2010 Volkswagen Tiguan problems
Owners have filed 159 complaints with NHTSA about the 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 35% of complaints. After that come electrical system (19%) and lighting (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 159 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 35% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 5
- Injuries and deaths
- 5 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 67,000 miles 134 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 15 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 16 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 28 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 26 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 23 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 18 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 134 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 67,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 83,000 miles (48 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 5 complaints mention a fire; 5 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2010 ranks 13th most-complained-about out of 18 model years of the Volkswagen Tiguan with enough data (81 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 2 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
The seat heater on the driver side overheated, burned the driver's skin and burned a hole in a coat. A burning smell was clearly noticed.
Tl* the contact owns 2011 volkswagen tiguan. The contact stated that while driving 45 MPH the vehicle crashed into another vehicle and the air bags did not deploy. During the failure, the contact was thrown against the steering wheel and dashboard. As a result, the contact was taken to the hospital to treat the injuries. The vehicle was not taken to have the failure diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 7,500. Updated 07/27/11 updated 3/22/12
Was waiting at a red light, on an incline, car stopped, with multiple cars ahead. Knew I would be waiting for a while for the light to change, so gently released some pressure on the brake. Car lunged forward hitting car ahead of me and each time I depressed the brake the car lunged, hitting the car in front of me three times. Stopped the frightening ordeal by depressing the brake and turning off the ignition.
Tl* the contact owns a 2010 volkswagen tiguan. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the engine stalled and transmission failed. The contact was able to maneuver the vehicle to side of road. The battery and cdc-edc warning indicators were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the engine failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired with a replacement engine, fly wheels that assisted the crank signal and new battery.
I drove to a friends house and about two hours later got in the car and started to drive then 10 of my exterior lights all went out the same time. My footwell lights I cannot dim or brighten through the controls and back up sensor stopped working. I had no headlights while I was driving at night at around 11pm. All this happened at once at the same time. All of the bulbs were fine. I replaced them. They weren't even blown. Fuses were fine. This is a real safety hazard and can lead to crash if not looked into.