2024 Volkswagen ID.4 Electrical System Problems

I am reporting an unresolved safety recall (NHTSA 26V030, Volkswagen recall 93EA) involving a high-voltage battery defect with potential risk of fire. My vehicle (VIN: [XXX] ) was purchased in the United States but is currently located in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The authorized Volkswagen distributor in the Dominican Republic has confirmed they are unable to perform the recall repair, as they do not service electric vehicles. As a result, I am operating a vehicle with a known safety defect and no available remedy, despite this being an active safety recall. I have contacted Volkswagen and requested assistance, but currently no solution has been provided. I am requesting guidance and intervention regarding how manufacturers are expected to address safety recalls for U.S.-sold vehicles located outside the country. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Car was plugged in to our home level 2 charger waiting to charge (no current was being supplied yet). Alarm went off, I went into our attached garage and checked on it. Heard a high pitch beeping coming from the car, went into it and saw this message (see attached picture). Took picture while waiting for garage door to open so I could back car out of garage and as far down our driveway as possible. Called fire department and then disconnected high voltage battery from under the hood. FD arrived and didn't really know what to do. Alarm continued to go off. Eventually a flatbed arrived and I had it delivered to our local dealer. We use this car in rural VT. The weather right now is single digits or below. We regularly use this to transport our one year old. Had this not happened at home but on a drive, this certainly could have been a much, much worse situation. The car is currently at the dealer waiting to be looked at. The person said I Was the third ID4 to come in over the weekend. They are not currently providing us with a loaner even though we requested one.

The vehicle has a recurring door handle/door lock malfunction associated with Volkswagen safety recall 57J9. Symptoms include the vehicle unlocking and immediately re-locking, auto-unlock failure, and difficulty entering the vehicle. All four door handles were previously replaced under the recall (Feb 2025), but the malfunction recurred. On 01/26/2026 I delivered the vehicle to a Volkswagen dealer for recall repair; it was fully drivable at drop-off. During the recall-related software/coding procedure, the dealer reported the procedure could not be completed because the software would not accept the currently installed headlamp modules. A manufacturer Techline case was opened (SK-1561187) and the dealer reported they were advised to replace both headlamp assemblies due to part number incompatibility. After the attempted recall procedure/diagnostics, the vehicle became not drivable and has remained at the dealer continuously for over 30 business days. The manufacturer later denied warranty coverage and closed the case unless the owner pays to replace headlamps (approx. 3,887.79) in order to complete the recall procedure. The door locking/entry malfunction and inability to complete a safety recall repair creates a safety risk (potential inability to enter/exit and vehicle immobilization after recall service). The vehicle is available for inspection at the dealer.

I purchased this 2024 Volkswagen ID.4 as a Certified Pre-Owned vehicle, and the electrical issues began almost immediately after taking ownership. While driving, the main infotainment display will suddenly reset, freeze, or go completely blank. Sometimes the instrument cluster also flickers or freezes during these events. At the same time, I received a “12V battery limited, please drive with care” warning. When the center screen resets while the vehicle is in motion, I temporarily lose access to important driving information such as the backup camera, vehicle status, sound alerts, and sometimes the speedometer. These failures create a safety concern because they remove visibility of warning indicators and essential driving data. The 12-volt system warnings also raise concern that the vehicle may lose power to critical control modules or experience a sudden electrical shutdown. The issues are intermittent but recurring, and started immediately after purchasing the vehicle CPO, which suggests the defect existed before I acquired the car. This appears consistent with other reported electrical and 12-volt system failures on the ID.4. I am reporting this because I believe the issue may be part of a broader safety defect involving the vehicle’s low-voltage electrical system, displays, or charging circuitry.

Subject: Serious Safety and Electrical Problems – Request for Buyback or Replacement Dear [Manufacturer Name or Dealer Name], I leased my vehicle in January 2025, and since the very beginning I have experienced multiple serious problems. Right after taking the car from the dealership, it had an electrical failure — it completely shut down and had to be towed by a tow truck. After that incident, the vehicle has constantly shown computer warning messages such as “switch control deactivated,” “key not recognized,” “rear motor malfunction,” and other system errors. I have taken the vehicle to the dealership several times, and they always said it was due to a recall, but they never gave me a permanent solution. They kept telling me the vehicle was safe to drive. However, on Saturday, November 8, 2025, while I was driving with my family, the vehicle suddenly stopped, started jerking violently, showed a “battery overheating” error, and then accelerated by itself. I immediately called the dealership and took the car there. It is currently in their possession. This vehicle is extremely dangerous for me and my family. I am requesting that the manufacturer or dealer take full responsibility for this issue and proceed with a buyback or replacement under the Lemon Law and warranty protection.

The vehicle displays including back up cameras and speed display failed to start with the car. I was able to move the car under power and believe I could have operated the vehicle at speed. I decided that it was unsafe to operate a vehicle without speed information and left the vehicle for approximately 10 hours. When I returned it was functioning again.

While driving, infotainment locked and rebooted multiple times, until eventually the whole car rebooted while driving. Lost all visibility of speedometer and everything on heads up display. for 1-2 minutes. Brought to service center yesterday 11/10/25 (1st available appointment) and they collected logs to send to Volkswagen.

On 9/2/25, I gave my car to my local dealership to complete routine maintenance and to remedy a safety recall that had been initiated a few months prior. It was supposed to take one day to complete, but I was told that they were having trouble with a certain scan tool and would need technical assistance on their end before they could complete the recall. In short, it is now more than 3 months later (12/5) and I STILL do not have my car back. To the best of my knowledge, this is the problem: there is a scan tool that is necessary to complete the recall, and that this tool is malfunctioning. What the dealership keeps telling me is that they “continue to send tickets to their IT department, but don’t hear anything back.” A couple of times, they have heard back and have tried different updates or workarounds, to no avail. On multiple occasions, my service advisor has said that they “send tickets to IT daily in order to bother them enough actually do something.” I finally called VW customer care after my car had been with the dealership for 2 months, and the case was escalated to an RCM. She has tried following up with the dealership, as well as reaching out to the QTRL and QTM to see if there was any way to try to suss out the issue. To my knowledge, both of those have been fruitless. In fact, when the QTM visited the dealership to look at my car on November 26, all were hopeful there would be some movement. My RCM told me that the QTM was looking for updates to my case that “just weren’t there.” And that “the QTM on multiple occasions had looked for updates, but none were available.” To top things off, I spoke with my RCM on 12/2, and she said that my ticket had been closed due to “no updates in 5 days.” Infuriated, she reached back out that day to reopen the ticket. I was told today, 12/5, that the ticket STILL hasn’t been reopened. There is more, but I’m out of space. This many miscommunications and complete inaction is absolutely inexcusable at this point.

My screen frozed while I was driving to the point that I was not able to know how fast I was driving. My backup camera also did not displayed on the screen. I sent videos to [XXX]. The tire pressure stated that tire has a normal pressure but I had a flat tire. Tire pressure sensors are not reading the tire pressure. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The car's position as shown on the navigation screen and as determined by the car's internal GPS was off by several hundred miles. While driving on the highway using adaptive cruise control, the car would frequently decelerate rapidly from 60+ mph to 30 or less. When it did this, it would display a message like "turn ahead - maximum 24 mph". Of course, there was no tight turn ahead as I was on an interstate highway in New York - the ACC was receiving messages to slow down because the location data was inaccurate. On two occasions this nearly caused a rear-end collision before I was able to disable the feature in ACC that would cause the car to decelerate because of small radius roadway curvature. During this time, the car's navigation system would continuously try to re-route, and the SOS functionality did not work.

I own one of 311 vehicles specifically identified in this recall regarding "misaligned electrodes" and "shifted cathodes" in the high-voltage battery. I am formally requesting that Volkswagen replace all battery modules within the high-voltage pack of the affected 311 vehicles for the following reasons: 1. Systemic Manufacturing Deviation: The identified root cause—faulty stacker machines at the SK On facility—points to a systemic mechanical failure rather than an isolated material defect. Given that these machines were responsible for the layering and alignment of the entire pack, there is no reasonable assurance that the remaining "unflagged" modules do not possess latent alignment deviations that simply haven't triggered a diagnostic flag yet. 2. Safety and Fire Risk: The defect in question is not a performance issue but a critical safety hazard capable of causing thermal runaway. Partial replacement leaves the vehicle owner with a "mixed" battery pack, where older modules may still harbor the same manufacturing inconsistencies, continuing to pose a fire risk to the occupants and the property where the vehicle is parked. 3. Battery Imbalance and Longevity: Replacing only a subset of modules introduces a significant discrepancy in state-of-health (SoH) and internal resistance between new and old modules. This imbalance can lead to accelerated degradation of the remaining modules, reduced driving range, and repeated "Service Required" visits, as evidenced by other EV owners undergoing similar partial module recalls. 4. Diminished Value and Consumer Confidence: The "311 units" designation suggests a high concentration of risk. A vehicle with a history of multiple "surgical" battery repairs due to manufacturing-induced fire risks suffers significantly higher depreciation than those with a factory certified, fully replaced battery system. With 7618 miles it has been in for service 8 times and has had electronic issues for the past 5 visits that are still unresolved.

