2021 Volkswagen Tiguan: Reliability Data

153
Total Complaints
20,000mi
Median Mileage
Engine
Top Issue
3
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

12,000 25th Percentile
20,000 Median Mileage
50,000 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Engine
32
Unknown Or Other
24
Electrical System
18
Fuel/Propulsion System
10
Power Train
10
Body
6
Visibility/Wiper
6
Adaptive Cruise Control
6
Engine And Engine Cooling
5
Exterior Lighting
5

Severity Assessment

3
Crashes
0
Fires
4
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"ON 12MAR2021 WE TOOK POSSESSION OF OUR 2021 TIGUAN R-LINE IN WHICH WE PURCHASED NEW FROM VW CHATHAM ONTARIO CANADA. ON 13 MARCH 2021 WE WERE DRIVING HOME AROUND 8PM ON HIGHWAY 21 AT A SPEED OF 85 KILOMETRES TOWARDS THAMESVILLE, ONTARIO, TEMPERATURE WAS 2 DEG CELSIUS, WINDOWS WERE ROLLED UP SUNROOF ..."
"When the vehicle is started remotely and cruise control was not turned off before turning off the vehicle, the ACC system shows an error and fails to engage when the driver tries to set cruise control. If one relies on ACC often but does not often use remote start, this situation can lead to imprope..."
"After owning this vehicle for about a month (and 50 of MY miles, 526 total), this new vehicle was taken to the local dealer for a rattle/vibration coming from an area behind the left ear of the driver. The vehicle has now been at the dealer for over a week and is not expected to be returned for at l..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Engine 32 complaints
Median: 50,000 mi
Electrical System 18 complaints
Median: 20,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

TX: 20 PA: 13 FL: 10 VT: 10 VA: 10 OH: 9 CA: 9 NJ: 8 IL: 6 SC: 5

Volkswagen Tiguan — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

YearComplaintsCrashes
20092478
20101576
20112356
201221415
20132264
20141263
20151061
20161456
20179511
20184348
20192639
20201878
20223755
2023773
2024631
2025411

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28