2025 Volkswagen ID.4 Reliability Report

I turned on the defroster for the front windshield for the first time on this new vehicle. I had it on for a few minutes to defrost ice from the windshield. Immediately after turning it off, I heard a loud cracking noise. The bottom of the windshield cracked violently at the bottom near the heating element, and some of the glass also heated up so much or sparked that it melted some elements of the car near there. The large cracks are spreading and are obscuring my vision while driving. I am also afraid to turn back on the defroster, despite needing it in the snow this week, fearing that the windshield will crack further or melt/catch fire again. I've read online that this is happening to others with the higher trims that include the heated windshield. The sudden cracks are appearing in the same place in others' cars after they use the defroster. There is now a class-action lawsuit against Volkswagen for this very issue in Canada. The dealer says that there must have been an existing chip in the windshield and that I am responsible, but that was absolutely not the case. And even so, the car shouldn't be melting or catching fire regardless!

The vehicle launched forward while parking going thru a CMU wall, causing considerable damage to the structure and the car itself. Airbag was deployed injuring the driver and causing a cut in the bottom lip and skin burns on the left hand from a small fire that went thru the clothes. Also, the driver was in state of shock after the incident due to the speed at which everything occurred. During the day, the driver complained about dizziness and pain at the base of the neck, numbness/pain in the face. Additionally, the driver pressed the brake pedal to try to avoid the crash but did not prevent the car from launching forward. It appears that the capacitive controls located on the left side of the steering wheel, were inadvertently reengaged while the driver was maneuvering to park. VW of America requested the car to be dropped of at the dealer but has not looked at it as of the time of this reporting. The incident occurred earlier this morning and still getting appraisal for damages of both the property and vehicle. No warning lights were present before the incident, however there were anomalies with the infotainment system days prior to the accident.

The vehicle has difficulty coming to a stop and requires slamming the brakes in full which causes a loud churning noise, the braking is intermittent, sometimes it works well and sometimes it works terribly. It is a huge safety issue. Also the lane keep assist seems to not work so well as well, it will drift out of the lanes at times when it is on

On [XXX], I was parking my 2025 VW ID.4 car in a parking spot in B mode and applying the brake to come to a stop. The car suddenly accelerated forward (of its own will) at maximum speed such that the car ran over a bollard, a sidewalk and into a brick wall causing significant damage. In the space of perhaps 10 feet at most the car went from a stopping position to taking out a brick wall on a commercial building. This is so incredibly dangerous as someone could have been on the sidewalk and killed. I could have been killed as my airbag never deployed despite charging with great speed into a brick wall! NHTSA must do something to resolve this. VW has overwhelming knowledge of this defect. In June 2025 a class action lawsuit was filed against the VW for this exact reason - link here: [XXX] Per the lawsuit there have been deaths related to this defect. This was never disclosed to me when I bought the car....as a matter of fact, the EV safety features in their sales pitch was one of the overwhelming reasons I bought the car. There are also many blogs related to this issue describing almost exactly what happened to me. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)