Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
70–25K
1025–50K
1150–75K
375–100K
3100–150K
0150K+
34 reports with mileage · 28 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
Air Bags. Review the 28 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Electrical System. Review the 23 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
Engine. Review the 9 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
1 crash reports1 fire reports2 injury reports
What owners actually said
62 reports
Mileage unknown · Oct 19, 2022
Air BagsElectrical SystemSteering
I have a 2015 VW Tiguan, VIN: [XXX]. The Steering Wheel Clock Spring has gone bad causing multiple failure lights to come on and has also caused the car to be difficult to drive. Especially the steering. Most of the systems themselves are not failing, it is just the Clock Spring giving faulty readings to the car's computer. …
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I have a 2015 VW Tiguan, VIN: [XXX]. The Steering Wheel Clock Spring has gone bad causing multiple failure lights to come on and has also caused the car to be difficult to drive. Especially the steering. Most of the systems themselves are not failing, it is just the Clock Spring giving faulty readings to the car's computer. The lights that are on are the Green Break light, the Yellow Airbag and safety belt pretensioner system malfunction, and the Yellow Steering Wheel System light. The cause of this Clock Spring failure was because the car battery died. After we replaced the battery, the warning lights came on. The dealer had said it was the Steering Wheel Clock Spring that is causing all the system lights to come on. The dealer made me pay for the replacement ahead of time because he said that there was a long waiting list for the part that was being manufactured in Ukraine (?). [XXX]i is the service manager that made me pay for the future warranty repair. The local VW dealership in Waipio has made it extremely difficult to get this repaired under warranty or by a recall. I did get a notice for a class action lawsuit opened against VW and this issue. There is also an extended warranty repair, except my VW had too many miles (88K), and they said this year was skipped over for some reason. The Lawsuit is Water Pump Settlement 7577, PO Box 2636, Faribault, MN, 55021-9636. The attorney handling the case is [XXX]. I did not sign up for this lawsuit because again the year 2015 Tiguan was excluded for some reason that I do not understand. Please note that in Europe the very same part on this year VW Tiguan has been recalled. Why haven't they recalled the it here in the United States? INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
NHTSA ODI #11490073
Mileage unknown · Aug 23, 2022
Air BagsUnknown Or Other
The clock spring went out on my car. This is a known defect at VW. My horn and airbags do not work now. Both are essential to safe driving. The part is backordered and people have been waiting for months. VW is letting people drive in death traps vehicles and recklessly allowing people to put themselves in danger because they ca…
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The clock spring went out on my car. This is a known defect at VW. My horn and airbags do not work now. Both are essential to safe driving. The part is backordered and people have been waiting for months. VW is letting people drive in death traps vehicles and recklessly allowing people to put themselves in danger because they cannot afford new vehicles nor will VW provide rental cars while the part is on backorder. We need help. VW has a reputation for taking advantage of these situations and doing nothing. Please help us. VW won't.
NHTSA ODI #11480853
Mileage unknown · Aug 22, 2022
Air Bags
The airbag clock spring on my 2015 Tiguan broke in June. The car has a warranty extension for this failure, but no parts are in stock. It has now been 2 months and neither the dealer (Hendrick VW in Frisco, TX) nor VW Customer "Care" can help. There is not even a date for the replacement part available. My daughter is (was) …
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The airbag clock spring on my 2015 Tiguan broke in June. The car has a warranty extension for this failure, but no parts are in stock. It has now been 2 months and neither the dealer (Hendrick VW in Frisco, TX) nor VW Customer "Care" can help. There is not even a date for the replacement part available. My daughter is (was) the main driver and I don't want her driving an unsafe vehicle without horn / airbag. Worse, the registration has now expired, as the car can't pass the State Safety inspection required to renew the sticker. Car is now just parked until further notice.
NHTSA ODI #11480670
Mileage unknown · Jul 21, 2022
Air Bags
My 2015 VW Tiguan has a broken clock spring. The clock spring functions to control the airbag deployment, horn and dashboard screen controls. This is a significant safety risk, as the steering wheel airbag will not deploy in a crash. A certified Volkswagen technician diagnosed the issue at a VW dealership. The airbag dashboard …
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My 2015 VW Tiguan has a broken clock spring. The clock spring functions to control the airbag deployment, horn and dashboard screen controls. This is a significant safety risk, as the steering wheel airbag will not deploy in a crash. A certified Volkswagen technician diagnosed the issue at a VW dealership. The airbag dashboard light is on, indicating that the airbag will not deploy in a crash. No warnings prior to failure, car operated well, with no issues before this was reported. Volkswagen is aware of the issue. They will be able to fix it, under warranty, but the parts are on backorder with no ETA as parts are manufactured in the Ukraine. This is a widespread issue across many VW models and model years. My car is not identified in the recall and there are thousands of cars waiting for the same repair. A recall should be issued. Having a safety issue like this, with no proposed time for resolution is unacceptable.
NHTSA ODI #11475088
Mileage unknown · Jun 28, 2022
Air Bags
Broken clock spring affecting all collision safety systems such as airbag deployment and collision avoidance like horn and cruise control along wiht computer functions controlled exclusivley through the steering wheel.
NHTSA ODI #11471439
Mileage unknown · Jun 24, 2022
Steering
While driving steering became very stiff and I could not turn the car. The red steering icon lit up on the dashboard and a gurgling sound was coming out from underneath the dash. The car only has 50,000 miles and I have never experienced a steering problem the car was nearly underivable. I took it to the dealer and they state…
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While driving steering became very stiff and I could not turn the car. The red steering icon lit up on the dashboard and a gurgling sound was coming out from underneath the dash. The car only has 50,000 miles and I have never experienced a steering problem the car was nearly underivable. I took it to the dealer and they stated there was a 50851 Fault Torque Sensor Reading out of range and the steering rack had to be replaced with updated harness tierods and related hardware
NHTSA ODI #11470899
67,000 miles · Jun 2, 2022
Air BagsElectrical System
The contact owns a 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that the horn became inoperable. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the clockspring needed to be replaced; however, the part was on backorder. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer …
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The contact owns a 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that the horn became inoperable. The air bag warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the clockspring needed to be replaced; however, the part was on backorder. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 67,000.
NHTSA ODI #11467212
Mileage unknown · May 11, 2022
Air Bags
Airbag light comes on. There has been no accident to cause this
NHTSA ODI #11464195
Mileage unknown · May 3, 2022
Air Bags
Airbag error light has been on since February 2022, clockspring malfunctioned and is covered under warranty. There are no loaner cars available forcing me to drive an unsafe vehicle with no airbags. The part has been on back order with no estimated date of arrival.
NHTSA ODI #11463179
Mileage unknown · Apr 18, 2022
Air BagsElectrical SystemSteering
While driving in a congested area of Jacksonville, FL a small child pulled bike from behind another vehicle, I attempted to sound my horn in an attempt to get the child’s attention or that of the other driver. The horn failed. I continued to try and nothing. I noticed the airbag light on. I called the VW dealership and was told …
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While driving in a congested area of Jacksonville, FL a small child pulled bike from behind another vehicle, I attempted to sound my horn in an attempt to get the child’s attention or that of the other driver. The horn failed. I continued to try and nothing. I noticed the airbag light on. I called the VW dealership and was told this is a problem with the clock spring in the steering wheel behind the airbag. This part controls all the functions of the steering wheel. He also mentioned NHTSA has several complaints and the warranty was extended to 120,000 miles. This is relatively a low threshold as more and more people are keeping cars longer with cost. I have 121,190 miles on my Tiguan and am told this is an $800 fix. It is only a miracle this child was not killed. I would be curious how many have been injured, or killed, and the faulty spring has not been pinpointed. I believe this is and immediate threat to safety as one cannot be sure if the airbag will work nor can you summons help with the panic feature as the horn does not work. I believe an immediate recall should be issued regardless of mileage.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2015-2016 Tiguan and CC vehicles. The air bag Electronic Control Unit (ECU) may have a defective power supply capacitor that can result in air bag deactivation or inadvertent deployment of the air bags.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: Deactivated air bags increases the risk of injury. Inadvertent deployment of the air bags increase the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will install new software and replace the air bag ECU as necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 25, 2019. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69Z5.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Eos, 2012 Passat, 2012-2016 CC, 2015-2016 e-Golf, 2011-2015 Touareg, 2012-2015 and 2017 Tiguan, and 2011-2016 Golf and 2011-2013 GTI vehicles. Modifications made while the vehicles were in an internal evaluation period may cause the affected vehicles to not comply with all of the applicable regulatory requirements.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the vehicles do not meet all regulatory requirements, there could be an increased risk of a crash, fire, or injury.
Remedy: Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will repair the vehicles to make them fully compliant or Volkswagen will repurchase them if necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 29, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2015 Volkswagen Tiguan vehicles manufactured January 15, 2015, to January 21, 2015, and 2015 Audi Q5 vehicles manufactured January 13, 2015, to February 3, 2015. The affected vehicles are equipped with driver and front seat passenger seat-mounted air bag inflators that may rupture in the event of a crash.
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of a seat-mounted air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Remedy: Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will replace the side air bag modules, free of charge. The recall began July 7, 2016. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-822-2834 or Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69M1 (for Audi) and 69L9 (for VW).
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2015 Tiguan vehicles manufactured January 22, 2015, to March 20, 2015. These vehicles may be equipped with Certification labels that are missing the required tire pressure information and they may state incorrect weight and loading information. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of 49 CFR Part 567, "Certification."
Consequence & remedy
Consequence: If the labels have incorrect weight and loading information, the operator may overload the vehicle which could cause vehicle instability, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy: Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will correct the information on the certification label, free of charge. The recall began on June 12, 2015. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 01A5.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