2021 Volkswagen Tiguan — reported problems

What owners report: issue areas

Owner complaints are classified by the system they concern: 189 classifications in all. One complaint can concern several systems, so these add up to more than the number of complaints.

• Engine55 (29.1%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2009–2018.
• Electrical system23 (12.2%)Official recall records for this system: 3, covering model years 2009–2019.
• Driver-assistance systems16 (8.5%)Official recall records for this system: 4, covering model years 2021–2024.
• Fuel system11 (5.8%)Official recall records for this system: 2, covering model years 2009–2014.
• Powertrain (transmission & drivetrain)11 (5.8%)
• Body & structure11 (5.8%)Official recall records for this system: 6, covering model years 2016–2022.

Other / uncategorized: 29 classifications (15.3%) were not assigned to a specific system by the source. They are counted but not treated as an issue area.

These are counts of records held by CarFaultIQ, not a failure rate. More records can simply mean more vehicles were sold or more owners reported. No vehicles-in-service figure exists in this data, so no reliability or risk score can be derived from it.

What the records are about, by source

Each source is kept separate: owner complaints, recalls, manufacturer communications and investigations are different kinds of record and are never added together. All model years.

• Owner complaints (4,494 records, model years 2009–2026) are most frequently classified under: engine, electrical system and air bags (restraint system).
• Safety recalls (100 records, model years 2009–2025) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), suspension and driver-assistance systems.
• Transport Canada recalls (91 records, model years 2009–2025) are most frequently classified under: air bags (restraint system), seat belts and visibility (glass, wipers, mirrors).
• Manufacturer communications (13,464 records, model years 2009–2026) are most frequently classified under: equipment & accessories, electrical system and engine.

"Most frequently classified under" reports how the records are filed by the source. It is not a finding about causes, and a record can be filed under more than one system. Read the individual records

Evidence by model year

Records held per model year. Select a year to narrow this page to it.

1. 2009 844 records for 2009 844
2. 2010 903 records for 2010 903
3. 2011 1,024 records for 2011 1,024
4. 2012 1,161 records for 2012 1,161
5. 2013 1,206 records for 2013 1,206
6. 2014 1,092 records for 2014 1,092
7. 2015 805 records for 2015 805
8. 2016 762 records for 2016 762
9. 2017 662 records for 2017 662
10. 2018 1,049 records for 2018 1,049
11. 2019 890 records for 2019 890
12. 2020 658 records for 2020 658
13. 2021 646 records for 2021 646
14. 2022 729 records for 2022 729
15. 2023 403 records for 2023 403
16. 2024 321 records for 2024 321
17. 2025 170 records for 2025 170
18. 2026 93 records for 2026 93

Counts are not adjusted for how many vehicles were sold in each year, so a taller year is not necessarily a worse year.

Reports mentioning outcomes

• 2mention a crash
• 2mention an injury

These are counts of records whose report mentioned the outcome. They are not a severity rating and not a safety assessment of this vehicle.

Official records held

• Safety recalls NHTSA 5
• Manufacturer communications NHTSA 499
• Transport Canada recalls Transport Canada 6
• Owner complaints NHTSA 136

Explore the underlying evidence records

Diagnostic codes found in evidence for this vehicle

These codes appear by explicit identifier in official records matched to this exact model and year.

• P060C in 1 record
• U0100 in 1 record

A code appearing in a record means the code was named in that document. It is not a diagnosis of this vehicle, not a fault this vehicle has, and not an indication of urgency. Diagnosis requires reading live data from the vehicle.