Car was charging, when we got in the car it tell is there is a potential risk of fire. Recall has not been address since last year.

My 2024 vw Id4 has 2 long ignored safety recalls. The dealer i bought car from won't respond and I'm very far down the waiting list for repairs. My car isn't in a garage and one of the recalls for the door handles is worsened by it being always outdoors. Would you please help me get both recalls fixed?

5/22/2025, Thursday morning I unplugged my car that was parked inside my garage. I sat down, tapped the pedal to turn on my “ignition mode” and within a few moments my windshield shot a massive flame in front of me and began sparking shooting glass from both heating elements. Glass shards landed on my hood and garage floor. My windshield was smoking and the amount of heat generated melted some of the glass around the area where the heating elements connect to the glass on the interior of my vehicle. My dealership fought me hard saying I had a crack that caused the fire and advised me to file an insurance claim for this “accident” and also continuing driving my vehicle that had just caught fire momentarily. Thankfully the fuse blew and that’s why the fire stopped but my concern is how much heat had to be generated to spontaneously combust my glass and then melt it! I refused to accept their response and after an entire day of arguing with VW customer support and the dealership. I repeatedly asked for a diagnostic of my windshield heating element module and the amount of electricity it was giving. The dealership declined to diagnose my car and removed the heated windshield fuse per my request. I spoke with the dealership owner who finally contacted their field service advisor who advised I should not drive my vehicle that caught fire and instead are going to further investigate my concern. I struggle to trust an actual investigation will be performed and hope they do not simply replace the windshield and ignore the safety hazard of my window shooting a flame and combusting glass.

On 3 different occasions in the last 2 weeks, everything mechanical shutdown accept for the ability to drive. This means all lights, computer systems, dashboards, etc. It was everything electrical accept for the ability to press on the gas, brake, and steer as these 3 things were fine though I could not see my speed either. It, meaning all 3 occurrences, were a total blackout. Ciocca Volkswagon in Flemington tried to give me an appointment 1 month out. I got the manager and he said I will be in the shop 1 week and should get a call. No call to date.

I have been leasing vehicles from VW since 2009, I leased every model they have from cars to SUVs. This is my first time leasing their first electric vehicle, ID.4. Since leasing this vehicle, we've faced multiple issues. First time was the second day after I leased it, the air conditioning wasn’t working at all. This issue was repaired. Then all sort of electrical problems started occurring when braking, including the back window lowering itself, the radio turning on and off by itself, interior lights flickering, the backup camera failing, and rear sensors not working. Additionally, the brakes have twice failed to respond properly, requiring multiple pumps to stop. Despite reporting these problems to the dealership and having inspections performed, no resolution has been found. Also 2 days ago, the rear tire unexpectedly blew out while driving, potentially due to a magnetic field beneath the vehicle pulling metal debris from the road, which may have caused a sidewall puncture. This incident occurred at just 3,221 miles of tire usage. Although it is a known issue, the dealership made me pay to replace the tire, which cost $546. Additionally, a recent safety recall about doors unexpectedly opening while driving greatly adds to all safety concerns mentioned above. These compounded issues make this vehicle very unsafe, and I’m deeply anxious about driving it, and very concerned for my safety and that of others on the road. I urge immediate resolution to these safety and potentially dangerous problems.

Lack of recall remedy for an issue that can cause the door to spontaneously open (I'm paraphrasing) while driving. This is due to a faulty door handle that allows water in, which can short the circuit board, causing the door to open on its own. This means I cannot have my daughter in this car, and honestly don't like the idea of getting in the vehicle myself, but the dealership said they cannot terminate the lease for me. I have tried contacting Volkswagen directly, but have yet to actually speak to a person. All I want, is to give the vehicle back to the dealership, without having to pay for the lease of this vehicle I cannot use without risking the safety of my wife and daughter.

The screen turns black and from my understanding disconnects all the safety features

Car will not start, although there is 70% charge. This has occurred 3 times. Gets towed to deal where they tell us "it magically fixed itself." Error message states that 12v battery is not working. Was advised by dealer that recall would not fix this problem. THey advised this can happen any time the car is charged (EV vehicle) and we will just have to tow it back to be "reset" each time.

Volkswagon is being irresponsible with their response to resolving the door issue on my vehicle. The door has opened twice while driving as clearly related to an electrical issue. This is a very dangerous scenario as I cannot predict which door opens at which time. It could be any. I have a video of my door jamb. My vehicle is brand new with 0 damage, this is clearly a manufacturer defect that VW is neglecting to resolve timely.