7.6

pretty bad
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
6,467 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.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

Get free help with your lemon!
close ad
problem #21

Nov 082023

Tiguan

  • miles
On multiple occasions, while driving on the highway, subject vehicle displayed check engine light and EPC light at random intervals and an alarm saying exceeded 4000 came on. RPM's were not over 4000. Speed and acceleration severely limited making it dangerous to pull over on the highway in traffic. Had to pull car over and restart engine. This has happened numerous times. Also experienced shaking and skipping or missing of transmission. The car has also had the engine stall or stop when at red light or stopped forcing restart of engine.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #20

Jul 032022

Tiguan

  • miles
The first time this problem occurred was in April right after a routine maintenance check. The car was idling in a parking lot when the engine started to vibrate and a warning was displayed that said "Max Engine Speed 4000 RPM". The car was turned off and then back on. The warning did show up on the display, but the "check engine" light was lit. The car was driven back home, and after that drive the check engine light was not lit anymore. To be safe the car was taken to the dealer. The dealer was not able to replicate the issue. Later, in July, the max engine speed and EPC warnings were displayed on the screen in the middle of a trip. At this time there was also a loss of acceleration power. The driver pulled over, stopped the car, and then restarted it. When the car restarted the warning lights were no longer on so the driver completed the trip. In the manual it says that the car can still be operated if the EPC warning light is on, but that it should be taken to a dealer. This led the driver to believe that it was safe to complete the trip and take the car to their home dealership after the holiday. The following day, the EPC warning light and the max engine speed warning both appeared in the middle of a drive. The driver was driving up a hill on a backroad with no possible pull off. The driver had to stop the car in the middle of a road directly after a blind turn. The driver restarted the car and was able to drive about 10 yards before the warning came on again and the engine cut out. The driver repeated turning the car off and then back on multiple times to be able to safely get the car up the hill and to an area where a pull-off was available. Luckily, no other cars were coming at the time the car was stalled. It was a very unsafe location! The car is currently in the process of being towed to the dealer to be worked on. This seems like a very serious safety concern that is affecting other Tiguan owners too.

- Telluride, CO, USA

problem #19

May 282022

Tiguan

  • miles
Car has multiple malfunctions. Has had noisy valvetrain, lack of power upon acceleration, has sputtered with a load on engine especially uphill. Car shut off completely while at 60 mph and nearly caused a catastrophic collision with my whole family in the car. Car presents substantial safety risk. Multiple codes/warnings have flashed up on the display screen(Evap, Trans, fuel inj, etc). Transmission went into "emergency mode" after being started up today, then went away after restarted. Car has been to dealership but issues were not properly addressed/ignored. VW of America is well aware of issues with these cars but ignores the consumers needs and puts consumers at great safety risk by doing so. This vehicle has both engine and transmission issues as well as odd electrical anomalies.

- Bluffton, SC, USA

problem #18

Mar 122022

Tiguan

  • miles
At 48k miles, fuel efficiency began to significantly drop. At next start up, engine would not turn over and EPC light came on. I waited 30 minutes, unlocked the steering wheel and was able to start the vehicle and EPC light turned off. I took it into Volkswagen dealership to have it looked over and they could not duplicate the issue nor find cause for lower fuel efficiency. The issue with fuel persisted intermittently. Then at 57k, while driving long distance, I noticed what seemed like misfiring when accelerating above 65 mph. There were no noises, no warning lights, and fuel efficiency seemed about the same. I continued driving and about 6 hours into my drive, EPC light came on, RPM's shot up to 4,000 and car began violently shaking while losing significant power and dropped down to 30 mph. I was in the left lane when it occurred and had to quickly move over to the right lane. The car then could not exceed 40 mph with the pedal held to the floor. I turned on my hazards while I continued driving an additional 30 miles to the nearest Volkswagen dealership. Because of how heavy the traffic was and the high speeds of the travelers, it put myself and my passengers at risk from not being able to accelerate, along with the other drivers having to either brake hard or quickly change lanes to avoid my car. At the Volkswagen dealership, diagnosis found code p0204 cylinder 4 injector. They confirmed 4th cylinder misfiring and replaced the fuel injector harness. Since that repair, my car has been shaking at idol, when initially taking off, and if I turn of the start/stop function.

