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Volkswagen · NHTSA safety record

2014 Volkswagen Touareg

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Owners have filed 27 safety complaints about the 2014 Volkswagen Touareg with the US government. Of those, 1 describes a crash, 2 mention a fire, 4 people were injured and no death is recorded. 2 recall campaigns are open against it, covering unknown or other and the hydraulic brakes.

The most complained-about system is the steering, named in 8 complaints, 30% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 32,000 miles, the median across the 19 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers November 2014 to January 2024 · How this is counted

What is on file

27 complaints on file

27

Complaints

1

Describe a crash

2

Mention fire

4

People injured

0

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
STEERING 8 · 30%
ENGINE 6 · 22%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 3 · 11%
SUSPENSION 3 · 11%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 3 · 11%
AIR BAGS 2 · 7%
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING 1 · 4%
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 · 4%
POWER TRAIN 1 · 4%
SEAT BELTS 1 · 4%
SEATS 1 · 4%
STRUCTURE 1 · 4%
0 4 8

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 27.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2016 at 5.

8 6 4 2
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 24

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2014 to 2024.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA has not crash tested the 2014 Volkswagen Touareg. Its New Car Assessment Program tests a selection of each year's vehicles and does not reach motorcycles, heavy trucks, motorhomes or most low-volume models, so an absence here says nothing about how the vehicle would perform. It is not a low score.

What owners have reported about this vehicle is below, and it is a different question: a crash test measures what happens to the people inside in a controlled impact, while a complaint records what broke during ordinary use.

Recall campaigns

2 on file

UNKNOWN OR OTHER

18V329000 · May 16, 2018

The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2012-2016 Eos, 2012 Passat, 2012-2016 CC, 2015-2016 e-Golf, 2011-2015 Touareg, 2012-2015 and 2017 Tiguan, and 2011-2016 Golf and 2011-2013 GTI vehicles. Modifications made while the vehicles were in an internal evaluation period may cause the affected vehicles to not comply with all of the applicable regulatory requirements.
The risk
If the vehicles do not meet all regulatory requirements, there could be an increased risk of a crash, fire, or injury.
The remedy
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will repair the vehicles to make them fully compliant or Volkswagen will repurchase them if necessary, free of charge. The recall began November 29, 2018. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 252 vehicles across all model years covered

SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:PEDALS AND LINKAGES

16V170000 · March 24, 2016

The defect
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain model year 2011-2016 Touareg vehicles. The brake pedal pivot pin may be missing a securing clip, allowing the pivot pin to move and the brake pedal to dislodge.
The risk
If the brake pedal dislodges, the driver may not be able to apply the brakes, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Volkswagen will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the brake pedal assembly to verify the presence of the securing clip and install any missing securing clips, free of charge. The recall began on April 27, 2016. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 46G4.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 46,574 vehicles across all model years covered

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

1 injured · fire · 128,000 miles

The contact owns a 2014 Volkswagen Touareg. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle a burning odor was present inside the cabin of the vehicle and smoke was seen coming from the front console. After stopping the vehicle to inspect the cause it was discovered that the front passenger side seat heater had malfunctioned burning a hole into the seat and the passenger's pants. During the incident, the passenger sustained a burn to the left thigh area. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were not yet notified of the incident. The failure mileage was 128,000.

NHTSA complaint 11437449. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS

1 injured · crash · towed · 33,000 miles

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2014 VOLKSWAGEN TOUAREG. THE CONTACT'S VEHICLE WAS REAR ENDED BY ANOTHER VEHICLE AT APPROXIMATELY 60 MPH. THE AIR BAGS FAILED TO DEPLOY. THE CONTACT WAS INJURED AND REQUIRED MEDICAL ATTENTION. A POLICE REPORT WAS FILED. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED NOR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 33,000.

NHTSA complaint 10865099. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STRUCTURE:BODY

1 injured · 33,900 miles

WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT ON THE FREEWAY AT ABOUT 70MPH THE FRONT HALF OF OUR 'PANORAMIC' SUNROOF 'EXPLODED' FROM THE INSIDE OUT AS IF FROM CABIN PRESSURE. THE REMAINING GLASS WAS BLOWN UPWARDS. THERE WERE NO OTHER VEHICLES NEARBY NOR WAS THERE ANYTHING ABOVE OUR VEHICLE WHEN THIS OCCURRED. THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE OF A PROJECTILE IN OR AROUND THE VEHICLE.

NHTSA complaint 10819131. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

SEATS

1 injured

Vehicle has 72000 miles on it, Driver seat heater burned a hole on the leather, burning my pants, underwear and skin while I was driving. I had to pull over because smoke started to come out of the seat. VW of Fort Myers checked it out and confirmed the heater was bad, but they said they don't make the replacement part anymore. No warning lights came on.

NHTSA complaint 11429131. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

AIR BAGS
The safety computer which checks the different sensors and reports their condition on the i instrument dash indicated air bag sensor failure, This automobile has not been in any accident.. A rear seat belt came apart. The top plastic locking system came apart from the metal part of the locking system, Making the seat belt not useable . The sear belt was not used very much, since we are retired sad my wife does all the driving/ Ergo the rear seat is not use very often. The VW dealer does not believe this type of failure is a future safety condition. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA complaint 11567556. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
Wet Air intake filter. Clearly showed water damage and rot on the air filter. This is a repeated issue.

NHTSA complaint 11458241. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE
After recently purchasing this vehicle I noticed the car be long more and more sluggish. While driving one morning I experienced loss in power and an flashing check engine light and glow plug light on the dash. The car went into “limp” mode and I could not accelerate past 40 MPG on a busy road. I pulled over slowly and let the car sit. After turning the car on off and back on, the CEL went away . I attempted to pull out into traffic and with my foot to the floor, the car has no acceleration leaving me going extremely slow into traffic. The cars acceleration has been terrible and really not safe to drive. I have several CEL codes including P0402. After having the car inspected we found that

NHTSA complaint 11422465, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

75,000 miles

KEEP GETTING WATER IN MY AIR FILTER BOX, SOAKING THE AIR FILTER. TOOK IT TO THE DEALER, THEY SAID THEY REMOVED SOME PART IN THE DRAIN. DOESNT SEEM LIKE A FIX TO ME

NHTSA complaint 11385403. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Volkswagen Touareg

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2017 24 1 —
2016 44 2 —
2015 24 2 —
2013 30 2 —
2012 28 2 —
2011 16 2 —
2010 25 1 —

Other 2014 Volkswagen models

Passat 594 Jetta 386 Tiguan 84 CC 80 Beetle 50 EOS 40 Jetta Sportwagen 34 Jetta Hybrid 20

Complaints on file, same model year.

Every Volkswagen on this site — 155 vehicles.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst