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
317 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4, grouped by component category.
Buyer interpretation
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
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.
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.
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 is available on 34 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 33,202 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
317 total complaints on record
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2025 | STRUCTURE,EQUIPMENT,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V651000 (STRUCTURE) and 24V344000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, EQUIPMENT, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The local dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The vehicle has suffered multiple failures of the main infotainment display. This screen is used to show the backup camera, as well as to adjust all vehicle settings and safety systems. The infotainment display will go black, and will not reboot or respond to touch input. This means that the backup camera is nonfunctional, as well as perimeter traffic warnings and vehicle controls for climate and safety systems. The vehicle has been serviced by an authorized VW dealer on multiple occasions, but the issue has reoccured at least three times. Each time, it has required about a month in the shop. The manufacturer has denied a buyback and states that the vehicle is performing as intended. They have also denied reimbursement of expenses. This vehicle has spent over 120 days in the service department within the previous calendar year. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | STRUCTURE | recall states door will open at anytime. this was not explained at the time of purchase. I traded the car back to Volkswagen and was given a much lower offer | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EQUIPMENT,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the instrument panel went dark for one minute displayed different colors, and then independently changed. The vehicle was serviced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V344000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, EQUIPMENT, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM) but the repair failed to fix the vehicle. The contact stated that the back-over prevention camera had been seized five times. The contact had paid for the recall repair and the dealer had promised a reimbursement by the manufacturer. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 171,656. | Crash: No Fire: No | 171,656 |
| Dec 2024 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | WINDSHIELD WIPER BLADE CONTACT WITH THE WINDSHIELD. When there's drizzle or road splash in traffic the wipers don't seem to have enough down force to properly clear the windshield. It's dangerous driving at night when oncoming auto and streetlights reflect off the uncleared surface causing poor vision. I had the complete windshield replaced twice due to an accident and a crack. I ran a water-vinegar solution through the windshield washer system to clear any contaminate. I used several clay, and window products to properly clean off any road, tree, or weather residue. I also replaced the wipers with high end Bosch, Scrubblade, and Rainx Blades that did not help. The VW dealer advised me that there's no way to increase the down force of the wipers. It's a great car but I spent too much time, effort, and money on this scary dangerous issue and hesitate to drive when wet conditions exist. Any advice or fix would certainly be appreciated. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Good day, In 2023, In bought the car and since then it have had many recalls and electrical problems which let the car to be out of service for over 60 days, see documents attached. Since yesterday, the car has the center and instrument panel display OFF preventing the speedometer and rearview camera from displaying in addition to front and rear parking sensors also off. I have contacted the dealership and they do not have appointments available until 02/2025. This car should be removed from the market due to its complete insecurity to drivers. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The actuator that locks the charge port door failed in the closed position so the car could not be charged. I took the car to the dealer and the broke the covering off the charge port door so the car could be charged. The actuator and to door need to be replaced. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Front electrical motor failed in a 3 year old vehicle with approx. 72,000 miles. A loud "pop" was observed, then the vehicle failed, stopped in the middle of the road, completely immobile. Vehicle has been looked at the by a VW authorized dealer, multiple systems failure has been identified. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EQUIPMENT,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owned a 2021 Volkswagen ID4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V6510009 (Structure) and 24V344000 (Back Over Prevention, Equipment, Electrical System) would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were contacted. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | A mandatory safety software update was displayed on my screen. I followed the instructions to start then over the air update and my car never turned on again. The update fried the CPU module and VW said not our problem. Absolutely insane | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Constant recalls on this vehicle. Vw unwilling to work w us on taking back the vehicle. Issues prior to 50,000 mile mark but they say we didn’t file a complain early enough. Outstanding recalls | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V651000 (STRUCTURE) and 24V344000 (BACK OVER PREVENTION, EQUIPMENT, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | STRUCTURE | rear passenger door opened while driving. Taking the vehicle in for a second repair on this item next week. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,BACK OVER PREVENTION | Main screen goes blank sometimes when backing up Rear cross traffic warning has jammed on the breaks when nothing is nearby causing a jarring stop, VW has no fix to date and I want to get rid of this unsafe car | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | 1. Electronic brake system failure - the vehicle exhibited this issue and so far it appears Volkswagen does not have a resolution. Vehicle has been at the dealership for almost 2 months and they have not been able to fix. Several other reports show that this is a consistent issue with the ID4 (probably the first edition). Fixed are often temporary and the issues resurfaces again 2. Battery Module issue: it appears these vehicles have defective batteries. One module was fixed by Volkswagen - however the capacity only dropped further. I suspect there is a major issue with these batteries and pose a fire hazard (similar to Chevy Bolt) and Volkswagen is intentionally concealing this fact. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The 12v battery powering the electrical system failed. This caused the vehicle to stop unexpectedly in the middle of a busy street worth traffic on either side of the vehicle. All attempts to restart the vehicle resulted in an error stating the electrical system has failed. The problem was reproduced at the dealership. The techs were unable to diagnose the errors. The manufacturer is sending a District Representative to investigate. The vehicle component was recalled in 2023 and replaced by the dealer to address this specific issue and risk. There were zero warning lights prior to the vehicle stalling. Once stalled, the vehicle was able to start, but unable to drive, and all dashboard warning lights activated. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | After installing the latest over-the-air software update few days ago, our car began exhibiting a serious braking issue. When coming to a stop, the brakes lock while the vehicle is still in motion, causing a sudden and dramatic jerk forward. This occurs nearly every time we decelerate to a stop, regardless of speed or road conditions. This problem has escalated to the point where we no longer feel safe driving the car, as it poses a risk to the occupants due to its forceful nature | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Over the past month, the car has provided warnings when driving: 1. Front assist has limited availability, 2. ACC unavailable, and 3. Emergency assist is currently not available. Note: the ACC was not engaged when these messages appeared. On October 1 I was driving on a highway at about 65 MPH with adaptive cruise control engaged. The weather was clear. Suddenly the ACC disengaged and the car began to slow. I re-accelerated the car by pushing the accelerator and continued my trip without ACC. No accident occurred but I was surprised when the car began to slow without warning on a major highway at high speed. When it was safe to do so, I pulled over into the breakdown lane to read the messages. The two messages displayed were Front assist has limited availability and Emergency assist currently not available. The picture on the front of the dashboard also indicated that ACC was not available. Over the next few days while driving locally (without ACC engaged), these three messages would periodically appear on the dashboard. I brought the car into a local VW dealer (Wellesley Volkswagen) to have it looked at by the service department. They indicated on the invoice from the visit that they "performed road test. RAND GFF and performed soft configuration of the 5F, front sensor and cluster. Reset all codes with success." The invoice also listed "Concern: 919A vehicle software open. Correction Not available at this time - customer will get notice via mail". I was told by the VW Wellesley representative when I picked up the car that these error messages will likely re-appear until I get the 919A software update, which is not available. These error messages did re-appear yesterday, October 12, while driving locally without ACC engaged. As a side note, I received a recall 919A in the mail from Volkswagen in July 2024 (more than 3 months ago) telling me that a recall repair is not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Vehicle starts to accelerate then hesitates for about 5-6 seconds before accelerating again while even keeping pedal down. Has happened on the first drive after multiple dealer visits, I think it’s related to computer resets and the dealer says it’s normal operation of the vehicle recalibrating itself. Problem is it happens when I pull out into traffic and almost causes a wreck. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | when purchased from dealer . was told there were no recalls. Called Volkswagen america. said they would fix soon. no repair aviable. Car is unsafe. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EQUIPMENT,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V344000 (Back Over Prevention, Equipment, 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 contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing a loss of speedometer information, a loss of rearview camera image, and a loss of several communication functions within the vehicle. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was approximately 48,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | 48,000 |
| Sep 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | The two noted open recalls on my 2021 ID.4 have no fix. There has already been one battery cell replaced and another has gone bad. The vehicles lease ends in two weeks and the dealer, understandably, cannot take it as a trade for another vehicle, sell it to us, or resell it as it will sit on the lot until it is picked up by Volkswagen and totaled out due to it being unsellable. However, Volkswagen has no remedy for the vehicle issues, we are now losing out on any sort of trade in value, and are expected to pay the mileage over the lease agreement for a car that will be scrapped once returned. The dealer can only do so much, but Volkswagen not stepping in to acknowledge the vehicle at this point is a lemon and they do not know how to fix it or others, but expecting us to pay "depreciation" and other fees for a totaled vehicle, totaled due to their issues, is unacceptable. It's one thing for defects, another to not be able to fix them and them dump the cost to the consumer. This vehicle has been a financial burden and for the last few months has been a safety concern, and the final result is we as the consumer have to pay the price for it. Fix your design flaws, take responsibility, or don't sell consumers defective products with no support/solutions and dump costs on them. The fact one open recall means the vehicle could lose all electronics (an electric car) and have no insight into vehicle controls while driving, but we have to pay for the defect upon return is ridiculous. Lemon law will be coming into play here as no solution to the issue or remedy for the costs incurred. Being that this could have caused an accident or otherwise harmed my family or others and again the cost is dumped on us is ridiculous. If the engineers in Germany cannot fix the vehicle and have no solution, take it off the roads and find us a solution, at your cost not ours. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE,BACK OVER PREVENTION | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the display screen seized and was displaying a black screen. The contact stated that the rear passenger's door handle failed to unlock and open the door. The contact received notifications of NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 24V651000 (Structure) and 24V344000 (Back Over Prevention, Equipment, Electrical System); however, the parts to do the recall repairs were 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 failure. The failure mileage was unknown. VIN tool confirms parts not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | I leased a car three years ago. This ID4 on May 15,2023 left me at a full stop in the middle of the highway. I then dropped it off to the dealer where they inspected it and saw it was a sensor/software issue, I think. They never actually disclosed the problem, nor held accountability. They insured me after almost two weeks of having to pay gas for a loaner car that they had fixed it and it was safe. After that incident and before my car had been in service countless times, all very inconvenient but not immediate safety issues, until the door handles. The door handles have been recalled twice before this last incident. My car was in there for over two weeks again back and forth. They broke my actual handles and had to go back in again, they claimed they were fixed. Now, almost 6monthankater I go to buy this lemon pre certified through the dealer and they tell me they can’t because it has two open recalls. They failed to say that the open recalls have been since May and are only now informing id4 owners that their doors may unlatch any any moment while driving and kill your babies and someone else’s on the road. Yet, they want me to either extend my lease, turn in the car and pay over mileage (even though I thought I was leasing to buy) or buy out the car not certified through a third party with two open recalls. I am being bullied into keeping a lemon. This car is a lemon and I want Volkswagen to take it off my hands waiving any over mileage and either giving me a new id4 that is safe or my 21,000 dollars I have paid into it. I am not the only one legally bound to these lemons. I demand a resolution for my consumer rights. I will speak to every news station out there until I seek justice for me and so many others. | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | Vehicle had a complete failure due to electrical issues and was brought to dealership. It was apparently due to recall issues which were repaired. The vehicle was returned 2 weeks ago. Today, shortly after exiting a highway, while traveling approx. 15-20mph then vehicle completely shut down. It stopped suddenly and unexpectedly and went into neutral. I could not put the car back into drive or park. The dash indicated electrical issues, airbag issues, collision sensors, brake issues and said “vehicle must not be towed”. Vehicle is currently at dealership. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |