10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 11 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 2 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 691 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.
I left my office at about [XXX] on [XXX] Thursday for home, traffic was moderate, approaching the long weekend. I reached home at 5:29 pm, opened the garage and started parking the vehicle inside the car. All of a sudden, the car just took off and randomly accelerated and the next thing I found was that the vehicle landed and stopped right inside the house on the small island by the garage entrance, which is about 9-?? higher than garage floor, into the house with the front metal door and right side of the wall and bathroom door all shattered in front! On my left, I saw my wife in (by kitchen stove) in total panic and my [XXX] mother- in- law shouting to my wife. -??What happened?!-??, and my [XXX] grandson crying and closing his ears from the loud sound! Instinctively, as I realized I would not be able to exit the vehicle from where it was lodged, I reversed the vehicle back into garage where I could come out. As I switched into reverse gear (which this vehicle requires you to press the brake to be able to switch from drive to reverse), the vehicle again just accelerated with force. This time, damaging the garbage can in the garage, left garage door vertical track, drywall and outside brick wall, as the brakes were not engaging. If I had not steered my car right or left, I would have landed in the living room of the house across the street. Therefore, I steered to the right to remain on the street (in hindsight, this may not have been the best choice -?" in case there was another vehicle or resident walking on the street). As my vehicle was in reverse, going towards the street perpendicular to mine, it knocked down the street sign pole onto my property, ran over the curb, grass, and landscaping stones on my lawn. Finally, the vehicle stopped two feet away from my living room window and 3-4 feet above street level, under a tree on my front lawn, crashing against a big landscaping rock. When the vehicle stopped, it took me at least 30 seconds to rea INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FO
- Kendall Park, NJ, USA
I was backing out of an outdoor shopping center slot located at the end by the curb. I had to attempt this three times due to traffic and another car that was also trying to back out. On my third attempt, I hit the curb with my passenger rear wheel. When I changed gear to move forward, the ID4 jerked violently three times. At this point my hands were on the wheel and my feet were not on either the accelerator or the brake. Immediately after the third jerk the engine revved up and car took off. I tried to brake but was flying over 2 curb hit the road and flew over 2 more curbs with plants in the middle. The braking did not stop the vehicle. Coming up over the last curb the vehicle hit a parked car sending backward and it hit 2 more vehicles. No one was injured, since the vehicles were empty. The police did come and wrote an incident report, but not a police report because in California since it was property only they do not generate a report. However, this could have been fatal since people were waking about the parking lot. There were not any warning lights or messages. It has not as yet been inspected by by anyone. The car is available for inspection at a collision center. I am not sure which component failed and why it accelerated, or did not respond to the brake, or deploy the air bag upon impact.
- San Jose, CA, USA
On August 23, 2024, the car was parked at our home and turned off. It was not connected to the charger. At around 7:25pm Pacific time, I got into the driver's seat, closed the door, and depressed the brake pedal so I could put the car into Drive. While my foot was still on the brake, and the car was still in Park, the car lurched forward towards my husband, who was standing in front of the car. The car moved forward in a fast, jerking movement, less than 2 feet, before stopping on its own. My husband quickly moved to the other side of the alley way. Both console screens went black. I still never took my foot off the brake for fear that it would lurch forward again. I picked up my phone to film the screens to see if they would put up an error message or warning light. Just before I started filming the dashboard, the screen above the steering wheel came back on, but acted weird, with the gears disappearing from the right side of the screen completely around 12 second into the video. You can see in the video that I tried to put the car into gear, but as I move the gear shifter through the various gears it does nothing. My foot remained on the brake pedal the entire time up until the moment you see in the video, when I took my foot off of the brake and the car "restarted" itself, allowing me to get it into a gear again. My husband, or anyone else nearby, would have been severely injured if they had been standing closer to the vehicle when it lurched forward. I took the car to Santa Cruz Volkswagen to be inspected for this issue on 9/3/24. I provided them a detailed description and the video I took, but they were unable to duplicate it. Based on the many other issues I-??ve had with this car prior, I believe a combination of faulty electronics, manufacturing defects, and buggy software may have caused this incident. (I uploaded a PDF of service records for this issue from dealer, but could not upload the video: it's 10.3mb MP4 file, which I'm happy to provide if possible.)
- Santa Cruz, CA, USA
pulling into parking lot of child's daycare, had foot on the break and then suddenly the car lunged forward and slammed into fence. had to forcefully slam on brakes to stop car Car is currently at the dealership for collision repair, waiting to see what the computer reports. Police report has been filed. Do not have at this time Newton MA police dept report #24032707 No warning messages or previous symptoms.
- West Newton, MA, USA
Brakes do not work at random times. You go to stop and the brake pedal depresses all the way to the floor with the vehicle not stopping at all. This happens at random times, not all the time. The dealer said that they could not find anything wrong with it.
- Holmes Beach, FL, USA
[XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] Julio 30, 2024 Volkswagen Customer Care Volkswagen Group of America 3800 Hamlin Road Auburn Hills, MI 48326 Dear Volkswagen Customer Care, I am writing to express my deep concern regarding the recent recall notice I received for my Volkswagen vehicle, VIN [XXX] 2023 VOLKSWAGEN ID.4 Due to the severe safety issues outlined in the recall, I have been unable to use the car, yet I am still making payments on it. Given that the necessary repairs are not currently available, I am understandably concerned about continuing to drive a vehicle that poses a risk to my safety. My attempts to resolve this issue through the dealership have unfortunately been unsuccessful, as they have not accepted the vehicle for return or provided a satisfactory resolution. Given these circumstances, I am requesting a resolution to this matter. Specifically, I seek the following: Return and Refund: I wish to return the vehicle and receive a full refund of all payments made to date, considering that I am unable to use the car due to safety concerns and the unavailability of repairs. Additional Compensation: Compensation for any inconvenience or costs incurred as a result of this situation, including but not limited to, rental car expenses or loss of use. If Volkswagen is unable to address this matter promptly, I will have no choice but to pursue legal action for product liability and negligence. I hope to avoid this course of action and resolve the issue amicably. Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss this matter further. I look forward to your prompt response and resolution. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Sebring, FL, USA
The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated while driving at 5 MPH, the service brake independently activated and steered in the opposite direction in which the vehicle was being steered. The vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into the rear of a parked vehicle. The parked vehicle was damaged to the rear of the vehicle. The contact's vehicle was damaged to the front center of the vehicle. The contact's adult daughter and adult friend were passengers in the vehicle when the failure occurred. The contact stated that no injuries were sustained. No Police report was filed. The contact stated that the driver of the parked vehicle confirmed that the contact did not have control of the vehicle when the failure occurred. The contact's vehicle was taken to the dealer, however the contact was requested to pay a diagnostic fee. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 12,000.
- Longmont, CO, USA
This is an all electrical vehicle, When we first got it had a issue right away the car was stuck on reverse and we could not do anything, they kids where in the back and had to press the breaks to hold it in place and could not release it. We were in a parking lot, after awhile the system rebooted and it was normal. Brought it to the dealership and got it serviced and they said nothing was wrong with it. Second recent issue car powered down could not do anything while on the road lost all control. This is a huge issue if there was a car behind us going fast speed could be fatal! the power down issue has happened to us 3 times. Currently at the dealership to review but we have no confidence they will find a issue.
- N Little Rock , AR, USA
My 2023 ID4 suddenly accelerated and lunged forward (while my foot was on the brake) as I was turning right into a parking spot. I was going very slow with my foot on the brake. The ID4 lurched forward which propelled me in the wall of a concrete building that I was parking at (luckily no damage to the building). The acceleration was so powerful it-??s like I floored it and frightening. None of the warning signals, sensors or collision warnings went off, nor did the emergency braking (when an object is too close in the front of the vehicle). After the ID4 went into the wall- it had registered that there was a collision (but nothing before). There was damage to the lower plastic bumper, the hood popped open (the latch to open the hood inside the vehicle now did not work) and some paint scratches. This had never happened before, I have taken it to my local VW dealer service department, unfortunately they have not been able to reproduce the issue. Had I been coming to stop at a traffic light, or been in a busy parking lot, it could have been much worse as this could have lurched into another vehicle, pedestrian or business store front.
