2021 Volkswagen ID.4 reliability

Is it reliable?

NHTSA's file on the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 holds 333 complaints after 6 years, a rate of 57 per year. That is more complaints per year than most ID.4 years here — over the median of the other years, which is 33. NHTSA has 11 recalls on file, including Gear position indicator, Exterior, and Back-over prevention, software.

Complaints

333

Per year

Recalls

Years on the road

What owners report

The complaints owners file most often name Electrical system (177 of 333), then Forward collision avoidance (39) and Structure (35). Those filings include 28 that report a crash, 1 that reports a fire, and 15 that report an injury.

Next to 2022

The 2022 ID.4 has 135 complaints, 33 per year. The 2021 has more complaints per year than the 2022.

The complaint rate is complaints filed in this year’s first 3 years on the road, divided by however many of those years have passed. Recalls are a separate count. The numbers are for the US-market 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. How we count. Data as of 2026-10-16.

Recalls (11)

Recall powertrain, automatic transmission, gear position indicator 2025-02-27 · NHTSA campaign 25V120000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2023 ID.4, 2022-2023 Audi Q4 e-Tron, and Q4 e-Tron Sportback vehicles. The instrument panel may not properly display the transmission gear lever indicator. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 102, "Transmission Shift Lever Sequence, Starter Interlock, and Transmission Braking Effect."

Remedy Dealers will update the brake control unit software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 14, 2025. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298 or Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 97H3. Audi's number for this recall is 454R.

Recall structure, body, door, handle, exterior 2024-09-04 · NHTSA campaign 24V651000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2024 ID.4 vehicles. The door handles may allow water to enter the circuit board assembly, which can cause the doors to open unexpectedly.

Remedy Volkswagen dealers will inspect and replace the door handles as necessary, and update the vehicle software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on December 27, 2024. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 57J9. This recall expands previous recall numbers 23V-312 and 23V-213. Vehicles previously repaired under 23V-312 and 23V-213 will need to have the new remedy completed.

Recall back-over prevention, software 2024-05-15 · NHTSA campaign 24V344000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VW) is recalling certain 2021-2023 ID.4 vehicles. Due to a software issue, affected vehicles may experience center displays and instrument panel displays that do not boot, or that sporadically reset. This can result in loss of speedometer information or loss of rearview camera image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard numbers 101, "Control and Displays" and 111, "Rear Visibility."

Remedy Dealers will update the vehicle software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on December 20, 2024. Owners may contact VW customer service at 1-800-893-5298. VW's number for this recall is 919A.

Recall structure, body, door, handle, exterior 2023-05-03 · NHTSA campaign 23V312000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2022 ID.4 vehicles. The affected vehicles may have been manufactured with door handles that allow water to enter the circuit board assembly, which can cause the doors to open unexpectedly when the vehicle is subject to high lateral forces at speeds below 9 mph/15 kmh.

Remedy Dealers will update the vehicle software, and inspect the door handles as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 19, 2023. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall are 57J5 and 57J8. This recall was replaced by recall number 24V-651

Recall electrical system, propulsion system, traction battery, battery management system, software 2023-02-01 · NHTSA campaign 23V040000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 ID.4 vehicles. Software programing may cause the high voltage (HV) battery management control module to restart or the pulse inverter to deactivate.

Remedy Dealers will update the HV battery management control unit and the pulse inverter control unit software, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed March 31, 2023. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 97ZZ.

Recall air bags, frontal 2022-11-02 · NHTSA campaign 22V858000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 ID4 vehicles. The passenger air bag may be incorrectly folded. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Remedy Volkswagen will replace the passenger air bag module, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 14, 2023. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number to this recall is 69EH.

Recall electrical system, propulsion system, traction battery 2022-03-16 · NHTSA campaign 22V162000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 ID4 vehicles. Incorrect soldering of the flexible printed circuit assembled (FPCA), inside the high voltage (HV) battery, may cause an unreliable connection.

Remedy Dealers will replace the battery cell modules, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 6, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 9302.

Recall steering, steering gearbox 2021-11-03 · NHTSA campaign 21V852000

Summary Volkswagen Group of American, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling one 2021 ID.4 vehicle. The steering gear may have an incorrectly assembled or missing drive bushing.

Remedy A dealer will replace the steering gear, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 5, 2021. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 48Q7.

Recall seat belts, rear or other, retractor 2021-08-05 · NHTSA campaign 21V606000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 Volkswagen ID4, Audi A4 Allroad, A4 Sedan, A5 Cabriolet, A5 Coupe, A5 Sportback, A6 Allroad, A6 Sedan, A7, A8, E-Tron Quattro, E-Tron Sportback Quattro, Q3, Q5, Q5 Sportback, Q7, Q8, RS5 Sportback, RS5 Coupe, RS6 Avant, RS7, RSQ8, S4 Sedan, S5 Cabriolet, S5 Coupe, S5 Sportback, S6 Sedan, S7, S8, SQ5, SQ5 Sportback, SQ7, SQ8, and 2021-2022 S3 Sedan vehicles. The rear seat belt automatic locking retractors may deactivate early, which can prevent the child restraint system from securing properly. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Remedy Dealers will inspect, and replace as necessary, the middle-rear seat belt assemblies, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 27, 2021. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298 and Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 69CR (VW) and 69CS (Audi).

