2022 Volkswagen Taos

This vehicle has a known manufacturer defect of the head gasket, causing coolant to leak out, and possible engine overheating. This issue was announced in a service bulletin by Volkswagen in 2023 but a recall was not issued. I did not find out about this until after my warranty expired, and the dealership recommended a $5,000 replacement.

I bought my 2022 VW Taos with only 16,000 miles and one previous owner. In 2023. In 2025 with only 42,000 miles the head gaskets were leaking and needed replaced. This was a COMMON issue that somehow isn’t a recall? Yet 90% of complaints on this list, including mine are for this exact reason. It was under warranty and was fixed, however in 2026 with only 68,000 miles my ECP, ABS, check engine light, and emergency transmission light all are on. My car is currently stuck in 2nd gear as a precaution to not destroy the transmission. The mechanism needed to fix this was quoted to me as being 1,500 to 2,000 JUST FOR THE PART! Not including labor and other fixes to go along with it. This isn’t cheap, reliable or safe. And the car is pretty much a waste at this point.

On July 30, 2026, while driving my 2022 Volkswagen Taos out of my apartment parking lot, the EPC and check engine lights illuminated. The vehicle shook, lagged, stalled, and could not accelerate normally. I parked and turned it off. An authorized Volkswagen dealer diagnosed a faulty spark plug. On August 12, the same failure recurred. The EPC and check engine lights illuminated, the vehicle shook, and it again lost acceleration. The dealer attributed the misfire to poor fuel caused by Arizona monsoon and dust-storm conditions and added a fuel additive. However, the only major dust storm around these dates occurred on August 19, after the first two incidents. No fuel-test results were provided to support this explanation. On August 20, the failure occurred a third time while I was driving on a major road. The vehicle shook and experienced a severe loss of propulsion and acceleration. The check engine light remained on after the engine was turned off. I had to restart the vehicle three times before I could move it into a parking lot. I was less than one mile from entering a highway, and the sudden loss of acceleration in traffic created a serious collision risk. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. On August 21, the dealer again attributed the misfire to poor fuel. It added fuel-system cleaner, filled the tank with 91-octane fuel, and test-drove the vehicle, but the misfire remained. The technician then reported that three spark plugs were fouled and required replacement. The same dangerous loss-of-power condition occurred three times within 22 days despite two prior repair attempts. The cause of the repeated misfires and fouled plugs remains unidentified. The vehicle is at the Volkswagen dealership and is available for inspection. There was no crash, fire, or injury.

On 7/9/2026, my 2022 VW Taos was brought to the dealer for being severely underpowered, check engine lights on, and a strong raw fuel smell inside the vehicle. On 7/10/2026, the dealer stated the vehicle was ready, claiming they replaced a turbo charge pipe O-ring. The service advisor verbally stated the vehicle had been successfully test-driven for 5 miles on streets and the highway. However, official paperwork only stated "cleared faults verified no leaks in system, vehicle is now operating as designed." Immediately upon driving home on the highway, as the vehicle reached 70–75 mph under load, a loud whistling noise and a sudden, dangerous loss of propulsion occurred simultaneously. The vehicle was returned to the dealer on 7/10/2026. On 7/13/2026, the vehicle was picked up after a second repair where the dealer admitted the plastic charge pipe (05E-145-673-Q) was actually fractured and had completely blown off the turbocharger during my highway drive, generating fault code P227900 (Intake Air System Leak). Upon reviewing the paperwork from both visits, I discovered the odometer had only increased by exactly 1 mile during the first service visit. The dealer completely failed to road-test the vehicle under actual highway boost loads before certifying it as safe, which directly caused a catastrophic structural engine failure and an emergency safety hazard at 75 mph.

While driving at highway speeds, the a low coolant caution light came on. We immediately pulled over before the engine overheated and added coolant and brought the vehicle in for repairs. This Taos currently has 43,000 miles and needs its head gasket replaced for the SECOND time. The first head gasket was replaced on 12/23 with 16,000 miles under a technical bulletin by VW. This is a know issue for this vehicle. With a head gasket failure, this can lead to engine overheating and seizing. This needs to be a recall.

The systems failing are electrical, engine, and fuel/propulsion systems. VW TAOS 2022 purchased Sept. 2023. Two weeks after purchasing the vehicle, I'm driving down the street and the vehicle began to lose power and start slowing down. It eventually cut off. About a week later, I experienced the same issue. I called the dealer and they had me to bring my car in. I was told that they couldn't find the problem, but that the car was misfiring. They "repaired" and returned it to me. As I drove on local streets and the interstate, I have problems with acceleration. The car does not pick up speed like it should and lags behind and then suddenly jerks forward (even after battery rest times during a stop). It rides a bit rough. Occasionally, my dashboard blacks out while I'm driving. My auto-start doesn't always work, even after the fob batteries have been changed. My gas seems to disappear and I find myself gassing up more often than I should be. I would contact the dealership, they'd coordinate service around my scheduled service dates and claim that they could never find or duplicate the problems that I'm having. The problems continue. My engine light came on while I was driving and stayed on. I was told to bring in my car. The dealership kept it from July-Sept 2025, replacing parts and then returned it to me. Two days later the engine light came back on and I had to return to the dealer again for service. After leaving a parking lot (Jun 2026), two blocks down the street the TAOS began to lose power, the engine light is flashing and the EPC code (engine control malfunction) light lit up. I called VW and they dispatched a tow. My TAOS was towed to Checkered Flag VW. My safety (and others) is at risk because the power loss just happens without warning. If a driver is not paying attention, they could run into the back of me or hit me on the side during a lane change due to the slow movement.

The EVAP line has a fault, stuck open, affects nothing whatsoever. But has every single light on the dash on. It tells me the brakes don't work, the air bags don't work, the cruise doesn't work. Everything. The confusing thing is some things actually work and some don't. The brakes work, the cruise doesn't. The auto detection doesn't work. What's worse, you can't replace that part. No one sells it. This is absolutely horrendous and very dangerous.