2024 Volkswagen ID.4

The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V651000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. 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 had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.

5/22/2025, Thursday morning I unplugged my car that was parked inside my garage. I sat down, tapped the pedal to turn on my “ignition mode” and within a few moments my windshield shot a massive flame in front of me and began sparking shooting glass from both heating elements. Glass shards landed on my hood and garage floor. My windshield was smoking and the amount of heat generated melted some of the glass around the area where the heating elements connect to the glass on the interior of my vehicle. My dealership fought me hard saying I had a crack that caused the fire and advised me to file an insurance claim for this “accident” and also continuing driving my vehicle that had just caught fire momentarily. Thankfully the fuse blew and that’s why the fire stopped but my concern is how much heat had to be generated to spontaneously combust my glass and then melt it! I refused to accept their response and after an entire day of arguing with VW customer support and the dealership. I repeatedly asked for a diagnostic of my windshield heating element module and the amount of electricity it was giving. The dealership declined to diagnose my car and removed the heated windshield fuse per my request. I spoke with the dealership owner who finally contacted their field service advisor who advised I should not drive my vehicle that caught fire and instead are going to further investigate my concern. I struggle to trust an actual investigation will be performed and hope they do not simply replace the windshield and ignore the safety hazard of my window shooting a flame and combusting glass.

The contact leased a 2024 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed to the floorboard, and there was a loss of pressure on the brake pedal. The contact stated that the vehicle continued to roll but eventually came to a stop. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer on three occasions, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and was test-driven, and the dealer determined that the ABS was offline. There were no fault codes retrieved. The contact stated that the brake booster was inoperable. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 500.

I am filing this formal complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding a critical safety failure involving my 2024 Volkswagen ID.4. The incident, which occurred on [XXX], involved sudden and unintended acceleration while slowly parking at a Walgreens in Saco, Maine, resulting in a collision with the building. I delayed this submission until the official police report (Saco Police Crash Report #[XXX]) became available on April 21, 2025, to ensure accuracy and proper documentation. Incident Details: •Date/Time: [XXX] •Location: Walgreens Pharmacy, [XXX] •Vehicle: 2024 VW ID.4 (VIN: [XXX] ) •Conditions: daylight conditions, no contributing environmental factors. While shifting from Drive to Park with my foot fully on the brake, the vehicle surged forward twice without accelerator input. IQ Drive, Collision mitigation systems and Park Distance Control (PDC) failed to engage. All driver-assistance features were deactivated. No airbags deployed. Supporting Documentation (attached): •Saco Police Crash Report # [XXX] •Crash scene photographs Prior Warnings: •In August 2024, a powertrain warning appeared; VW service dismissed it as non-critical. •On the morning of the crash, the vehicle emitted an abnormal sound during initial startup Medical Context: At the time of the incident, I was recovering from major cardiothoracic surgery ([XXX]). Though belted, the sudden jolt near my surgical site raised post-operative risks and safety concerns. Request for Action: I respectfully request that NHTSA: 1.Investigate this incident for potential inclusion in a broader pattern of unintended acceleration in the VW ID.4 model. 2.Review related TSBs, consumer complaints, or internal manufacturer field reports. 3.Secure pre-reset data from the vehicle’s ECU and EDR. 4.Notify Volkswagen of its duty to report Thank you for your attention to this serious matter INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen ID.4. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V651000 (Structure); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact stated that inclement weather, the vehicle security system was failing. The contact stated that the doors were unlocking independently, and the alarm system was disarming. The contact stated that the failure was constant. Additionally, the contact stated that the door locks appeared in the locked position, but the doors were able to be opened from the outside. The contact had taken the vehicle to the local dealer who determined that the security system needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure reoccurred. The failure mileage was approximately 2,100. Parts distribution disconnect.

Lack of recall remedy for an issue that can cause the door to spontaneously open (I'm paraphrasing) while driving. This is due to a faulty door handle that allows water in, which can short the circuit board, causing the door to open on its own. This means I cannot have my daughter in this car, and honestly don't like the idea of getting in the vehicle myself, but the dealership said they cannot terminate the lease for me. I have tried contacting Volkswagen directly, but have yet to actually speak to a person. All I want, is to give the vehicle back to the dealership, without having to pay for the lease of this vehicle I cannot use without risking the safety of my wife and daughter.

The car's turtle light was on, and the car started moving slowly with instructions to part the car immediately. I brought the car to the service on 10/18/2024, and they could not diagnose it after 3 hours. I returned the vehicle on 10/21/2024 with the same complaint, and the car has been at the dealership service since then. VW instructed the service to replace one battery module, which did not solve the problem. Now, the service is waiting on different back-ordered parts, and there is no timeline for the arrival of the parts, nor are they sure this is the resolution.