2021 Volkswagen Tiguan

The seal on the passenger headlight on my 2021 Tiguan failed and condensation accumulated in the light. After a short while, the light shorted out and needed to be replaced. The dealer I went to was not very responsive and stated the light was on backorder and they could not obtain. Once the light shorted, the dealership took the car overnight, provided a loaner and replaced the headlight. For the record, I do not know if the light is VW or after-market and do not care as long as it continues to work. This is important b/c now the driver headlight seal failed and the light shorted out. Same story with the headlight on backorder and the dealership will not replace nor provide a loner. It is apparent the headlights used in VW Tiguans are faulty and run the risk of shorting out. So I am left a leased vehicle that is literally not legally fit to drive - no head light, turn-signal is also not operable.

My Tiguan was towed on [XXX] to Beyer Volkswagen [4017 Valley Pike, Winchester, VA 22602] for service to repair a sudden and unexpected vehicle failure.  On [XXX], I started the Tiguan and noticed a hard start. I drove the vehicle about 4 miles down the road and noticed a smell of gasoline when I stopped and opened the door. I immediately drove the car home at which point I noticed gasoline on the road and driveway, as well as a heavy persistent smell of gas. I moved the vehicle to the road and had it towed [$95 at my expense] to Beyer VW for service. This failure rendered the vehicle undrivable and luckily was able to get it towed before it became engulfed in flames. [XXX], after getting the vehicle back for 1 week (dealership claiming repair fixed) the problem was not fixed and in fact gas spewed from the engine at a higher rate. Pictures attach showing about of gas which instantly dispelled at start and move from driveway to road. This is a critical vw problem that will result in fire. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? GPS, it intermittently does not work and so difficult to inspect upon request How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Directions not available on GPS system leading to incorrect turns, potential accidents and other dangers of relying on a map system Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Yes Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Manufacturer (VW) was contacted, Case# 06128548 closed without resolution with a possible software update planned but no expectation of delivery Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? No, GPS intermittently stopped working about a year ago

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Tiguan. The contact stated that while driving approximately 15 - 20 MPH the "Stop and Start Failure" message was displayed. The contact restarted the vehicle and the "Fault Electronic Brake" and "Driver Door Switch Failure" messages became displayed. The contact pulled to the side of the road and opened then closed the front driver’s side door and restarted the vehicle. The contact repeated the process three times however, the messages remained displayed. The contact continued to drive the vehicle at approximately 15 - 20 MPH and the parking brake suddenly activated. Once the parking brake had independently released the contact was able to get to the side of the road and turned off and restarted the vehicle several times. The failure had started occurring more frequently. The contact stated that several other unknown messages were displayed. The dealer had been informed of the failure however, the vehicle had not been taken to the dealer. The vehicle had not been diagnosed. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,000.

Vehicle keeps having all warning lights and warning messages come on whenever the car starts. Warning lights maintain on constantly and has audible beeping to indicate the warnings. Vehicle would also put itself into park randomly at, as well as disengage collision and lane sensors while driving. Vehicle has been taken to the dealership, and has been reproduced by them, stating "we have never seen this before and are not sure what to do, we need to reach out to Volkswagen directly" most recent update, they needed to replace the door harness and F5 module but are still unclear with the status of the repair. Dealership has indicated it's safe to drive if I wanted to pick it up while they figure out the issue.

While driving, using cruise control set to 75mph, I braked to slow down. That worked cruise control disengaged fine. I changed to the adjacent lane that was wide open and pushed the resume button on the steering wheel. I noticed I was passing several vehicles on both sides of me. Looked at the speedometer reading = 98 mph and felt further acceleration. Put my foot on the brake to disengage cruise control and slow down. I checked the cruise control setting on the dashscreen. It still read 75 mph. When the speed of the vehicle returned to 75mph, I again "SET" the speed of cruise control at 75mph, and all was normal again.