2009 Volkswagen Tiguan Electrical Problems

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  38%
• 25k–50k
  1437%
• 50k–75k
  1232%
• 75k–100k
  38%
• 100k–150k
  513%
• 150k+
  13%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

Problems start with ABS and Steering warning lights with EPIC warning on dash, flickering of lights and radio shut off by loosing power steering and rough acceleration and idling. Has been in to VW dealership 5 times now with repairs "fixing" problem for a few days - a week before returning again. This is a safety issue because this happens very quickly and without warning. Once I was on a highway and had to carefully move to side of the road and limp to a safe area (luckily I was in the right lane already).

2009 Tiguan 2.0 tsi all wheel drive in 2012 I discovered some wetness in the Tiguan floor mat. (less then 3 years old car) I took it to vw dealership, they found a malfunction of the roof drain hose. The estimate was so high $700 that I figure well, I can live with a little wetness when it rains hard. 2012 to 2015 the car was at pizza ardmore vw several times (the same dealership) due to an ongoing red and orange warning lights on the dashboard. "check engine"including malfunction of the airbag. In May 2015 the engine completely stopped running. "you need a new engine" I was told, without providing me with any explanation in spite of my request. How come 25,000 mile engine brakes? Nearly $8,000 for a new engine on a six year old Tiguan. Two year later, the car stopped running again, the engine will not start, all electric are shot, no radio, no light, no airbags, no power, all gone. …

2009 vw Tiguan. The wiring to both high and low beam lights is faulty. The insulation around the copper wiring to all lights has cracked off exposing the copper wiring. As a result the lights frequently do not work properly leaving me with a headlight that does not function. This is extremely dangerous when driving at night. The local vw dealerships fail to acknowledge the problem. Which leads one to think that vw American fails to address the problem. This is not an isolated problem but widespread. Replacing the bulb is only a temporary fix. The problems persists because of the faulty, cracking wire insulation. Vw will charge $800. To replace both light systems. Their reason for the high cost is the labor involved. They say the front bumper has to be taken off to complete the headlight lamp replacement. This is a factory defect that vw needs to address. …

Car would not start or even turn over. Battery was fine and firmly connected. Lights all came on. No error messages. On third or fourth try, it started right up. I backed the car out of driveway onto my street with distant approaching traffic. I shifted from reverse to drive and the car began to move forward and left, then with a loud clunk it died completely, engine off, all lights dark. Now in danger from the not-so-distant oncoming traffic, I tried to restart. Same trouble as before---no reponse but the all lights came on. Two or three tries and then it started. The same thing occurred the following morning. No oil dump or any other fluid. Unknown cause. Vw dealershsip unable to recreate the problem and thus unable to diagnose. The dying while in motion problem is a potentially injury-causing or even fatal hazard.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan. While traveling 5 MPH, the contact noticed that the vehicle would not properly accelerate and begun to surge forward. The vehicle was shut off by the contact and would not restart. Prior to the surging, the contact noticed that the check engine light was illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the engine was replaced, however the contact was not informed what caused the engine failure. Two months after the repair, the contact was examining the vehicle and noticed that the main fuse box was melted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the fuse box was repaired. The current mileage was 50,000 and the failure mileage was 30,000. The VIN was not available. K

I own a 2009 vw Tiguan. The car burst into flames this morning after the check engine light went on while my pregnant wife was driving the car this morning. The car has been maintained by vw and had roughly 22,000 miles on it. I bought the car from evanston autobarn vw in 2010 and serviced it at fletcher jones vw of chicago. I filed an insurance claim this morning and contacted both vw dealerships and your 24 hour help line. Vw has been zero help to us. Everyone said to call my insurance company. This is not an insurance issue. There was no collision. This car simply burst into flames while being driven. Chicago police department and fire department was involved and the report # is ht535806.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan. While driving 40 MPH, the vehicle stalled and all the warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed a loud noise, no compression, and a metallic metal to metal noise coming from the engine. The engine would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was serviced per NHTSA campaign numbers: 14V441000 (fuel system, gasoline) and 13V569000 (electrical system, exterior lighting). The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 08V235000 (engine and engine cooling). The failure mileage was 125,310.

The wiring inside the headlight assembly has insulation that degrades with the head generated by the low beam/daylight running lights. It becomes brittle and falls off creating bear wire shorting hazard. The light assemblies are such that the wiring cannot be accessed to replace with high temp insulation. Vw only replaces w/ the same entire assembly which does not correct the hazard & costs $800 to replace both assemblies. I caught the defect when replacing a light bulb. This affects more than the Tiguan model.

Tl* the contact owns a 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the timing chain needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the VIN was included in NHTSA campaign number: 14V441000 (fuel system, gasoline). The failure mileage was 100,000. Updated 07/01/16 updated 11/21/2017

I was approaching my driveway in my 09 vw Tiguan when the red power steering assist warning light came and steering wheel locked. I could not turn the car. Fortunately, I was not driving fast or I could have been in and accident or worse. There was no warning of the yellow light, the red came on and that was it. This is a very unsafe feature on the Volkswagen that can kill someone. I have the vehicle in my driveway, waiting to be towed and repaired.

NHTSA investigations

Electrical complaints in other Tiguan years