CarComplaints.com Notes: VW gave the Tiguan a facelift with new headlights, a fancier grille, and improved performance. Unfortunately they didn't address what gave most 2010 owners headaches --- engine problems.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
43,159 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2011 Volkswagen Tiguan electrical problems

electrical problem

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2011 Volkswagen Tiguan Owner Comments (Page 2 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #24

Jan 062014

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 70,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The outside temperature is -10F today. I started the car and allowed it to warm up for 10 minutes before driving it approximately 5 miles on an errand. I parked the car and turned it off. When I returned and started the car, the steering light came on and I lost the electronic assist for steering. I was able to drive the car home but it was very difficult and I will be having it towed to the shop. ** a quick internet search shows I'm not the only one having this problem so I thought it important to file this.

- Aurora, IL, USA

problem #23

Sep 162013

Tiguan

  • 28,000 miles
When trying to leave a parking spot, car stalled. Was able to put car in park and restart car. Took to dealer and a fuel sending relay was replaced. Had the car in the shop 6 months prior for the electrical issue reported multiple times on this model. Dealer said they replaced the high pressure fuel pump. Incident occurred again. Car returned to shop and this time they said it was the fuel pump again. Thankfully this did not occur on highway as others have experienced, but now don't have faith in this vehicle. VW would not help repair costs as car is now (third incident) over the warranty mileage. Would not purchase again!

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #22

Dec 162013

Tiguan

  • 39,020 miles
During driving one headlight (left), third brake light, and front right turn signal gave a bulb out fault. Also, the bulbs went out simultaneously. After driving for 30 minutes and then restarting the car, the faults were gone and bulbs were functional. This repeated the next day with bulb out faults and non-functioning bulbs but then reset again after restarting.

- Culpeper, VA, USA

problem #21

Dec 042013

Tiguan

  • 50,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

When I left the house in the morning for work my light-out indicator was showing and I did in fact have a front light out, as it was sunny and nice, I decided to replace it after work, however on my way driving to work (40 mile drive) I had information alerts on my car display that I had lost most/ almost all of my exterior lights including: Low. High, fog, my blinkers were intermittently working, and then even my license plate light. I made it to work and called the dealership, there were no recalls on the fuse boxes which I found an article online about. My car is currently in the shop for a whole new fuse box and the mechanic knew about this issue but there was no official recall on it, I think there should be. I could have lost brake lights too, it could have been late and dark and I could have died.

- Springfield, VT, USA

problem #20

Nov 162013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 40,200 miles
Lights started randomly going off and on..it would be left front low beam and right front high beam then no tail lights or turn signal, etc. But after a few mins they would come back on then go back off. It is gwttin worse and occurs more often now and I feel unsafe driving it at night.

- Binghamton, NY, USA

problem #19

Dec 012013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 40,040 miles
Fuse box melting causing light system failure while driving at night. Faulty design/metal screw next to 30 amp fuse causing arc.

- Sacramento, CA, USA

problem #18

Sep 282013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 41,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving I received multiple alerts of bulb failures and headlights, turn signals, tail lights would intermittently fail. Cause was a fuse and socket in the fuse box that melted and had to be replaced. I checked the recently announced recall however my VIN was not included so I wanted to bring it to your attention.

- Lynnwood, WA, USA

problem #17

Nov 012013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 43,000 miles
Passenger side headlight not lighting, the turn signal on the same side does not work and the rear drivers side tail light does not work.

- Commack, NY, USA

problem #16

Nov 152013

Tiguan

  • 44,600 miles
My 2011 Tiguan is erroneously and intermittently reporting that lamps are out. I went to the auto repair shop, and was told that it was caused by a melted fuse box. I have been on a lot of forum online, and it seems to be a common finding among VW owners, more so Tiguan. I do not understand why vwofa has not looked into the issue as yet. My brake lights, my tail lights, my headlights are all out. The idea that a fuse box could be melting under the hood is quite disturbing. VW should look into the matter as soon as possible, because that 3/36K miles warranty that would possibly cover it, does not cut it, considering that this issue usually happens around 40K miles.

- Valley Stream, NY, USA

problem #15

Oct 142013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 49,000 miles
The fuse box in the engine compartment melted. This caused my front-right headlight, rear-left brake and turn signal light, and middle brake light to stop working. My car is all stock and I've done nothing to cause it to exert excess electrical power. I am reporting this because it seems to be a very common problem with VW and is an obvious design flaw.

- San Jose, CA, USA

problem #14

Apr 032013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 40,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I bought a new 2011 Tiguan SE and it stalls out at around 5 mph. This is very dangers in parking lots ( rolled into light post). VW service first time I brought it in told me it was due to a bad fuel injector which they replaced, when it happened again just this past November they said it was a melted fuse box on top of my lights going out.

- Clinton Townships, MI, USA

problem #13

Oct 022013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 29,000 miles
2011 VW Tiguan - lights (headlights, brake lights, signals) all randomly turn off for varying periods of time. The warning indicator in the cabin of the car indicates a light is out. Research indicated possible engine compartment fuse box issue, further investigation confirmed this. A fuse in the engine fuse box appears faulty and has begun melting the fuse box itself. It appears there are numerous Tiguans manufactured between 2009 and 2011 which are affected by this issue. I am currently placing myself and others at risk on the road. I will seek to get the issue resolved but would like VW of America and other drivers to know about the problem before it poses more of a safety concern, or an injury.

