2023 Volkswagen ID.4

My car popped up a messaging stating “Electrical system not working correctly. Please service vehicle.” I called in for service and the dealer told me that the message was not urgent as it was a yellow message and that they would not be able to get me in until Tuesday. I continued to drive the car and the message would come and go for two days. On the last day, I got the message and heard an electrical whirring noise when pressing the accelerator. Then the sound and message went away. Later that evening when charging, the fans were running extremely loud so I got the car out of my garage to avoid it catching fire. I called VW who said that I could drive it to the dealer. I left my house and the car popped up the message and then said it was disabling functions. It never said to pull over. Then a turtle popped up and my speed was dropped to 45 mph. I was on a highway at the time and turned around to head back home. Then it dropped my speed to 25. Right after doing that it came to a stop in the middle of the road. It never said to pull over or avoid driving it either but I was stranded in the road. A few minutes later all the messages disappeared and it started driving normally. I made it home and called for a tow truck.

While driving my vehicle it shifts into “park”, not sure if it is an electrical issue, transmission, or breaking issue. I have taken to the dealership for repairs they worked on the driver seat sensors, was at the dealership for 10 days. Three days after repairs the same issue occurred, took back to the dealership and they informed me that they could not recreate the issue(possible electrical issue), the service advisor suggested that I should not move around in the seat while driving to correct the issue. Again about three days later the same issue occurred again, this time in heavy traffic and it was difficult to get into “drive”, I have returned the car back to the dealership. At this time, I asked the service manager to take a ride with me, he seemed very surprised when the issue occurred with him in the drivers seat, he also had a hard time getting the car into drive. This seems like a big safety concern for a vehicle to rear end my car.

I brought my 2023 Volkswagen id.4 Pro S EV to the Volkswagen dealer where the vehicle was purchased new earlier this year. This service visit was for the routine 10,000 mile inspection. Upon leaving the appointment, I drove out of the exit driveway of the dealership and made a left turn across a 5 lane road. Shortly after pulling out into the road (at approximately 15-20mph driving in "B" regenerative mode) all acceleration ability ceased despite my foot depressing the acceleration pedal. I had no ability to accelerate for about 3-4 seconds, leaving the car drifting in the middle of my turn. It wasn't until a few moments later after pumping the pedal that the acceleration ability returned. No warning lights or other changes were observed. I called the dealership about this, and after about a week they responded with "I spoke with the EV technician, he noted that because we plugged in the scanner to do the 10k service, it may have reset the basic settings of the E-motor. He noted it is normal for that to happen as when the engine dies and comes back on, it's the vehicle resetting the basic settings again. So it should not happen again." Meanwhile, I posted about my issue in an id.4 owners forum online and received 25 responses stating others had experienced the same concerning problem after a service visit. If VW dealers are releasing serviced vehicles to customers knowing what they are about to experience (momentary loss of acceleration upon first drive after visit), this represents a serious safety hazard. Fortunately, in my example, I was in a low-traffic scenario where the momentary loss, while panic inducing, did not cause me to impede traffic. However, if the road had been busier, my sudden and unexpected deceleration could have easily caused an accident. I feel very strongly that I am lucky nothing happened to me, and I also feel that the nonchalant responses from the dealer AND VW's corporate Instagram help chat were alarming and inappropriate.

30848 miles 1/5/24 – Drove to Cedar City UT for an appointment after picking the vehicle up. The elevation is 5846 feet and the weather was about 20f. While going uphill on the interstate I started to receive messages about the headlights not working. Electrical system not working correctly error message came back. The left headlight was going on and off on its own and an error "fault vehicle lighting". "Please check left front turn signal." "Error dynamic cornering light." Heat can be turned on hi but doesn't warm the vehicle up. Heated seats don't seem to be working even when on 3. There is also a burnt electrical smell entering the vehicle. Vehicle was parked outside Findlay VW St. George service and won’t be checked in until 1/8 as they are closed on the weekend.

