2025 Volkswagen Tiguan

The vehicle’s automatic emergency-braking and parking-assistance systems intermittently activate when no collision is imminent. The vehicle unexpectedly stops, shifts itself into Park, and engages the electronic parking brake while moving at low speed. This has occurred while pulling into parking spaces with vehicles on both sides and while beginning an unprotected left turn when oncoming traffic was still at a safe distance. The sudden stop creates a risk of being struck by another vehicle. The vehicle was presented to an authorized Volkswagen dealership for inspection, but the dealership was unable to reproduce the condition and stated that it did not believe there was an issue. The vehicle remains available for inspection.

Since purchasing this new 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan, I have experienced repeated electrical and drivability defects despite multiple repair attempts by an authorized Volkswagen dealership. The vehicle has been out of service approximately 70+ days, including a transmission replacement, a loose ball joint and suspension repairs. Defects include repeated check engine lights, remote start failures, false "door ajar" warnings, intermittent warning messages, vibration while driving, and hard shifting. The vehicle also shut off while I was reversing and had to be shifted into Park before it would restart. Before taking the vehicle back, I asked the dealership whether it was safe to drive and did not receive a response. After the vehicle was retrieved from the dealership for the 4th time, several defects recurred within approximately 44 minutes, and the check engine light returned the following night. I believe these recurring defects present a safety risk to me, my passengers, and other motorists.

The problem occurred immediately after picking my car up from a valet on 5/17/2026 around 9:00pm. The valet had pulled my car up to the front of the Seattle Park ‘N Fly Valet by Sea-Tac airport. I pulled out onto International Blvd, and within a few seconds, the accelerator pedal became completely unresponsive. I was able to coast the car into the Denny’s parking lot just north of the valet lot (about 0.2 mi north of the valet). Everything else seemed to work just fine, except for the accelerator pedal (brakes worked just fine). I turned off the engine, and when I tried to restart the car, it was turning over but wouldn’t start. I called out someone to jump the battery, but the battery was fine. We then disconnected and reconnected the battery, and this resolved the issue and I was able to restart the car and drive away. It was dangerous that I was able to pull out onto a road, just to immediately lose any ability to accelerate. I’m lucky there was a nearby parking lot and I didn’t pull into busy traffic. Something seems to have happened at the valet, that was then triggered as soon as I pulled out onto the road. My guess is they tried to start the car and use the twist shifter in some combination that caused a fault that only triggered once I started to get up to speed. It’s strange because they were able to pull my car up to the front of the lot just fine, and I was able to pull out onto the roadway just fine, but the loss of acceleration only happened once I tried to get it up to speed.

I own a 2025 Volkswagen Tiguan SE R-Line purchased new in August 2025. Since shortly after purchase, the vehicle has exhibited a recurring safety defect where the electronic parking brake engages without driver input and the vehicle shifts itself into Park. This happens suddenly and without warning. This defect occurs multiple times per week, on average (upwards of 50+ times total since purchase) under varied low-speed conditions, including at stoplights, while slowly moving through traffic, and during parking maneuvers, etc. When it occurs, the vehicle stops abruptly as Park is engaged. This creates a significant risk of being rear-ended or losing control in an intersection or traffic lane. There are no warning lights, chimes, or alerts beforehand. The behavior is intermittent and unpredictable, so there is no way to anticipate or prevent it during normal driving. This has not yet caused a collision, but there have been near-miss situations in traffic due to the sudden stop. I notified the dealership when the vehicle was new, but because the model had only recently been released and the defect could not be reproduced on demand, there was no formal inspection or repair, and no guidance was provided. The issue has continued multiple times per week since then. I have now found other 2025 Tiguan owners reporting the same behavior, which suggests this may be a broader safety defect rather than an isolated case. I am requesting an investigation due to the frequency of occurrence and the clear collision risk associated with unintended braking and shifting into Park.