- Smyrna, GA, USA

problem #12

Nov 152013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 40,000 miles
While driving... multiple exterior lights (brakelights. Headlights, high beams, fog lights, and turn signals) failed... would not fix itself after shutting off car and restarting. Brought to dealership for inspection and was notified it was a melted fusebox.

- Las Vegas, NV, USA

problem #11

Oct 232013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 60,974 miles
While operating the 2011 Volkswagen Tiguan, on the highway at speeds of approximately 65mph, experienced an electrical failure that caused a headlight / driving light / turn signal / brake light / marker light and plate light failure. The failure became intermittent until taken to the dealership for service. Dealer stated "looked up wiring diagram and traced to a fuse in engine fuse block. / fuse not blown, but has corrosion. Removed fuse and found fuse block melting. Needs fuse and block. Replaced both and lighting ok now.

- Raymond , NH, USA

problem #10

Nov 042013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 37,152 miles
When starting my car (after it had been sitting in the garage for over 24 hrs) I immediately got a "check left front lowbeam" warning plus a warning light on the dash. Turned off the car, turned it back on to see if it cleared. Then I got the same warning plus "check left front fog light". got out of the car, sure enough, they were both out. I thought it was strange they were both out at the same time, but possibly just a bulb or fuse. Started to drive down the street and more warnings for different lights kept coming up. I turned around and went home (had gone maybe a.25 mile). Made an appointment at the dealer, and by the time I drove my car in (5.5 miles door to door) all of my exterior lights had thrown a warning and were no longer working (high beams, low beams, fog lights, turn signals, license plate light, brake lights, etc. Etc.). this catastrophic failure of all of my lights simultaneously was due to a faulty fuse panel and melted fuse, which was replaced (thankfully) under my extended warranty (would have been over $600 to repair something that failed 1100 miles after my factory warranty otherwise). Dealer told me they replaced the entire fuse panel with a redesigned one. This was not the first instance they were aware of of this happening, but indicated no recall had been declared. I am hopeful this fix eliminates the issue from happening in another 30-40K miles, and that there are no other failures or performance degredation in other components as a result. Hopefully this part will be recalled before this electrical gremlin hits too many other vehicles. I'm lucky this happened during the day in my driveway and not on a snowy mountain pass at night.

- Lakewood, CO, USA

problem #9

Sep 262013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 64,000 miles
First noticed headlight out, changed it and still did not work. Then I noticed that the front turn signal also did not work. I walked around the car and noticed that not only did the front headlight and turn signal not work but also the opposite rear brake and turn signal as well. Clearly something is wrong. I went to check the fuse it was completely melted as was the box itself! you can not just replace the fuse because the box is damaged and you can't just replace the box because there is to much ampage going to the box that will cause it to do the same thing again! VW needs to make this wrong, right!

- Winfield, MO, USA

problem #8

Oct 242013

Tiguan

  • 48,000 miles
Lost half of all exterior lighting when the fuse box melted at a 30 amp fuse. Brake lights, turn signals, and head lights stopped working.

- Bristow, VA, USA

problem #7

Sep 212013

Tiguan

  • 45,500 miles
Multiple electrical items were reported as failing by the vehicle information center (low beam headlight, backup light, side marker light, fog light, third brake light, etc.) and confirmed by performing a walk around of the vehicle. An online search provided information relating to similar issues for other VW owners. The issue was a fuse, located in a fuse block under the hood of the vehicle, that had melted on one side of the fuse enough to tear the fuse link from the fuse blade. The fuse was removed, however, enough damage has been suffered by the fuse socket that a new fuse cannot be inserted. A new fuse block assembly will be required to repair this issue. There is clearly an underlying issue with the fuse block design. Overheating of the fuse blade, caused by a poor connection, is destroying the fuse body and socket. This issue can be very dangerous if the lighting components are rendered useless while driving at night.

- Port Matilda, PA, USA

problem #6

Jul 012013

Tiguan

  • 30,000 miles
Intermittent check lights cycles through and shows headlights not working, then brake lights. When I take into the dealership, they check the computer and say that there is no hard recorded error. The danger is that this has happened 3 times and once at night to where my car was like a christmas tree blinking on and off. I almost got rear ended when brake lights don't work. This is very dangerous and the dealership says nothing can be found.

- Elk Grove, CA, USA

problem #5

Jul 192013

Tiguan 4-cyl

  • 47,000 miles
A fuse has melted (not burned out in the typical manner), and melted part of the fuse block. This caused all of the lights on the vehicle to malfunction. Headlights on one side, one turn signal, bulbs in different parts of the taillight assemblies (both sides), one backup light and the third brake light. All appeared to be burned out. Upon replacement of the fuse, all worked properly. From researching the internet, we found numerous websites and forums where this has been happening on these vehicles from 2009-2013, usually around 40-50,000 miles. The loss of these lights can cause an accident or fire to the vehicle due to the electrical system getting so hot as to melt the way it did. It has been stated that VW of America has refused to correct these problems...updated 09-18-13 the fuse was replaced to get all of the lights working properly again.

- Sevierville, TN, USA

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