34 of the 1,779 complaints filed about the Volkswagen ID.4 are about the steering — 2% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 2021.
34
Complaints
2%
Share of all complaints
11
Crashes
0
Fires
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This July (2026) I found the power steering to fail on two separate hot days, a similar issue also occurred in July of 2025. Using an OBDII reader it appears that it may have been related to a torque sensor.
NHTSA complaint #11756354 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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My 2021 ID.4 has experienced two separate incidents of sudden, unintended forward acceleration while parking. In both cases, I was maneuvering at very low speeds (less than 5 mph) and transitioning from a stopped position, or from reverse into drive, with the intention to move forward only a few inches. But instead of creeping forward as normal, the vehicle suddenly jerked forward approximately one foot. In the first of two incidents (approx. October 2025), it crashed into the car in front of me. In a second incident (3/14/2026), it crashed into an EV charging station. This is a safety concern and may be related to steering wheel capacitive touch controls, possible unintended activation of adaptive cruise control (ACC) or “resume” function, or erroneous or overly sensitive input from the steering wheel control module. No warning signs or messages appeared prior to the failure. Luckily, no one, including my young children, stood directly in front of the vehicle during either of the incidents; otherwise, they may have incurred serious bodily injury or worse. I was also luckily unharmed in both incidents. I am immediately taking the car to the dealership for a full inspection.
NHTSA complaint #11734050 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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Claim submitted to VW Customer Care on March 8, 2026. Current problems cited include: Doors malfunctioning; vehicle difficult to start and power off; steering and braking warnings; complete loss of power steering; compromised performance in significant lag between accelerator depression and vehicle response; electrical malfunction alerts (17+); numerous dashboard warnings; distressing repetitive whining sound (not mechanical); persistent underperformance regarding vehicle range. On March 10, vehicle was towed to commence inspection at Bay Ridge Volkswagen Service & Parts – [XXX] . Further evidence of vehicle issues provided as accompaniment to VW Customer Care Claim via: [XXX] This current March 2026 concern follows on multiple service visits and loss of vehicle usage during April–August 2025 claims process. During this time, Brooklyn Volkswagen Service (now permanently closed) conducted an evaluation of the car, including documented video evidence of issues with the car – even beyond those which were the original cause for my concerns (e.g. they cited degradation of cables and wiring within the car’s hood due to their being made of edible soy wrappings). Link provided: [XXX] . Vehicle was ultimately released back to me with unresolved repairs (citing backorder of parts amongst other concerns that VW would not consent to resolving related to compromised bumper electronics) and interim repair offered to resolve compromise to vehicle airbag systems. The primary use of this vehicle is in transportation of my children. It is patently unsafe to drive. Given that the vehicle is subject to a federal safety recall without an available remedy I have requested a prompt determination of the vehicle repurchase / lease buy‑back and compensation for loss of use and incurred costs to support alternative transportation requirements until resolution under this claim. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11724748 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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My Id 4 Pro S has this problem more going back almost 3 years with 8k miles when first reported to the dealership and [XXX] [XXX], [XXX],[XXX]. The correspondences are there as proof. Dealership never fixed this issue or diagnoses this properly since it only happens in wet weather or rainy mist or rain. The issues is the front tires in the front wheel wells make a thumping sound when backing up and moving forward with the wheels turned in any direction and a crunching sound with the car shaking. I am concerned for my safety and VW will not fix the issue. They had it twice in servicing, did not wet the underside to create the wet symptoms so they dismissed the issue. It does not rain much here and I presumed all the over the air updates and 2 day mega update leaving my vehicle would resolve the issue only to find out now with the new rain the problem is still there. This is a manufacturer defect and was reported when my vehicle was under full warranty . Now they are giving me excuses and wont address the problem or diagnose this properly and want to charge me for there manufacturers defect . I only have 22,675 miles on the vehicle now and it is garaged all the time so this is not from wear and tear since it occurred at 8000 miles and was reported twice before. I have multiple case numbers on this and VW will not take responsibility to fix this defect, and malfunction . They had stone walled me and passed this off as no issue. I have videos of the issue on drop box I can sent to you if requested . See drop box videos. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] 2 Videos here from [XXX]. Please help ! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11708124 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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The contact owned a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that while her husband was driving approximately 25 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and there was a loud revving noise coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle then independently accelerated at full speed. The contact stated that her husband depressed the brake pedal several times, but the vehicle did not slow down, and the steering wheel locked, preventing the driver from steering the vehicle to safety. The vehicle then crashed into the back of another vehicle that was either stopped or was moving extremely slow. The contact’s husband sustained back, and neck injuries but had not sought medical intention. The insurance company informed the contact the that the other driver had since sought medical attention. A Police report was filed but was not available. The other vehicle was driven from the scene; however, the contact’s vehicle was towed to a tow lot where it was deemed a total loss. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.
NHTSA complaint #11704680 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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1. I still can't make sense of what exactly malfunctioned at my car accident on 9/26/2025 but I have reported to the Volkswagen Customer Service on 9/27/2025 and they couldn't give me a precise answer and told me they will have to research and call me back yesterday - 9/30/2025 but I haven't got a call as of this writing. It basically activated something that accelerated suddenly the car and it is like someone took control over the car causing me to crash with 2 cars in front of me. Yes, it is available for inspection. 2. I don't feel safe anymore with that car and also I am terrified that innocent people's lives will be put at risk. 3. I have seen some articles around the internet with the same experience that I had and it looks like Volkswagen has a law suit about it. 4. No, but I have reported to 911 and my insurance. 5. No, there's no any warning on the car dashboard before this incident happened.
NHTSA complaint #11690745 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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[XXX] [XXX] September 14, 2025 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 Subject: Formal Complaint – Safety Defect in 2022 Volkswagen ID.4 (Power Steering and Brake Failure) Dear Sir or Madam, I am submitting this formal complaint regarding a serious safety defect in my 2022 Volkswagen ID.4, which resulted in a crash and a minor injury to my wife. This defect poses a substantial risk of death or serious injury to the driving public. On [XXX], my wife experienced sudden unintended acceleration, followed immediately by complete loss of braking and steering control. She was unable to avoid leaving the roadway and entered a ditch, sustaining a minor injury. The vehicle suffered fender damage. The vehicle was towed to our authorized Volkswagen dealership. The dealership’s technician documented that the power steering module failed. However, Volkswagen of America subsequently dispatched an engineer, who instructed the dealer not to communicate further with us. Volkswagen headquarters later claimed the power steering module failed only because the vehicle entered the ditch—an explanation directly at odds with the technician’s report and a witness account. Volkswagen has refused to accept responsibility, declined to cover medical or repair costs, and denied replacement of the failed power steering module. Our insurance provider also declined coverage, determining that the accident was caused by a mechanical failure. Legal and Regulatory References 1.49 U.S.C. § 30118 – Motor Vehicle Safety Act Requires manufacturers to notify NHTSA and vehicle owners when they determine a motor vehicle contains a defect related to motor vehicle safety. The failure of the power steering and braking systems clearly qualifies as a “safety-related defect” because it directly compromises steering and stopping ability. 2.49 C.F.R. Part 573 – Defect a INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11687156 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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I was turning into a parking space on the street. I let my foot off the gas in order to brake.... as I did so the car LURCHED forward on its own about 2-3 feet running into the curb and damaging the wheel, the rim and the tire. I stomped on the brake, turned off the car, and restarted the car in order to finish parking (get out of traffic) and assess the damage. Thankfully nobody was hurt, although I am quite shaken up, losing confidence in the car... I have no idea what system malfunctioned.. the car went forward on its own with my foot off the accelerator. I've never experienced this before with this car or any other car. I drove the car directly to the service department at the dealership where they said they would inspect it and report it as well. I have not called the police. I have not alerted the insurance company. There were no warning lights before or after this incident.
NHTSA complaint #11686025 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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The car completely stopped without warning. The dashboard lit up with all the lights and informed me that the I need to pull over. There was no time to pull over as the car completely lost all power. The car was traveling on the freeway. It would not start back up and I needed to call 911 for help. The tow truck could not get the car started and the CHP needed to run a traffic break to get it towed off the road. The dealer could only find an NV-energy management alarm triggered and said it was ok to drive again. The next day driving on [XXX], when returning to my car the car said the vehicle electrical system had an error and I could not power it on. I requested a tow and the car is currently at the service department. Of note is when the car was pulled off the freeway I was able to start it and drive it home like nothing happened. Again on [XXX], the car once at the dealership was able to be powered on and driven. There were no warning lights on the car after that. If the car would have stopped while travel at 65MPH, I think there could have been a major crash and it puts the safety of me the driver as well as the other drivers around me as great risk. I have never felt uncomfortable traveling on the highway until this happened. I would never expect a car to completely shut off while travel on the highway with no way of pulling over to the side of the road. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11662858 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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I was driving with Travel Assis on, the car steered left into the center divider then swerved right into other lanes… I was unable to regain control of steering wheel or break to deactivate travel assist for about 10 seconds, the steering wheel felt stuck in the direction that Travel Assist was steering to.
NHTSA complaint #11642645 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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While stopped at a red light waiting to turn left, with foot on the brake, my car suddenly accelerated and lunged forward , plowing into the car in front of me with great force. I had to jam down the brake almost to the floor to get the car to stop. My foot was on the brake. There is no way I hit the accelerator. Even if I had, the AEB system is supposed to prevent me crashing at close range. I understand that this is a known issue related to the adaptive cruise control. The force of my car was so great that 3 cars in front of me sustained damage.
NHTSA complaint #11638342 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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My cars backup cameras have never worked properly and the dealer keeps changing me $485.00 to run a complete diagnostic every time I take it in. My car will erratically pulled to the right for no reason and caused the right front tire to blow forcing me to have it towed to the dealer and they had to replace both front tires which cost me $900.00 to replace. The car locked up the brakes and turned it to the right causing me to sever my left outer thumb which has cost me over $700.00 so far and is going to require me to have 4+ hours of surgery on my thumb by a surgeon and they haven't given me the cost of the surgery yet but it is estimated at over $7,000.00 and I am left handed and doesn't allow me to use that hand to hold the steering wheel or anything else.
NHTSA complaint #11621811 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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On the morning of September 27, 2024 while stopped at a retail store in Wake Forest, NC, the 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 steering column module part #j764 failed without warning. The steering column locked up and would not unlock after many attempts. The vehicle’s drive systems were also impacted resulting in the drive units/gears to lock resulting in the car becoming inoperable until the unit is replaced. Contacted VW Customer Care on October 1 for repair assistance. At this time, VW believes consumers should be burdened with the cost to repair this failed critical component which is necessary for the car to function and operate.
NHTSA complaint #11617414 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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Vehicle had a complete failure due to electrical issues and was brought to dealership. It was apparently due to recall issues which were repaired. The vehicle was returned 2 weeks ago. Today, shortly after exiting a highway, while traveling approx. 15-20mph then vehicle completely shut down. It stopped suddenly and unexpectedly and went into neutral. I could not put the car back into drive or park. The dash indicated electrical issues, airbag issues, collision sensors, brake issues and said “vehicle must not be towed”. Vehicle is currently at dealership.
NHTSA complaint #11615465 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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The lane assist function on the vehicle routinely pulls the vehicle off the road when accelerating uphill. Driver has to fight with the steering wheel to keep it from being pulled out of the lane and off the road. This occurs regularly on clearly marked roads, both on freeways and two lane rural roads.
NHTSA complaint #11613819 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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On occasion the car moves backward when I have it in Drive, and forward when I have it in Reverse. It commonly happens when doing a tight, 3 point turn. I noticed the issue shortly after I purchased the car in Mar '23 and first brought the car to the dealer for inspection after the 2nd time it happened in Jan '24. I've brought the car in many times for this and they cannot duplicate it or fix it (4 service records attached). There's no warning lights or error messages. I can visually see the gear shifter is in Drive, but when I put my foot on the accelerator the car moves backwards. It's the same when I visually see the gear shifter in Reverse, but the car moves forward. This has put my safety, the safety of my passengers, and the safety of people standing nearby at risk on multiple occasions. On one occasion, I was navigating a tight, multipoint u-turn, as I was trying to turn around between 2 large trees. My nephew stood outside the car waiting to get in. When I had enough clearance between the tree in back of me, and the back of my car, I put the car in Reverse to backup a few feet so that my nephew had enough space to open the passenger side door and get in. However, even though I had put the car in Reverse, it unexpectedly moved forward nearly pinning my nephew between the front of my car and the tree in front of me. I shouted at my nephew to step away from the car. I looked at the gear shifter again to ensure that I was in fact in Reverse, and then I tapped the accelerator gently to see if I could inch back away from the tree in front of me, but the car continued to move forward nearly hitting the tree. I had to put the car in Park, remove my seat belt, open the driver's side door, and step out of the car to get the car to "turn off" and "restart". When I got back in the car, and attempted to Reverse again, it worked as expected. I didn't log exact dates each time it happened, but I did first bring it to dealer for this problem on 1/4/24, with 8070 miles.
NHTSA complaint #11613511 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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We have owned the ID.4 for there years and have had to put up with many recall issues that seam to take years in order to be resolved, it took VW over a year to resolve the random door opening issues, the car still sends messages the it is opening and closing the doors indiscriminately (at any time of the night or day). Now the infotainment screen started showing multiple errors, apple CarPlay works whenever it wants, on whatever phone it chooses, the screen goes blank frequently on its own, maps and car's GPS is useless, child lock errors, range calculations are erratic making it difficult to plan to trips. The over the air updates have seam to make the problem worse. Now we are waiting for another over the air update, the roll out has been extremely slow. Again it been three years and still no resolutions. We paid good money for this car, we were never late on a single payment. VW brought this vehicle to market without being properly tested, we have been paying money to Beta test a car for them and they have been allowed to slow walk repairs. The dealers cannot offer any solutions because VW of North America does not have any permanent solutions. The only solutions offered is trade in your car and we will sell you another car with less problems, of course if you trade in the car you loose thousand of dollars, if you sell the car you loose thousands of dollars, if you keep the car you have to deal with a Defective Vehicale and continue paying for it. How can this be allowed to continue. We need Help.
NHTSA complaint #11607038 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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When vehicle crosses an intersection it pulls vehicle into wrong direction. Mostly left to incoming traffic and I have to correct steering. Vehicle does not recognize road lines have stopped or different in an intersection
NHTSA complaint #11606662 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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Steering wheel has capacitive touch control for cruise controls and other options. While turning in corners or exiting from highways unknowingly capacitive controls are getting activated and it sets the speed to highway cruise speed limit or previous cruise speed, creating a panic situation. It is a safety issue and potentially crashes. I have avoided 10 different instances so far. It has to be recalled for this issue and fix has to be done for this.
NHTSA complaint #11604230 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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Vehicle is dealer to address issues about steering rack failure and control system (speedometer screen and Intelligent touch screen system) blanking. Two weeks ago I nearly crashed into a car in front of me because the car became unresponsive.
NHTSA complaint #11602040 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.