Complaint volume
317 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
2021 Volkswagen ID.4 Complaints
317 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4, grouped by component category.
317 Total complaints
26 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
14 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, structure. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 26 crash reports, 1 fire report, 14 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 34 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 33,202 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, structure?
- 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 2021 Volkswagen ID.4?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Volkswagen ID.4
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 complaints?
26 Crash
1 Fire
14 Injury
0 Fatality
22 Towed
9 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 complaint categories?
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 72
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 31
STRUCTURE 16
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 11
SERVICE BRAKES 9
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 7
TIRES 7
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EQUIPMENT,BACK OVER PREVENTION 6
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE 6
POWER TRAIN 6
317 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Car 12V battery drained. Car "dead". AAA jump-started and I drove home. Kept all unnecessary items off (heat, radio, etc). Put car on trickle charge overnight; charged to 90+%. After driving car for awhile, "12v battery low" message came on. 3 local dealers can't service until December. Known defect that battery is under-powered. VW has offered replacement sometime in early 2023. Meanwhile car sits in garage inoperable. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | Dealer replaced infotainment unit but it continues to blank out, freeze and or restart. Very unsafe as you have to take eyes off road to force a restart, also if front windshield is foggy if infotainment system froze or restarting you are now driving with a fogged up windshield which you can’t see out off. Infotainment buttons do not work properly as they do not react to touch again take eyes off road to see whats happening. Infotainment screen and the other screen in front of driving wheel get very very hot. Only after showing dealer videos and recordings of all these occurrences with screen do they decide to do something about it such as change unit but problems persist. Vehicle rolls back on inclines when on a slight incline. Front end squeaks, VW dealer says is coming from the brakes and it’s normal operation. Stopping distances is increased in cold weather, in cold weather braking distances are longer. Side mirror buttons do not always control/adjust mirrors. Dynamic cornering headlight error/malfunction warning on screen constantly, safety risk. Vehicle cannot charge error (s) pop on screen and charging stops. After multiple tries and after changing to another charging stall, charging is able to resume. Factory celular connectivity drops for days and you have to pull fuse #17 or #19 to reset LTE connection. Vehicle has a lot of shortcomings which render it very very very unsafe. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | SUSPENSION | Uneven tire wear on front tires at 11,000 miles: The front right tire is bald along the very outer portion first 20% of tire surface, left front tire shows elevated wear but not bald. Wear pattern is consistent with alignment / camber issue. Brought to VW service and they claim this uneven wear is normal for the ID4. I advised them when you see this kind of wear it is not normal as the tires load is not distributed evenly and cause blow out, poor stopping and acceleration. The car has staggered tires 235 front / 255 rear so rotation is not possible. Tire is Bridgestone sport. I reminded them of the Ford Explorer catastrophe. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | STEERING,SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID4. The contact stated while coming to a complete stop with the brake pedal being depressed, the vehicle lunged 3-5 feet forward. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated while driving 40-45 MPH, the steering wheel swerved unintendedly, causing the vehicle to veer towards the opposite lane of traffic. The contact was able to regain control of the steering wheel and continued driving. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the gear shifter remained stuck in park(P) and failed to move after several attempts. A message indicating a major electrical failure was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 11,657. | Crash: No Fire: No Towed | 11,657 |
