Volkswagen Taos Complaints (2023)

102 consumer complaints on file.

#11718479February 17, 2026
ENGINE
head gasket is leaking - dealer won't acknowlege the problem - coolant leaking into oil- low coolant light comes on
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707078December 26, 2025
ENGINE
Head gasket failure, car loses combustion, u safe to drive. Engine light has been on for 5 months so far. Dealer has not been able to fix it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11706450December 22, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I purchased this car on 11/16/2023, brand new with 32 miles on it. On 11/20/2023 the automatic start-stop failed while I was at an intersection and the car would not move. There were no warning lights, messages, or other symptoms of the problem. Fortunately a police officer drove through the area minutes after the car stopped and was able to help me until a tow truck arrived. The car was towed to the dealership, who determined that the issue was with the starter, but did not provide me with paperwork as they put me in a different vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11706418December 21, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL, UNKNOWN OR OTHER, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
On 12/20/25, the "lane assist not available" and the "EPC" warning indicators lit up. I was in the car with my 11 year old, we pulled over and looked in the manual to understand EPC, and the manual said it "is possible to continue driving," so we continued. As we entered the freeway the car went into limp mode and would not accelerate. I put the gas pedal to the floor, put on my hazard lights, and got off at the next exit, but we did were not able to drive > 40 mph on a crowded, rainy freeway with big-rigs ahead, behind, and to the left of us. We got off at the next exit, drove to a parking lot and let the car rest for 10-15 minutes. When we turned it back on, the "Exhaust System Malfunction" light and "Central Warning Light" indicators were on. The lane assist not available indicator had lit up a day prior, as well. My safety and the safety of my child were at risk on the freeway. I called the dealership from which I had purchased the car 2 years earlier and which has ~11,280 miles. I was told by their service department to drive the car home, but not to drive it after that. However, they also told me to drive the car from my home to their shop (10 miles), but to avoid the freeway, in order to have it serviced. This suggestion also put me at risk, as it would have been unsafe to drive the car between my home and their shop. I did call back to say that I didn't feel safe driving it, at which point they looked up my car and saw that it is under warranty, which includes roadside assistance coverage. The car will be towed to their shop on the morning of 12/22/25.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11703266December 5, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I am reporting a 2023 Volkswagen Taos, VIN [XXX] , purchased new on [XXX]. The vehicle has shut off completely while driving three times, each time with multiple warning lights. Incident 1 – [XXX]: Engine shut off while driving. The dealership told me it was “safe to drive in” and claimed to repair it, but the problem returned. Incident 2 – [XXX]: Engine shut off again, required towing. The dealership attempted another repair, but it was not fixed. Incident 3 – [XXX]: Engine shut off at 55 mph on the highway, and the vehicle lost brake assist, creating a severe safety hazard. Roadside Assistance initially refused to tow unless I paid over $500. I have an open Volkswagen Corporate safety defect case, #[XXX], and the dealership has opened a repair order today to document the issue. Despite multiple repair attempts, the defect persists, making the vehicle unsafe to drive INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11699979November 17, 2025
POWER TRAIN
I currently lease this vehicle through Volkswagen, and it's been nothing but causing me trouble. The Engine Power Control (EPC) light comes on at random, and it significantly reduces my RPMs to the point where I cannot accelerate properly on the highway or up a hill. I have almost been t-boned after pulling out into a road, and as soon as I get on the road, the car does a "rocket ship" maneuver.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11698760November 11, 2025
WHEELS
Premature tire wear. OEM tires worn out after 32000 miles. Dealership states that tires are worn out and need to be replaced. Tires wearing out this fast indicates a problem in the suspension design of the vehicle that could lead to decreased traction and handling and contribute to an accident. Dealership/manufacturer are offering no explanation or solution to the premature wear issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11698758November 11, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES
Rear brake pads and rotors worn out at 32000 miles. Rear brake pads originally worn out and replaced under warranty at 16800 miles. Dealership states that the issue is no longer covered under warranty. This excessive wear is a safety concern as it points to a design flaw in the braking system that is causing unexpected braking pressure to be applied to the rear brakes which may be causing extended stopping distances and could lead to brake failure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11696660October 30, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
While I was driving down the road going 40 mph I heard and felt the engine stop. My dashboard display and stereo cut off, and the check engine light, check oil light, check battery light, and tire pressure alert light came on. I could not accelerate my car or move it forward at all, I could not see the speedometer due to the dashboard display going out. I pulled over and put the vehicle in park before turning it off. I waited a minute or two and turned it back on with no issue, it proceeded to drive with no further problems. I took it in to the dealership where I purchased the car and they told me they performed all the checks possible and found no issue with the vehicle. They were unable to reproduce the issue when they drove the car. As of now this has happened once in this vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11693864October 16, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, ENGINE