- League City, TX, USA

problem #17

Oct 122021

Tiguan

  • miles
Like many other people who have complained, the same EPC engine light turning on after the engine stalls while driving. This has happened multiple times while driving on the highway while going 65mph+. The max speed 4000 rpm message comes on the dashboard. The car does not accelerate and pulling over is necessary in order to shut off the car and restart the engine. This is incredibly dangerous and the car-??s speed cannot be controlled.

- Bedford Hills, NY, USA

problem #16

Oct 272020

Tiguan

  • 41,000 miles
The car does not accelerate from a stop especially on hot days after being in stop and go traffic. I step on the gas and literally nothing happens. The engine doesn't rev and the car does not advance. I can push the gas pedal multiple times before it finally accelerates and then it does it in an out of control manner. I have had to sit through a full cycle of a light before it has started. I have brought it to a dealership multiple times with this complaint, but every time they are unable to get it to fail. I brought it in for a recall and the problem was made worse and not better. The car is not safe. The issue began within 6 months of purchase and while it isn't constant, it has been a repeated problem for the past 2 years.

- West Palm Beach, FL, USA

problem #15

Mar 012020

Tiguan

  • miles
My car hesitates when accelerating at a complete stop. I press the accelerator to pull into traffic and it seems the car just doesn't want to go! this makes it very dangerous to drive period. It takes a few seconds for the car to 'wake up' and finally accelerate.

- Buckeye, AZ, USA

problem #14

Oct 012019

Tiguan

  • miles
It takes a scary amount of time for the car to speed up when accelerating. The RPM module shows the acceleration but the vehicle doesn't actually speed up to match it. This is a safety issue especially when merging on to the freeway. An accident is bound to happen as I am not able to control the speed of the on coming cars and am unable to get my car up to speed to match the others. Also, the car randomly shuts down when stopped, a message saying please start engine manually pops up. This is also a safety concern and is bound to cause an accident as it happens a few times a month. A few months ago my car turned off when I stopped at the red light, a car was exiting the freeway as the light had turned green so they kept their high speed, I quickly turned my hazard lights on and the car had to swerve to the right lane to avoid rear ending me.

- Arlington, TX, USA

problem #13

Nov 012019

Tiguan

  • 17,608 miles
The car gets filled with strong odor of gasoline inside the cabin and I was loosing gas at a rapid rate in addition the car was loosing speed. There is also the problem with the sto-start system, once the car was at a stop, the car would not turn over and start again. It would get stucktrying to turn on and at the same time I was loosing gasoline. I had to remove all passengers from the vehicle including my one month grand son due to the strong odor of gasoline. This incidents occured several times during the weekend of November 1 through November 4th when I dropped off the vehicle at the dealership.

- Bronx, NY, USA

problem #12

Aug 262017

Tiguan

  • miles
Cars response to driver accelerator inputs is hesitant and erratic. Car motion is unpredictably when accelerating from stand still. The performance is not predictable and very without apparent external environmental factors. Unpredictable performance endangers car occupants while entering traffic. The behavior has been determined by dealer as normal against other 2018 models but is different against 2019. VW us has not returned inquiry requests.

- Leonardtown, MD, USA

problem #11

Sep 162019

Tiguan

  • 4,000 miles
Car hesitates erratically and unpredictably when accelerating. It's most noticeably from a dead stop, but also at speed as well. Sometimes the car accelerates fine, but other times, when attempting to accelerate from a stop to cross a street in busy traffic, the car will just sit unresponsive for seconds and barely accelerate. The unpredictableness of the acceleration behavior is dangerous and an accident waiting to happen. This behavior has been present since the car has been purchased to present. While the hesitation is inconsistent, it is often and common.

- Oakland, CA, USA

problem #10

Aug 182019

Tiguan

  • 34,000 miles
I was driving on interstate 95 North in the fast lane ( at 70 mph), when the "engine exceeds 4000 RPM" warning came on the dash board/system read out and the car lost power and started decelerating (to 40 mph). I continued to push the gas pedal but the car came to a complete stop. I put on my flashers and restarted the car and coasted to the shoulder. I put the park, stopped the car and waited and restarted the car. We entered the highway again and as I tried to accelerate, the car hesitated and decelerated again. This time I moved over to the right shoulder, stopped and got out of the car. My husband's friend was in the car with me and my husband was following behind us. I called my insurance company and explained to them what was happeing with the car and they came and towed the car to ourisman laurel voklswagon. I left a note and a key in the drop off service bow and now 24 hours later I have not received a call from any service personnel. It seems from reviewing other complaints, that several people (more than 20) have had the same issue.

