Owners have filed 457 complaints on the Volkswagen Taos, covering 2022–2026. The system named most often is Engine (91 reports). Worst years by volume: 2022, 2023, 2024; cleanest: 2026, 2025, 2024. 8 reports describe a crash. On average the car was 1.5 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Volkswagen Taos
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 457 Taos complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Engine 91 Read
The vehicle suffered a recurring mechanical failure of the fuel injectors and a flooded EVAP charcoal canister, causing the engine to run lean (Fault P2177) and lose power. This defect creates an unreasonable safety risk as it can cause the engine to stall or lose motive power unexpectedly at highway speeds.…
Car transmission is lagging. It’s unsafe merging on highway. Lags for way too long when changing lanes and accelerating
I took the vehicle in to the VW dealership for service on 06/30/25 and they found that the head gasket had failed after only 26500 miles. A failed head gasket could lead to engine failure during operation which would create a significant safety issue
Service Brakes 80 Read
I rented this car from Enterprise. When I pulled out of the rental car facility, the car lurched forward. I applied the brakes. The car slowed down but did not stop and I rolled out into the street to the right. Enterprise is on the top of the hill and Pacific Coast Highway is at the bottom. The trolley and train…
Vehicle: 2024 Volkswagen Taos Mileage: ~20,000 miles Issue: Sudden unintended acceleration + Automatic Emergency Braking failure Crash: Yes Total Injuries: None VIN: 3VVVX7B29RM028089 Complaint Description: On [date], at approximately 6:00 PM, I was driving my 2024 Volkswagen Taos (about 20K miles) on Highway 92 East…
My Taos will be 1 year old in August 2025 and I have approximately 8300 miles on it. I took my car in for its 1 year/10000 mile service yesterday and was told that my rear break pads are worn to 50% already. My front break pads are still at 90%. My last car, a Volvo S60, was 12 years old when I sold it and had never…
Electrical System 75 Read
Vehicle was involved in a front end collision with left front impact. Damage spread across front of vehicle. Air bags did not deploy. Vehicle has been having electrical issues recently. Head unit will do “hard reset” while driving disabling all safety features. Car also will alert fob not present after vehicle has…
My 2025 Volkswagen Taos is exhibiting active symptoms of a known safety recall involving electrical system malfunctions. The vehicle experienced multiple failures including the instrument cluster going blank, screens shutting off, and a false start condition where the dashboard illuminated with multiple warning…
While driving down the interstate I noticed that the speed in my Taos was not matching what google maps or apple maps was showing. It is very difficult to figure out. I noticed this more than once. Even If I am going below the speed limit that is only shows me not speeding. The interstate I was on was a speed of 70.…
Power Train 61 Read
Incident 1: Noticed hard starting one morning. After stopping for gas various engine warning lights illuminated (including EPC light). Took to VW dealer few days later, found trouble codes stored (P0148). Fuel pump replaced few days after diagnosis. Incident 2: Driving on highway for ~10 mins. Experienced total power…
My 2024 S AWD VW Taos has a serious lag when I need to speed up fast. The car does not go at all if I try to accelerate quickly and has almost caused many accidents. I have needed to quickly get out of the way of other drivers who were not paying attention and tried to accelerate quickly only to have my car not go…
The car was purchased new and now has 1,600 miles. On nine different occasions the car has stopped moving (but has not stalled) when trying to accelerate. In two of those instances (accelerating from a red light and entering a roundabout) I nearly had an accident. I've had the car at the dealership twice and I was…
Vehicle Speed Control 21 Read
Pulling into a parking spot, vehicle had a sudden burst of acceleration, as it was still on the road, resulting in an accident. Vehicle drove over a parking curb, hitting a small tree and a sign. Vehicle felt like there was a lag in response timing of the throttle to acceleration response. No one was injured,…
The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Taos. The contact stated while attempting to drive from a complete stop, the accelerator pedal was depressed twice but failed to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal harder and the vehicle accelerated unintendedly and crashed…
While driving with my ACC activated to 71MPH, I was pulled over by Mass state police and told that my speed was between 76-81MPH. I've since confirmed the statement of the officer to be accurate by comparing the displayed vehicle speed is lower than what's displayed on apps such as Waze and google maps. Citation [XXX]…
Fuel/propulsion System 16 Read
I purchased a 2023 VW Taos SE about a year ago (May 2025) as CPO less than 7k miles. It is still under the warranty; however, I already had to bring this Taos to the VW dealership for 3x. First was A/C was not cool enough. They found a leak. In June 2026, I had to bring due to the engine light being on. They found out…
2022 VW TAOS 4 Motion fuel line leak; called for appointment 8/30/21 prior to receiving the Important Safety Recall Letter in mid September when the information was first told of possible fire starting under the car on the internet. First available appointment at the VW dealer was 10/6/21. Needless to say, the VW TAOS…
There is a major lag in throttle response after slowing then attempting to speed back up. For example, a car in front of me turns right at an intersection while in travel so I slow down. After stepping on the accelerator to speed back up, it can take 5-7 seconds before there is any response. At times it’s long enough…
Engine And Engine Cooling 11 Read
The contact owned a 2022 Volkswagen Taos. The contact stated while driving in the parking lot at work, the engine stalled, she turned the vehicle off, waited to restart the vehicle, and drove the vehicle but could not stop. The contact crashed into the fence. There was no warning light illuminated. The air bag did…
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Taos. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the road. The check coolant warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The…
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Taos. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated for an extended period before suddenly accelerating rapidly, almost causing a crash. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular…
Fuel System 11 Read
The contact owns a 2025 Volkswagen Taos. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 26V258000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The parts for the recall repair were on back order. The contact stated that two local dealers were contacted. The…
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Taos. The contact stated that while attempting to drive from a complete stop and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that there was a message regarding the engine and another unknown message displayed. The contact stated that bystanders…
The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Taos. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V651000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact called the local dealer and was informed that the part and tool needed to complete the recall repair was…
Taos 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Structure | — | — | |
| 2025 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 2024 | Air Bags,seat Belts,forward Collision Avoidance | 1 | — | |
| 2023 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags,forward Collision Avoidance | 4 | — |
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 | 219 |
| Average complaints per series | 2.1 |
| Worst single series | 8 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 1.5 years |
A model average of 2.1 hides a worst series at 8. 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 Taos?
By complaint volume, 2022, 2023, 2024 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 Taos years are the cleanest?
2026, 2025, 2024 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Volkswagen Taos have?
457 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2022–2026. Of those, 8 describe a crash and 0 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.