Volkswagen / Tiguan / 2021

2021 Volkswagen Tiguan problems

Owners have filed 183 complaints about the 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan with NHTSA. Engine accounts for 25.1% of them — the clear leader, ahead of electrical system at 12.6%. A further 15.3% were filed without a specific system named.

Complaints183

Crashes6

Fires0

Injuries4

Deaths0

What owners report breaking

Engine 25.1% · 46

Unknown or other 15.3% · 28

Electrical system 12.6% · 23

Forward collision avoidance 7.7% · 14

Structure 6.0% · 11

Power train 6.0% · 11

Fuel/propulsion system 5.5% · 10

Visibility/wiper 4.4% · 8

Severity

Of those complaints, 6 describe a crash and 4 report an injury.

Reading the numbers

Across the 14 model years of the Volkswagen Tiguan in this data, 2021 sits 9th by complaint volume. 2022 draws the most.

Filings are rising — 129 in the last three years against 54 in the three before. For a vehicle this age that usually points to a wear-related failure owners are hitting now.

The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 20,000 miles.

In owners' own words

Tiguans have been reporting excessive burning oil consumption- reported this to the dealership and consider this "normal" but how is going through several oil containers to make sure there's enough oil in the car "normal"??? I've never had this issue with any other car- other Tiguan owners have reported this issue and it's over a 6k repair. Engine

Pcv valve on my car went and caused seals to leak in my engine. This has caused oil to leak onto my exhaust system which poses a fire hazard according to the dealership. Car should not be driven. Many many complaints about this issue of the PCV valve failing have been discovered online. Worried about my car catching fire if I drive it Engine

The lower oil pan cracked due to excess pressure in the engine from a broken oil air vent. This is a very common issue in VW tiquans, that VW knows about but doesn't recall. The faulty air oil vent leads to cracked lower oil pans and oil dumps that can damgae the engine and creates dangerous driving situations. Engine

Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.

Safety recalls

Checking NHTSA for open recalls…

Other Volkswagen Tiguan years

2016 146 complaints · 25.3% air bags 2017 101 complaints · 29.7% air bags 2018 450 complaints · 17.6% engine 2019 290 complaints · 19.0% electrical system 2020 209 complaints · 15.8% electrical system 2022 452 complaints · 23.2% engine

Compare all 14 model years →