STRUCTURE:BODY
2018 Volkswagen Tiguan Recalls
Safety recall campaigns filed with NHTSA that cover this model year
Data refreshed
NHTSA has issued a “do not drive” advisory affecting this model year.
Campaign 18V324000. Confirm whether your specific vehicle is covered using its VIN before acting on this.
Check your VIN on NHTSA.govRecalls apply to specific vehicles, not to every vehicle of a model year. Check your VIN with NHTSA or your manufacturer's dealer to confirm whether a recall affects your vehicle.
Check a VIN on NHTSA.govRecall campaigns
13 campaigns cover this model year — what the defect is, what it could cause, and what the remedy is
STRUCTURE:BODY:ROOF AND PILLARS
SEAT BELTS:FRONT:WEBBING
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
SUSPENSION:REAR:SPRINGS:COIL SPRINGS
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL
VISIBILITY:SUN/MOON ROOF ASSEMBLY
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
SUSPENSION:FRONT:CONTROL ARM:LOWER BALL JOINT
SUSPENSION:REAR:SHOCK ABSORBER
ENGINE
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:TAIL LIGHTS
What a recall is
- Safety recall
- A safety recall is issued when a manufacturer or NHTSA determines that a vehicle has a safety-related defect or does not comply with a federal motor vehicle safety standard. Recall repairs are free. Whether a specific vehicle is covered depends on its VIN — a recall listed for a model year does not necessarily apply to every vehicle of that year.
- Safety investigation
- NHTSA opens an investigation to examine whether a safety defect may exist. An open investigation is not a determination that a defect exists, and many investigations close without a recall. Investigations can, however, lead to one.
- Manufacturer communication
- Manufacturers file copies of the bulletins they send to dealers with NHTSA. These often describe diagnostic or repair procedures for a known condition. They are not recalls: repairs described in a bulletin are usually only free if the vehicle is still under warranty or the manufacturer has extended coverage.
Safety investigations
NHTSA inquiries naming this vehicle. An investigation is not a finding of a defect, and it is not a recall.
Seat Belt Webbing Failure
In December 2017, NHTSA conducted two (2) New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) tests on the Model Year (MY) 2018 Volkswagen (VW) Tiguan. Both tests were 35mph full frontal impacts into a rigid barrier with a 50th percentile male dummy seat-belted in the driver position and a 5th percentile female seat-belted in the right front passenger position. The tests were conducted on December 8, 2017, at MGA Research Corp. (MGA) in Wisconsin and December 13, 2017, at the Transportation Research Center (TRC) of Ohio.During both crash tests, the driver seat belt webbing completely separated at the point where the webbing loops through the Crash Locking Tongue (CLT). In both NCAP tests, the dummy injury criteria requirements, as set forth in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 208, were met with one exception. The chest deceleration G force requirement was exceeded in the test conducted at TRC. The FMVSS 208 injury criteria requirement for the chest deceleration is 60 Gs and it was measured at 67 Gs in the test conducted at TRC. It should be noted, FMVSS 208 does not include a requirement that the seat belt webbing remain intact during a frontal collision to comply with the standard. Compliance with the standard is based on the dummy injury criteria.Further, the Agency has conducted NCAP testing with no substantial protocol changes for over forty (40) years. This includes tests conducted prior and subsequent to the subject NCAP tests. During that time there has not been a similar failure of the seat belt webbing in any other NCAP tested vehicle manufactured by VW or another manufacturer.In November 2020, VW filed a defect notice (20V-724/69BH) that recalled seat belt systems, both driver, and front passenger, that were manufactured with webbing from the same lot as the two NCAP tested MY2018 Tiguan vehicles. VW has tested and inspected several of the returned seat belt systems and found no anomalies in either the webbing or the CLT that would substantially affect system performance in a frontal collision.The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) estimates that between 2000 and 3500 frontal collisions involving MY2018 VW Tiguan vehicles have occurred in the field during the time these vehicles have been in service. This estimate is based on vehicle population and an estimated yearly rate of severe frontal collisions.A severe frontal collision is defined, in this instance, as being of sufficient severity to warrant a commanded deployment of the frontal air bags. These collisions would place a significant load on the seat belt system similar to loads experienced during the NCAP tests. To date, neither ODI nor VW is aware of any frontal collision in the field that resulted in separation of the seat belt webbing. ODI believes that had any field collisions involved separation of the seat belt webbing, the Agency would have been notified.In view of the recall being conducted by VW, and lack of field data demonstrating a system defect, ODI is closing this Engineering Analysis (EA). The closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by NHTSA that a safety-related defect does not exist. The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances.
Seat Belt Webbing Failure
In December 2017, NHTSA conducted two New Car Assessment Program (NCAP) tests on the 2018 MY Volkswagen (VW) Tiguan. Both tests were 35 mph, full frontal impacts into a rigid barrier with a 50th percentile male dummy seat-belted in the driver position and a 5th percentile female seat-belted in the right front-passenger position. The tests were conducted on December 8, 2017 at MGA Research Corp. in Wisconsin (MGA) and December 13, 2017 at the Transportation Research Center of Ohio (TRC).During both crash tests, the driver seat belt webbing completely separated in tension where it looped through the seat belt latch tongue (see attached photos). Based on its analysis of the NCAP test results, VW asserted that the test dummy umbilical cord exerted additional forces on the seat belt system causing the separation. To support this theory, VW conducted several sled tests.The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE18-001) on 01/10/2018 to evaluate the two (2) incidents of seat belt separation. ODI and NCAP reviewed the sled test data submitted by VW in support of their theory. Micro analysis, conducted by the Materials Laboratory at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), verified the seat belts failed in tension and not due to cuts or abrasion.PE18-001 has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA18-005) to further examine seat belt behavior in the subject vehicles and to determine, among other things, a root cause for the seat belt separation. ODI will perform a thorough review of any vehicle and seat belt design changes for the new 2018 MY Tiguan platform and their effects on the performance of the seat belt system.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — recall campaigns and safety investigations
Data on this page last refreshed .