10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 2
Injuries / Deaths:
6 / 0
Average Mileage:
6,913 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.

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #17

Aug 132019

Tiguan

  • 3 miles
On normal driving collision light come on and brakes lock for few seconds

- Forked River, NJ, USA

problem #16

Jun 112018

Tiguan

  • 8,150 miles
Vehicle engages automatic braking system without any prompting...no other vehicle anywhere in sight. It has happened on a rural two lane road, with a farm on one side and woods on the other and has also happened on a 4 lane road within city limits, but no vehicle in front of me, but one to the rear passenger side in the lane heading in the same direction. Every time this happens it brings the vehicle to a complete stop, regardless of speed. I have experienced whiplash on several occasions, as well as my husband and my 7 year old daughter. The amount of force is so violent that I would imagine it is equivalent to being hit by another vehicle. I had just picked up take-out once when this had happened, and the salsa in the takeout bag flew off of the back seat and the force caused the lid to come off and salsa was all over the 2nd row, front row, as well as myself and windshield to put into perspective how forceful this is. I fear the day that it engages and a car is behind me, because it will kill someone. We only drive this car now only if it is absolutely necessary and we can't make other arrangements.

- West Point, NY, USA

problem #15

May 202019

Tiguan

  • 13,000 miles
Stop/start function on new Tiguan is behaving erratically. On a couple of occasions, when the foot brake is applied the car stops, but will not start again when foot is lifted off the brake. Brake goes hard and will not depress. Engine has to be switched off and on again for car to move. Most recent occasion happened while turning into traffic, needed to back up and could not. Thankfully oncoming traffic was just barely able to swerve around me.

- Rockville, MD, USA

problem #14

May 172019

Tiguan

  • 18,500 miles
Ignition was on, doors locked with key inside but no one was in the car or locked the doors.

- Winchester, VA, USA

problem #13

May 052019

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 17,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 18V467000 (visibility). The contact stated that she was unable to open the front driver's door and smelled a burning odor. The contact noticed a black spot on the sun roof and smoke. The fire department arrived and broke the driver's side window as flames appeared. The fire department extinguished the fire and filed a report. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The failure mileage was 17,000. The manufacturer was notified and the vehicle was diagnosed and released to manufacturer.

- Aiken, SC, USA

problem #12

Aug 012018

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 60 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that the seat belt indicator flashed and a chime was heard even when the driver's seat belt was secured. Flow Volkswagen of charlottesville (1313 richmond rd, charlottesville, va 22911, (434) 296-4147) was notified several times, but was unable to replicate the failure. The vehicle was currently at the dealer being diagnosed. In addition, there was a delay in providing the part concerning an unknown recall for the ambient lighting. The vehicle was not included in NHTSA action numbers: EA18005 (seat belts) and PE18001 (seat belts); however, the failure was related. The manufacturer was notified of the seat belt failures. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 60...

- Charlottesville, VA, USA

problem #11

Apr 132019

Tiguan

  • 8,000 miles
My wife called me panicked because her 2018 VW Tiguan sel, with 8000 miles, cut out on her while slowly pulling into a busy intersection. She described the problem as if the car lost complete power for a few seconds, even though she did not have her foot on the break at the time, and the car was not able to accelerate. My wife quickly put the car into reverse, where it responded well moving backwards, and threw on her hazards. The vehicle is less than 1 year old and she is deathly scared of driving it now. The vehicle is a hazard! when looking online for similar power train issues, many other customers are reporting a similar experience.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #10

Mar 112019

Tiguan

  • 16,500 miles
Frontal brake assist is engaging without necessity. One incident occurred slowing driving through an empty parking garage while slowly following another car about a car length ahead. My dash warning lights turned on and the vehicle stopped. Second incident occurred as I was approaching a car that had been stopped in my lane on a city street, going same direction and in process of making a left turn. Though the car ahead was already turning and 2 lengths away, my car's dash warning lights lit and the car began to apply the brakes but did not completely stop.

- Broadview Hts., OH, USA

problem #9

Feb 242019

Tiguan

  • 17,900 miles
When pressing pedal from a stopped position to accelerate the vehicle there is either a lag in response or no response causing the vehicle not to move when going from a stopped position to moving action into traffic. This has been noted at random moments, more noticeably when vehicle is first turned on. However, it has happened countless times when vehicle has been driven for several miles. This lack of accelerator response puts my family and I into a very dangerous situation.

- Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

problem #8

Oct 102018

Tiguan

  • 4,100 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan. While driving 45 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning, the vehicle was able to coast over to the side of the road and the engine was turned off. When the vehicle was restarted, the engine started to vibrate. The vehicle was driven to the contact's residence. The contact called momentum Volkswagen of clear lake at (844) 894-5461 (located at 15100 gulf fwy, houston, tx 77034) and was informed to schedule an appointment. The dealer diagnosed that there was moisture in the ignition line and there was a signal failure. The vehicle was not repaired. While driving home from the dealer, a loud abnormal noise occurred from the engine and the check engine and oil warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was not taken back to the dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and did not assist. The approximate failure mileage was 4,100.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #7

Dec 012018

Tiguan

  • 4,995 miles
While driving, no object or anything in the front, the car emits a beep, red flashing collision signal, and slams on the brake. The day is clear, sunny, and daytime. This happened multiple times. Two times, it almost felt like we hit a wall. It caused whiplash and my neck was stiff for a couple of days. This needs to be fixed asap.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #6

Nov 152018

Tiguan

  • 517 miles
This car is dangerous! I had vehicle for 4 months and have only driven 411 miles car has started to hesitate when pulling out into traffic, it almost feels like it shuts off for a solid 4 seconds before it decides to accelerate. Gas mileage reads 100mpg, we all know that's not possible... loud wind noises at 50 mph and a pop noise coming from drivers side door every bump in the road at 50 mph. The start stop option turns on and off when the road is rough or slightly bumpy!

- Pompano Beach, FL, USA

problem #5

May 192018

Tiguan

  • 3,000 miles
2018 Tiguan was purchased new in April - mid may car would not start, all warning lights went on. Car eventually turned on. A few days later while driving (on the road), car stopped completely, all warning lights went on. Had to be towed to closest VW where it would remain for over a month. First diagnosed as unknown electrical prob - needed to be analyzed by VW engineer who believed it to be the battery. New battery did not remedy issue - new alternator was ordered, again did not remedy the issue. Finally was identified as a issuing with the wiring being stripped. Feel completely unsafe in my new car - has also been effected by two recalls since (in addition to the one month in the VW dealership from non recall issue) - current sunroof recall has no fix only a temporary solution to disconnect the wiring - I feel completely unsafe in the car and will not drive the vehicle. Car should be bought back by VW - open recalls with no fix leave the car worthless. What else will go wrong with the 2018 Tiguan - will not purchase another VW in the future.

- Lecanto, FL, USA

problem #4

Aug 012018

Tiguan

  • 0 miles
The VW-equipped entertainment center does not have the proper processing power to effectively use apple carplay. Since new, when attempting to use apple carplay, the entertainment system will freeze, malfunction, or otherwise fail after the iphone is plugged in. This problem happens at least 50% of the time, and requires the entire entertainment system to undergo a 'hard' reset in order to function properly. This issue occurs at all speeds and in all driving conditions.

- Greenville, SC, USA

problem #3

Aug 092018

Tiguan

  • 12,000 miles
The contact owned a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan. While driving 50 mph, smoke and flames were seen coming from the dashboard. The contact was able to pull the vehicle over to the shoulder. The fire department was contacted to extinguish the fire, but the vehicle was completely burnt and destroyed when they arrived. A police report was filed. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously serviced at diehl automotive (258 pittsburgh rd, butler, pa 16002, (724) 282-8898) for a water leak that was entering the vehicle on the passenger side. The repair was for a rubber seal that went through the firewall, separating the air conditioner from the engine. The vehicle was towed to diehl automotive who stated that they would wait for the contact's insurance company to investigate the cause of the fire. The manufacturer had not been contacted. The failure mileage was 12,000.

- Kittanning, PA, USA

problem #2

Jul 312018

Tiguan

  • 1,350 miles
There is a recall for sunroof lighting: From VW website: High humidity in the panoramic sunroof ambient lighting bar led module (caused by environment or by leaving the sunroof open) could lead to a local short circuit. If this happens, there is a risk of a fire. So, I bought higher model because I wanted this feature, but now I cannot use it because VW is going to disconnect it? at the end, pay for feature, but you cannot use it because VW can't figure out which fire to put out.

- Chicag, IL, USA

problem #1

Mar 232018

Tiguan

  • miles
The safety alert that stops your car in case of a collision stops my car with none or thing in front or on the side of it. My backup camera stays on consistently when driving forward. The electronic middle console constantly freezes up and won't allow me to do anything or goes completely black. This has happened multiple times including the most recent in this complaint. The engine also jerks forward and is very dangerous trying to pull out onto a busy street. When I mentioned this to the dealership they said the car need to learn how I drive. It has 6600 miles on it?

- Port Charlotte, FL, USA