30722 miles 12/12/23 – Vehicle continued to give the parking sensors error even after ensuring they were cleaned. The error will go away intermittently and then come back. Also got an error about parking assist not working. These errors never occurred before the 30000-mile service. Vehicle started giving electrical system errors and 12v battery errors again and had to be towed to Findlay Volkswagen St. George. The vehicle was in the shop 24 days, and I only received one email response from Pam Mahony-Coufal that the tech was still working with VW on the issue, and she would let me know when they were done. Texts and emails to check the status were met with no response. When I asked about a loaner, vehicle service manager Bryan said there were none available, and if there were one, it can’t be taken out of state. That poses a challenge for me since I live in Nevada and the dealership is in Utah. The dealership stated they found melted relays and replaced them. The vehicle was road tested 8 miles and returned to me 1/5/24.

29987 miles 11/3/2023 – I brought my vehicle to Findlay VW Henderson NV for the 30,000-mile service, the 12V electrical issue, and the door handle recall. Andrew Lammers, the service consultant told me they’d check everything out while my vehicle was in the shop and before releasing it back to me. I received a call about a week later that there were parts hold. On 11/17 I was advised my vehicle was ready. I was told the 12V battery, high voltage system, and electrical were tested and were okay. 4-wheel alignment, front assist, and lane assist systems were also recalibrated. I was assured I shouldn’t have any electrical issues any longer. I picked my vehicle up 11/18, one day after I was notified it was finished.

20122 miles 7/31/2023 – Infotainment screen would reboot at random. I was also receiving the 12V battery message still and the electrical system error Dropped vehicle off at AutoNation VW for the 20000-mile service. Mark Daddario said that sometimes it’s how the customer drives the EV’s that makes the errors come up but couldn’t tell me anyway I was driving it incorrectly. I left the vehicle asking them to perform the maintenance, perform the door handle recall, and replace the flat tire under my VW Care tire protection plan. I left the vehicle with them for several days while I was out of town. Upon picking up the vehicle Chris Guilkey told me everything was performed, but the system was down so they couldn’t give me any paperwork. He handed me the key and pointed to my vehicle which was returned to me with 17% charge. Shortly after leaving the dealership the vehicle performed a thud and shut down. After waiting a few minutes, it restarted again. I drove back to the dealership and Chris didn’t see any errors on the screen so told me everything should be fine.

9942 miles – Error: 12V power supply. Safely Park the vehicle! See owner’s manual. Pulled over a turned vehicle off. Took vehicle to AutoNation VW. By the time I arrived at the dealership the error was no longer on the screen. Jeffrey Lopez had said it would be checked as part of the 10,000-mile service (which according to Jeffrey included oil change.) I showed Jeff pictures of the error message. Tech performed the 10000-mile service, scanned the vehicle but claimed they were unable to duplicate concern. Nothing was documented regarding the electrical issue, only that I was there for a 10,0000 service synthetic oil. Inspection paperwork all claimed that the vehicle was in good condition. Upon leaving the dealership there was a thud and loss of power but then the power immediately came back.

The car came to a sudden unexpected stop from about 10 miles per hour. Everything shut down and the car came to a harsh stop, skipping/shuddering/stuttering. Happened so fast and unexpectedly that it startled me. Almost like the brakes were locking up and pulsing. But no brakes were ever applied by me. After coming to a complete stop car was completely dark. I tried to press the brake pedal to start it and nothing. Tried the brake pedal a second time and it turned on allowing me to drive away. Shortly after this event a thumping or banging noise started to occur when I accelerate or decelerate. Almost like something is loose below my feet. Weird thing is the sound is not constant. Comes and goes. Seems to be triggered after I make a right turn. Car has been at the dealer since November 28,2023 for this issue and is still at the dealer as of December 5, 2023 . Aside from this I recently got the car back from the dealer after being in for a week to replace the right rear door handle as it was faulty and opened on its own. Apparently not the known recall though.

This is a new vehicle used for less than 2 weeks. It has under 250 miles on it. The vehicle looses power and displays the following warning messages: “Error: Drive System. Please safely stop vehicle!” and “Electrical System not working correctly. Please service your vehicle” I was in a very unsafe situation without power but luckily was able to guide the car over to the side of the road with the momentum it had. The vehicle has been at the dealer since that event which has been 6 days now. Still no word on if / when it will be fixed.