2023 Volkswagen ID.4

My ID.4 was charging in the driveway and it started on fire. My daughter came home from a friends house, saw it had started on fire, and called 911. By the time the fire department got to my house the fire had spread to the attic and continued further. My wife and pets were in the house when the fire started, but got out quickly. The vehicle has been inspected by an independent inspector in my driveway and then it was taken to an offsite facility in California to have an additional inspection. VW and Farmers Insurance (my insurance) have been involved with both inspections, but i have yet to see any information about that inspection. We saw no warning lights or any reason that we would have thought the car would start on fire. Your website would only allow me to add one photo. I have more photos that i would be happy to provide.

The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 25V836000 (Electrical System); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact requested vehicle rental assistance and a place to park the fire risk vehicle; however, the request was denied. The contact had not experienced a failure.

On May 28, 2025, a 2023 VW ID.4 spontaneously caught fire while in use. The local Fire Department and County Hazmat responded to the scene. The vehicle was declared a total loss due to thermal runaway and lithium battery fume toxicity. Crucially, the vehicle experienced a secondary ignition/re-fire several days later while in the custody of a towing company, resulting in the total destruction of the vehicle and damage to third-party property. The manufacturer participated in a joint inspection of the remains in late October 2025 but has not provided an explanation for the failure. This vehicle represents a severe public safety hazard, as the fire occurred without warning and the high-voltage battery system proved unstable enough to reignite days after the initial suppression. I am requesting a formal investigation into the high-voltage battery stability and potential manufacturing defects for this model year to prevent similar life-threatening incidents for other owners.

Since purchasing my vehicle in January of 2023 the front breaks have been squeaking. I brought this to the attention of the dealer where I purchased the vehicle, several times. I even asked them how I will I even supposed to know if I need new brakes because the start of the squeaking is typically a sign to get your brakes checked. Anyway, online auto forums are loaded with this squeaking brake problem!!! A few weeks ago I went in for service and VW told me my brakes were at 6mm, and suggested replacement of the pads. Yes, at 6 mm! So now all I can help but think that VW has known all along about this brake problem and at about year three, they feel that they can recommend a brake job. After leaving the dealership, I went to the garage near my house and they ordered new front pads and rotors. My problem has been resolved!! Squeaking gone!! The safety concern here is that driving this vehicle with the squeaky brakes for year will cause the driver to ignore the ongoing squeaking noise, which may result in them driving beyond the life of the brakes.

My Volkswagen ID.4 experienced a sudden crack in the windshield followed by smoke and fire near the dashboard/A-pillar area. The manufacturer denied responsibility and claimed the windshield crack caused the fire, but glass cannot ignite or cause an electrical fire. This is a serious safety hazard because the fire originated where electrical components and sensors are located. The incident occurred without any collision or external impact. The vehicle is still under lease, and Volkswagen refuses to investigate further. I am reporting this in case this defect affects more vehicles and poses a risk to other owners.

23 Volkswagen ID.4 Pro S AWD (82 kWh LG battery, <25k miles). Vehicle has permanently lost ~25% of usable battery capacity in less than 2 years. At 80% state-of-charge the Guess-O-Meter consistently shows only 200–205 miles (full-range estimate 250–255 miles instead of EPA 275 / real-world 280–300 miles in similar conditions). Multiple dealer-recommended BMS recalibrations (discharge below 10%, sit overnight, slow-charge to 100%) have failed to restore range. Persistent charging faults: B17E0F0 (charge connector lock), P1BF100 (no AC voltage detected), P1CAF00 (zero current time exceeded). Dealer has repeatedly claimed the condition is normal and refused full HV battery capacity diagnostic. Defect has been reproduced on multiple occasions and documented with screenshots and DTCs. This creates a safety risk due to severely inaccurate range prediction and potential for stranding. Request NHTSA investigate premature high-voltage battery degradation and charging system defects in 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 models equipped with LG batteries.

The component that keeps failing is the instrument panel and display panel completely blackout when driving. The instrument panels come back on shortly after blacking out. It also shows a message sometimes in red and sometimes in yellow that there's an electrical malfunction. That message goes away shortly as well. This has happened numerous times over the 3 years I've owned the car.Each time it happens its a total distraction and could result in a risk of a crash. I've taken it in for service multiple times and the dealer reports no findings because they can't replicate it. The last time I took it in they kept the car 2 months and when it was returned to me within the the first 2.5 hours it blacked out again. I've been in contact with VW Corporate and asked if this was related to NHTSA campaign number 24V34400 and they said my VIN is not affected by this recall. VW corporate says I have to pay $200 to the dealer if I want them to try and diagnose it again. I told them that's ridiculous, it should be included in recall number 24V34400. This is defefenitly a safety issue and not an isolated one just to my car.

This event occurred on the night of Saturday, October 25. The entire software system crashed while driving on the highway in downtown chicago. This blacked out both the HMI screens (the driver "cockpit" and the media / vehicle management screen). This rendered the speedometer, battery charge indicator, cruise control indicator, media center, and advanced sensors unusable. I still able to accel/decel, use turn signals, and steer the car as normal but I could not tell how fast I was going nor how much remaining charge there was. After 1-2 minutes, the system fully rebooted and worked fine the rest of the trip. This was the first blackout we'd experienced--and it was the first time the cockpit (speedometer and such) was affected. However, the media center HMI regularly locks up and glitches: loading menus not linked to the certain buttons, lockups when multiple devices are connected, inability to reach VW servers,...) Software is on the most recent version available for my vehicle trim, though versions with many issues fixed have since been released. (We are stuck on ID software version 3.5 despite the most recent version being around 3.8.)