Owners have filed 966 complaints on the Volkswagen ID.4, covering 2021–2025. The system named most often is Electrical System (434 reports). Worst years by volume: 2023, 2021, 2022; cleanest: 2025, 2024, 2022. 104 reports describe a crash, 13 a fire. On average the car was 1.6 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Volkswagen ID.4
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 966 ID.4 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 434 Read
On [XXX], shortly before 7:00 we parked our EV in the designated charging space at the EVgo charging station on at the EVgo charging station located at [XXX] and connected the charging cable to our 2025 Volkswagen ID.4 in the normal, intended manner, as we had done previously. We paid by credit card and watched the…
For the second time, the car began burning and smoking from the windshield, melting parts of the car near the windshield wipers and the glass itself, and filling the car's cabin with smoke. The burning and smoking went on for 15 minutes after we safely escaped. Myself and my family, including a young child, inhaled a…
Following the recent winter update, I noticed several faults during the weekend prior to the major incident described below: Child Lock Malfunction: The car entered "child mode" and the rear door could not be opened from the inside or outside until I exited and re-entered the vehicle. Driver-Side Control Failure:…
Structure 65 Read
Was stationary in dense traffic, all waiting for a local bridge to open. We had been waiting for 10 or so minutes. Had braked and stopped close to car in front, car in Auto Hold. All of a sudden, my car accelerated quickly into stationary car in front, twice I believe, before I was able to brake and turn car off. I do…
I was pulling into a parking space and slowly moving forward to get to the front of the space. The car spurted forward about 2 feet with force and crashed into a cement based light standard. There was significant damage to the front end. No injuries. Airbag did not inflate. Vehicle is currently at body shop but no one…
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V651000 (Structure); 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 manufacturer was not made…
Vehicle Speed Control 56 Read
The contact leased a 2025 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that while driving at 5-10 MPH, attempting to park, the vehicle suddenly and rapidly accelerated on its own. The brake pedal was applied but failed to stop the vehicle, resulting in a crash with a parked 2011 Honda Odyssey belonging to the contact. There…
On 6/20/25, while pulling into a parking space at very slow speed, the car suddenly, without my control, violently accellerated. This could have resulted in pesonal injury or death. The car was stopped by crashing into two, nearby parked cars. The dealer's collision shop repaired the car at a cost of approximately…
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated upon pulling to a parking space and depressing the brake pedal, the brake Auto Brake Hold system engaged; however, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly, and the front end of the vehicle crashed into the side of one unoccupied parked vehicle, and then crashed…
Power Train 56 Read
Pulled into a parking space with foot on the brake and accelerator pedal. The vehicle sped forward, pushing a car parked in front of me into the driveway, just missing another vehicle
I was halfway into a parking stall. There was a cement sign post at the end of the stall and a truck facing me opposite. About six feet from the post the car accelerated and glanced off the post and hit the truck slightly. It happened very fast but I am 99% sure the car accelerated on its own. We did a search…
When stopping on an incline: the vehicle comes to a stop with the brake pedal. If you let up on the brakes, the vehicle will start rolling backwards because the brakes are not creating enough pressure to hold the vehicle and the electric motor has disengaged to save energy. The infotainment screen will even recognize…
Service Brakes 40 Read
I was easing into a parking spot and braking when the car suddenly and uncontrollablly accelerated, leveling a light pole in front of me and finally coming to a stop on top of the light pole base
Automatic parking assist and reverse braking systems exhibit severe, recurring malfunctions causing collisions and injuries. On May 24, 2025, at approx. 4:10 PM, auto-park uncommanded the vehicle to strike a mailbox in a familiar spot. Dealer dismissed incident without diagnostics. Beyond this collision, the vehicle…
The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen ID-4. The contact stated while pulling into a parking space at barely 2 MPH and depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated and crashed into the rear of a building. The contact stated that while reversing from the scene, the failure recurred, and the vehicle…
Steering 32 Read
I was driving with Travel Assis on, the car steered left into the center divider then swerved right into other lanes… I was unable to regain control of steering wheel or break to deactivate travel assist for about 10 seconds, the steering wheel felt stuck in the direction that Travel Assist was steering to
I was turning into a parking space on the street. I let my foot off the gas in order to brake.... As I did so the car LURCHED forward on its own about 2-3 feet running into the curb and damaging the wheel, the rim and the tire. I stomped on the brake, turned off the car, and restarted the car in order to finish…
My cars backup cameras have never worked properly and the dealer keeps changing me $485.00 to run a complete diagnostic every time I take it in. My car will erratically pulled to the right for no reason and caused the right front tire to blow forcing me to have it towed to the dealer and they had to replace both front…
Forward Collision Avoidance 25 Read
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…
I was backing my 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 into my very tight driveway very slowly to avoid hitting my other car parked on the street, my house and my neighbors house. The parking collision sensor alerted me that I was close to my other car but I can see out my window that I had room to clear it safely so I continued to…
I was driving off the freeway in my ID4 and had been driving with both B mode (Regenerative braking) and the cruise control on. I then proceeded to drive approx 4 miles, still in B mode. I pulled into a parking space at my local swim club, and as I pulled into the space I took my foot off the accelerator, and began to…
Visibility/wiper 18 Read
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…
Wipers suddenly stopped working during blizzard. Extremely dangerous There's online posts about 2024 vw id4 saying this happens often
The OEM heated windshield has a relatively common defect where there is extreme distortion in the glass along the passenger side edge of the windshield. This is obviously a safety issue because that area is key for visibility of pedestrians and bicyclists and other vehicles when making turns. The vehicle is currently…
ID.4 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Air Bags,back Over Prevention,forward Collision Avoidance | 7 | 3 | |
| 2024 | Back Over Prevention,forward Collision Avoidance | 4 | 1 | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 52 | 7 | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 15 | 1 | |
| 2021 | Air Bags | 26 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 261 |
| Average complaints per series | 3.7 |
| Worst single series | 20 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 1.6 years |
A model average of 3.7 hides a worst series at 20. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the ID.4?
By complaint volume, 2023, 2021, 2022 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which ID.4 years are the cleanest?
2025, 2024, 2022 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Volkswagen ID.4 have?
966 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2021–2025. Of those, 104 describe a crash and 13 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.