Vehicle Speed Control Problems of Volkswagen Tiguan - part 1

The car was in the cruise control with auto mode and it just veered to the left from a car in front and crashed into the median and totaled the car.

See all problems of the 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan 🔎.

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).

See all problems of the 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan 🔎.

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.

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.

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).

See all problems of the 2024 Volkswagen Tiguan 🔎.

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.

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.

See all problems of the 2023 Volkswagen Tiguan 🔎.

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.

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.

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.

See all problems of the 2020 Volkswagen Tiguan 🔎.

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.

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.

When the car is parked under the sun on hot days. The car will loose the power and we get message on dashboard "check starter system" when this happens and car is running, it will loose 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. . Read more...

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.

See all problems of the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan 🔎.

Jittery acceleration. Intermittent accelerator hesitation from a stop. The car hesitates or bogs down which can be unpredictable when pulling into traffic. Sometimes the rpms surge during low speed without input from the gas peddle. I have had the car serviced twice since leased in July 2023. The dealership is fast to say they are all the same. There are no warning lamps for this issue and the dealership states no faults can be found with vdas or gff.

So this is not related to a specific incident, more long term. The throttle response in this vehicle is downright dangerous. Many of times I feel like I am going to cause an accident. The throttle response is so laggy and jerky that off the line it seems to hesitate for almost 2 seconds. Light turns yellow? good luck, it will barely downshift and get moving before it turns red. Sometimes the response is good, sometimes it terrible. No predictability. Have to turn it to sport mode when I have to make a left turn into traffic just to get a jump start. There are numerous forums that have talked about the issue. I have even brought it up to the dealership with no fix recommended. I have driven so many cars in my day, not one like this. Thinking about selling the car back just to get something safer unless they come out with a fix for it.

The gas pedal sporadically does not respond (though the car will still roll at idle speed). I learned of this issue first while attempting an unprotected left turn to exit a parking lot with cars approaching me quickly and the car not able to respond to the gas pedal. It almost caused a large crash. The lack of response seems to only happen when starting from a complete stop. The Volkswagen dealership, service manager, and the cashiers all said they’ve received numerous complaints or experienced themselves but no one knows how to fix it. I was just told “be safe. ”.

Happening within the first few weeks of purchase from new in November 2022. Delay and wildly inconsistent acceleration from a stop. This is most noticeable within the first 10 minutes of driving and is much worse when cold. Often, when accelerating from a stop, the vehicle does not move for several seconds; when the car does begin to move the acceleration is erratic and often results in wheel spin and a loss of control. We’ve nearly been t-boned on several occasions because the car’s acceleration is erratic. I’ve taken the vehicle to the dealer for service, they replicated the issue and said there is no fix. This is stated in the repair order which is attached. No warning or service lights. I do not feel this vehicle is safe for public roads. This issue is widely reported online and from speaking to the service department, widely know about. There should be a recall before someone gets killed. This vehicle has a fundamental safety issue.

There is a delayed acceleration issues on my brand new car, which have become progressively worse and worse. You press on the gas pedal and it stutters to the point of stalling out. I took it into the dealership to have it evaluated and they told me this is a computer software update that they have no control over. I contacted vw corporate and they told me there is no problem and the customer service person (dominique h. ) laughed at me. There are a lot of reports just like this on the internet. Someone is going to die because of this issue. Please address this ASAP it is a major safety hazard that is going to become catastrophic in the near future.

While driving an alert comes on that states check engine system. As soon as this happens all power in the car turns off. Engine is still running but you no longer have any turning signals, brake lights, headlights, air conditioning, etc. It happens randomly and has almost cause me to be rear ended due to car behind me not knowing I was slowing down or stopping. This happens when I am not close to a dealership so they have not been able to witness this.

When engine is cold, the transmission hesitates/stutters and then slams into gear. After a couple of minutes of driving, the issue stops. Turning the auto start/stop off does not have an impact on the hesitation/stuttering. This is a safety issue. Dealership claims they cannot replicate and no issues on computer diagnostics. Issue has been on going since it was purchased.

It does not accelerate when putting the gas petal all the way down at all or like a boom forward all of sudden. It's random when it's going to do it.

The acceleration of my vehicle has failed several times. The first major incident was when I was driving home across main st and attempted to go on green as the stoplight changed. Initially, the car jerked and coasted a little bit but after several attempts to press the gas, it still did not go. Shortly after on 04/16/2023, I set up an appointment for my vehicle to be serviced on 05/01/2023 (this was the earliest appointment at the time). I also called tom bush Volkswagen in jacksonville, FL to ensure I was scheduled for the right service and that this wasn't a user error. On 05/01/2023, I took my vehicle to be serviced and picked it up near closing. The technician I spoke to stated there were no issues found and the vehicle is "operating as it is designed to". I asked the technician what should I do in the future because I was sitting at a stop light and the vehicle did not move, even with my foot on the floor. He asked what kind of car I drove before and told me the computerized system in my car took a few minutes to communicate with the rest of my car for it to accelerate. He then proceeded to tell me that if it continues to happen to keep track and maybe get a video of the occurrence. I purchased this car new off the lot in August 2022 and started having this issue around 10000 miles. Yesterday this happened again in the parking lot, causing the car to jerk profusely. I'm afraid this issue will cause me to have an accident before there is a resolution. Both times of these occurrences happened when my minor child was in the vehicle. When this happens I have no control over the acceleration of the car and when it goes. I typically don't move the car for a while after this because I'm afraid it will happen on a busy road. I noticed the car displayed an icon for a while after the most recent incident. I will upload a picture.

While driving down the road the steering wheel began to wobble and shake really bad and the power steering light came on and then power steering locked up, I was barely able to get out of the way of oncoming traffic which was very difficult for me because I have lupus and not very much strength in my arms. Had to turn car off and restart several times before getting the light to stay off long enough to get home but it was still wobbling, this was a very scary situation for me.

See all problems of the 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan 🔎.

Acceleration and shifting at low speeds (below 25mph) is unpredictable. The car will hesitate and then lurch forward in an unpredictable way when reversing up a slope and when starting from a stop, particularly on a hill. The unpredictable nature of the issue, and the tendency of the vehicle to lag and then surge creates a significant safety concern. We took the car to the vw dealer we purchased it from for service. They confirmed there is a problem, and said they have received other complaints. They reset some settings, this did not correct the problem. Since then we have experienced a clunking noise sometimes when the car is shifting gears at low speeds.

From a stop at an intersection, the initial depressing of the accelerator produced no throttle response and then suddenly the car lurched forward. This resulted in rear ending the care in front at the intersection. The collision avoidance did not stop the car before contacting the car in front. Even after the accident the car continued to respond in the same way until it was placed on the two truck.

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.

When we drive the car the excelarator pedal does respond to moving the vehicle when in heavy traffic and starting off the response is slow the the vehicle jumps forward this has happened since we bought it please let’s not have another Toyota tps problem with many people ding before anyone says something.

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.

While attempting to accelerate on major highways (55-75 mph), suddenly orange "epc" light along with orange triangle with ! appears on dashboard. Vehicle immediately begins losing speed, unable to keep up with traffic speed - capped at around 39 mph. Notification on touchscreen display, select "vehicle status", "1 message" next to the another identical orange triangle with !. Touched the messages to find orange ! and meter symbol, left of "engine speed maximum 3000 rpm. " immediately drive to dealership, when I turned off the engine and parked the car to talk to a service center representative, it wiped the error from the vehicle completely. No epc light, no message, and no data storage for the error that occurred. The dealership told me they were unable to re-create the issue, and sent me on my way. A few months later, the same issue had repeated 3-4 times, I took it to the same dealership, still unable to recreate issue. Now 2 full years have passed, warranty is expired, I bring it in having had the issue dozens of times (and documented with timestamped images), and the same dealership is claiming that the issue is the engine harness. This is extremely unsafe for other drivers, passengers, myself and my passengers. I have been fortunate enough to not have had any vehicles too close behind me when this failure occurs.

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.

So this issue occurs once you remote start your vehicle. If you have remote started your vehicle, you get in the car, activate it by pressing the start/engine on button and go - when you later go to use the adaptive cruise control or standard cruise control the vehicle will fail to activate either cruise control option. The only way to regain control of this feature is to power off the car completely and then restart it without using remote start. This is a known vw issue and there has been no observable action or report about this issue except for discussion with the dealer/service department. It should be noted that this is a non-issue if you do not use the remote start function.

- acceleration hesitates from a stop. - if making a left turn or cross traffic turn, when vehicle hesitates it can cause a collision. - have an appointment 5/20/22 (however vw forums have others reporting the same experience. ) - no - no this have been an issue since purchase. From 10miles to the now 3200miles.

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.