- Silver Spring, MD, USA

problem #9

Apr 012019

Tiguan

  • miles
The car is having issues accelerating after a cold/hard stop. At stop signs, after stop lights, the car jerks and has a hard time gaining power. On the high way I have issues accelerating. This has become dangerous and scary, I am not in control of he acceleration of my vehicle. I have taken it to the VW dealer one tech said "try premium gas" the next tech says, "nothing is wrong with your car". I am extremely disappointed and ready to change brands after 10 years of being avw owner. This problem is putting my life in danger every day that I drive it.

- Plainfield, IL, USA

problem #8

Jun 192019

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 7,000 miles
The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to respond when attempting to accelerate. The contact stated that the failure occurred every day while driving in traffic or merging onto the highway ever since the vehicle was purchased on October 18, 2018. The vehicle was taken to gunther Volkswagen (4300 fl-7, coconut creek, fl 33073) where it was diagnosed that the vehicle performed as designed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 7,000. Consumer stated the vehicle was brought back to the dealership again a week ago today. Two transmissions and still having serious problems. They still have the vehicle. I don't consider that as designed to drive that way. It just increases with problems. I won't drive it for my safety as well as the drivers out there.

- Hallandale Beach, FL, USA

problem #7

Mar 052019

Tiguan

  • 14,000 miles
My vehicle displayed a sign stating that their was low coolant. I took it to the dealer around 14,000 miles and the PCM has been destroyed. The engine hasn't been getting coolant for some time. Once that was replaced my car stopped accelerating properly and rogers really roughly mainly through gears 1-3. it's really dangerous if I need to accurate quickly to merge the response time is off and I have had several near misses. I flagged this with VW and they are refusing to acknowledge that their is an issue. I would like to get this resolved before myself or others are injured.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

problem #6

Feb 142018

Tiguan

  • 1,900 miles
In motion 70mph and control of vehicle lost to system causing vehicle to slow down/brake at rapid rate amongst 70 mph flow of traffic. Prior incident occurred at 40 mph. Driver could not control speed or braking.

- St Petersburg, FL, USA

problem #5

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 #4

Nov 212018

Tiguan

  • 550 miles
Accelerator position and engine response on this vehicle is very inconsistent slow to respond from stationary position making the vehicle unpredictable and often unsafe. Depression of accelerator produces inconsistent results ofttimes the vehicle struggles to start moving, then other times from stationary, the vehicle lurches forwards with exact same type of accelerator input. These experiences are in all modes.

- Newberg, OR, USA

problem #3

Apr 042018

Tiguan

  • 9,000 miles
There is all this hesitation when accelerating almost like a bucking or the engine is not getting enough gas/oxygen mix. Then you can press the gas pedal a quarter of the way down and the engine hesitates then throws the car into high gear and takes off. I have driven a lot of cars the past week even a VW touareg that did not act like this car does with the accelerator. It is like the accelerator is not sending the correct single to the engine or the engine's computer is not interrupting it correctly from the accelerator. The computer in the car can be bad and give a false positive. This vehicle has been to 4 dealerships and field engineers have stated that there is a problem but VW refuses to buy back the vehicle. There have been several requests but they keep getting denied and say there is no fix for the vehicle and I feel it is unsafe to drive. I have almost got into 3 accidents because the accelerator would not react and the car stalled out.

- Burnsville, NC, USA

problem #2

Jun 292018

Tiguan

  • 250 miles
Engine on this vehicle is very slow to respond. When I give gas, it struggles to start moving, feels like it is carrying 10K lbs of load behind. I push gas peddle to the floor at a signal light to get away from traffic. Car won't respond for about 1 or 2 seconds, then starts to move, but very slow, crawling, then starts to speed up. Turbo lag is very bad. I don't feel safe. This appears to be a recurring issue that is being reported from customers. To be frank, the size of the vehicle (larger than other models) does not seem to match the engine size. NHTSA needs to investigate for the safety of other drivers, particularly those who share the same fears.

- Atlanta, GA, USA

Read the next 1 complaints »