Complaint volume
433 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
433 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2023 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.
433 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 47 crash reports, 7 fire reports, 16 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage is available on 47 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 17,486 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
433 total complaints on record
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2023 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | The heating and cooling controls are not backlit for nighttime use. I have to take my eyes off the road to feel for where the temperature control is located to adjust it. While doing this, it is very dangerous and difficult to do. I have put myself and passengers at risk trying to find the controls. All VW ID4s are not backlit. Dealers are not bound to do any correction since the manufacturer has admitted that it was "and oversight on their part". I just want to make someone aware of this before someone is injured or killed in an accident because of their design flaw or whatever they deem it to be. Please, please, please investigate this before someone is injured. Thank you. The first picture uploaded below on the left shows the location of the touch controls (between the infotainment screen and row of buttons at the bottom lower area). The area with a reflective glare is where the adjustments are for temperature for driver to the left and passenger on the right. The second picture is of the display with normal night time lighting. The five small red/purple dots are inferred sensors for gesture control of the main screen and aren't visible to the human eye. The last picture is of the display without any lights on. This is unacceptable for the build of this vehicle in any price range. Again, please investigate the issue and if possible have something done to correct this. Thank you again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | Please see attached document. This is my second filing. I am still waiting for acknowledgment from NHTSA of my original filing on 3/22/23. The situation is only getting worse. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Main screen which displays speedometer, mileage, battery charge has gone black. No home recommendations for reset have worked. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STRUCTURE | In brief, the front passenger door unlocks and unlatches while the car is in motion. This happens frequently, unpredictably, whether the car is stationary, in reverse, forward or at various speeds. There is. no warning or indication that the problem is happening, other than the door unlatching. We've brought the vehicle into an authorized service center and brought this concern to VW Customer Care's attention. In both cases we were informed that this is a known problem *but there is no part available, and no ETA for the part to be available*. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | On 10 March 2033, our Volkswagen ID.4 caught on fire while charging on a DC fast charger. We charged on a 150kW charger (which was only giving us 20kWh) for 30 mins. We then moved the car to a 350kW charger where someone else was charging (same location) when we first arrived at the station. The fire started shortly after the car began charging at the second charger; the flames were shooting approximately one foot high, out of the charging port. Luckily, my husband was right there and thought/acted quickly; he stopped the charge via the EA touchscreen and removed the charging cable when the fire stopped and it was safe to do so. The lower portion of the (fast-charging) port is now damaged/burned, and a portion of it no longer exists. We attempted several times to contact Electrify America via the number listed on the charging station, but their phone number auto-hung up after certain dial prompts... So we called 911. The police and the fire department arrived soon after we called, and attempted to shut the charging station off. The fire department then (unsuccessfully) attempted to call Electrify America because they were unable to locate emergency disconnects for the charging stations. My husband was eventually able to contact Electrify America, and informed them of the situation. The police placed caution tape over the charger, and told us to head out. Q1: We don't know; VW is doing an investigation to figure this out. Q2:Our car was lit on fire. Q3: I don't know. It's in the process of being investigated, but as far as we've seen online, this is not the first vehicle to start on fire at an Electrify America charging station. Q4: The police and fire department were called to the scene. The fire department has an investigation open on this incident. The VW dealership currently has our vehicle, and told us they were going to be inspecting it as part of their investigation. Q5: No | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | On Saturday, December 24th, I was leaving to go to the gym with my wife. I pulled left out of the driveway and we heard a loud screeching type noise, very high-pitched. Many lights came on in the vehicle at that point. Too numerous to document actually which ones. We also smelled burnt smoke and there was actually some smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle. I turned the car around which was difficult so I could get the car off the main road and back into the driveway where it was safe. Upon parking the vehicle I could see the rear, driver's side tire was damaged. The tire was not rotating and was locked there was about 20 feet of rubber marks coming out of the driveway into the street and back to the driveway. I called VW immediately and it was brought into service. See attached service report. Looks like the brakes were installed incorrectly at the factory. Imagine driving a car where the brakes lock on you and the tires do not move. Extremely scary. This incident could of been a lot worse. The electric battery could of seized and caused a fire. