2022 Volkswagen ID.4 Reliability Report

Drive power drops suddenly on highways, ramps, and in stop-and-go traffic. A wave of warning lights appears, assist systems shut off, and the car crawls or shifts to neutral, leaving the driver to coast to the shoulder. Restarting the car often clears the fault temporarily. One report describes power limited to a fraction of normal after charging, nearly causing a crash during a left turn. Others note reduced power at lower charge levels and a car that became hard to control in snow when its systems shut down.

The car lurches forward while braking into a parking spot, hitting curbs and parked cars. Two reports here are crashes, including one where unintended acceleration sent the car off the road and injured two people. Some cars show a "Brake Booster is Limited" warning, the pedal goes hard, and stopping takes heavy force. One out-of-warranty owner was quoted $2,800 for a brake booster. Pressing the brake while adaptive cruise is slowing the car can reduce regenerative braking, so the car feels like it surges ahead.

Doors sporadically refuse to open from inside or outside, and the driver door can unlock or pop open on its own, including at highway speed. Owners say the problem continues after dealer repairs. Most reports here are about recall repairs that cannot be completed because parts are backordered, leaving cars waiting for months. Some owners also report doors clicking in car washes and the instrument panel going black for several minutes before rebooting.

Real hazards go unnoticed while phantom ones trigger hard braking. Under adaptive cruise, the system fails to react to a car cutting into the lane, and in another report the car accelerates toward stopped traffic after the vehicle ahead changes lanes. False automatic braking while backing out slowly has caused whiplash. A temporary camera fault can disable all driver aids. These reports include two crashes and four injuries.

The airbag warning light comes on, sometimes turning on and off repeatedly. In some cases it appears after an over-the-air software update. One dealer diagnosed a failed airbag module, said the system would not work in a crash, and could not get the backordered part. Another report describes a crash with no forward collision warning and no automatic braking.

Original Bridgestone Alenza tires wear out far too early. Front tires lose chunks from the tread edges, and dealers call tires unsafe at around 13,000 to 20,000 miles, sometimes below 3/32 of tread. Rear tires wear bald at both edges. In one separate report, a front wheel assembly came off while driving, causing a crash and an injury after earlier dealer alignment work.

Sudden acceleration followed by loss of steering and braking control appears in two crash reports, one with an injury. In both, the car surged and the driver could not steer or stop in time. Another owner describes a failed steering rack along with the speedometer and touch screen going blank, and a near collision when the car stopped responding. Causes remain unexplained in these reports.