2016 Volkswagen Tiguan
This year drew an ordinary 96 complaints for a Volkswagen Tiguan — the model's median is 132. What they were about is the unusual part: 8.3% of them mention entire, against 2.5% across the other years of this generation.
Generation 1 of the Volkswagen Tiguan, which began in 2009 and ran to 2017. Everything below compares this year against the others in that generation, not against a different car wearing the same name.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 96 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 132 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 22.5 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- entire — 8.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.5% across the other years of this generation (3.3×). Owners wrote it as: entire, popped.
- provide — 8.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.9% across the other years of this generation (2.8×). Owners wrote it as: provide, transportation, october.
- list — 6.3% of this year's complaints, against 2.4% across the other years of this generation (2.6×). Owners wrote it as: list, another vehicle.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON FOR NO APPARENT REASON. HAD TAKEN MY CAR FOR A BATTERY RECALL ISSUE AND WAS TOLD BY VW SERVICE PROVIDER THAT THEY WOULD NOT COVER THE PROBLEM. NEXT DAY CHECK ENGINE SIGN POPPED UP. I HAVE NEVER DRIVEN A WORSE CAR IN MY ENTIRE 20 YEAR…
Volkswagen dealer diagnosed my car with a failed clockspring in October of 2021, which results in a failed driver's airbag, no horn, and failed steering wheel control buttons. Volkswagen currently has this part on backorder with no ETA and there are 3000 custo…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 19V535000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 16V464000 LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volkswagen Tiguan was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2016 Volkswagen Tiguan? What happened to yours?
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