Complaint volume
321 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
321 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4, grouped by component category.
321 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
23 Towed
10 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 complaint categories?
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 74
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
321 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | In October, 11 weeks ago, while parallel parking, which I do everyday for work, I reversed back into an empty spot, toggled into Drive to straighten out my car and my car accelerated and hit the car parked in front of me. I kept stomping on the break pedal but it was stiff, I couldn't press it down at all. The break pedal was as if the car was turned off. Even though it has been 11 weeks ago, I will not drive the car because VW has not fixed the problem and I do not feel safe. The body repair has been done. The car remains at the dealership where I bought it and is available for inspection. I could of hit many children because I was parking at an Elementary school when this unintended acceleration coupled with no brakes happened. It is VW's first ever ALL ELECTRIC car and the ID4's have NEVER had a software update. VW says, no technicians or trained mechanics, software would have to be done at dealer and could take all day, no software to download using Wi-Fi, may need bigger battery and no parts available. VW corporate fly out to inspect the car and run reports but they refuse to give me a copy and so does the dealership. VW is taking no responsibility and said the brake peddle was never applied, only the accelerator. I never put my foot on or near the accelerator because I was only inching forward to straighten my wheels out. When the car was put into drive it does not need any gas to move only a few inches forward. My insurance representative tried to run a report but he said there was no information at all on the recorder. He said I shouldn't have towed my car back to the dealer because information may have been erased. There were no warnings or assist to stop the car. This has not just happened to me but to many others as well. I can send documentation for that if you need | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Jan 2022 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The car displays warnings such as "travel assist unavailable," "electrical system not working properly," "drive system error" and "please service vehicle. The warnings appear upon startup after entering the car, or when attempting to shift from park to drive, park to reverse, or reverse to drive. The warnings leave the car in "park" and it cannot be moved. When they appear, the driver must exit the car and leave it stationary in the parking lot or busy street where the errors occurred for up to 30 minutes before the car's electrical and drive systems will reset. After reset, the car may or may not have recovered and become drivable, requiring at times multiple attempts before car can be moved. Having to leave the car in a parking lot is a nuisance. Having to leave the car in the middle of a street is hazardous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that the tailgate of the vehicle would not fully open or fully close when engaged by pressing the button on the tailgate or by pressing the release button inside the vehicle. The tailgate warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the motors that opened and closed the tailgate had failed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 15,000 |
| Dec 2021 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | The back up camera lighting is so poor it poses a danger at night. Backing up at night even in well lit areas poses a threat to those around the car. If you apply the brakes this emits some light but if not braking the screen is almost black so it is difficult to see if you are on the road/driveway and if an object was below the camera would pose a threat to life or damage to the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I bought a new ID4 from VW, it is 2 weeks old. Multiple times it has shown multiple error messages such as "Electrical system not working" then stops in the middle of the road. I am unable to change the drive from neutral or move the car, sometimes pushing the start button several times finally turns it off. There have been three incidents so far with less than 20 miles on the car. There are dozens of repots of others with the same issue, with only 10-20k ID4s sold, this is a high number of faulty vehicles. See https://www.reddit.com/r/VWiD4Owners/comments/pd0jdf/electrical_system_not_working_correctly/ https://www.vwidtalk.com/threads/my-turn-for-electrical-system-failure-now-fixed.3693/ etc | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2021 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | Pulling into a parking space, using reiterative braking (B Mode). When applying brakes, car bolted and could not be controlled. It jumped a curb and drove straight toward a building. Brakes would not respond. Steering would not respond. I managed to steer the car avoiding the building but taking down a bench and ripping up the turf in front of the building. Car made a complete u-turn before coming to a stop. At that point, all electrical systems shut down, including the outside mirrors--they retracted. There was damage to exterior of the car-- a torn side molding and scratches and minor dents from bushes and the bench that was destroyed. The infotainment completely shut down. when I finally was able to restart the car, the systems came back on slowly, one at time. The car was towed by VW Roadside Assistance to a collision center for body repairs. It will be towed to the dealership after body repairs to diagnose the problem. I did not want to drive the car, not knowing if it is safe to drive. I had to file an insurance claim for the damage to the car and to the property that was damaged in the process. No other cars were damaged. | Crash: Yes Fire: No Towed | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | On 9/28, I purchased my vehicle from Fairfax Volkswagen. On that date, I noticed the error message on the display, but the salesman said it was nothing to worry about. That following week, I noticed several vehicles flashing their lights at me. Later that evening, I discovered the left headlight day running lamp was not functional, and the high beam would not turn off. In addition, I notice the right headlight was not functioning properly as well. The following day, I took the vehicle to be inspected at Ourisman Volkswagen of Waldorf Maryland. I was informed the left and right headlight would need to be replaced on the vehicle due to some form of electrical malfunction. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | We vehicle is stopped in any type of grade (hill, incline, or decline) when releasing the break pedal the vehicle will roll in the direction of the grade, power must be immediately applied to prevent roll. This could potentially cause a crash if a vehicle is behind/in front of another. The system should employ an auto hold type of grade breaking system. Vehicle has not been inspected, and is available upon request. This can be reproduced. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2021 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | After receiving a service on the vehicle, I pulled out of the dealership and went left to go up a slight hill, I got half way out and the accelerator pedal would not work. I pushed down to the ground and the car would not go. There was a car coming towards me and swerved to avoid me after a second it kicked back in. This hasn’t happened since, and I have heard of this happening after a service appointment from another owner. Note this has not happened since. No warning lamps or other messages. I scanned the car with OBD device and no warnings found. Car is available for inspection upon request. This impacts safety as after service the car should not have any acceleration issues, in this scenario if the car will not go, there is a potential of a crash. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | STEERING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Warning indicator came on several times, brake and steering problems. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The ID.4 (brand new - 5 days old) shutdown in the middle of a busy street in Altamonte Springs, FL (suburb of Orlando). There was a “Electrical system not working correctly. Please service vehicle" warning so I began to pull off to the left turning lane. Then 12V battery errors started flashing and 5 seconds later the entire car shut down in the middle of the road. I was unable to restart it for 10-15minutes. I was able to drive 300 feet to a parking lot after. Will be taking the ID.4 to the dealership tomorrow morning (9/20/2021) assuming it doesn't shut down during the drive. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | While operating the vehicle at stop lights on a grade or any situation the vehicle stops on a grade when releasing the brake the vehicle rolls back potentially causing a collision. Power must immediately be applied in these situations. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES | It will not stop! Break don’t work! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | It will not stop, can not stop! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2021 | SERVICE BRAKES | I will not stop! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The vehicle went into complete shutdown, it was unable to be placed into Drive or Reverse and vehicle was completely immobile. Various warnings appeared on the instrument cluster. After letting the vehicle sit it was returned to the dealer, where they experienced the same issues, but eventually replaced various electrical components and re-booted/re-programmed the systems. Approximately 11 days after receiving the vehicle back from repair the same thing occurred, additionally the automatic hold feature, to prevent rolling in neutral, failed and the car rolled backwards in my driveway about 4 feet before I was able to apply the footbrake. Several warning signals said the vehicle should not be driven, the vehicle is now back at the dealer again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I was driving the car when a loud high pitched sound started coming from the vehicle. I am not a doctor, but the noise was probably loud enough to cause damage to human ears. Today, I picked up the car and was told "Contacted VW Techline. They been made aware of several other similar cases and engineering in Germany is looking into it. No resolution available at this time. Told to call VW Customer Care. I have been on hold for over 45 minutes. Called executive office and was transferred to Voice Mail. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2021 | EQUIPMENT | Multiple times while driving the car props an error where the speed become unavailable while driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | While pulling out of a parking garage at low speed, the car shut down/stopped/lost all power. Also, a second event occurred while backing into a charging station, the car shut down/stopped/lost all power. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? Rear window defrost grid How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Potential electrical fire Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Confirmed by Galpin VW and Santa Monica Vw dealers and the manufacturer. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? yes the vehicle has been inspected by Galpin VW Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? The defrost grid shows signs of "visual variance" according to manufacturer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2021 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The infotainment panel sporadically shuts off. This has happened four times in the two months I’ve owned the car. Safety features like the backup camera, proximity sensors, and safety feature controls are not accessible. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |