Complaint volume
185 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2019 Volkswagen Tiguan Complaints
185 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan, grouped by component category.
185 Total complaints
6 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
5 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are electrical system, unknown or other, engine. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 6 crash reports, 1 fire report, 5 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 63 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 11,386 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to electrical system, unknown or other, engine?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2019 Volkswagen Tiguan
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan complaints?
6 Crash
1 Fire
5 Injury
0 Fatality
6 Towed
2 Medical attention
What are the most common 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan complaint categories?
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 26
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 24
ENGINE 19
SERVICE BRAKES 13
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 12
POWER TRAIN 9
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 7
SUSPENSION 6
AIR BAGS 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 4
185 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | My car has delayed acceleration issues of between 3 - 6 seconds. The last one that was 6 seconds ore more was on June 29. In addition it's happened several times. I took the vehicle in for its last service and was told the issue was my battery. Battery was replaced and issue not resolved. The service before that I was told it was a carbon build up. Continues to happen sporadically. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2025 | VISIBILITY | The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that while driving approximately 68 MPH, there was a booming sound coming from the vehicle. The contact stopped to inspect the vehicle and discovered that the rear glass sunroof panel had shattered from the inside and shards of glass were ejected from the sunroof panel. The contact wrapped the roof with plastic to secure the damaged sections of the sunroof, to ensure no other glass shards fell from the vehicle while driving. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 44,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 44,000 |
| Aug 2025 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 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) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2025 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | When the car is at a complete stop such as at a light or pulling onto a street, when you press the gas there will be a delay before it lurches forward. This becomes a very real safety risk trying to pull onto busy roads or even at lights. This car has been taken into multiple shops without it being fixed, the last one kept saying they had no idea why since there are no warning lights. They said they contacted VW who is saying a 5 second delay is within what they consider normal. It's not normal and is a very real risk and has almost caused us to get into numerous accidents. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | ENGINE | Water pump leak/failure | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | ENGINE | High oil consumption | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | On three (3) separate occasions, my 2019 VW Tiguan has produced an error stating "Check Starter System" on the console and shut down electrical systems such as instrument panel, brake lights, headlights, taillights, back up camera, and other electrical systems while driving. All three (3) situations followed the same series of events whereas the car was out in the sunlight on warmer days (70+ degrees) and occurred within 5 or so minutes of starting. After shutting the vehicle off and attempting to restart, the ignition will not always work and the car will not turn over. When it does, the key will need to be turned farther than a normal ignition start and most likely produce an immediate error and electrical system shut down. In the most recent occurrence, I found a parking garage and left the car for around an hour and did not experience the issue for the rest of the trip. It appears that there was a recall for a similar issues with the Jetta models made in the same year (2019). Volkswagen Recall: 28H7-Ignition Switch / NHTSA campaign number: 23V604 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving in extremely hot weather, the fault code message stating that the ignition was switched off, check the starter system, and to please pull over to the side of the road was displayed, while emitting a beeping sound to alarm the driver. The electrical systems, excluding the engine, became disabled. The contact stated that the headlights, taillights, instrument panel, and several other electrical functions were inoperable. The driver coasted to the side of the road and waited until the engine had cooled off before continuing to drive. The failure occurred consistently, in approximately 2 to 3 minutes, causing the driver to repeat the actions for the vehicle to operate as needed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The code starter fault error message was displayed; however, the dealer did not believe the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V60400 (Electrical System); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The contact stated that the Part Number: 521905865; for the ignition switch, was the same and believed that the failure was related to the recall. The dealer was unable to duplicate the failure because the temperature was not 90 degrees or higher. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 74,103. | Crash: No Fire: No | 74,103 |