The vehicle begins to feel like it is skipping while driving. The EPC light comes on, the dashboard beeps and indicates lane assist is unavailable, check engine sign illuminates. The vehicle will drive for a short time but then jerks and just stops. This has happened at least 3 times. Dealer has already replaced the fuel pump, electrical wiring and some switch that wasn't readying properly. After the fuel pump was replaced, the tank was filled, continue to track down miles and gallons. When the vehicle got to 135 travel miles left and one notch above the gas tank, it jerked and stopped immediately at an unsafe spot on the road. The sensor was not properly reading the gas and the tank was empty! This last incident was the same evening after an inspection and 60K service. This vehicle is unsafe and VW should be making this right. Warranty has expired and now they want to charge me for the same issue. This has been going on for months and I believe the vehicle is unsafe and is putting me in danger of having or creating a bad accident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11692707October 11, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The rearview camera will shift the picture from time to time/distort it. Others times the camera won't come on, displays message saying "rear-view camera unavailable", or the screen comes on and it flickers the lighting to the picture.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11691104October 2, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
On Sunday 8/24/25 I was driving home and the sunroof spontaneously exploded while I was driving. I was covered in glass and have a few minor cuts. I was extremely upset and traumatized. There were no warning signs prior to the sunroof spontaneously exploding. I did report it to my insurance company but I also called Volkswagen. Volkswagen instructed me to take it to a local dealership which I did.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11685514September 6, 2025
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
2023 Taos SE shuts off completely at red lights/when I’m stopped more than 60 seconds. It prompts me to shift into park, put the key to steering column and restart, then shift back into drive and go. Dealer scanned it on two separate occasions and has no explanation. Couldn’t reproduce. Very dangerous as increases risk of crashes and rear ended when a car needs to be restarted mid roadway. The 2022 model had a recall for this exact stalling issue and they claimed to have fixed it but doesn’t appear so. Last occurred to me 9/6/2025 around 7:13pm.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11685347September 5, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Rear breake pads and rotors need replacement after extremely low miles driven and no functional indication of such wear during driving and no warning. Found during regular oil change maintenance at dealership. Unsure if the component has been inspected by another party. Only 26000 miles on the vehicle and over half of those are highway miles. Rear brake pads are of poor durability and pose a safety risk for poor brake functioning.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11683152August 26, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, POWER TRAIN, ENGINE
2023 VW Taos leased in June 2023 - needed to replace brakes 2 years (June 2025) into owning the car. Inspection would not pass without them. This is an excessively quick wear that cost me over $600 for a leased vehicle that should be just basic ownership during 3 year lease. August 2025 - Brought in for an oil change and a coolant yellow light on dashboard. Our local mechanic would not touch the coolant issue as he said it seems to be related to a head gasket leak. The 2022 model had many issues with this problem, however no issues are reported on the 2023 Taos. I have had to find another vehicle to drive and wait 5 days to get it into our local VW dealership, who told us it was OK to drive without even looking at the vehicle. No thank you! We called VW and if in fact this is a head gasket, it would be covered under warranty. These are each pretty serious safety concerns and needs to be reported for future owners of this vehicle. Not interested in another VW after these incidents. We are a first time leaser of them - thank goodness it wasn't a purchase.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11681775August 20, 2025
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING, POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen Taos. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion into the head gasket. The head gasket was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. Later, while driving 55 MPH, the message "Transmission Failure" was displayed and the transmission shifted to D2, causing the vehicle to decelerate to 25 MPH. The vehicle was parked, and after restarting the vehicle, the vehicle operated normally. The vehicle was later taken to the local dealer, who diagnosed that the Medtronic transmission had failed and needed to be replaced; however, parts were on back order. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 10,185.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11680387August 13, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL
I had my brakes inspected by VW at 20k miles and everything was fine. Then I took a long road trip using the Active Cruise Control (ACC) system extensively and during my next service at 25k my rear brakes and rotors needed replacement. Looking at numerous forms and owner experience, there is a problem with the VW Taos, likely with the ACC system or other control systems excessively braking the rear brakes, resulting in early failure. VW has not addressed this issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11679603August 9, 2025
STEERING
My steering wheel does not turn
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11675327July 22, 2025
ENGINE, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen Taos. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The ETC (Electronic Throttle Control) warning light illuminated. In addition, the engine revved independently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the cam shaft timing had failed. The timing belt and cam magnet were replaced. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal and the engine revved independently. The ETC warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and was diagnosed that the cam shaft sensor had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that recently the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer to be diagnosed and the contact was informed that the air hose had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated intermittently. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11663870May 30, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
1)- Brake pads were worn out very fast twice when I first bought the vehicle. Eventually, the dealership had to replace them with after market brake pads. 2)- Check engine light keeps turning on and on - code P2421 EVAP canister stuck open despite all the expensive repairs at the dealership.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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