Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
At 48k miles, fuel efficiency began to significantly drop. At next start up, engine would not turn over and EPC light came on. I waited 30 minutes, unlocked the steering wheel and was able to start the vehicle and EPC light turned off. I took it into Volkswagen dealership to have it looked over and they could not duplicate the issue nor find cause for lower fuel efficiency. The issue with fuel persisted intermittently. Then at 57k, while driving long distance, I noticed what seemed like misfiring when accelerating above 65 mph. There were no noises, no warning lights, and fuel efficiency seemed about the same. I continued driving and about 6 hours into my drive, EPC light came on, RPM's shot up to 4,000 and car began violently shaking while losing significant power and dropped down to 30 mph. I was in the left lane when it occurred and had to quickly move over to the right lane. …
Car has multiple malfunctions. Has had noisy valvetrain, lack of power upon acceleration, has sputtered with a load on engine especially uphill. Car shut off completely while at 60 mph and nearly caused a catastrophic collision with my whole family in the car. Car presents substantial safety risk. Multiple codes/warnings have flashed up on the display screen(Evap,Trans,fuel inj,etc). Transmission went into "emergency mode" after being started up today, then went away after restarted. Car has been to dealership but issues were not properly addressed/ignored. VW of America is well aware of issues with these cars but ignores the consumers needs and puts consumers at great safety risk by doing so. This vehicle has both engine and transmission issues as well as odd electrical anomalies.
On multiple occasions, while driving on the highway, subject vehicle displayed check engine light and EPC light at random intervals and an alarm saying exceeded 4000 came on. RPM's were not over 4000. Speed and acceleration severely limited making it dangerous to pull over on the highway in traffic. Had to pull car over and restart engine. This has happened numerous times. Also experienced shaking and skipping or missing of transmission. The car has also had the engine stall or stop when at red light or stopped forcing restart of engine.
Like many other people who have complained, the same EPC engine light turning on after the engine stalls while driving. This has happened multiple times while driving on the highway while going 65mph+. The max speed 4000 rpm message comes on the dashboard. The car does not accelerate and pulling over is necessary in order to shut off the car and restart the engine. This is incredibly dangerous and the car's speed cannot be controlled.
The first time this problem occurred was in April right after a routine maintenance check. The car was idling in a parking lot when the engine started to vibrate and a warning was displayed that said "Max Engine Speed 4000 RPM". The car was turned off and then back on. The warning did show up on the display, but the "check engine" light was lit. The car was driven back home, and after that drive the check engine light was not lit anymore. To be safe the car was taken to the dealer. The dealer was not able to replicate the issue. Later, in July, the max engine speed and EPC warnings were displayed on the screen in the middle of a trip. At this time there was also a loss of acceleration power. The driver pulled over, stopped the car, and then restarted it. When the car restarted the warning lights were no longer on so the driver completed the trip. …
I was driving on interstate 95 north in the fast lane ( at 70 MPH), when the "engine exceeds 4000 RPM" warning came on the dash board/system read out and the car lost power and started decelerating (to 40 MPH). I continued to push the gas pedal but the car came to a complete stop. I put on my flashers and restarted the car and coasted to the shoulder. I put the park, stopped the car and waited and restarted the car. We entered the highway again and as I tried to accelerate, the car hesitated and decelerated again. This time I moved over to the right shoulder , stopped and got out of the car. My husband's friend was in the car with me and my husband was following behind us. I called my insurance company and explained to them what was happeing with the car and they came and towed the car to ourisman laurel voklswagon. …
There is all this hesitation when accelerating almost like a bucking or the engine is not getting enough gas/oxygen mix. Then you can press the gas pedal a quarter of the way down and the engine hesitates then throws the car into high gear and takes off. I have driven a lot of cars the past week even a vw touareg that did not act like this car does with the accelerator. It is like the accelerator is not sending the correct single to the engine or the engine's computer is not interrupting it correctly from the accelerator. The computer in the car can be bad and give a false positive. This vehicle has been to 4 dealerships and field engineers have stated that there is a problem but vw refuses to buy back the vehicle. There have been several requests but they keep getting denied and say there is no fix for the vehicle and I feel it is unsafe to drive. …
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to respond when attempting to accelerate. The contact stated that the failure occurred every day while driving in traffic or merging onto the highway ever since the vehicle was purchased on October 18, 2018. The vehicle was taken to gunther Volkswagen (4300 fl-7, coconut creek, fl 33073) where it was diagnosed that the vehicle performed as designed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 7,000. Consumer stated the vehicle was brought back to the dealership again a week ago today. Two transmissions and still having serious problems. They still have the vehicle. I don't consider that as designed to drive that way. It just increases with problems. I won't drive it for my safety as well as the drivers out there.
The vehicle has a start/stop feature that is on by default and is dangerous when waiting to make a turn. It temporarily shuts the car down and restarts upon release of the brake pedal to move the car forward which causes severe hesitation in excelleration. To make matters worse the transmission in this vehicle jerks and hesitates. When it does finally kick in it causes the car to surge forward to fast and makes it difficult to drive and handle in a turn, epecially with oncoming traffic. Have almost been t-boned a few times due to both of these issues. We dont feel safe in this vehicle!! These issues need to be addressed by volkswagon before someone is seriously hurt. We love the styling and look of our Tiguan but feel the transmission and start/stop issues are very unsafe!!
The car does not accelerate from a stop especially on hot days after being in stop and go traffic. I step on the gas and literally nothing happens. The engine doesn't rev and the car does not advance. I can push the gas pedal multiple times before it finally accelerates and then it does it in an out of control manner. I have had to sit through a full cycle of a light before it has started. I have brought it to a dealership multiple times with this complaint, but every time they are unable to get it to fail. I brought it in for a recall and the problem was made worse and not better. The car is not safe. The issue began within 6 months of purchase and while it isn't constant, it has been a repeated problem for the past 2 years.
Acceleration complaints in other Tiguan years
Frequently asked questions
How common are acceleration problems on the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan?
NHTSA has 21 complaints about the speed control & acceleration of the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan, 7% of the model year's 292 complaints.
Is there a recall for 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan acceleration problems?
No. NHTSA lists no speed control & acceleration recall for the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan, though it has 14 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan acceleration problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 7,000 miles, and 83% before 25,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.