2021 Volkswagen ID.4 acceleration problems

Filed Oct 28, 2026 · Acceleration, Electrical · CA

While driving, the red "electrical system not working" error message displayed. The car lost control of acceleration and was non responsive. Loss of vehicle control while driving at freeway speeds is a safety risk to myself and others. The dealer (kearny mesa vw) says that it can not replicate the code, but sent me an estimate with error code 1208 battery and hardware with a $5, 000 replacement fee. When I asked for error codes and a detailed printout of required service, they then messaged me that it is covered under the vw pre-owned service contract for only the $50 deductible. I only have a text message from a service representative, nothing written. The red error message first appeared 48 hours ago while driving and subsequent loss of vehicle control. It appeared again while pressing the brake pedal. I did not drive it then, per instructions, and had it towed to the vw dealer. They don't know when the parts will arrive or when the car will be ready.

Filed Sep 25, 2026 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CA

For approximately the past month, the steering-wheel controls for the vehicle’s Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) have intermittently become completely unresponsive while driving. When the vehicle is first started, the buttons work normally and can be used to activate ACC, adjust the set speed, and change the following distance. However, after several minutes of driving, the steering-wheel ACC controls suddenly stop responding. When this occurs, the driver is unable to reduce the ACC set speed or increase the following distance using the steering-wheel controls. This creates a potentially dangerous situation because the vehicle may continue traveling at a speed or following distance that is no longer appropriate for changing traffic or road conditions, while the driver has lost immediate access to the controls intended to safely adjust ACC. The problem is intermittent but has occurred repeatedly over the past month. Because the failure occurs while the vehicle is in motion and disables the driver's ability to make critical ACC adjustments, I believe this represents a significant safety concern that warrants investigation. Here's a link to a video of this occuring: [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Sep 21, 2026 · Acceleration · 83,000 miles · FL · crash · 2 injuries

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. While stopped at a light, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. The contact frantically depressed the brake pedal with excessive force, but the vehicle continued to accelerate. The contact veered to the right to avoid the vehicle stopped ahead but crashed into the rear passenger’s side bumper. No warning lights were illuminated. The air bags failed to deploy. A Police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an auto body shop. The contact sustained injuries to the left shoulder and arm. The driver in the other vehicle sustained unknown injuries. Both drivers required medical attention. The insurance company representatives were scheduled to inspect the vehicle. The failure mileage was 83,000.

Filed Aug 18, 2026 · Acceleration, Electrical · MD

The infotainment screen and heads up display screen are constantly going black and rebooting, causing a loss of the speedometer for up to a minute at a time. Occasionally, the entire vehicle loses power and the accelerator does not work for a few seconds. The shop says it is the 5F control module, which was described by the dealership as handling one half of the high voltage current, as well as controlling the infotainment screen. If this module is responsible for half of the high voltage current, I don't understand why they claim it is not covered by the 8 year/80,000 warranty on the high voltage battery and related components.

Filed Jul 30, 2026 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · NY · crash

In the process of parking, vehicle was stopped in the parking spot and vehicle suddenly accelerated to a high speed and crashed into a brick column. Air bags did go off. The warning sound and diagram that indicates you may have gotten too close to the curb in front did not go off. Police were called and inspected the vehicle before it was towed.

Filed May 20, 2026 · Acceleration, Brakes · MN · crash · 2 injuries

While reversing out of a parking space, my 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 automatically braked and stopped abruptly. Immediately afterward, the vehicle accelerated forward unexpectedly. I pressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle did not respond and crashed into a retaining wall. A forensic analysis of the vehicle’s event data showed the accelerator was at 100% and the vehicle was traveling approximately 22 mph at impact. The airbags deployed, the vehicle was totaled, and both occupants sustained injuries. I believe the vehicle experienced a serious malfunction involving the braking and acceleration systems.

Filed May 11, 2026 · Acceleration · 50,095 miles · CO · crash · 4 injuries

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID4. The contact stated that while the wife was parking and into a parking space, the brake pedal was released and the vehicle suddenly accelerated forward and crashed into a concrete barrier. During the incident front and side curtain air bags did deployed. Driver sustained an injured sternum and bruses and lacerations to both hands. The front passenger suffered a bruised sternum. both rear passenger sustained mild neck injuries. No medical treatment was provided. No police reported was taken. During the incident the building railing was also damaged. The vehicle was towed to the local repair shop but not repaired. The cause of the failure was not determine. The manufacturer and local dealer were not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 50,095.

Filed Apr 13, 2026 · Acceleration, Electrical · CA

Infotainment freezes and backup camera not working. This immediately started to happen after recent ota update. I never had these issues before this software update. Uploading pictures which shows gear selector is being put in reverse multiple times but camera not displayed. Even infotainment doesn’t respond to any touch.

Filed Mar 27, 2026 · Acceleration, Electrical · CA

Car startup just fine and drive without issues but sometimes center console freezes or randomly restarts and when that happen even speedometer stays at zero even car moving about 30-40mph. It stays in frozen state for about 2-3min or unless I force restart it by holding power button for about 10-20seconds. I have seen backup camera sometimes failed to display images which supposed to resolved in last few updates but I only experienced it after updated to software version 3.5. Uploading images as slide because I can’t upload video file.

Filed Feb 23, 2026 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CA · crash

I was slowing down to park the car when it lurched forward in high speed and smashed into the wall. The front collision warning never went off, and the emergency braking never came on. My foot was on the accelerator and lifting off to park at low speed like I do all the time, so it wasn't like I was trying to slam on the brakes and pressed on the accelerator by mistake. The car was serviced at the dealership less than a week ago, but VW pushed out an OTA update 2 days ago. I don't know if the OTA update has anything to do with this scary behavior, but I have not experienced anything like this before.