| Jun 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | My vehicle will have a slow start when I start the car and also a delay when it is at a stoplight. I took it in for service twice and they told me it was because I had an after market battery. However - yesterday my car completely went dead at a stop light and I had to turn the engine off and in. It often lags or stops at a light. According to Reddit it seems it’s a crank start issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,TIRES | The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed at night, the headlights unexpectedly failed to illuminate until the vehicle passed over a bump in the road, and shortly afterwards the headlights became illuminated again. Additionally, the engine oil and TPMS warning lights remained illuminated after the vehicle had an oil change and the tires were properly inflated. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where the vehicle was purchased, but the dealer provided no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact discovered that the VIN was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V815000 (Tires). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 103,000 |
| May 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Was driving on the freeway in my 2019 VW Tiguan when I experienced a sudden unexpected loss of power. Warning lights came on and the car went into a "limp mode" not allowing the engine to rev past a certain RPM. I took the car to be serviced at a local dealership where it was determined that the Fuel Injector Harness was faulty and needed to be replaced. When I informed the dealer that there was an extended warranty on the harness (2018-2019 model years within 10 years/120 miles) and the part should be covered, the dealer and later VW of America said that my vehicle was not part of the warranty. VW of America could not explain to my as why my car was not part of this warranty, but it is obviously a known problem on their end and they should honor what they advertised with their warranty extension with the NHTSA. [XXX] I find VW of America's response to this problem completely unacceptable and quite dangerous. Their unwillingness to take care of this critical component with a known failure rate unnecessarily costs consumers for repairs that VW should be honoring according to their own posted Warranty Extensions and could potentially cost bodily damage and lives. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Volkswagen Recall: 28H7-Ignition Switch. In vehicles equipped with a conventional ignition switch, the polyfuse can fail, particularly when the vehicle is operated in high temperature environments. If the polyfuse fails, it can result in the engine stalling while driving and failure of the vehicle's electrical system, increasing the risk of a crash. When sitting in the sun, this has happened 5 or so times. Yesterday it was only 77 degrees outside and it happened. The electrical shuts off completely. No brake lights, no blinkers, no odometer reading, nothing. The windows worked once. And several times, the car will still drive; however it is terrifying driving in these conditions. After letting it sit in the shade overnight, the car wont start the first time and then usually starts the second attempt. I have had the car shut off one time after the electrical stopped working, my car shut off as well. This is the exact thing that is happening to my 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan; however, when I call the dealership, they say that this recall does not apply to my VIN #. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Hit a small patch of black ice, not sure what happened but it caused the turbo to fully quite working creating a loss of power Engine Valve seals also were damaged Possible over boost | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving my vehicle on two occasions the brakes just automatically engaged, an error warning with an exclamation mark flashed briefly then went away. The car did not come to a complete stop but engaged the brake for at least 2 seconds. I was driving approximately 30-40 mph. I took it to the dealership were they indicated that they get about two complaints a month on this issue. They stated they believe the car falsely recognized someone in front of me and engaged the brakes. The dealership was unable to recreate the issue and said they found no signs of the warning that came on the screen in the logs. I was able to provide the exact times that the issue occurred so Im concerned there was no log of it. If I was on the express way and the brakes engaged it would have caused a serious accident. The fact that there is no way to trace the issue is concerning to me, as well as the serious safety implications that cannot apparently be reproduced or an error that was not logging but still notifying me that it occurred. This issue occurred multiple times several months apart | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | POWER TRAIN | Transmission in emergency mode. Exit the vehicle only when in P park | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING | I dont know what fail in the car.brakes system sensors i really dont know.but i was leaving the dentals office about to take main road when all the sudden my car just fully stopped all four weels where some how braked and the car turned off by itself i was stuck in the middle of the road and cars barely missed me. I honestly was in a very dangerous situation.i have a video of how the car braked by itself the engine turned off on its own..please help us check this immediatly in my opinion it is super dangerous..it has happened to me once but thays enough. There was no warning lights on the dash..thats all i can remember..thank yku | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | VW CUSTOMER # 06426725. REAR HATCHBACK OPENED TWO (2) TIMES ALL BY ITSELF WHILE PARKED IN MY GARAGE OVERNIGHT. THE HATCH DOOR COULD NOT OPEN ALL THE WAY UP BECAUSE IT CAME IN CONTACT WITH MY GARAGE DOOR. SINCE I WAS NOT READILY ABLE TO SEE THE HATCH WAS OPEN, IT WAS OPEN ENOUGH TO COME IN CONTACT WITH MY GARAGE DOOR WHEN I OPENED THE GARAGE DOOR FROM THE GARAGE DOOR BUTTON AT THE FRONT OF THE TIGUAN. NOW MY GARAGE DOOR IS DAMAGED AND MY VW TIGUAN REAR HATCH DOOR IS BENT BUT STILL OPERATIONAL. VW CUSTOMER SERVICE REGION HAS OFFERED NO HELP OR ASSISTANCE TO ALLOW THE VW DEALER TO FURTHER INVESTIGATE THE PROBLEM. I AM APPALLED THE THE NATSHA HAS NOT INVESTIGATED THIS FURTHER AS I KNOW IT HAS BEEN HAPPENING WITH OTHER VW TIGUANS. IF CHILDREN SIT AT THE REAR HATCH WHILE DRIVING, THEN THE CHILD MAY FALL OUT OF THE VEHICLE AND END UP AS A FATALITY. IF A LARGE BAG OF DOG FOOD FALLS OUT THEN IT COULD CAUSE A FATALITY FOR THE VEHICLES BEHIND THE VW TIGUAN. THE FRONT WARNING/BRAKE ASSIST ENGAGES AT LOW SPEEDS WHEN GOING DOWN A SMALL CREST DOWNWARD TO EXIT A PLACE OF BUSINESS ONTO A STREET. AGAIN VW DEALER LOOKED BUT COULD NOT REPLICATE. THIS UNWANTED STOP CAN RESULT IN A FATALITY IF THE DRIVER IS REQUIRED TO MERGE QUICKLY ONTO A MAJOR ROAD. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | The windshield fluid washer disappeared aka consumed mystery without the operator usage. I had to fill in a gallon of the windshield washer every2-3 months, and I did not do any washing or anything to use the fluid. Last week, the check engine came in and told me to fill the washer fluid and it could not pump the washer fluid onto the windshield while I was driving the vehicle during the snow storm that blind me visibility on the road that could cause a very serious accident if that happened. This is a very serious safety issue that could kill someone. as of today, 12/27/2024 I just filled the windshield washer fluid and it consumed 3 gallons of the washer fluid. The question is where all the fluid went even that I did not use it? | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | At 79,200 mi. metallic grinding noise was coming from rear wheel. Disassembly of rear brake pads on driver side revealed inner brake pad completely worn to the metal backing (no braking material remaining.) An inspection of the pad showed that the manufacturer installed the pad such that the brake pad wear indicator was positioned too far from the pad. The wear indicator never made contact with the pad and therefore, never made the characteristic high pitched audible tone as the inner pad reached critical wear. This resulted in a complete failure of the driver side rear brake pad. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | The electronic parking brake would not disengage. After trying all the tips found online I finally got it to disengage but now it won’t re-engage and I am getting a warning “electronic brake fault” on the dash. It’s very dangerous not to have a working parking brake. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ENGINE | The car is burning a large amount of oil. I have taken it to the dealer for an oil consumption test 3 times. Every time, VW has indicated that the problem is normal. A tech stated that it is normal to burn a quart of oil every 1000 miles between oil changes. The engine has not ceased yet but it is a real fear of mine, especially since I drive my son in this car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | LANE DEPARTURE | Blind spot detection not working. Repaired May 2023. Occurred again September 2024. No warning that it's been deactivated. Error message when blind spot sensing is activated. VW dealer diagnosed issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | 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. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | VISIBILITY | See attached document for complaint. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |