2018 Volkswagen Tiguan problems
Owners have filed 468 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 18% of complaints. After that come drivetrain & axles (10%) and electrical system (10%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 468 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 18% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 8 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 18 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 7,000 miles 244 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 | 194 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 34 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 7 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 0 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 244 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 7,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 8,000 miles (50 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 8 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 18 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 84% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 18 model years of the Volkswagen Tiguan with enough data (393 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 14 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.
Engine keeps failing and dings while driving non-stop. Causes the vehicle to think there is another vehicle near me and activates the emergency braking in the middle of the highway almost causing me to crash. I have taken the vehicle to dealer and told it is fixed about 8 times now
My name is [xxx] and I was a car accident on thursday, january 21, 2021 a vehicle hit me. I was in motion heading straight and the other car failed the right away and hit me on the drivers side. My airbags did not deploy. I'm wondering if there was recall or if anyone else has had this issue?
Purchased the 2018 tiguan on september 16th, entered service on october 10th with two b pillar rattles, excessive wind noise from drivers door and a screen flicker with the back-up camera. Car has remained in service for 21 days and no resolution from volkswagen.
The car has had a distinct noise when driving. I complained every time we were in and finally june of 2019 I was told it was the alignment after I had repeatedly told them it was the wheel bearings. After paying for a new alignment I was told that yes the wheel bearings needed to be changed and that because of all of the issues my tires needed to be replaced as well. I had that done, a month later I went in for an oil change and they told me I needed another alignment! I told them it was just done!