I accelerated as the light turned green. This occured without prior warning that it would shift into "P". When I put my foot on the break to shift back into "D", then accelerated again, the vehicle went back into "P". It felt as if the "transmission" had given out. There was a light push (not quite a jolt) then it went into "P". After the third attempt, the vehicle finally drove as I accelerated. I was going through this process as quickly as possible since I had vehicles behind me in the busy streets of Down Town LA.
- Santa Barbara, CA, USA
1)The computer screen has delays or freezes or rear view camera not always activates. Generally problem with software which can cause safety hazard when I-??m driving an causes distraction if it-??s not working. 2)traction control turns on automatically almost on all curved exits or entrances to the highway. Major safety concern as it-??s affecting my driving - slows down vehicle, causing difficulty controlling the vehicle. 3)inaccurate battery reading, as it-??s keep showing different percentage, and keeps changing inappropriately while driving. I wanted to say it is safety concern because for ex: I went for road trip had 150 miles (approx 70%) but then I drove for 30 miles and have 40 miles left (approx 20%) left so now I-??m getting distracted from driving and need to find charging station. I know I can pull over and do that but the time when you notice and your reaction while driving can cause distraction. I will take pictures and also ask my wife to take it as well when possible and safe to do so. Please contact me for the future follow up regarding pictures at [XXX]. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
- Manteca, CA, USA
The rear window on our VW 2021 ID4, shattered while I was parked in a grocery store parking lot on Sunday, July 10, at approximately 7:30 am. The rear defrost had been turned on as I drove to the store. I shopped for about 15 minutes and came out of the store and sat down on the front driver seat, which starts up things like the radio and I believe the defrost again. This is when I heard an exploseion, got out of the car to see what had caused the vibration and sound, and looked to find that the glass was shattered inward and there was a hole as if a brick had been thrown through it. It was early in the morning and very few shoppers were in the parking lot, so I had a clear view of anyone running from the scene or hiding behind what few cars there were. There was no item on the inside or outside of the car that would have produced any kind of hole. The glass blew inward and a rear facing toddler car seat was impacted with small shards of tempered glass. There was no child passenger in that seat at the time of the shattering. The local dealership reviewed the window when I took it in, and I suggested to them that it might be defective defrost grid element, but they said they were not able to discern the origin of the problem, as I had cleaned up the shards prior to bringing in the car. The repair shop manager suggested it was a stray bb from a bb gun. I didn't see anyone close to the car in the parking lot, and the size and sound of the impact suggested more of brick at close range. Please see attached photo. I took a picture and showed it to the local dealership manager, and also sent a report to VW Corporate with a similar picture, (only cropped to fit their document size requirement). My insurance covered the repair service completed at our home on Thursday, July 14, and when they looked at the picture they definitely did not think that it was due to a bb from a bb gun. To your bullet points, I did not notice any warning message prior to the explosion.
- San Francisco, CA, USA
1. I picked up new ID.4 from the dealer on 10/01/2021. On 10/02/22, Electrical System Malfunction messages appeared on the infotainment, telling me to take it in for immediate repairs. The problem was taken care of. I was not told what was wrong. 2. On 11/10/2021, while pulling into a parking space in a lot at a cemetery, the car bolted forward and became unresponsive. I could not stop it, I could not steer it. It felt like it was driving itself. I destroyed a bench, some bushes, and some of the turf. The car had to be towed to a VW dealer affiliated collision center. The car was there for over two months and was returned to the dealership for "further diagnosis". In the end, I was told that it had been "driver error", and I was assured the car was 100% safe to drive. I was never told what was done. The insurance payment for the damage was over $9000. 3. On 06/02/2022, I had the same acceleration issue. This time I was pulling over to a curb in a residential neighborhood (25 mph speed limit). I was using mode "B", regenerative braking. My foot was not on the accelerator. The car bolted forward and hit a parked Ford F150 in the backend. The force was so great, that the F150's rear end was lifted off the ground. You would think that crash would have stopped the ID.4. Instead, the vehicle swerved to the left, shot across the street and ended on a stranger's front yard, destroying his tree and landscaping. The car suddenly stopped, stuck in the landscape rocks. The vehicle then just shut itself off and became totally unresponsive. My wife was slightly injured, even though she had her seatbelt on. She could not open the door to get out and climbed out the driver's door. The car was towed to the dealer, insurance claim was filed. Preliminary estimates of damage- ID.4, F150, landscaping is over $17,000. My wife is petrified about riding in the car. I want VW to repurchase or terminate my lease. The car has only 6000 miles!
- Scottsdale, AZ, USA
Electronic Stability Control ESC activates briefly under certain conditions that are completely normal. Smooth dry pavement. It happens for me very predictably on a specific curve on a 2-lane road. Vehicle speed is about 30, the curve in the road is very gentle, nothing extreme. Drive through this curve and ESC activates (flashes). It also happens very predictably at a T intersection where I stop and then turn right. During the turn the vehicle is cresting a hill. I have video of this happening. Also many other owners have complained about the same issue in situations like freeway off-ramps. ESC activating for no reason at all could distract the driver and cause an incident. There's a rapidly flashing amber warning in the driver display and the car's handling changes suddenly. How do we know that ESC won't activate more aggressively in some certain situation that doesn't warrant ESC.
- Eugene, OR, USA
The information touchscreen is faulty and constantly needs to be touched multiple times. This is distracting and makes driver look away from road to double check if pushing correctly. This applies to ALL functions controlling everything from temperature, ride control, entertainment, navigation etc. There are times where I need to touch an area from 1-5+ times for response. The system is registering a touch because there is an audible sound when you he'd, but no response from system. This can be verified by thousands of users complaining about it on https://www.vwidtalk.com/forums/volkswagen-id-4.30/ VW has promised an update for over a year. It is very dangerous and i have wandered from lane trying to rectify
- Chapel Hill, NC, USA
When driving in reverse my vehicle does not have a clear view based on the rear lights installed. The lighting design does not light the area behind the vehicle sufficiently and poses great risk of hitting child or object behind vehicle. Rear camera is essentially rendered useless during nighttime driving and or parking.
- Oakland, CA, USA
The back up camera lighting is so poor it poses a danger at night. Backing up at night even in well lit areas poses a threat to those around the car. If you apply the brakes this emits some light but if not braking the screen is almost black so it is difficult to see if you are on the road/driveway and if an object was below the camera would pose a threat to life or damage to the vehicle.
- Lexington, KY, USA
I was driving the car when a loud high pitched sound started coming from the vehicle. I am not a doctor, but the noise was probably loud enough to cause damage to human ears. Today, I picked up the car and was told "Contacted VW Techline. They been made aware of several other similar cases and engineering in Germany is looking into it. No resolution available at this time. Told to call VW Customer Care. I have been on hold for over 45 minutes. Called executive office and was transferred to Voice Mail.
- Melbourne Beach, FL, USA
- Pembroke Pines, FL, USA