10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 1
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 76,690 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
The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan. After starting the engine, the radiator warning light illuminated. The contact discovered that the coolant from the radiator was present in the engine compartment. The vehicle was towed to the dealer who diagnosed that the water pump failed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 45,000.
- Kissimmee, FL, USA
Driving on freeway at 70 mph and experienced failure of timing chain tensioner. Cam skipped chain and caused pistons to impact valves. Total and complete engine failure that was sudden and unexpected at highway speed. My research finds that VW is aware of this problem but will not issue a recall.
- Arvada, CO, USA
The contact owns a 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that while driving 60 mph, the engine stalled and transmission failed. The contact was able to maneuver the vehicle to side of road. The battery and cdc-edc warning indicators were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the engine failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired with a replacement engine, fly wheels that assisted the crank signal and new battery. The contact mentioned that shortly after the repairs were completed, the independent mechanic diagnosed that the transmission failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired per the transmission failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 79,000.
- Warwick , RI, USA
The check engine light came on. Took the vehicle to dealer and the diagnose came misfire from cylinder 2. they told me it was a carbon built up on the valves and it's not covered under power train warranty.
- Burlington, NJ, USA
Was leaving the cul-de-sac where we live and the first intersection is a "T". as the car started to make a left hand turn the car shut down with no warning. With the steering hydraulic system shut down and brake system shut down, we are blessed the car was able to stop before hitting a parked trailer. Put the car on park, restarted the car with no problem, then the engine light came on, put it on drive to drive it back home and stalled again, completely off. After two attempts, made it home and into garage. A couple of hours later I turned the car on and engine light was on. Did not move it. Next morning, to drive it to dealer hoping no tow needed, I noticed no engine warning light so I decided to try driving it to dealer. It stalled and shut down again backing out of garage. Put it on park, turned it on but did not turn on A/C this time. Made it all the way ok to dealer and engine warning light never turned on. Around the dealer, I drove it with A/C on and could not replicate the event. Highly concerned that this could have happened at a higher speed on a gradual curve would have been potentially a deadly accident. I'm expecting a call from the dealer sometime today.
- Lawrence, KS, USA
The engine is shutting off/stalling without any warning, this has happened a few times. Each time the symptoms are the same, after driving for about an hour the car is parked and left for one or two hours. When it is restarted it runs for about 30 seconds and then shuts off with no warning, the car can be moving at the time or stationary and still in park, either way the engine can be restarted but may shut down for a second time after another 30 seconds. So far it has not required more than one restart, there are no fault codes which may indicate a fuel or electrical issue. I have researched this and it appears to be a common issue with the Tiguan. My concern is that the car may be involved in an accident as you have to wait for the car to come to a complete stop then select park and restart the engine, you can then put it back into drive before you can pull away again, and repeat if it happens a second time.
- Woodstock, CT, USA
I started up the car and multiple dash warnings then went off. The epc light, check engine light and the head lamps warnings all turned on. I then popped the hood and opened up the fuse box to make sure the fuses were seated correctly. Upon checking the fuses I noticed the box itself was melted and scorched meaning there had been fire at some point under the hood. I then took my Volkswagen to the closest VW dealership service station. It cost $400 (Michigan) to replace the fuse box, also leaving me questioning if this will happen again. After some investigation online I found that this is not rare. The VW dealership that did the repair stated that this was the 8th one he himself has done. Hopefully this does not happen again. Lights randomly going out is a safety hazard, and could lead to car accidents, injurys, and fatalities.
- Ferndale, MI, USA
(cylinder failing/injectors leaking) engine light came on and the dealer said it was bad gas in my tank to let the gas run out and to fill up somewhere else. Car didn't have much power and idling wasn't smooth. They also said that if I keep getting bad gas that it will damage the catalyst converter which I then replied check the gas receipts in the car since I only buy bp and mobile 93 octane not my fault that gas station might be selling bad gas. We do own another car an Audi with a turbo engine as well and we get gas at the same gas stations and we haven't had any problems. Weeks later the car wasn't running any better so I took it to another place for them to let me know why the light was on. Code meant cylinder 2 and 4 failing. Took it back to the dealer and they told me that they had to clean the fuel injectors on both of those cylinder that it was due to the gas and that it wasn't cover under the warranty which I told them again check all the receipts in the glove compartment for the type of gas that I have been putting in. Then he asked me if I drive it in the expressway which I said sometimes on the weekends and to take road trips 2 to 3 times per year. He mentioned something about city driving that the car needed to be driving at a higher speed which I then reply: It is not on the manual and this is my fourth VW turbo engine and never had this type of problems then he called me back and told me that it was the way the new engine were designed that they will take care of it which they did. I just hope this doesn't happens every 23K miles. It will be very expensive repairs not counting when cylinder 1 and 3 starts to fail.
- Miami, FL, USA
- Summerville, SC, USA