2021 Volkswagen ID.4 steering problems

Filed Apr 27, 2026 · Body, Driver assistance · PA · crash

My 2021 ID.4 has experienced two separate incidents of sudden, unintended forward acceleration while parking. In both cases, I was maneuvering at very low speeds (less than 5 mph) and transitioning from a stopped position, or from reverse into drive, with the intention to move forward only a few inches. But instead of creeping forward as normal, the vehicle suddenly jerked forward approximately one foot. In the first of two incidents (approx. October 2025), it crashed into the car in front of me. In a second incident (3/14/2026), it crashed into an EV charging station. This is a safety concern and may be related to steering wheel capacitive touch controls, possible unintended activation of adaptive cruise control (ACC) or “resume” function, or erroneous or overly sensitive input from the steering wheel control module. No warning signs or messages appeared prior to the failure. Luckily, no one, including my young children, stood directly in front of the vehicle during either of the incidents; otherwise, they may have incurred serious bodily injury or worse. I was also luckily unharmed in both incidents. I am immediately taking the car to the dealership for a full inspection.

Filed Dec 31, 2025 · Steering, Suspension · NV

My Id 4 Pro S has this problem more going back almost 3 years with 8k miles when first reported to the dealership and [XXX] [XXX], [XXX],[XXX]. The correspondences are there as proof. Dealership never fixed this issue or diagnoses this properly since it only happens in wet weather or rainy mist or rain. The issues is the front tires in the front wheel wells make a thumping sound when backing up and moving forward with the wheels turned in any direction and a crunching sound with the car shaking. I am concerned for my safety and VW will not fix the issue. They had it twice in servicing, did not wet the underside to create the wet symptoms so they dismissed the issue. It does not rain much here and I presumed all the over the air updates and 2 day mega update leaving my vehicle would resolve the issue only to find out now with the new rain the problem is still there. This is a manufacturer defect and was reported when my vehicle was under full warranty . Now they are giving me excuses and wont address the problem or diagnose this properly and want to charge me for there manufacturers defect . I only have 22,675 miles on the vehicle now and it is garaged all the time so this is not from wear and tear since it occurred at 8000 miles and was reported twice before. I have multiple case numbers on this and VW will not take responsibility to fix this defect, and malfunction . They had stone walled me and passed this off as no issue. I have videos of the issue on drop box I can sent to you if requested . See drop box videos. [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] 2 Videos here from [XXX]. Please help ! INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Dec 12, 2025 · Brakes, Steering · 67,000 miles · CA · crash · 1 injury

The contact owned a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that while her husband was driving approximately 25 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed and there was a loud revving noise coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle then independently accelerated at full speed. The contact stated that her husband depressed the brake pedal several times, but the vehicle did not slow down, and the steering wheel locked, preventing the driver from steering the vehicle to safety. The vehicle then crashed into the back of another vehicle that was either stopped or was moving extremely slow. The contact’s husband sustained back, and neck injuries but had not sought medical intention. The insurance company informed the contact the that the other driver had since sought medical attention. A Police report was filed but was not available. The other vehicle was driven from the scene; however, the contact’s vehicle was towed to a tow lot where it was deemed a total loss. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000.

Filed May 23, 2025 · Electrical, Steering · CA

The car completely stopped without warning. The dashboard lit up with all the lights and informed me that the I need to pull over. There was no time to pull over as the car completely lost all power. The car was traveling on the freeway. It would not start back up and I needed to call 911 for help. The tow truck could not get the car started and the CHP needed to run a traffic break to get it towed off the road. The dealer could only find an NV-energy management alarm triggered and said it was ok to drive again. The next day driving on [XXX], when returning to my car the car said the vehicle electrical system had an error and I could not power it on. I requested a tow and the car is currently at the service department. Of note is when the car was pulled off the freeway I was able to start it and drive it home like nothing happened. Again on [XXX], the car once at the dealership was able to be powered on and driven. There were no warning lights on the car after that. If the car would have stopped while travel at 65MPH, I think there could have been a major crash and it puts the safety of me the driver as well as the other drivers around me as great risk. I have never felt uncomfortable traveling on the highway until this happened. I would never expect a car to completely shut off while travel on the highway with no way of pulling over to the side of the road. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

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 19, 2024 · Brakes, Electrical · NJ

Vehicle had a complete failure due to electrical issues and was brought to dealership. It was apparently due to recall issues which were repaired. The vehicle was returned 2 weeks ago. Today, shortly after exiting a highway, while traveling approx. 15-20mph then vehicle completely shut down. It stopped suddenly and unexpectedly and went into neutral. I could not put the car back into drive or park. The dash indicated electrical issues, airbag issues, collision sensors, brake issues and said “vehicle must not be towed”. Vehicle is currently at dealership.

Filed Aug 7, 2024 · Driver assistance, Electrical · FL

We have owned the ID.4 for there years and have had to put up with many recall issues that seam to take years in order to be resolved, it took VW over a year to resolve the random door opening issues, the car still sends messages the it is opening and closing the doors indiscriminately (at any time of the night or day). Now the infotainment screen started showing multiple errors, apple CarPlay works whenever it wants, on whatever phone it chooses, the screen goes blank frequently on its own, maps and car's GPS is useless, child lock errors, range calculations are erratic making it difficult to plan to trips. The over the air updates have seam to make the problem worse. Now we are waiting for another over the air update, the roll out has been extremely slow. Again it been three years and still no resolutions. We paid good money for this car, we were never late on a single payment. VW brought this vehicle to market without being properly tested, we have been paying money to Beta test a car for them and they have been allowed to slow walk repairs. The dealers cannot offer any solutions because VW of North America does not have any permanent solutions. The only solutions offered is trade in your car and we will sell you another car with less problems, of course if you trade in the car you loose thousand of dollars, if you sell the car you loose thousands of dollars, if you keep the car you have to deal with a Defective Vehicale and continue paying for it. How can this be allowed to continue. We need Help.

Filed Sep 25, 2023 · Driver assistance, Steering · OR

I have had two episodes in which the Lane Keeping Assistance put me at risk of running into a barrier on the freeway. Both happened when traveling in a middle freeway lane that split to an off-ramp (three lanes splitting to two groups of two lanes). In the first, I was taking the left ramp. The car, I think wanting to keep the lane line on my right close, suddenly steered me back to the right and toward the dividing barrier. I was able to overcome it and stay on my planned route but it was close. In the second, there was a car to my right in the right-most lane. I was taking the right exit and used my turn signal to indicate this. As I started to take the exit, turning the wheel to the right, the car forced the wheel back to straight because it thought I was trying to steer into the car to my right (in the next lane, also exiting), and again steered me toward the barrier splitting the ramp from the freeway. I was able to overcome the wheel, but again it was close. In both cases, I think the car is doing what it is designed to do (i.e. nothing is broken) but the design is dangerous. I have talked to the dealer about this problem - they have acknowledged the issue and said a new car would not have this problem. No warning lamps or messages appeared.

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 Jul 31, 2023 · Steering · CA

Power steering yellow light on