92 of the
3,473 complaints filed about the Volkswagen Tiguan
are about the throttle and cruise control —
3% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2018.
92
Complaints
3%
Share of all complaints
4
Crashes
1
Fires
Acceleration & Cruise Control complaints by model year
I am reporting a safety-related electrical defect on my 2019 Tiguan that has been intermittently occurring since March 2026. This typically has happened during the hotter parts of the day when the tempreature in in the 90's. While driving, I get two different warnings that displays; "Check starter system" followed by "ignition-system-shut down". Within a few minutes, the engine continues running but the instrument cluster, HVAC and turn signals lose power. Other electrical systems also shut down like, the radio, navigation, head lamps, and side view mirror adjustment. This creates a serious safety hazard because I lose turn-signal and vehicle-information functions while the vehicle is moving." I have found multiple complaints involving 2019 Tiguans with this exact failure mode, including complaints specifically connecting it to Volkswagen recall 28H7 / NHTSA 23V-604 involving the ignition switch and polyfuse. Volkwagen has not aknowledge, reproduced, nor confirmed this issue. I belive that ithe issue is related to the same problem as Volkswagen's 28H7 / NHTSA 23V-604 ignition-switch recall, which currently applies to certain Jettas. That complaint describes the same combination of engine continuing to run while A/C, instrument cluster, headlights and turn signals lose power. I believe that 28H7 should be expanded to the 2019 Tiguan.
NHTSA complaint #11757043 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The vehicle intermittently fails to accelerate normally from a stop, especially in hot weather and when the A/C is running. When pressing the accelerator, the vehicle can hesitate for an extended period before moving. In a recent incident recorded on video (reference attachment), I pressed the accelerator and the vehicle failed to respond normally for more than 10 seconds, requiring me to pull over. This creates a serious safety risk when entering intersections, making U-turns, crossing traffic, or pulling into traffic, because the vehicle does not respond when acceleration is needed. The issue is intermittent and more frequent and severe during summer temperatures, when the AC is running continuously. The concern has been reported to the Volkswagen dealer multiple times. Dealer repair attempts were made in 2025, but the issue still exists. An independent mechanic also inspected/tested the vehicle and confirmed there is an issue, but advised that it likely requires Volkswagen-specific diagnosis, software, adaptation, or calibration. No consistent warning light appears before the hesitation occurs. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. I have video evidence showing the delayed acceleration condition.
NHTSA complaint #11747947 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The problem occurred immediately after picking my car up from a valet on 5/17/2026 around 9:00pm. The valet had pulled my car up to the front of the Seattle Park ‘N Fly Valet by Sea-Tac airport. I pulled out onto International Blvd, and within a few seconds, the accelerator pedal became completely unresponsive. I was able to coast the car into the Denny’s parking lot just north of the valet lot (about 0.2 mi north of the valet). Everything else seemed to work just fine, except for the accelerator pedal (brakes worked just fine). I turned off the engine, and when I tried to restart the car, it was turning over but wouldn’t start. I called out someone to jump the battery, but the battery was fine. We then disconnected and reconnected the battery, and this resolved the issue and I was able to restart the car and drive away. It was dangerous that I was able to pull out onto a road, just to immediately lose any ability to accelerate. I’m lucky there was a nearby parking lot and I didn’t pull into busy traffic. Something seems to have happened at the valet, that was then triggered as soon as I pulled out onto the road. My guess is they tried to start the car and use the twist shifter in some combination that caused a fault that only triggered once I started to get up to speed. It’s strange because they were able to pull my car up to the front of the lot just fine, and I was able to pull out onto the roadway just fine, but the loss of acceleration only happened once I tried to get it up to speed.
NHTSA complaint #11738451 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Loss of acceleration. Errors. Turbo failure before 3,000k miles. Received five errors alerts at once: 1. Emergency Assist not available 2. Engine Speed Max 4000rpm 3. Error: Drive System currently unavailable 4. Error: Cruise Control System 5. Travel Assist currently unavailable. Initial occurrence was misdiagnosed at dealership as a computer system failure. They cleared the alerts but not the problem. Returned to Service a second time (currently there) and they identified the turbo needs full replacement and it is not safe to drive. No ETA on a fix “due to parts back ordered”; potentially mid-March
NHTSA complaint #11717363 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Started noticing issues within first week of purchase. Cruise control will not increase nor decrease speed when set. Steering wheel controls will not advance or decrease speed. Intermittent problem. First service dealer could not replicate. Second service dealer contacted VW assist and was advised to replace steering wheel buttons. Did not fix problem. Third service VW assist advised to replace clock spring and wiring harness. Part still on back order almost a month later. Meanwhile, vehicle now rapidly decreases or advances speed on own while cruise control is set. Adaptive control function is off and not source of issue. I feel this is software related issue as I have also had malfunction of infotainment radio system. Another reason I feel software issue is due to vehicle back up safety braking activates and throws vehicle into park when nothing is behind me.
NHTSA complaint #11698408 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am writing to bring to your attention a pressing safety concern regarding my 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan, with VIN [XXX] . Despite reaching out to Volkswagen of America on August 18th, 2025, and visiting my local dealership multiple times, the issue remains unresolved. The problem is with the gas pedal, which fails to accelerate properly when starting from a standstill, such as when reversing or driving from a traffic light or stop sign. This issue also occurs when attempting to merge onto a highway or freeway. The dealership has been unable to identify the cause, and the problem is becoming more frequent. I am extremely concerned for the safety of my family and other road users. I have attached a video recording of the issue, taken by my daughter on [XXX]. I urge Volkswagen to take immediate responsibility for providing a safe and reliable vehicle. I request that they provide a loaner car while my vehicle is under inspection. However, when I requested a loaner car from the dealership, they informed me that none were available and suggested that I rent a car instead. Unfortunately, I am unable to afford the cost of renting a car, especially for an indefinite period. I would appreciate your assistance in resolving this matter. Please find below the details of my previous correspondence with Volkswagen: - Initial complaint to Volkswagen of America: August 18th, 2025 - Visit to local dealership: August 14th, 2025 - Scheduled appointment: August 29th, 2025 Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to a prompt response. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11682755 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am experiencing a serious safety issue with my 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan involving delayed acceleration. The problem occurs intermittently but frequently: when pressing the gas pedal from a complete stop or low-speed situation (such as turning or merging), there is often a 5–10 second delay before the vehicle responds and begins accelerating. During this lag, the engine does not rev, and the vehicle does not move, leaving me and my passengers vulnerable in intersections, while turning into traffic, or merging onto highways. This issue has occurred multiple times since purchase, and has created multiple near-miss situations, including once where I attempted to cross a two-lane road and the vehicle did not move for several seconds after pressing the accelerator. Other drivers had to brake abruptly to avoid collision. I brought the vehicle to an authorized Volkswagen dealer twice. They were unable to replicate the issue and returned the car without repair. The third visit is currently being scheduled. No warning lights or diagnostic codes were present, and the dealer stated they could not reproduce the problem. Volkswagen has not issued a fix to my knowledge. The vehicle has not been inspected by police or insurance. There were no warning lamps or messages at the time of the failures. The issue began within the first few months of ownership and has persisted intermittently for the past several months. I paid $30,000 cash for this vehicle in 2023 and it is still under warranty. This issue presents an ongoing safety hazard and significantly reduces my confidence in the vehicle’s ability to respond in traffic. Based on forums and consumer reports, I have reason to believe this is a known issue affecting multiple VW Tiguan vehicles of the same model year. I am available to provide additional documentation, including a written log of the issue and video evidence upon request. I respectfully urge NHTSA to investigate this matter.
NHTSA complaint #11676078 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When trying to accelerate from a full stop the car is not accelerating when pressing the gas pedal. It happened at a stop light, I pressed the gas, the car went nowhere, pressed the gas harder until gas pedal was floored and then the car accelerates forward very quickly. Also happened when i was making a left turn crossing 2 lanes of traffic. Stepped off the gas to make a left turn, car begins to roll forward but when i press the gas nothing happens, I am now in both lanes of traffic flooring my gas pedal, nothing happens for about 5 seconds and the car lurches forward quickly. There are no lights illuminated on the dashboard. Brought car to VW delearship, they say they went over the entire car and found nothing wrong. When investigating online it seems others are also having the same issue and getting the same response from VW.
NHTSA complaint #11674577 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
At 49,000 miles, all four spark plugs and ignition coils failed and had to be replaced due to engine stuttering and hesitation during acceleration. The check engine light first appeared as I approached a red light to make a timed left turn at a high-traffic intersection during rush hour. The malfunction caused my vehicle to struggle accelerating through the intersection, putting myself and others at risk. A certified mechanic confirmed the error code indicating faulty spark plugs and coils and replaced all components under warranty. However, the check engine light continued to reappear intermittently—sometimes turning off for a week after restarting the engine, other times staying on for extended periods. Despite the initial replacement, the same code concern persisted, and the mechanic replaced the components again under the parts and labor warranty. When the issue continued, I took my vehicle to my regular trusted mechanic, who performed a more in-depth diagnostic. They discovered an excessive and unusual amount of carbon buildup in the fuel injectors, which was likely triggering the engine code and causing drivability issues. This diagnosis resulted in an additional repair expense of nearly $700. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance representatives, but the failed components are available for inspection upon request. These issues are unexpected given the vehicle's low mileage, age, and regular maintenance. Total repairs reached nearly $1,300. The hesitation posed a safety risk in traffic and suggests a possible premature system failure. My regular mechanic noted Volkswagen may claim this is “regular maintenance,” though this is not common in similar makes and models like the Tiguan.
NHTSA complaint #11672586 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I am writing to formally express my deep concern and disappointment regarding the sudden failure of my Volkswagen Tiguan SE, a brand-new vehicle purchased just three months ago. While driving, the car abruptly stopped in the middle of the road, putting my entire family in grave danger. Fortunately, there was no vehicle immediately behind us, or this could have resulted in a serious accident. Safety Concerns: This incident raises serious questions about the reliability of this vehicle model and whether such a failure should ever occur in a brand-new car. A sudden breakdown in traffic is unacceptable, and I strongly condemn the presence of such cars on the road if they pose safety risks. Service & Response Issues: Following this incident, I contacted Volkswagen’s service team at Lewisville Volk Vogen ,893 S Stemmons Fwy Lewisville, TX 75067 to investigate the issue and provide urgent assistance. However, after completing the service I got the heating error again in the car. This puts me in very deep state about this car. I have the incident report with me with stale enginer issue and the service done by Volkvogen team and the issue still persists. Request for Immediate Action: I request Volkswagen to take urgent action to recall this kind of car which risks my entire family life into danger. If Car stops on highway, we all will die instantly along with others who will be behind us. Sincerely, [XXX] [XXX] Vehicle Details – VIN- [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11664414 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owned a 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated causing the vehicle to veer off the road, and the contact lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 14,171.
NHTSA complaint #11637267 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The powertrain control units (engine and/or transmission) exhibit concerning behaviors when accelerating from a stop. The actual vehicle acceleration and propulsive torque does not match driver demanded torque for an extended period of time. The amount of delayed reaction is longer when the vehicle is ‘cold’ meaning that the vehicle has not been running prior to driving for an extended period of time. There is some amount of initial acceleration that allows the vehicle to move into the road but then the propulsive torque seems to go away completely for 3-4 seconds. The torque delivered after this delay is then exponential which is again not matching what the driver is asking for. The unintended torque can put the driver at risk of being in a lane without the ability to accelerate out of danger in time. For the situation of having too high of torque can put the driver in danger of hitting an object because the driver was not planning to accelerate so aggressively. These two behaviors can compound on each other as well. When the driver experiences the too low of drive torque condition, the driver could apply more throttle to correct but this will only make the too high of drive torque condition worse. These behaviors occur after every drive-off from standstill. There is a TSB to help improve this behavior. There are no active faults or warning lamps. Many other owners and dealerships confirmed this same behavior. The occurrence date was set to the date of this complaint but these behaviors have been occurring since date of purchase of vehicle.
NHTSA complaint #11619701 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
I have been experiencing a noticeable delay in throttle response when accelerating, particularly when attempting to slowly merge into traffic. For example, when I press the accelerator to make a left turn, my Tiguan hesitates for approximately 2-3 seconds before responding, creating a significant safety concern as I find myself stuck in oncoming traffic. I took the vehicle to the dealership for diagnostic testing, but no fault codes were detected, and no warning lights were illuminated. To demonstrate the issue, I had to conduct a test drive with the mechanic. Following this, the mechanic escalated the issue to the quality engineering team at Volkswagen. They acknowledged that they were aware of this problem but stated that there is no available fix. I was advised to use top-tier premium fuel and switch to manual mode to potentially mitigate the delay. When I escalated this issue to the VW Customer Care, they claim that it is operating as designed and no repairs would be made. I suspect that this issue stems from a defect in the vehicle's control software, which VW appears to be aware of but has not addressed with a permanent solution.
NHTSA complaint #11613027 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The extreme acceleration delayed in responding. It has happened on a few occasions causing me to have to quickly brake the vehicle once it finally responds to avoid hitting any traffic in front of me, but one of the occasions was When I tried to make a left turn in an intersection, I pressed on the accelerator and the car moved forward very slightly then stopped and would not move forward, I attempted to get the car to move as cars were then headed straight towards me and I pressed all the way down on the accelerator, after a few seconds it finally responded and jumped forward just in time for the cars coming towards me not to hit my car. After this I immediately took it into the dealership, they confirmed this was a known issue with the Volkswagen Tiguans as well as some Atlas’ however this was an issue with the computer in the car and they had attempted to fix the issue with an update to the computer but had no success therefore they had no way to resolve the issue and we would just have to take the car back as is. This issue put my life, my kid and my unborn child at risk as it would not move, after the dealership confirmed they knew this was an issue with this particular type of vehicle and saying they had absolutely no fix for it so therefore they would do nothing for us is completely unacceptable and when we bought the car no one informed us of this issues so I am very concerned there are many more individuals facing the same safety risk driving this vehicle and I feel it too unsafe to drive until they have a resolution.
NHTSA complaint #11611829 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
A month ago I started my vehicle and 1/2 a mile into driving, all my electronics turned off with no warning(radio, instrument cluster, A/C, gauges, turn signals, headlights). The only electrical component working was the power windows. I couldn't see my speed, any warning lights or my turn signals. I immediately pulled over as I couldn't even tell if my car was still drivable. I Turned off the car (just the engine at this point) and tried to start it again with no response when I turned the key. When it finally turned back on, all the electronics turned on and immediately turned off again. The display on the instrument cluster briefly said "check starter system". Since then it will happen any time it is hot out. Heat is definitely what is triggering the symptoms. This same issue has been seen in the VW 2019 Jetta. This is a huge safety issue.
NHTSA complaint #11610542 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Me and my family were driving to Los Angeles on a freeway. All of a sudden the car showed a warning saying something like "Limited to 4,000 RPM", and we felt strong vibration under the hood. We decided to pull over at a first available gas station. While turning into the gas station, the car refused to go and refused to start, making a loud clicking sounds. We had to tow the car to the nearest VW dealership (Galpin VW). Later they informed us that they have to replace fuel injectors and harness and it will cost us approximately $2,600. After paying the amount, I found that VW issued a recall/bulletin for this very problem - VWP-23-03 for my model year (VW Tiguan 2019). I contacted VW but they refused to honor the warranty claiming that the warranty does not apply to my VIN. It seem obvious to me that this is the same exact problem as described in the bulletin VWP-23-03. I feel like VW has made a mistake by not applying this bulletin to my VIN number (and probably others) and is endangering motorists that would otherwise get this serious issue fixed during regular maintenance.
NHTSA complaint #11608359 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
When the car is parked under the Sun on hot days. The car will lose the power and we get message on Dashboard "Check Starter System" When this happens and car is running, it will lose power, No AC, No Lights, No Brake Lights, No Hazard Lights, Speedometer will not work but Engine is running and you can drive the car. It is extremely dangerous to drive it that way. Some folks reported that replacing faulty ignition switch resolve the issue but it needs to be properly investigated and issue official recall on all VW models which are experiencing the issue. Its on VW Tiguan, Golf, Jetta for sure. Please see the video of issue [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11594549 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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.
NHTSA complaint #11565620 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
While driving, using cruise control set to 75mph, I braked to slow down. That worked cruise control disengaged fine. I changed to the adjacent lane that was wide open and pushed the resume button on the steering wheel. I noticed I was passing several vehicles on both sides of me. Looked at the speedometer reading = 98 mph and felt further acceleration. Put my foot on the brake to disengage cruise control and slow down. I checked the cruise control setting on the dashscreen. It still read 75 mph. When the speed of the vehicle returned to 75mph, I again "SET" the speed of cruise control at 75mph, and all was normal again.
NHTSA complaint #11545833 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.