Volkswagen / Taos / 2023
2023 Volkswagen Taos problems
Owners have filed 163 complaints about the 2023 Volkswagen Taos with NHTSA. Engine accounts for 25.2% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of service brakes at 19.6%.
Complaints163
Crashes3
Fires0
Injuries1
Deaths0
What owners report breaking
Engine 25.2% · 41
Service brakes 19.6% · 32
Electrical system 12.9% · 21
Power train 7.4% · 12
Fuel/propulsion system 6.1% · 10
Unknown or other 6.1% · 10
Forward collision avoidance 5.5% · 9
Vehicle speed control 4.9% · 8
Severity
Of those complaints, 3 describe a crash and 1 report an injury.
Reading the numbers
Filings are rising — 126 in the last three years against 37 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 10,185 miles.
In owners' own words
Hazard warning light came on for low coolant on 1/18/2025. Almost empty of coolant. Bought VW coolant and filled. Brought in to dealer I bought the car from, told it was the head gasket leaking (after $170 charge). Quoted me an estimate of almost $4000. Told me it was not under warranty- my car has a little over 56,000. Warranty ends at 50,000. Dealer told me this is a known issue. Engine
head gasket well known issue with no campaign or warranty coverage Volkswagen issued an official TSB 15-23-01 (Head Gasket Leakage) acknowledging that the original factory head gasket design on early Taos models allows coolant to leak. The production line was eventually updated with a redesigned gasket. They denied coverage or even partial reduction in labor. Engine
Vehicle is 6 months old, 4747 miles, stalled going uphill at 10mph. Upon attempted restart, smoke billowed out of the exhaust and engine compartment. Contacted VW Customer Service and was towed to VW dealership. Turbo failed and caused a laundry list of parts to fail. Parts are out till September. Engine
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…