- University Place, WA, USA
The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle rear-ended the contact's other parked vehicle. The contact stated that the vehicle crashed into the contact's residential iron fence and the fence was damaged. In addition, the vehicle crashed into the contact's home and damaged the 6ft window. The contact stated that the failure occurred while the contact was parking the vehicle in the contact's driveway. The contact stated that the front end of the vehicle was damaged. In addition, the rear end of the parked vehicle was damaged. There were no injuries sustained. No police or fire reports were filed. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously taken to the dealer for a service appointment on May 30, 2024. The vehicle remained at the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 2,800.
- Staten Island, NY, USA
While driving my vehicle it shifts into -??park-??, not sure if it is an electrical issue, transmission, or breaking issue. I have taken to the dealership for repairs they worked on the driver seat sensors, was at the dealership for 10 days. Three days after repairs the same issue occurred, took back to the dealership and they informed me that they could not recreate the issue(possible electrical issue), the service advisor suggested that I should not move around in the seat while driving to correct the issue. Again about three days later the same issue occurred again, this time in heavy traffic and it was difficult to get into -??drive-??, I have returned the car back to the dealership. At this time, I asked the service manager to take a ride with me, he seemed very surprised when the issue occurred with him in the drivers seat, he also had a hard time getting the car into drive. This seems like a big safety concern for a vehicle to rear end my car.
- Lake Elsinore, CA, USA
After parking on a slope, front of car uphill, slope of about 15-20 degrees, placing car in park, the car would roll back once out of car. It happened once and went up against another car, minor scrape, but I was almost pinned. I moved the car to a different spot with similar slope, it happed again. The wheels were rotating, had to jump in passenger side and push hand onto brake. It had happened once before, but went up against a curb, but I had thought I had parked poorly. But in retrospect, likely rolled. Tried to call/contact VW, but it is a Friday and they do not accept safety calls Friday evening through Tuesday.
- Anchorage, AK, USA
When I am parking at 5mph in a medical center parking structure, the car suddenly got an uncontrollable acceleration that hit the parking cement and hit the wall in front of the parking area. I cannot imagine that if it is not in the parking structure with 5 mph, it will be fatal or injured and hit more people and cars on the freeway. I want a safe vehicle and spent over $55K for my daily chore. I lost confident on an electric vehicle, and hope your agency will iron all these out prior to introduce to the public. It is similar to the following case: An owner from Georgia describes what happened after getting into the ID.4, putting a foot on the brake, and then putting it into gear. -??The car jumped forward and I had to press brakes with all my strength to keep it from accelerating to full -??throttle.-?? It did the exact same when I put it in reverse. I turned the car off, got out, gave it a couple of minutes, and tried two more times. It did the same thing every time. -??It is like the accelerator is pressed to the floor as soon as you put it in gear without you touching it. I almost hit my house due to the wheels being turned before the first try.-?? Having had the car for only two weeks, -??I called a tow truck to take it to the dealer.-??
- Diamond Bar, CA, USA
As you pull to a complete stop, in the final speed between 2mph and 0mph, the brake will pull away from my foot and go straight towards the floor. The car will lurch forward and then come to a complete stop. This happens 2-4 times per month and the dealership can-??t find any service codes. My wife won-??t drive the vehicle.
- Plymouth, MN, USA
I have never been in an accident in my entire life, never got pulled over by a cop, and have only ever driven one car prior to the vw. I always have my car in -??B-?? mode. During the crash on 4/02 I was going about 40 to 35 mph coming off the highway tried to slow down more to 25 to go on the roundabout but it wouldn-??t, I had the brake collision assistance on, but unfortunately it did not assist me in trying to stop, even when I pressed down on the brake pedal completely. When I tried to turn the steering wheel, that had locked and I was unable to avoid hitting the sign and curb and going over the cement median which cause both my left tires to go flat. I got a call from the Volkswagen SOS and at that time the person was talking to me, I had to maneuver my car off the cement median to move it to a safer road as I was in the middle of a dangerous place and it needed to be towed. The road I had the incident on is the one I take to work every day and I have never had an issue. There was no issues with the weather on that day ether. I have only driven this car 703 miles.