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | On Saturday, February 4, 2023. At approximately 7am. I entered the vehicle to warm the car. (It was a cold day). I tried to exit the vehicle, but I could not exit the driver's side door. It was not opening. I tried many times via the door handle and the key fob. Neither worked. I then tried the passenger side door and that would not work as well. I tried each door several times. It looked like the car's electrical or software system was not communicating my needs to the vehicle. I finally was able to roll down the driver's side window and opened the dirver's side door via grabbing the door handle from the outside. Not too sure why neither door would open to let me exit the vehicle. It was pretty scary, thinking I would not be able to exit. Not too sure what happened, but hopefully it does not happen again. So far, it has not. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | STRUCTURE | Driver's door is malfunctioning: Randomly popped open while at a stoplight without being touched. Won't open from the outside via the handle. Central locking function of the car is not working properly (doors don't lock while at speed like they normally do). The car is now at dealership waiting for repair; am told the necessary replacement door handle part is on a nationwide backorder with VW with no estimate given for arrival and completed repair. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | The driver side door unlocks and opens itself while I am driving the vehicle. In addition, while I am driving, the door opening or locking mechanism (I am unsure which) can be heard moving although this does not always lead to the door opening itself. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | The driving and center console screens were blank at vehicle start. Vehicle went into gear properly and moved without error, however, not having a 'speedometer' at this point, I chose not to drive the car until I was able to determine the best way to restore operation to the two 'screens'. Reading through several 'blogs' on this vehicle, I was able to determine how to 'reboot' the screens and restore proper operation to the 'speedometer' This vehicle is a 2023 Volkswagen ID.4, all wheel drive Pro-S model with 2814 miles on it. The date was March 16th, 2023, 7:00 AM, clear skies, 62 degrees. This is a battery electric vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The car shut down while driving. Many system warnings appeared sequentially stating that they were no longer functioning. The first to appear and remain as a warning light is the electrical system malfunction. It is currently orange, however, it turned red at one point. My car was unable to go into drive, nor reverse. I had my car serviced just over a month ago for a similar issue - power stopped being delivered to the wheels. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Error: Surround View which is the full 360 view camera system that is new with the 2023 Plus model didn't work the day I picked up the car. Brought it back in and they changed all the cameras and it only worked for 1 day. brought the car back in and now they say the control unit has failed and currently there is no eta on the part. Car has under 300 miles and i don't have the car in my possession. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | BACK OVER PREVENTION,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Our forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, rear cross traffic warning systems stopped working on our 2023 ID.4 with 2500 miles on it about 2 weeks ago. Took it to the dealership on 3/3/23 for repairs, after 4 hours the tech came out and was clueless what to what was causing the issue. They requested I leave the vehicle there the rest of the day so a tech from a different location could remote into the vehicle. After another 4-5 hours I was informed they "thought" one of the control modules was defective and needed to be replaced. They say this part has no ETA and would likely take anywhere from several weeks to MANY months to come in. VW does not consider any of these items a "safety issue" and refused to provide a loaner until parts became available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The driver’s side door unlatches randomly and the door flew open on a turn. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | Second day after purchasing the new car, WHILE DRIVING the front passenger door just swung open. I thought it was not closed properly, but it kept happening again! I took it to the dealer and was informed that they are seeing multiple cars with the same issue. It is a huge safety issue and it seems that these electronic door handles cannot handle cold and keep malfunctioning. The car is at the dealer right now and VW does not have the parts to fix it or is afraid to address the issue. It's a new car, I drove it for a few days and it has been sitting at the dealer for TWO MONTHS without any resolution in sight! Please address the safety issue and ask VW to ensure it does not happen to others. On Facebook group, multiple people are affected. My dealer, Romeo of Kingston NY has multiple cars with electronic door handle issues. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Brand new ID4 2023 with 800 miles goes into park and refuses to drive because this error message pops up, "unable to start please remove charging socket" the charger is not plugged in and I was just driving on the highway when this message first appeared. Then I come to a stop and that's when the car goes into park and refuses to drive in the middle of a busy 4 way intersection. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | On long drives (1+ hour or more) my 2023 VW ID.4 Pro S (all electric) displays a "limited driving power" warning at random times, and the speed drops by half or more. This has happened on all long drives (5 separate days) and the car has been serviced by the dealer three times and they cannot find a solution. This is a significant safety risk as it often happens on the highway and I could get rear-ended if I cannot pull off the road in time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | STRUCTURE | Rear passenger side door constantly locking and unlocking itself while vehicle is in motion and then opening itself while vehicle is in motion, going 30+ mph when it is supposed to be locked closed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Upon entering the vehicle it is displayed that there is a 12V error and that the electrical system is malfunctioning. The vehicle cannot be put into gear. Exiting the vehicle and reentering the vehicle clears the error most of the time, making it seem like this error is false. One time though this error lasted for more than 30 minutes than went away. I drove the vehicle to the dealer and they confirmed the problem exists and do not know what is causing it. If this is a real error with the electrical drive train than exiting the vehicle should not clear it. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | STRUCTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Drivers door will not open from exterior and occasionally interior. Parts on back order. Serious safety issue. VW America will not give me a loaner therefore making me crawl through my car to get in. Key fob is supposed to open all windows simultaneously however that is also faulty. I feel this car is an absolute death trap. When I’m reverse, if your body slightly lifts off seat, car comes to a screeching hault. Making it impossible to backup without solely relying on review camera. Many times camera is not sufficient for visual backup. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | STRUCTURE | The drivers side door no longer opens from the outside of the Vehicle, I have to climb over the passenger seat to enter the car. Yes available for inspection In an emergency situation I would not be able to enter the vehicle from the drivers side, and it’s unclear if it will fail further and prevent exit from the vehicle Yes the dealer has confirmed the issue There are no warning lamps The biggest issue is the manufacturer has no date for a fix. Picture from the service department is attached. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | The car spontaneously came to a stop in the middle of the road and would not start again. The displayed showed plenty of battery charge/miles of range left, meaning the issue was not a dead battery. There were several error messages, notably one indicating that the car could not be put into drive because it was still connected to a charging cable. Being that the car was in the middle of the road, the car was not connected to a charger. I was unable to put the car into neutral in order to move it to the side of the road and out from the middle of traffic because the car kept indicating that it could not move with a charging cable still attached. The safety of myself and others was put at risk because my car spontaneously stopped in the middle of the road with no warning. My safety was further put at risk because the issue prevented me from putting the car into neutral in order to move it to safety. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,STRUCTURE | I am having the (seemingly common) problem of a malfunctioning driver's door handle/latch. The safety issues are: A) the door will sometimes pop itself open while driving - it happened to me while making a right turn and I had to grab the open door with my hand; B) on one occasion I was unable to open the driver door from inside the vehicle, and had to climb out the passenger side; C) I also consider it a safety issue that I cannot lock the car to protect who/what is inside. The car starting having this issue around 1,000 miles, and is currently at the dealer waiting for a backordered part. I wanted to report this because, anecdotally, there are many others with the issue who are also waiting for a fix, and I don't think VWoA has the organizational ability to fix them voluntarily, nor enough qualified EV technicians. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I parked my car and pressed the park button which has a nice re-assuring click. However after I let go of the brake, the car started moving. I slammed the brake and checked the screen. Sure enough, the car was not in park. That park button is not very reliable. My car: 2023 AWD Pro S | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,EXTERIOR LIGHTING | At about 11 PM on January 24 I sent a remote command to my vehicle to heat the cabin through the myVW app. The app reported a success like it has many times. When I opened it and sat in the driver’s seat, the two information displays neither displayed anything nor lit up at all. The car appeared to have heated up as expected and was otherwise operational, i.e. I was able to put it in gear, move, and steer as expected. This was tested at low speed and for a short distance since one of the inoperative digital displays, the ID.Cockpit, also provides critical information for driving. This includes the speedometer, remaining range, and the other various functions normally present in the instrument panel. The issue was not resolved by me briefly leaving the vehicle (a tip suggested by many on forums online dedicated to the vehicle), but was after I forced the entertainment system to restart by holding down on the capacitive power button below the main infotainment screen. This was another suggestion I had often seen online. While the fix is simple, the problem is enormous. A less experienced user who hadn’t spent hours trawling forums about their car would likely not have known the solution. They would face a decision: abandoning whatever present need they had for the vehicle, or be forced to drive without information like speed and remaining range if driving could not be avoided. P.S. Please let me upload a video on this form. I had to take screenshots of the video I took. Two screenshots show the vehicle in D/drive with the screens blank. The not-screenshots show the infotainment in two states: not working after I briefly left and re-entered the vehicle, and rebooting after I pressed and held the power keys. The previews on here show that they’re upside down… if so, I don’t know why. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |