2022 Volkswagen ID.4 Exterior lighting Problems

At 43k miles, 90F outside temps, battery SOC at 20%, charged the car at a fast charger getting 140kw. Daytime Running Lights, DRL, were on. After the charging session was over at 80%, the driver's side DRL went and stayed dim. Dealership replaced the entire headlight under warranty. At 77k miles, 94F outside temps, battery SOC at 20%, using a fast charger and getting 145kw with DRL left on. After the charging session was over at 80%, the passenger's DRL went and stayed dim. I normally turn off the DRL and forgot this one time.

NHTSA ID

11724922

Incident

Mar 14, 2026

Electrical gremlins present at time of purchase (3/14/2025). Entered service and repair on 3/17/2025 and remained for 30-45 days. Upon coming to retrieve vehicle electrical malfunctions still present upon entering vehicle in the service bay, alerted advisor. Car was checked back into service immediately and remained for 60-90 days. Between March and December I have had continuous electrical gremlins present from Dashboard and display malfunction, interior lights malfunction, trunk/doors/locks/windows malfunction to no end and no repair in sight. This specific vehicle is a lemon and riddled with irreparable electrical gremlins, it has cost me significant income loss and loss of faith in the reliability of Volkswagen brand that I love so much.

NHTSA ID

11703505

Incident

Mar 14, 2025

Some lights come on and off without buttons being pressed. Door click. Doesn’t consistently lock or unlock. Center console turns off with no notice.

NHTSA ID

11648571

Incident

Mar 15, 2025

The seals/bonding on the rear right tail light assembly failed under normal use. Water has recently accumulated in the assembly and caused part of the taillight to stop functioning. In addition to apparent defect in integrity of the light housing, it is likely that there is a secondary defect in the conformal coating that lead to the water being able to damage the light. The internal light monitoring feature also did not detect the failed light element until several days after we identified it was broken. Dealer is attempting to reject coverage for something that should clearly fall under manufacturing and workmanship warranty.

NHTSA ID

11613036

Incident

Aug 17, 2024

During a recent trip to Oregon, my Volkswagen ID.4 experienced a critical failure of both the interior and exterior lighting systems, including the headlights and emergency lights. Initially, upon returning from a walk, I found the lights were on despite the vehicle being locked and not in the "Auto" mode as I had left them. Locking and unlocking the vehicle did not resolve the issue. When I entered the vehicle, a warning light indicating a malfunction in the lighting system appeared on the dashboard, and subsequently, all lights stopped functioning entirely. This malfunction posed a significant safety risk to both myself and other road users, as the failure occurred during a time when proper lighting was essential for visibility and safety, potentially leading to a dangerous situation, especially as it was almost evening. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center at this time. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives, or other relevant parties, although a video recording of the incident is available for review and is attached to the report in the PDF file. Prior to the failure, there were no warning lamps, messages, or other symptoms indicating a potential issue. However, during the incident, a warning light for a lighting system malfunction appeared on the dashboard.

NHTSA ID

11605019

Incident

Jul 3, 2024

The driver's side Daytime Running Light (DRL) suddenly went and stayed dim. It's an amber color now, while the front passenger side is still lit up very brightly. My car had 35,000 miles when this occurred.

NHTSA ID

11600667

Incident

Jul 5, 2024

The vehicle’s forward collision warning, the land departure warning, the rear cross traffic warning, the blind spot monitoring have all been having issues since the first week of the car. I’ve taken the car into the shop over 10 times since the summer of 2022 on initial purchase. Each time the vehicle comes in and Volkswagen says they cannot fix it and a future update is coming and will fix it. The update finally has come and the vehicle has all of the same problems and more. These cars are really dangerous to drive, please recall them off the road. You have a bunch of people driving malfunctioning vehicles.

NHTSA ID

11569294

Incident

Jul 31, 2022

The right stop light has water inside! The dealer say it is normal and didn’t want to remplace! The vehicle shuts off several times when you are backing up to park. The dealer say it is normal too

NHTSA ID

11513532

Incident

Jan 9, 2023

There is a band or reduced brightness between the low beams and high beams leading to a worse lit section of the surroundings while drinving. This gap in light output appears to be a fault of the headlight design, unfortunately it is had to capture in a picture in the same way that it is apparent to the human eye.

NHTSA ID

11509209

Incident

Oct 23, 2022

Twice, upon starting the vehicle, the front panel said "Warning and information not available. Drive with greater care!". No speedometer, no headlights, no indication of charge left (mileage available for travel). Electric key fob did not open or lock door. I had to pull out the manual in the dark to read how to turn off engine, as it did not turn off in the normal fashion. The first time it happened, I hadn't realized the engine was still running, so I exited the car, and it locked me out with the engine running. Luckily the window was open enough for me to put my hand in and open the driver door. This is the third time into the dealer, the first time was a bad charging cable (though I don't know if that made the car short out, or if the car blew the cable). I've had the car a little over a month.

NHTSA ID

11484722

Incident

Sep 10, 2022