2021 Volkswagen ID.4: sudden unintended acceleration

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 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 Jun 23, 2025 · Acceleration, Brakes · AZ · crash

The vehicle accelerated without control and crashed into the wall between my garage and the adjacent laundry room. That day someone could have easily been seriously hurt or killed. The problem was investigated but could not been reproduced. The vehicle was inspected by a team of investigators from the Manufacturer, VW. No warning signs or abnormal situations prior the the incident. The vehicle was in our possession and driven for 3 years, about 55k miles, no issues ever. The driver at the time is an experienced driver and familiar with the vehicle operation for three years.

Filed Jan 24, 2025 · Driver assistance, Steering · CA · crash

While stopped at a red light waiting to turn left, with foot on the brake, my car suddenly accelerated and lunged forward , plowing into the car in front of me with great force. I had to jam down the brake almost to the floor to get the car to stop. My foot was on the brake. There is no way I hit the accelerator. Even if I had, the AEB system is supposed to prevent me crashing at close range. I understand that this is a known issue related to the adaptive cruise control. The force of my car was so great that 3 cars in front of me sustained damage.

Filed Sep 11, 2024 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · MD · crash · 1 injury

I had backed in to a parking space in a parking lot. To exit, I shifted the car into Drive, gently touched the accelerator (which should have accelerated the car to 2 MPH) and turned the steering wheel about 90° clockwise with my left hand to straighten the wheels. In doing so, the base of my left thumb inadvertently pushed the Set button on the cruise control, causing it to set to 15 MPH, its minimum setting, and the car to rapidly accelerate. I jammed on the breaks but wasn’t able to stop in time to avoid colliding into the side of a passing car. Because my right knee was locked in my effort to stop my car, the force of the impact was transferred to my hip and, though nothing was broken, I ended up spending two days in the observation unit of my hospital followed by eight days in residential rehabilitation. At the time, I had no idea what had caused the car to suddenly accelerate, seemingly without any input and certainly without my intent. It wasn’t until several months later that a similar acceleration event occurred, fortunately not resulting in an accident, and I was able to determine the cause. This problem is not the result of defective parts but of design. I believe the cruise Set button should not be located so close to the steering wheel rim and should not be raised as it is, but the safety issue could also be resolved in software by not allowing the cruise control to engage at very low speeds.

Filed Jul 28, 2024 · Driver assistance · CA

Vehicle suffers from unintended and sudden acceleration when the "resume' capacitive touch button is accidentally brushed against. The vehicle is subject to injure or kill the vehicles occupants or others struck by the vehicle. Vehicle advised there is "no issue" with the vehicle but they did acknowledge the problem with the design of the steering wheel. The issue is intermittent and has occurred while driving at slow speeds in parking lots when the steering wheel is frequently turned more than 90 degrees and a body part can unintentionally touch the 'Resume" button.

Filed Jul 2, 2024 · Acceleration, Driver assistance · CA · crash

On [XXX] approximately [XXX], I was in the drive-up line for Starbucks. The drive-up line was very slow so we waited for about 1/2 hour and I ended turning off my engine. I had plenty of room at least between 2-3 feet between myself and the car in the front. Then the line moved so, I put the car in Drive and covered the brake. I tapped the Gas/electric pedal and the car accelerated from 0 to 30 and lunged forward and I hit the car in front of me and they were pushed into the car in front of them. No one was seriously hurt, but police were called and ambulance arrived and found no injury - so there wasn't a police report. I was completely shocked that this happened so fast and I wasn't able to stop my car. So, when I hit the people in front of me. Their car was a Ford Mini-van older model. I dented their bumper, but see attached photos of damage to my car. I went on a VD owner website to see if other volkswagen owners had any acceleration problems and I was surprised to find so many people affected by acceleration issues. I decided to call Volkswagen headquarters and a case was opened. Volkswagen set up a data review with a Volkswagen technician. I dropped off the car at the dealership in Ventura. I was not provided with a report from the Data retrieval. I just received a letter from the case manager, Sarah that they did not find anything unusual. After reviewing the letter, they had the wrong date of my accident. The accident occurred on [XXX], and Sarah said the accident was on April 8, 2024. Of course, they did not find anything??? I will enclose their letter and when I asked about the report or speaking with the technician, I was told that they do not give copies, nor provide information. On the website for Volkswagen ID4 owners, there are many claims of acceleration problems, This vehicle is an self-driving electric car. There is a recall for a software issue, that has not been established yet if it is related to acceleration. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C

