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.
Volkswagen ID.4 no deployment problems
18 of the 1,033 owner complaints about the Volkswagen ID.4 describe airbags did not deploy in a crash, most of them for the 2023 model year.
- owner complaints
- 18
- worst model year
- 2023
- typical mileage
- 8,000
By model year
- 20252
- 20242
- 20239
- 20222
- 20213
Often reported together
What owners say
7/14/26 my wife attempted to park our 2023 VW ID.4 Pro S AWD. She pulled into the spot with two hands on the steering wheel, her foot off of the accelerator, with the car being slowed by regenerative braking, and the car suddenly accelerated and crashed through a fence and hit a cement barrier. The air bags did not deploy. After the accident that most likely totaled the car, my wife's foot was on the brake. The two challenges we noted were 1. The car should have not accelerated on its own and 2. The air bags should have deployed given the violence of this crash.
While entering a parking lot at a low speed, with my foot already firmly applied to the brake due to the close proximity of a parking space, the vehicle suddenly accelerated on its own unexpectedly. Despite continuous pressure on the brake pedal, the vehicle proceeded forward, struck another parked vehicle, and continued moving for approximately two additional seconds before coming to a stop on its own. Additionally, no forward collision/crash warning alert was activated prior to impact, and the airbags did not deploy during the collision.
On the day of the incident, I was driving my vehicle at a very low speed while approaching a red traffic light. I applied the brakes normally behind another vehicle that was already stopped. It should be noted that it had rained earlier and the road surface was wet. After stopping, the vehicle’s “Auto Hold” or automatic brake hold system activated properly, as it normally does when the vehicle comes to a complete stop. However, unexpectedly, the vehicle accelerated on its own. I immediately attempted to apply the brakes in order to avoid a collision, but I was unable to stop the vehicle in time, resulting in a minor impact with the vehicle in front of me. I believe there may have been a mechanical or electronic malfunction related to the vehicle’s acceleration, braking, or automatic assistance system. I cannot identify with certainty the exact component that failed; therefore, the specific cause is UNKNOWN at this time. The vehicle remains available for inspection upon request. The situation placed both my safety and the safety of the other driver at risk, as the vehicle moved unexpectedly despite previously being stopped with the brake hold system engaged. At this time, the issue has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealership or independent repair shop. I am also not aware of any technical inspection performed by the manufacturer. However, the incident was reported to the appropriate insurance company. Before the incident, I did not observe any warning lights, dashboard messages, or obvious signs of a mechanical or electronic problem. The sudden acceleration occurred unexpectedly and without prior warning. The collision was minor. The airbags did not deploy, and neither I nor the other driver suffered physical injuries. However, both vehicles sustained property damage, especially my vehicle, which suffered visible front-end damage because several exterior components are made of low-resistance plastic material.
UNKNOWN -- I was turning 90 deg from the street into my 30' driveway, going very slow as usual with foot on brake pedal to slow further before entering the garage (the door had just finished lifting). But as I was straightening the steering coming out of turn, the car suddenly accelerated, brakes and steering both were unresponsive and the car smashed into the garage. Slowed further by the impact, the car caromed into the garage stairs smashing them to pieces before coming to rest against the rear garage wall after I hit the OFF button (it's an EV). There was no alert from the onboard systems of a pending crash and the air bags did NOT deploy. I was uninjured. Posting my accident on a social media owners group, other owners have had similar experience of the electronics going out while driving. The car remains at a 45 deg angle inside the garage now 6 days later awaiting the insurance company to come and extricate it for their assessment of the damage to the car.
I drove our ID4 to pick up a neighbor's son from school. Using the regenerative braking mode, I came to a stop on a side street, just beyond a school crossing where middle school kids were everywhere, at which time the car lunged forward at a high rate of speed while my foot was still on the brake. Luckily we ran into a parked service van that slowed our progress while I put the car in the parking mode, which finally stopped the car. We both experienced the hard impact of hitting the truck and noticed that the air bags did not deploy. There are skid marks that confirm that the brakes were employed while the car moved independently. We are grateful we didn't hit anyone. I will not drive this car again. There were no indications that anything we amiss prior to this malfunction. Our insurance adjustor will be coming by in the next day or two to inspect the car. This could have been a tragic event!!!!!
On October 04/2025 The vehicle was parked and stationary when it suddenly accelerated forward on its own. The brakes were completely unresponsive. I had a passenger in the front seat, and both she and I are certain that I was pressing the brake, but the car did not slow down at all. Within a few seconds, the vehicle gained speed, and I lost control. There was no space to maneuver, and I could do nothing but brace myself against the seat and watch my rear passengers. The vehicle continued forward and crashed into a tree directly in front, causing damage to the right side of the bumper, and a large rock in front also received the impact. The airbags did not deploy. The two rear passengers struck their heads during the impact and sustained bumps, and my dog was also affected in the collision.This accident occurred despite the car having a recent annual inspection and software update. The sudden acceleration is not the only issue I have experienced with this vehicle. I have had additional safety concerns. The doors would lock, unlock and open by themselves while driving on the freeway. On May 2024, my dog was trapped inside when the doors locked automatically with my keys inside the car. I had to ask a police official in my neighborhood for a phone to call roadside assistance, and it took several hours to get my dog out of the vehicle.
On [XXX], I was parking my 2025 VW ID.4 car in a parking spot in B mode and applying the brake to come to a stop. The car suddenly accelerated forward (of its own will) at maximum speed such that the car ran over a bollard, a sidewalk and into a brick wall causing significant damage. In the space of perhaps 10 feet at most the car went from a stopping position to taking out a brick wall on a commercial building. This is so incredibly dangerous as someone could have been on the sidewalk and killed. I could have been killed as my airbag never deployed despite charging with great speed into a brick wall! the federal safety agency must do something to resolve this. VW has overwhelming knowledge of this defect. In June 2025 a class action lawsuit was filed against the VW for this exact reason - link here: [XXX] Per the lawsuit there have been deaths related to this defect. This was never disclosed to me when I bought the car....as a matter of fact, the EV safety features in their sales pitch was one of the overwhelming reasons I bought the car. There are also many blogs related to this issue describing almost exactly what happened to me. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
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 into the front of a second unoccupied parked vehicle, which hit the front of a third unoccupied parked vehicle. The brake pedal was depressed during the failure, but the vehicle failed to respond. The air bags did not deploy. No injury was sustained. A police report was filed, but the information was not available. The vehicle was towed to Triple A storage facility. The vehicle was then towed to an autobody repair shop, where an estimate of the damage sustained was provided. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure, and the contact requested an investigation of the failure. The vehicle was in the process of being towed to the dealer auto collision center. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and sent a data retriever authorization form and an event questionnaire form, which the contact had filled out and returned to the manufacturer. The failure mileage was approximately 3,800.
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 failed to stop upon depressing the brake pedal and was uncontrollable. The contact stated that the vehicle crashed into a big concrete and iron post and stopped. A nearby auto body shop technician informed the contact that the vehicle was a total loss. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the automatic emergency braking system failed to engage as designed. The air bags did not deploy. The contact did not sustain any injuries. A police report was filed, but the contact did not have the police report information available. The vehicle was towed to the police impound lot. The insurance company then towed the vehicle to IAA, a salvage vehicle auction lot, but the insurance company had not confirmed that the vehicle was a total loss. There was was property damage. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 26,000.
Related recalls
Air bags: frontal: passenger side: inflator module
- What is wrong
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VW) is recalling certain 2023-2024 ID4 vehicles. The fasteners securing the passenger frontal air bag inflator may be loose.
- Risk
- An improperly secured air bag inflator may not deploy as intended, increasing the risk of injury during a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and replace the air bag as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed October 10, 2024. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1‑800‑893‑5298. Volkswagens number for this recall is 69E8.
Recall number 24V643000 · Recall details
Air bags: frontal
- What is wrong
- Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 ID4 vehicles. The passenger air bag may be incorrectly folded. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."
- Risk
- An incorrectly folded air bag may not protect the occupant as intended during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
- Remedy
- Volkswagen will replace the passenger air bag module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 14, 2023. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1‑800‑893‑5298. Volkswagen's number to this recall is 69EH.
Recall number 22V858000 · Recall details
Questions about the Volkswagen ID.4 no deployment
Which Volkswagen ID.4 years have airbags did not deploy in a crash problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2023 (9 complaints), 2021 (3 complaints) and 2022 (2 complaints).
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