The Tiguan experiences severe and dangerous acceleration hesitation when accelerating from a stop or from very slow speeds. There is a significant delay between the accelerator being depressed and the car actually accelerating, which causes an extremely dangerous situation when attempting to merge with other traffic or enter a roadway from a side street. This issue is very consistent, and occurs in all operating conditions (engine warmed, engine cold, automatic gear selection or manual gear selection, in 'sport' mode and in regular driving mode). The issue is present in all driving situations where acceleration from a stationary or slow speed is required.

- Greenville, SC, USA

Vehicles hesitates to start from a slow or dead stop. Will not accelerate as it should. Noticeable lag when shifting and accelerating. Engine misfiring at only 3000 miles. Very dangerous when turning into traffic or merging on to highways. Vehicle gives a false sense of accelerating then stops. This happens reliably over and over.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

Guess I'm having the same issue a lot of others are having. Sitting at a red light and hit the gas and nothing happens. Smells like gas inside the cabin. It's been in service at the dealership for 15 days and they have no idea what the problem is and no eta on the fix. I purchased the car in December 2017.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

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

My vehicle has 2 serious issues. The 1st is the gas/exhaust smell that is inside the cabin. This happens when I am driving for more than a few hours consistently. This tends to happen more when the outside temperatures are over 108 degrees. The 2nd issue is the vehicle does not always accelerate from a complete stop when the gas pedal is stepped on. The vehicle will roll into traffic a little bit and then 2-4 seconds pass and then it will go. It is very touch and go after it does this and it takes about 10 minutes for it to fully be "normal" I have had it at the dealership 2 times for these issues. They keep telling me nothing is wrong with the vehicle. I do not feel safe in this vehicle. Both issues happen without reason. It happens on city streets and highways. It happens with or without the "start/stop" system activated. It happens in hot and cold. I use premium gas like they told me I had to do. I do not top off when I get gas. It still continues to happen.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

We purchased our 2018 Tiguan in January of this year from momentum Volkswagen of clear lake. Our car has been in 3 times for service and each time (at 5K, 10K, and 15 miles), I have explained to the service writers that my car has a lag, a stop in the throttle and turbo, where it fails to accelerate immediately upon pushing the gas pedal. This delay / hesitation / and all out stalling is placing me in very dangerous situations while driving.twice in the last week, it has completely stalled (engine does not shut off but car will not go) where I was almost rear-ended on the freeway in one occasion and almost T-boned in an intersection in the other. The folks at the dealership explained this is a 'known characteristic of this vehicle'. not one time, when I was purchasing this vehicle was it explained to me that the Tiguan would fail to accelerate and put me in such a dangerous position. I have reported this to VW and my local news media. I find it absurd that this is a known characteristic of the vehicle and not once was this mentioned as the reason until my third visit at 15,000 miles where the depreciation of my vehicle makes it a total loss for me to try to even get a safer vehicle. Why in world, has this known failure of acceleration not been repaired in anyway?

- Kemah, TX, USA

When the auto start/stop feature is disabled by toggling the button on the center console, the car drives very rough, especially at slow speeds. It feels like the transmission is having trouble shifting gears.

- Orlando, FL, USA

The car does not get more than 316 miles to a full tank. It also feels like the transmission is jerking you forward which causes the car to be really sluggish. This is also dangerous when trying to pull out on a busy street. I took it to the dealership and they drove it came back and told me I should only fill up at certain gas stations. They gave me a list and said I have to use only premium gas I. the car and only fill up at these stations if I want the expected gas mileage.

- Port Charlotte, FL, USA