- Mulwaukie, OR, USA
On April 22nd the car was in an accident when it struck the rear of another car at a red traffic light. I had stopped at the light with car in -??B-?? drive mode and the brake on Auto Hold. I was stopped at the light roughly 2 minutes with my right foot on neither pedal. The car was in Auto Hold brake mode as I recollect the Auto Hold indicator being illuminated. The car remained stationary during that period until it moved forward without any action from myself. I am convinced I did not hit the gas pedal. There was damage to both my car and the car in front. There had been no change of the traffic light light nor had the car in front moved when this occurred. I had not experienced this issue in my limited driving before the accident (1700 miles) or subsequent to the accident. I contacted the Volkswagen dealer following the accident and dropped the car off for them to investigate. They advised me to open a case with Volkswagen of America to get their involvement which I immediately did. Volkswagen CARE assigned a regional case manager. The dealer service department performed a 3 mile test drive and could not reproduce the problem. Volkswagen of America did not investigate the accident relying on the dealer service department to use the on-board diagnostics to read fault codes. They found two fault codes that required the replacement of the ICAS1 module (the vehicles primary computer) and the driver door handle -?" the latter was not related to the current recall on the vehicle. These were manufacturing defects and they stated were not the cause of the accident. I find it concerning that Volkswagen of America did not investigate the accident for product issues nor did they explain (when asked) why a faulty major component that controls the operation of the car could not be the cause of the accident.
- Mansfield, MA, USA
1) Brakes: Brakes decelerate and is difficult to stop the vehicle. This is not in all cases when I stop. When I need to do an emergency stop I have to push the brake pedal very hard and pedal pressure feels low. I hope I dont get into and accident when trying to stop. 2) Lane departing warning: The vehicle some times would interpret the street white lines or yellow lanes incorrectly. It would sometime jerk my steering to correct my driving. If a white line stops at an intersection and starts after an intersection it would try and correct my driving. I think this is very dangerous. Should have the option to switch off auto lane correcting and just flash a warning.
- Dallas, GA, USA
The driver door is randomly popping open, at low speeds and high speeds. At low speeds, when trying to back out of driveway or pull into driveway or slowly pull up to red lights or keep up with cars in a left turning lane waiting my turn to turn, the door will randomly pop open and the car slams into park and turns off of Drive. I then have to shut the door, put the car into drive again and try to pull forward without the doors popping open again. This cycles at times where I have to repeat. The car does not go into park when doors pop open at high speeds, speeds greater than 12 ish mph. However, the door will randomly pop open at high speed. I was going 51 mph on the highway and the door popped open. I documented that with a picture. I reached out to several VW dealer garages. They said that they could not do anything for me because there currently was no fix for the recall. I have an appointment call with VW America today at 2pm today. I filled out online surveys with VW to tell them how unsafe this feels driving the car and this happening. We drive the car ONLY when necessary between my spouse and I bc of how unsafe the situation is. I'm not sure what to do or what i can do. I'm stuck with a brand-new car with only 3000 miles that had doors that randomly pop open while the car is in motion. Please advise. Thank you.
- New Wilmington, PA, USA
I have never been in a car accident in my entire life. This was my first ever electric vehicle, and I really loved driving it for the one week I owned it before the brakes failed to stop it. On 03/31 I had to restart the software several times because it froze when i was trying to connect it to Apple Carplay, but it was fine the next day. During the crash, I had the brake collision assistance on, but unfortunately it did not assist me in trying to stop, even when I pressed down on the brake pedal completely. When I tried to turn the steering wheel, that had locked and I was unable to avoid hitting a sign and curb. The road I had the incident on is the one I take to work every day and I have never had an issue. There was no issues with the weather on that day ether. Not only did the brakes not work but the the brake assist failed, the collision avoidance system, the steering wheel locked, and the airbags failed to deploy. Both my left side tires became flat. If I would have known how unsafe this was, I would have never selected it in the first place. I chose this vehicle because I thought I would be safe and I wanted to save money on gas. I am so extremely terrified to drive this car and the dealership service center claimed there was nothing wrong with the car.
- Milwaukie, OR, USA
- Sebring, FL, USA