| Oct 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | While driving the vehicle, error messages were displayed in the digital cluster indicating, among others, "electrical system not working, Safely stop vehicle", "I2V battery error", "Issue with all-wheel drive system", "Front/Travel Assist not working". In less than 10 seconds, the vehicle came to an unintended complete stop right as I was completing a left turn (to get the vehicle to the curb of the street) to park the car. A car was behind me and had to maneuver around me to proceed on its way. My daughter (in a child car seat in the back) and I were the only occupants and were at risk of a car collision because the car stopped moving in the middle of the road. I have now taken the car to a dealership for inspection. At the dealership, one of the representatives commented that this is not the first time they have seen this issue with this vehicle. I was less than a mile from my home when this happened. After 30 seconds of not responding, the car started operating normally as if nothing happened but still showed "electrical system not working, please service". I drove the car home. After about 30 or so minutes, I restarted the car and it operated fine and did not show any error messages. I have not been able to reproduce this issue but I have not driven it far (other than dropping it off at the dealership) due to fear of my safety. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The software system rebooted itself unexpectedly while driving. I could not see my dashboard information and the radio display was blank. Glitches have been progressively getting worse and I’m afraid it might affect other components of the vehicle in time. VW dealership confirmed there have been issues but didn’t offer any solution. No warnings were presented prior to every glitch. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V162000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The Driver Assistance feature of the car shuts down due to a Software error. It will eventually reset if the car is parked and turned off for a duration of 30 to 60 minutes. Some users have reported that the error does not clear without disconnecting the 12v battery. Problem first appeared in the id.4 2021 models in the summer of 2021. VW has issued a software correction for the vehicle in Europe, but that update has not been made available for the US customers. This causes the collision avoidance system to go offline and the driver is warned to drive with extreme care! In some cases the vehicle speed also stops displaying. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | Child safety lock The rear passenger door child safety lock is defective. Without manually setting the child safety lock on, it locks and holds passengers inside without the ability to unlock it (pressing the child safety lock on and off) from the driver's seat. In case of an emergency, the passenger is unable to exit the vehicle from the right passenger side. The dealership first proclaimed it was a "part that needs replacement". After the replacement, the child safety lock malfunctioned again. Prior to this, there was no warning of malfunction on the drivers infotainment system. Only sporadically after the part replacement, a notification will appear in the driver's info display that there is an "electrical issue" with the child safety lock. They have had my car for over a month and a half in total for this and several other "electrical/ bolts/ battery" issues. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Battery popping sounds As I charge my vehicle, or drive the vehicle, the battery makes one sporadic loud "Pop" sound that is felt and heard from anywhere you are sitting in the vehicle. I was told this was "normal" and to be "expected" because the battery is "expanding". However, when talking to other ID4 owners, they do not experience this same sound. Since I have had this vehicle, the dealership has noted they cant reproduce this sound because in the 15 min they wait to charge the vehicle, they don't hear it. Unfortunately, this is sporadic during the charging time and also during the driving time. There are no warning signs, messages, or warnings from the dealership that this could occur. FOrtunately, I was charging next to a man who works in the Oxnard VW testing facility and he reported that this battery issue was known to occur in some vehicles and that there was a "fix" for it. I have had my vehicle in and out of the dealership for over a month and a half in total, and they yet to fix it. Now they are waiting to replace two bolts that apparently have loosened and were too "short". | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | At a red light, upon releasing the break to accelerate, the vehicle turned off. Meaning, the vehicle went from drive mode "D" to park "P" when I accelerated as the light turned green. This occured without prior warning that it would shift into "P". When I put my foot on the break to shift back into "D", then accelerated again, the vehicle went back into "P". It felt as if the "transmission" had given out. There was a light push (not quite a jolt) then it went into "P". After the third attempt, the vehicle finally drove as I accelerated. I was going through this process as quickly as possible since I had vehicles behind me in the busy streets of Down Town LA. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | On my VW ID4 AWD, when I depress the brake to engage to start car the following message appears..."Electrical system not working properly, please service car immediately". I have brought car in several times and tech cannot replicate issue despite multiple images on multiple occasions of same apparent problem. Dealership has claimed it might be a software issue and yet no software update promised for this summer has been forthcoming. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 12 volt system; 12 volt battery has aged very quickly (1 year) causing the voltage to drop overnight whereby the internal systems shutdown and report an error. If the car sits idle for 2-3 days, the voltage drops to the point where the car must reboot entirely, which includes an audio sweep calibration from the pedestrian warning speakers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | All of the safety systems (adaptive cruise control, lane departure, forward collision) and the speedometer all failed while driving at highway speeds. Yes the system is available for inspection, I also have pictures that I took while stopped at a traffic light. I had no safety systems available or any indication of vehicle speed while driving when the failure occurred. I have reported a similar issue with the vehicle to Volkswagen in the past and took it in for repairs in November 2021. The technician could not find any faults despite the multiple pictures of the incident occurring being sent to Volkswagen via email. The Volkswagen case ID for the previous failure of the safety systems was #04978574. The emails are attached to this report. The vehicle was inspected by Fitzgerald Volkswagen in Annapolis, Maryland on 11/29/2021 during a previous report of systems on the vehicle failing randomly. There were warning lights and messages on the heads up display. I have pictures showing this occurring. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | TIRES | Brand new, Volkswagen, ID4, 2021, We were lucky twice that this catastrophic tire failure did not result in an accident. First blow out was on a quiet side road in RI. Second was air leak on the highway that caused me to see a close by dealer about the issue. All 4 tires prematurely wore to the steel belts on the inside of the tire, the left rear sidewall blew out first at 33,675, Balise VW Warwick, RI did not recognize that it was a tread issue and 4 weeks later, the other 3 were deemed a road hazard by the Mastria VW Raynham, MA where we were stranded. The right rear leaked air due to the tread wearing thin to the steel belt on the inside of the tire. The right rear and two front were replaced at 37,526 mile for the same thin tread issue. Volkswagen and Bridgestone take no responsibility for this unusual tire wear. There needs to be a warning that these tires are dangerous after 30,000 miles on an ID4. I think as these SUVs get older, more reports will materialize. The tire does not support this type of vehicle due to the weight of the battery. This is a safety issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 1)The computer screen has delays or freezes or rear view camera not always activates. Generally problem with software which can cause safety hazard when I’m driving an causes distraction if it’s not working. 2)traction control turns on automatically almost on all curved exits or entrances to the highway. Major safety concern as it’s affecting my driving - slows down vehicle, causing difficulty controlling the vehicle. 3)inaccurate battery reading, as it’s keep showing different percentage, and keeps changing inappropriately while driving. I wanted to say it is safety concern because for ex: I went for road trip had 150 miles (approx 70%) but then I drove for 30 miles and have 40 miles left (approx 20%) left so now I’m getting distracted from driving and need to find charging station. I know I can pull over and do that but the time when you notice and your reaction while driving can cause distraction. I will take pictures and also ask my wife to take it as well when possible and safe to do so. Please contact me for the future follow up regarding pictures at [XXX]. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | EQUIPMENT | WHEN I NEEDED TO USE JACK I FOUND JACK AND RELATED TOOLS WERE NOT PROVIDED EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE PICTURED AND DESCRIBED IN VEHICLE HANDBOOK | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Stop car now error message in red while driving on the freeway. The car lost power for a moment then continued. Multiple errors with assisted driving. Multiple issues with main display being upside down or blank. Electrical malfunction while backing out of drive way. At this point the car was towed to VW and the VW engineering group had them replace the front VX-9 motor assembly and the Dc/DC converter (2374 miles) ( 4/20/22 VW invoice# VWCS344651). The car then ran with out issue for about 3500 miles then another electrical malfunction occurred. The error / alarm cleared on its own after a few minutes. Later it was plugged in for charging and tripped the 220 vac / 50 amp circuit. Car is at VW for repair again 7/18/22 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The rear window on our VW 2021 ID4, shattered while I was parked in a grocery store parking lot on Sunday, July 10, at approximately 7:30 am. The rear defrost had been turned on as I drove to the store. I shopped for about 15 minutes and came out of the store and sat down on the front driver seat, which starts up things like the radio and I believe the defrost again. This is when I heard an exploseion, got out of the car to see what had caused the vibration and sound, and looked to find that the glass was shattered inward and there was a hole as if a brick had been thrown through it. It was early in the morning and very few shoppers were in the parking lot, so I had a clear view of anyone running from the scene or hiding behind what few cars there were. There was no item on the inside or outside of the car that would have produced any kind of hole. The glass blew inward and a rear facing toddler car seat was impacted with small shards of tempered glass. There was no child passenger in that seat at the time of the shattering. The local dealership reviewed the window when I took it in, and I suggested to them that it might be defective defrost grid element, but they said they were not able to discern the origin of the problem, as I had cleaned up the shards prior to bringing in the car. The repair shop manager suggested it was a stray bb from a bb gun. I didn't see anyone close to the car in the parking lot, and the size and sound of the impact suggested more of brick at close range. Please see attached photo. I took a picture and showed it to the local dealership manager, and also sent a report to VW Corporate with a similar picture, (only cropped to fit their document size requirement). My insurance covered the repair service completed at our home on Thursday, July 14, and when they looked at the picture they definitely did not think that it was due to a bb from a bb gun. To your bullet points, I did not notice any warning message prior to the explosion. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Recall has been active for life 6 months and VW has ZERO Idea when or what the fix is. This is a serious fault where the car can just stop operating. It is unacceptable for VW to ask me to roll the dice every day that I commute on the I-10 for 160 miles. This is a fatality accident waiting to happen! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Driving on the highway and with no warning got an “error” message and a message that the electrical system was shutting down. Also popped up some reference about the 12 volt battery. Car went into a neutral type mode and started to slow due to complete loss of power. Luckily we were able to get to the emergency lane from the middle highway lane and coast to a stop. Extremely dangerous for a complete loss of power to occur with no warning. Car turned itself off while we were calling VW roadside assistance. It then was able to be turned back on and driven as normal. Based on VW id4 blogs, this is happening too often and dealerships are not able to determine it through diagnostics. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V162000 (Electrical System) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | On 6/25/2022 while driving on the freeway an object struck the windshield of our vehicle, a 2021 Volkswagen ID4 causing it to fracture. We took our vehicle to our local dealership in order to have a factory replacement installed. I was told that the windshield for my vehicle was not available and would likely take several months to receive. It is my understanding that an auto manufacture MUST provide parts in a reasonable timeline (within 30 days) especially if it is related to safety and drivability. I would like to make DOT aware of my experience, and to inform you that I wish to file a complaint. Regards, [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | STEERING,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES | 6/21/22 When I was pulling into a parking lot space, the car suddenly accelerated and the steering wheel turned uncontrollably, I could not stop the car, the brakes didn't respond at all. The car was driving by itself, I couldn't do anything to stop it, until I ran into two parked cars where it finally stopped; thank god no injuries. The car was undriveable, and was towed away, I'll have it inspected by the body shop and see if it can be repaired. This was a terrifying experience not being able to control the car, the car pretty much went into run away mode. I hope this gets reported to VW and an investigate gets conducted to find the root cause it as this could happen again to anybody. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | STEERING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1. I picked up new ID.4 from the dealer on 10/01/2021. On 10/02/22, Electrical System Malfunction messages appeared on the infotainment, telling me to take it in for immediate repairs. The problem was taken care of. I was not told what was wrong. 2. On 11/10/2021, while pulling into a parking space in a lot at a cemetery, the car bolted forward and became unresponsive. I could not stop it, I could not steer it. It felt like it was driving itself. I destroyed a bench, some bushes, and some of the turf. The car had to be towed to a VW dealer affiliated collision center. The car was there for over two months and was returned to the dealership for "further diagnosis". In the end, I was told that it had been "driver error", and I was assured the car was 100% safe to drive. I was never told what was done. The insurance payment for the damage was over $9000. 3. On 06/02/2022, I had the same acceleration issue. This time I was pulling over to a curb in a residential neighborhood (25 mph speed limit). I was using mode "B", regenerative braking. My foot was not on the accelerator. The car bolted forward and hit a parked Ford F150 in the backend. The force was so great, that the F150's rear end was lifted off the ground. You would think that crash would have stopped the ID.4. Instead, the vehicle swerved to the left, shot across the street and ended on a stranger's front yard, destroying his tree and landscaping. The car suddenly stopped, stuck in the landscape rocks. The vehicle then just shut itself off and became totally unresponsive. My wife was slightly injured, even though she had her seatbelt on. She could not open the door to get out and climbed out the driver's door. The car was towed to the dealer, insurance claim was filed. Preliminary estimates of damage- ID.4, F150, landscaping is over $17,000. My wife is petrified about riding in the car. I want VW to repurchase or terminate my lease. The car has only 6000 miles! | Crash: Yes Fire: No Injuries: 1 Towed Medical attention | Unknown |