Electrical System owner reports: Volkswagen Tiguan years in the records

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“During Hot weather the vehicles electrical will shut down while driving displaying a message saying check starter system and I will loose all lighting and brake lights and turn signals and HVAC systems and engine will shut off also I was going down the highway when this happened to me and it only happens in hot weather. This has been happening since we purchased the vehicle Volkswagen refuses to fix it and the 2020 models are on recall for this same issues.”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“When driving car will read error code that states there is problem with the starter and shuts off all electric components while engine is still running. Has happened multiple times since initial incident.”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“While driving my car, I get a loud beep and all of a sudden it says system switch failure pull over safely. It seems to do this on hot days. We thought it was maybe the battery and replaced that at $280. It was fine for about a week and then started doing it again. Everything on my dashboard goes completely blank my AC stops working I cannot see my gauges. Nothing works. It’s very scary especially when you’re driving. You can’t see your speed. Even the manual speed goes out my gas meter doesn’t work. None of the meters work. I just bought this car six months ago. This is absolutely insane and after looking up what is going on with my car this seems to be a very common occurrence which would make me wonder if the ignition switches need to be replaced or the 645 relay is faulty, but it’s not adding up something absolutely needs to be done. It’s an unsafe occurrence that could potentially kill someone while they’re driving.”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“The car stopped at a light on a busy street in [XXX] (in the middle lane), then the engine stopped, and my wife could not restart it. I went as fast as possible and met her. I was eventually able to get it started. This is the third time we have had problems like this. I did the same thing for me and another time for my wife. I believe it is the stop-start capability, but I can't say for sure. We have also had bad engine oil burning problems and electrical problems. All of these (I now know, but did not before) are recurring problems for 2019 Tiguans. The cylinder head was rebuilt last year, associated with a similar instance. I am now fully aware that the 2019 Tiguans are known to experience all of these problems, but when I brought my car in on previous occasions, that never got mentioned. I am told XYZ is an issue, then billed for repairs. The car was originally leased, and when I purchased it at the end of the lease, I also purchased a full premium warranty. When the issue happened in May of 2025, the policy eventually covered this, but it took over a month of justifications and records before the third-party insurance company agreed to cover the repairs. All of this said, I am no longer comfortable that this car is safe for my wife to drive, as the issues that are repeating are known issues, and yet Volkswagen seems to sweep these under the rug from both a manufacturer and dealership perspective. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“When it is really hot outside 90 and above my car does messes up. As I'm driving my car will throw the code pull over and Check starter system. Everything turns off, and then it takes minutes from my car to restart. It has happened multiple times when I'm in traffic at a stop light or driving and it throws the code as my car is moving. I have taken it to shops and still no auto shop can figure out the fix. Happened for the first time a year ago, and now its happening constantly”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“The vehicle will randomly shut off while driving. A message will appear stating "Check the Starting System" Attempts to restart the engine are unsuccessful. The engine will start, stall after about 2 seconds and the message "Check Starting System" will display. The first time it happened, I was turning a corner at a rather dangerous intersection and the vehicle stalled. It took about three attempts before the engine would remain running. When the engine would stall the dash would go dark and the engine would not remain running this happened about a month ago in hot weather. It occurred again on April 25th, 2026 way worse this time. The temperature in the area reached 91 Degrees Fahrenheit. My vehicle was sitting outside in the heat for at least 5 hours, same issue, The vehicle would then proceed to stall in the middle of the freeway, I was able to coast to the breakdown lane where the vehicle would remain unable to start and the message "Check Starter System" would display. Looking on NHTSA webpage before filing a complaint, it seems that this is a rather common issue. VW had a recall for other models (Campaign 28H7) for models such as the Jetta, Golf and other like models. This is a really dangerous issue and could end up getting someone seriously injured or worse killed in a collision if my vehicle stalls like this. The vehicle is scheduled for a service appointment in the near future (Local VW dealer is at least 2 weeks out before they can even look at my vehicle) After viewing this information, I can't help but believe it is possible the 28H7 recall is affecting more models than anticipated.”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“In warm weather, the car will start but immediately shut off with warning check starter system. All electrical will go off including brake lights, signal, a/c”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“The starter system failed & yes it is available for inspection. Others & my safety was put at risk, as the car shut off while I was driving. The gauges turned off, I could not see how fast I was going and the turning and brake lights did not work either, the radio & a/c all turned off. The problem has been reproduced while the vehicle is parked on hot days and in the winter when the the heater is on for a period of time. There are online forums of other Volkswagen owners having the same issue. Volkswagen owners have had the ignition switch replaced and the issue has not happened to them again. There were not any warnings or messages prior to the failure. The message that appears says, "please check the starter system. When the vehicle is parked in the shade it turns on fine. I have an appointment scheduled at my local Volkswagen service department to have the ignition switch replaced on my 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan. Please contact me asap, this should be a recall and any costs associated with it should be covered by Volkswagen as this is a common safety issue.”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“Relates to the Volkswagen Recall: 28H7-Ignition Switch that for some reason is only applied to Jetta's but needs to be expanded to include 2019 Tiguans . In vehicles equipped with a conventional ignition switch, the polyfuse can fail, particularly when the vehicle is operated in high temperature environments. If the polyfuse fails, it can result in the engine stalling while driving and failure of the vehicle's electrical system, increasing the risk of a crash. I have had this issue happen over 5 times since the initial incident last week. Now anything above 70 degrees Fahrenheit causes the interior to "lose power" but the engine will continue to run. The A/C, infotainment system, all the ADAS, instrument cluster, headlights, and turn signals shuts off completely. No brake lights, no blinkers, no odometer reading, nothing. I can still drive (accelerate & brake) when this is happening but without all of those systems working I cannot safely operate this vehicle.”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“When it is hot out, while i am driving the car will say "pull over, shutting down" and then it says "please check the starter system." The car will just shut off This was SOO dangerous. This happened on the highway, with my two kids in the car and nothing worked. everything black and my blinkers and lights werent working and just stopped in the middle of the street and wouldn't turn on. VERY UNSAFE I am bringing it in to the dealership but they do not think it is that. It quickly flashed and then just shut off This has happened numerous amount of time-- only when its hot out. The first occurrence was last summer but now that its hot out again, happened today 3/9/26 I see that there was a recall for this of my car and MY year but nothing on my vin”

The records describe a possible crash, fire, injury, or loss of control.

“Experienced water leaks due to improperly routed sun roof drains. Experienced air bag electrical malfunctions, locking doors and unlocking doors, and air bag sensor/wiring harness inside passenger door.”