Recall seat belts, rear or other, retractor 2021-08-04 · NHTSA campaign 21V607000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 ID4 vehicles. Incorrect rear outboard seat belt assemblies without an automatic locking retractor (ALR) function may have been installed, which can prevent the child restraint system from securing properly. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 208, "Occupant Crash Protection."

Remedy Dealers will inspect, and replace as necessary, the rear outboard seat belt assemblies, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 27, 2021. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69CQ.

Recall exterior lighting, headlights 2021-06-02 · NHTSA campaign 21V413000

Summary Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 ID.4 vehicles. Caps were installed on the headlight vertical aim instead of the horizontal aim, allowing for horizontal adjustment of the headlight beam. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

Remedy Dealers will remove the caps from the vertical aim and install them on the horizontal aim, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 18, 2021. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 9406.

Complaints by component (333 total)

Electrical system

177

Forward collision avoidance

Structure

Service brakes

Speed control

Fuel and propulsion system

Powertrain

Back-over prevention

Steering

Engine

Air bags

Lane departure

Equipment

Exterior lighting

Tires

Wheels

Visibility and wipers

Latches, locks, and linkages

Engine and engine cooling

Hydraulic brakes

Suspension

Air brakes

Hybrid propulsion

Seat belts

Seats

Show 17 more Show less

Crash-flagged

Fire-flagged

Injury reports

Death reports

Complaints filed per year

Excerpts from recent NHTSA complaint filings

"The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. While stopped at a light, the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. The contact frantically depressed the brake pedal with excessive force, but the vehicle continued to accelerate.…"
Speed control · filed 2026-09-21
"Incident Summary VW ID.4 Loss of Power/Stall Date: Monday, September 7, 2026 Location: Highway (3-lane), traveling ~45 mph Vehicle: Volkswagen ID.4 Sequence of events: While driving at approximately 45 mph, multiple…"
Powertrain, Electrical system, Engine · filed 2026-09-10
"Faulty sensor under passenger seat will cause the airbags to go off while someone is in the passenger seat, buckled. Will go on and off intermittently. Alert on dash will illuminate and overhead notification of…"
Air bags, Seats · filed 2026-09-07
"After periods of rain or driving in wet conditions, when parking on an incline, the vehicle will not release the automatic parking brake without hard physical input to the accelerator causing a loud bang from the rear…"
Powertrain, Service brakes · filed 2026-08-22
"The vehicle developed a charging/electrical/high-voltage battery problem. Level 3 charging stopped first, then charging later stopped on all levels. The vehicle was taken to an authorized Volkswagen dealer on…"
Powertrain, Electrical system, Fuel and propulsion system · filed 2026-08-19

Fuel economy

Trim	Engine	Transmission	Drive	City	Hwy	Combined	Annual fuel cost
ID.4 1st	—	Automatic (1-speed)	Rear-wheel drive	104	89	97 MPG / 250 mi range	$800
ID.4 all-wheel drive Pro	—	Automatic (1-speed)	All-wheel drive	102	90	97 MPG / 249 mi range	$800
ID.4 all-wheel drive Pro S	—	Automatic (1-speed)	All-wheel drive	98	88	93 MPG / 240 mi range	$800
ID.4 Pro	—	Automatic (1-speed)	Rear-wheel drive	107	91	99 MPG / 260 mi range	$750
ID.4 Pro S	—	Automatic (1-speed)	Rear-wheel drive	104	89	97 MPG / 250 mi range	$800

Specs and fitment

1st generation, 2021–present

Body styles SUV

Tire size 235/50R20, 255/45R20, 235/55R19, 255/50R19 (trim dependent)

Known issues for this generation

NHTSA safety recall 23V750000 covers affected vehicles after the agency found that volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2023-2024 ID.4 vehicles. The interior sunshade for the panoramic glass roof may be insufficiently fire retardant. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 302, "Flammability of Interior Materials.". In a fire, fabric that is not fire retardant may further fuel a fire, increasing the risk of injury. Remedy: Dealers will apply flame retardant to the sunshade fabric, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed December 15, 2023. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 60G3.

Compare

Next year 2022 Volkswagen ID.4 See every Volkswagen ID.4 model year →

Frequently asked questions

Is the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 reliable?

What are common problems with a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4?

Is the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 more reliable than the years next to it?

The 2022 ID.4 has 135 complaints, 33 per year. The 2021 has more complaints per year than the 2022.

Has the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 been recalled?

The 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 has 11 recalls on file with NHTSA. See the recalls table on this page for dates, components, and remedies.

How many complaints have owners filed about the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4?

Owners have filed 333 complaints about the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 with NHTSA.

What mpg does a 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 get?

EPA-rated combined fuel economy for the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 is 96.6 MPG. See the fuel economy table on this page for city and highway figures by engine and transmission.

Does the Volkswagen ID.4 use engine oil?

The ID.4 is a battery-electric vehicle; maintenance focuses on brake fluid, cabin filter, and tire service rather than engine oil.

What tire sizes does a Volkswagen ID.4 use?

Common US sizes include 235/55R19, 255/50R19, 235/50R20, and 255/45R20 depending on trim.

When did the Volkswagen ID.4 launch in the US?

The first US ID.4 model year is 2021 (1st generation on this site).