Filed Jun 20, 2024 · Acceleration, Brakes · FL · crash

The first time I was stopped at an intersection. Luckily there was no one in front of me as the car, without warning, accelerated at full throttle. Although my foot was on the brake, and I was braking as hard as I could, the car continued to lunge forward. It finally stopped and I backed up to my original position in the intersection. The second time it happened I was pulling into a parking spot in a busy shopping center. Without warning, the car accelerated out of control, and, although I was braking as hard as I could the car continued to accelerate forward. It jumped the curb, crossed the sidewalk, and hit a large commercial postal mailbox knocking it off of its base in the concrete. There was significant damage to the vehicle but luckily in both cases no one was injured. Had anyone been on the sidewalk in that shopping center they would have been killed. It is a miracle no one was injured or killed.

Filed Apr 24, 2024 · Driver assistance, Electrical · CA · crash · 2 injuries

The contact owned a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that while driving on a highway at a moderate speed, traffic came to a sudden halt. The vehicle's forward avoidance collision feature was activated; however, the feature did not perform at full capacity and hesitated to fully stop. The contact repeatedly pumped the brake pedal; however, the vehicle independently accelerated and crashed into the vehicle ahead which resulted in a five-vehicle accident. An unknown red warning light appeared on the instrument panel during the failure. The air bags deployed upon impact. Upon air bag deployment, the contact sustained burns to the left thumb and chest; additionally, the contact experienced soreness to the cervical spine, neck, both knees and ankles. The driver of the vehicle which the contact directly hit also sustained a sore neck but neither driver sought medical attention. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was deemed a total loss. Before the accident, the contact stated that a software update was performed on the vehicle which changed the vehicle's driving performance. The contact also noted that while driving at 70 MPH after the software update was performed, the vehicle independently accelerated without depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact was not certain if any warning lights appeared on the instrument panel during the failure. The dealer nor the manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Oct 16, 2023 · CA · crash · 1 injury

I was slowly driving down a lane in a parking lot. The parking spaces were perpendicular to a wall. I start to turn the steering wheel and slowly tap my brakes since the car was already going at a slow speed. All of a sudden, the car lunges forward and crashes into the wall beyond the parking slot. The airbags blow up and, after impact, my mom who is in the passenger seat complaints about severe chest pain. Soon the ambulance is there to take my mom to the hospital (she is eventually diagnosed with two broken ribs and a fractured cervical bone). I stay at the scene to talk to the police about what happened (the police gathered information from bystanders and took many pictures). I am in shock about the incident and trying to figure out what happened. I research the topic on the Internet and find out that there are others who have complained about sudden and unexpected acceleration in this car model. In fact, there is a class action lawsuit which explains that the overly sensitive cruise control (haptic, touch sensitive control on the steering wheel) can be accidently triggered and cause the sudden acceleration. Thank you for looking into this safety problem.

Filed Aug 30, 2023 · Acceleration, Steering · CA

The steering wheel controls on our 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 are haptic. That means that if you brush them with your fingers or hand with light pressure, they can activate. When leaving a neighborhood street, I turned the steering wheel approximately 180 degrees to pull out from a parking spot next to the curb. Upon releasing my grip a bit on the steering wheel (to let it rotate back to 'straight') my right thumb grazed the cruise control activation button (which is normally on the left side of the steering wheel). Since I had been using cruise control earlier in the drive, the cruise control resumed and the car accelerated without my providing any pedal input. Luckily I realized what had happened and pushed the brake pedal to cancel cruise control. The cruise control was set to 15 mph. I am thankful it was not set to something higher, like 65 mph. I don't know how fast the car would have accelerated in that case.

Filed Jun 22, 2022 · Acceleration, Brakes · CA · crash

6/21/22 When I was pulling into a parking lot space, the car suddenly accelerated and the steering wheel turned uncontrollably, I could not stop the car, the brakes didn't respond at all. The car was driving by itself, I couldn't do anything to stop it, until I ran into two parked cars where it finally stopped; thank god no injuries. The car was undriveable, and was towed away, I'll have it inspected by the body shop and see if it can be repaired. This was a terrifying experience not being able to control the car, the car pretty much went into run away mode. I hope this gets reported to VW and an investigate gets conducted to find the root cause it as this could happen again to anybody.