Complaint volume
128 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 Tiguan Complaints
128 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan, grouped by component category.
128 Total complaints
2 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
2 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 engine, unknown or other, electrical system. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 2 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 2 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 17 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 40,031 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to engine, unknown or other, electrical system?
- 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 Tiguan?
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 Tiguan
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan complaints?
2 Crash
0 Fire
2 Injury
0 Fatality
4 Towed
1 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan complaint categories?
ENGINE 32
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 23
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8
STRUCTURE 7
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 6
VISIBILITY/WIPER 5
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 4
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 4
POWER TRAIN 4
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 3
128 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The oil separator in this vehicle failed resulting in other additional damages at 46,000 miles. I was not given the oil separator, upper timing cover, or lower oil pan for inspection. All maintenance in this vehicle was done timely and only touched by the VW dealer. The manufacturer warranty ended 17 days before the component failure. VW agreed to pay half for the repairs that were quoted at 1600 dollars because the warranty expired by time so closely and was under on miles. The service advisor at the dealer reached out to VW about this on his own accord before updating me on the issue because he told me that this exact component has been happening very frequently with this model/year and didn’t think this should be happening at such low mileage. This component failure rapidly causes other serious damage resulting in very high repair bills on the vehicle. The check engine light came on over the weekend (6/7) and the car was brought to the dealer Tuesday (6/10) and was driven about 75 miles between the light coming on and the car being dropped at the dealer. The diagnosis quoting email from the dealer: “the vehicles oil separator failed and caused excess crankcase pressure to be put on the plastic components of the engine, mainly the upper timing cover and lower oil pan. That pressure causes the components to crack and leak oil, which is what happened” this resulted in a quoted 1600 dollars in repair. This is very concerning. I believe that an oil separator going bad at 46,000 miles in a perfectly maintained car as per recommendations of the dealer is unacceptable. I am reporting this in hopes that a recall from the manufacturer will be forced as this is unacceptable at such low mileage and the part needs to be replaced by another manufacturer with better quality. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The sunroof of my vehicle spontaneously exploded as I was driving on the highway, shattering the entire sunroof and spilling broken shards of glass onto me and into my vehicle as I was going 70 mph on the highway. I had to cross 6 lanes of traffic, with glass flying off of my vehicle and bouncing around on the sunshade, with my hazards on, to get into an exit lane and get off of the highway. This was not only terrifying, but incredibly dangerous to both me and those around me. Volkswagen has received MULTIPLE reports of this SAME incident, and previously issued a voluntary recall in 2014 for the SAME ISSUE with their "Panoramic Sunroof" on their Beetle cars. I called both the non-emergency police and highway safety control to try and make a report or have someone dispatched to assess the situation, but they did not do anything or even come inspect the vehicle because "it was not a collision with another vehicle and there was nothing that could be done". This needs to be known, addressed, fixed by Volkswagen so others are not put at risk like I was. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | The overhead console that controls the interior lights, sunroof, SOS button, etc. just popped off while driving and almost hit me in the head. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Fuel gauge showed close to empty and we filled up the tank. The fuel gauge is still reading empty and not properly reporting the gas level in the tank. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The inside console above the rear view mirror fell out. It could have caused an accident and prevents full clearance of the rear view mirror. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | While driving on the highway, the panoramic sunroof on my vehicle suddenly shattered out of nowhere leaving small shards of glass on the rear seat. It sounded like I was getting shot at as a loud pop caused me to almost swerve off the road before I pulled to the side of the road. My passenger, who was in the front passenger seat, informed me that sunroof had just randomly shattered. I made my way to my residence and call VW Customer Care immediately. I was informed to take my vehicle to my local VW dealer and have the issue diagnosed and that it should be covered under warranty. I took my vehicle to my local VW dealer first thing the next morning for diagnosis. After they documented the issue they sent the information to VW Customer Care for review. After having my vehicle for several days, I was contacted my local VW dealer who stated that VW corporate will not be covering the sunroof issue and that the repair would cost in excess of $4,000.00 to repair. I have contacted VW corporate numerous times since, looking for an explanation as to why this was denied but have been unable to speak with a Customer Care Rep via phone. I have been getting the run around that they didn’t have the right phone number for me which know a lie. My VW account is very clear and had my cell number listed. Today I received an email from VW Customer Care that they will not be covering the sunroof issue because they feel that it was not a manufacturer defect. This is also a lie. Sunroofs just do not shatter out of nowhere. It has been well documented in numerous class action lawsuits against VW and online internet posts, on such websites as Reddit, that VW has major issues with these panoramic sunroofs leaking and shattering out of nowhere. This is through no fault of the operator. I feel that a thorough investigation is warranted in regards to these defective sunroofs before someone gets seriously hurt or killed while driving one of these vehicles. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | ENGINE | volkswagen vehicles have a real serious problem that can cause your car fails in the middle of the road, and it is the oil separator. A failing oil separator can lead to poor engine performance and potential damage. It will cause a massive oil leak that will damage others' engine components, and the car can stop working at any moment, and it can be a dangerous situation. The most affected vehicles are Volkswagen tiguan. Please investigate this problem because a lot of people are dealing with this dangerous situation. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING,ENGINE | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that the vehicle was losing power and was unable to drive uphill. The contact also stated the engine was consuming an excessive amount of oil; however, the dealer had informed her that the oil consumption was normal. The check engine and electronic power control (EPC) warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the turbo cylinder and timing chain needed to be replaced. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 200,000 |
| Apr 2025 | ENGINE | My 2021 Tiguan suddenly lost power causing my wife and daughter to be stranded. Car was not drivable and lost both oil and power. Towed to VW dealer and was diagnosed with a faulty pcv/oil separator causing excessive crankcase pressure. This party failed once car warranty was over costing almost $2000. Prior to the car stranding them they had to drive at less than 25 MPH on the Long Island expressway. oil was leaking from the upper timing cover seals. VW Dealer removed and replaced oil pan with gasket, pov and upper timing cover seals. filled o i l to correct level,road tested vehicle and rechecked and no leaks at this time. All this damage occurred by no fault of our own. I have learned thru my research that this is a common problem on the VW Tiguans. All has been repaired and replaced as you can see from the receipt attached. Prior to the party failing multiple lights lit up on the dashboard forcing my wife to pull over and get out of. harms way until someone could come and get her. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ENGINE | Engine oil light came on and car was down about 2 quarts of oil AGAIN. Car was last serviced as noted below VW service 11/22/2024 Mileage in 62086 Mileage out 62087 (what kind of test drive was this, less than a mile) ?? 2021 VW Tiguan Service Advisor 413 Montpelier VW 802-223 -3434 ____________________________________________________________ A C/S: Check Engine light is no CEL Default 1000 CP606.33 1.1 06M-906-517-E VALVE 32.67 2.1 06Q-103-495-B SEPARATOR 93.74 3.2 06l—103-583-C GASKET130.06 4.1 06L-103-483-a GASKET 77.20 PARTS: 333.67 LABOR: 606.33 OTHER: 00.00 TOTAL line A $940.00 620000 P04F000; EVAP system high pressure purge line performance Checked purge valve and found oil in line, due to a defective crankcase breather and causing an oil leak, replaced crankcase breather, replaced the EVAP purge valve and replaced the upper timing cover gaskets, cleared code cleaned oil off engine and test drove. ________________________________________________________________ B. Multipoint Inspection MPI Default 1000 CVP Parts 00 labor 000 other 000 total line B 0000 C. Customer states oil change done on 11/17- checked oil and was extremely low and had to add oil, please advise. Recommend Maint 1000 CP000 Parts 00 labor 00 other 000 total line C 000 D. Customer states tires pressure always on and off, please advise 01 Recommend Main 1000 CP000 Parts 000 labor 000 other 000 total line D 000 | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ENGINE | There was an issue with excessive oil consumption. In as little time as I have owned this vehicle I have had to top my oil off between oil changes because my low oil light had came on. I then, over the winter got a check engine light, it threw code P24D6 which pertained to the oil leak and/or seperating. I then noticed that on my driveway, I have some oil from my car. I paid a mechanic $200 to fix this plastic drain that according to the mechanic doesnt reseal. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | While my daughter was driving, the panoramic sunroof of her 2021 VW Tiguan just shattered for no reason and stated that it sounded like a gunshot, she was terrified and decided to pull over on the side of the road. She called me crying and I can tell that she got scared thinking that someone shot her car. Upon researching there are numerous same exact incident but there are still no action taken. This is a safety issue especially when children or infants are on board. Please take the time to take a look at this and hoping for some resolution before any serious injuries takes place. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | My car constantly gets a P24D6 error code which is a tank ventilation pressure sensor 2 issue. It prevents the car from auto starting using the remote or the VW app. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | Fuel sensor failure caused the fuel gage on the dashboard to incorrectly indicate the amount of fuel in the tank. The vehicle had 56K miles and the entire gas tank had to be replace since the sensor is built into the fuel tank. Volkswagon would not warranty the repair. This is a safety issue because not knowing how much fuel is in the tank could leave the driver stranded in bad weather or in an unsafe place. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | This a Safety concern with the console dropping down while driving. The Overhead (Central) Console behind the rearview mirror dropped down on my current vehicle (It also dropped down on another Tiguan that I owned while it was parked at the dealership for a different repair (doesn't seem to be a coincidence along with other complaints by customers who show photos online of the same problem with the same make and model Tiguan that I have (2021 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV). Again, this is a Safety Concern about the Overhead (Central) Console dropping down while driving and also hanging after it drops down which may cause other electrical issues such as starting and exposure to moisture, heat, or coldness in the interior of the car. Also, cannot open the sunroof now due to concerns of exposure. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 11/19/2024 Check engine light came on while I was driving. Got home, checked oil and it was down about a quart. Oil had just been changed on 10/17/2024. Only approximately 1800 miles put on vehicle since last oil change. Vehicle was at approximately 62,000 miles. Also tire pressure light always on. Scheduled appt with VW dealer. Dealer invoice states "P04F000 Checked Purge valve and found oil in line, due to Defective crankcase breather, and causing an oil leak, replaced crankcase breather, replaced the EVAP purge valve and replace the upper timing cover gaskets. cleared oil off engine and test drove". the engine could have blown while I was driving this, I had no previous warning signs and since the dealer says the Defective crankcase breather, thinking they should be fixing this issue and not charging the customer. Total cost of repair $960.02. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | SUSPENSION | The suspension components inclusive of struts and knuckles corroded and cracked causing the suspension to collapse in the front and rear of the vehicle. Luckily the suspension didn't collapse while driving and has not resulted in any injuries. The dealership (Gunther VW in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) inspected and replaced the front suspension but left the rear suspension untouched after certifying the integrity. 2 weeks later, the rear suspension collapsed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | ENGINE | Pcv valve on my car went and caused seals to leak in my engine. This has caused oil to leak onto my exhaust system which poses a fire hazard according to the dealership. Car should not be driven. Many many complaints about this issue of the PCV valve failing have been discovered online. Worried about my car catching fire if I drive it | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | STRUCTURE | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked, the sunroof console detached. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a detached sunroof console. The contact was informed that the sunroof console needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was informed that the parts to repair the vehicle needed to be ordered; however, the parts were on back-order. The contact stated that he had been waiting on the delivery of the parts for 45 days and parts were still on back-order. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 26,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 26,000 |
| Oct 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | When I was driving the upper console of the vehicle dropped out of no where. The console was just hanging by a few wires and dangling around while I was driving. I was totally startled and could have had an accident, the console was hanging so low I couldn't use the rearview mirror and had to hold it up with one hand until I got home. I have had to tape it with masking tape and it falls every 2 or 3 days. I just took it to the VW of Clearlake and they are not accepting responsibility for the part replacement and charging me $255.00. This part needs to be urgently replaced and recalled before someone is hurt on the road or lives are lost. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that the vehicle was leaking oil. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the valve cover needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. There was gray smoke coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the valve stem seals needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no additional assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 53,000. The VIN was not available. | Crash: No Fire: No | 53,000 |
| Sep 2024 | POWER TRAIN | 2021 Volkswagen Tijuan has an oil leak caused by a defective Timing Cover Gasket, and or PCV component(s). If you do a simple Google search, there are thousands of these vehicles experiencing the exact same issue, and numerous individuals are not happy. The warranty is 4 years or 50k miles, this problem occurred at 53K, very convenient for the dealers repairing these vehicles. This is absolutely a design flaw and should qualify for a recall. Please investigate and I am sure you will agree, thank you so much. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | I was driving to work a couple days ago and noticed that the control system that is connected to my rear view mirror was broken. It appears that the plastic overhead control system broke where it screws in. When I inspected it the clasps on all four sides broke with the screws still intact to the vehicle. I disconnected the ports so that I can see my mirror. I just bought my vehicle in July 2023 and I rarely use the controls. I don’t think it’s fair that I have to pay for this replacement. In my honest opinion this should never happen. I haven’t replaced it yet because I am unable to afford it at this time. However I don’t think it should be my responsibility since I’ve never had this happen on any vehicle I have owned. It appears to be a default in craftsmanship. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The overhead console started separating from the headliner which was annoying but I didn’t think much of it. A few days later the console was dangling just held up by wires. I taped it back up but while I’m driving it fell again. You can’t see to drive letting it dangle so I had to hold it up while driving. It takes a lot of attention away from the road when you’re messing with the console to drive. The part is back ordered so it hasn’t been fixed yet. I Juat keep taping it up but the sun melts the glue or something. It’s a daily chore before driving. For what I see this is happening to a lot of Vw Tiguan owners | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | PCV Failure causing the timing cover to leak oil and causing the oil pan to crack. This is a known issue with VW TSI engines. This PCV is a major issue not only causing the damage above but others are having to replace the rear main seal and crank case because of this. It's now in the shop for the next week and I'm out of a vehicle for the next week. This is not the only problem I've had with this vehicle. The last problem I had was the housing unit of the overhead lights, sunroof controls and sos when hanging down and broke out of nowhere. The plastic melted and cracked. It was replaced but was not put back together properly. There are now gaps where it should be tightly sealed. The glove comparent arm is broken. There are wheel bearings issues too we are trying to pin point the issue. The hits keep coming and the car is just a money pit. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |