2023 Volkswagen ID.4

Automatic parking assist and reverse braking systems exhibit severe, recurring malfunctions causing collisions and injuries. On May 24, 2025, at approx. 4:10 PM, auto-park uncommanded the vehicle to strike a mailbox in a familiar spot. Dealer dismissed incident without diagnostics. Beyond this collision, the vehicle exhibits frequent, violent, unintended braking during reverse. This occurs when: Turning body to look back: System abruptly locks brakes, causing whiplash-like neck pain to me. Dealer stated this was "normal" for "driver seating" despite explanation. Encountering minor obstacles: System misidentifies leaves/garbage bins as threats, engaging full, hard braking. This causes extreme distress and has violently thrown passengers forward. My teenager son sustained a visible bruise for one week after hitting the console during one such incident March 2024 These system malfunctions create high risk of injury to occupants and pedestrians. The unpredictable braking events are a fundamental flaw. These issues were reported to the dealer within weeks of purchase and to VW Group of America Customer Care (800-822-8987) after the mailbox incident. They remain unresolved."

My car has experience Phantom braking 3 times. The automated braking system unexpectedly activated while I was driving out of my driveway and on to the street. There were no cars on the road when it happened. Another time it happened while I was backing out of my garage. It unexpectedly slammed the brakes. It is very scary when it happens because the body ricochets and it startles you and the car goes into park mode. The third time happened while I was driving in a crowded parking lot. I was moving like 5 miles an hour very slowly and it activated the automated braking system, there was a car behind me and I almost got rear ended. I just hope it doesn’t happen to me while I am driving on the freeway. I will be a very dangerous outcome.

As I described via various work orders to VW Centennial service since 05-15-2024 (5 service orders ago). I am seriously concerned about the sensor ability to prevent and effectively work when needed. Today, 02-26-2025 I am documenting a clear scenario where ACC failed. On Freeway 215 driving 60 MPG with ACC engaged. Traffic on the freeway came to a standstill, the ACC engaged and stopped my ID4 from 55 MPH. This is the ideal outcome. However it failed few moments later. ACC showed ready when at standstill. When traffic resumed, ID4 accelerated to commensurate with the traffic at 25mph and ACC kept on par with the car ahead which is intended with the ideal distance. 5 seconds later, cars stopped again. This is where ACC should have stopped my ID4. However it did NOT. ACC did not stop my ID4 only to find myself facing a red collision alert second later within car length away. Had to hit the brakes hard and swerve to avoid collision with the car in front. I was led into a false sense of security as ACC worked minutes prior. This is not the first time ACC failed, and based on my accounting, it only works ¾ times. Even failure to engage ¼ times this can result in a serious collision. Many times I’ve discussed with the service asking them to replicate the same issue reported here. I also gave service exact scenarios where this happened. ACC also consistently fails 100% on highway off-ramps as the sensor does not see off-ramp barriers. As such you can always find ID4 ACC accelerating into increasing elevation off-ramps. A clear example of such you is on Freeway 215 and 95 off-ramp. This is a severe safety flaw that is 100% reproducible that I’ve explained to my service department time and again.

On December 4, 2024, I left a Volkswagen ID.4 electric car in for service of Volkswagen due to software and door locking issues. The service manager confirmed the problems but stated that the vehicle has not yet received any repairs from Volkswagen and that there is no solution available. I have been given ongoing, negligent responses, such as being told that the only option is to buy another car or that there is nothing they can do. 1. What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The software system and door locking mechanism are malfunctioning. Both issues are related to unrepairable recalls from Volkswagen. The software issues are causing electrical faults, stopping problems, and unsafe braking performance. The door locking issue prevents proper functionality, likely due to a malfunction in the locking system, which also impacts the security and safety of the vehicle. The car is experiencing significant issues related to software, electrical faults, stopping problems, and, most concerning, unsafe brakes. These issues present a serious safety risk. 2. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? The brake system has become unsafe due to electrical and software failures, which could result in an inability to stop the vehicle properly or in a timely manner, presenting a significant safety hazard. Additionally, the malfunctioning door locks compromise the vehicle's security, which could lead to unauthorized access. The combination of these issues not only poses a risk to the driver but also to passengers and others on the road, especially if the braking system fails unexpectedly.

I left my office at about [XXX] on [XXX] Thursday for home, traffic was moderate, approaching the long weekend. I reached home at 5:29 pm, opened the garage and started parking the vehicle inside the car. All of a sudden, the car just took off and randomly accelerated and the next thing I found was that the vehicle landed and stopped right inside the house on the small island by the garage entrance, which is about 9” higher than garage floor, into the house with the front metal door and right side of the wall and bathroom door all shattered in front! On my left, I saw my wife in (by kitchen stove) in total panic and my [XXX] mother- in- law shouting to my wife. “What happened?!”, and my [XXX] grandson crying and closing his ears from the loud sound! Instinctively, as I realized I would not be able to exit the vehicle from where it was lodged, I reversed the vehicle back into garage where I could come out. As I switched into reverse gear (which this vehicle requires you to press the brake to be able to switch from drive to reverse), the vehicle again just accelerated with force. This time, damaging the garbage can in the garage, left garage door vertical track, drywall and outside brick wall, as the brakes were not engaging. If I had not steered my car right or left, I would have landed in the living room of the house across the street. Therefore, I steered to the right to remain on the street (in hindsight, this may not have been the best choice – in case there was another vehicle or resident walking on the street). As my vehicle was in reverse, going towards the street perpendicular to mine, it knocked down the street sign pole onto my property, ran over the curb, grass, and landscaping stones on my lawn. Finally, the vehicle stopped two feet away from my living room window and 3-4 feet above street level, under a tree on my front lawn, crashing against a big landscaping rock. When the vehicle stopped, it took me at least 30 seconds to rea INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FO

I was backing out of an outdoor shopping center slot located at the end by the curb. I had to attempt this three times due to traffic and another car that was also trying to back out. On my third attempt, I hit the curb with my passenger rear wheel. When I changed gear to move forward, the ID4 jerked violently three times. At this point my hands were on the wheel and my feet were not on either the accelerator or the brake. Immediately after the third jerk the engine revved up and car took off. I tried to brake but was flying over 2 curb hit the road and flew over 2 more curbs with plants in the middle. The braking did not stop the vehicle. Coming up over the last curb the vehicle hit a parked car sending backward and it hit 2 more vehicles. No one was injured, since the vehicles were empty. The police did come and wrote an incident report, but not a police report because in California since it was property only they do not generate a report. However, this could have been fatal since people were waking about the parking lot. There were not any warning lights or messages. It has not as yet been inspected by by anyone . The car is available for inspection at a collision center. I am not sure which component failed and why it accelerated, or did not respond to the brake, or deploy the air bag upon impact.

On August 23, 2024, the car was parked at our home and turned off. It was not connected to the charger. At around 7:25pm Pacific time, I got into the driver's seat, closed the door, and depressed the brake pedal so I could put the car into Drive. While my foot was still on the brake, and the car was still in Park, the car lurched forward towards my husband, who was standing in front of the car. The car moved forward in a fast, jerking movement, less than 2 feet, before stopping on its own. My husband quickly moved to the other side of the alley way. Both console screens went black. I still never took my foot off the brake for fear that it would lurch forward again. I picked up my phone to film the screens to see if they would put up an error message or warning light. Just before I started filming the dashboard, the screen above the steering wheel came back on, but acted weird, with the gears disappearing from the right side of the screen completely around 12 second into the video. You can see in the video that I tried to put the car into gear, but as I move the gear shifter through the various gears it does nothing. My foot remained on the brake pedal the entire time up until the moment you see in the video, when I took my foot off of the brake and the car "restarted" itself, allowing me to get it into a gear again. My husband, or anyone else nearby, would have been severely injured if they had been standing closer to the vehicle when it lurched forward. I took the car to Santa Cruz Volkswagen to be inspected for this issue on 9/3/24. I provided them a detailed description and the video I took, but they were unable to duplicate it. Based on the many other issues I’ve had with this car prior, I believe a combination of faulty electronics, manufacturing defects, and buggy software may have caused this incident. (I uploaded a PDF of service records for this issue from dealer, but could not upload the video: it's 10.3mb MP4 file, which I'm happy to provide if possible.)

pulling into parking lot of child's daycare, had foot on the break and then suddenly the car lunged forward and slammed into fence. had to forcefully slam on brakes to stop car Car is currently at the dealership for collision repair, waiting to see what the computer reports. Police report has been filed. Do not have at this time Newton MA police dept report #24032707 No warning messages or previous symptoms.