[Ev1st]

reading the recall - if the car can stop accelerating isn’t that a safety issue. I see lot of people are chill about it.
people saying I had issues with ICE cars before. I mean did you drive those cars knowing a safety issue?

 

[RocketVol]

Still doesn't beat the recent Ford recall for certain 2021 Expeditions. I have one for work and I paraphrase: "hey this thing might burst into flames while driving.... OR while parked, could be either. We don't know why or when we will get a fix, but until then don't park it in a garage." Took a few months to get the recall which was a new jumper wire on the positive battery terminal. Now it has a "windshield wipers might fly off at speed and the parts aren't in yet" recall This is not unique to VW.

 

[johnwelch62]

My wife's Volvo XC90 had an ECU problem where the car would entirely shut down. No lights, no engine, no power steering, nothing worked. First incident was on 5N just past the 5/405 split (for those in SoCal). It was late at night and she was able to muscle the steering wheel to safely get the car to the shoulder. Volvo denied there was any issue. After a few more incidents, and a complaint with NHTSA, they brought in a team to look at it. Lo and behlod there was a "warranty" on the ECU (there wasn't) and they replaced it for free. I looked into it further and this seemed to be a known issue, but not widespread. I'm convinced there was a silent recall in effect.

With all that's happening my buyback may be a blessing in disguise.

 

[Nai3t]

reading the recall - if the car can stop accelerating isn’t that a safety issue. I see lot of people are chill about it.
people saying I had issues with ICE cars before. I mean did you drive those cars knowing a safety issue?

Speaking for myself, driving is the single most dangerous thing I do most days – subjecting myself to the highest risk of injury, death, hurting somebody else, or financial harm.

The possibility of any car stopping unexpectedly for whatever reason is part of that risk that I barely consider when I fasten my seat belt.

This particular scenario appears to be happening infrequently enough that while I digest news of it, it gives me pause, but given proper consideration it adds practically nothing to the overall risk calculation.

I probably have a higher likelihood of my 10 year old Flex stopping unexpectedly from a turbo or fuel pump failure, and I'm not rushing out to preemptively charge out those components for extra insurance.

I'm by no means offering this as an excuse for VW to shunt this aside as it appears they did, but it is why I'm not going to stop driving the car.

 

[ddx]

Like usual VW never send me this kind of e-mails. I am still loving my ID.4 driving every day, but this recall info reminded me of one time sometime last year I was accelerating on the interstate and suddenly for maybe 2 seconds my ID.4 lost motor power as described with some lights flashing but it happened so fast I did not pay attention what lights were lit (lights went out as soon as it happened, and the car continue to drive normally afterwards). Anyways it only happened once (knock on wood!) in 1.5 years 32k miles so not too bothered although it seems to be widespread now with the upcoming recall. I hope they fix and or give us extended warranty or something like that, that would be great

 

[Nai3t]

I think yours was something different. This one describes the fault resulting in the systems rebooting, and propulsion being unavailable until that reboot process is complete. Still, startling even for even 2 seconds!

 

[lynnejohn]

Cars are machines that can fail suddenly for many reasons. Crap software shouldn’t be one of them.

First let me say that I am not making excuses for this failure, just trying to give folks a general understanding of the level of complexity. The software in these cars is an order of magnitude more complex than just about anything. You have a multitude of different software components manufactured by different companies that need to communicate in real time. Roll into this slightly different the hardware that is in each component that will add variability. It seems that core of this issue is a component/module being reset which is killing motor control signals. The failure modes for cars like this are huge and each failure must be handled properly both within the module and by other other modules when communications suddenly drops. Sometimes no matter how much testing you do it's not until the product enters the real world that flaws show up. It's not an excuse, just a statement about software driven systems. Luckily no ones been seriously injured, but VW should have considered this a safety issue.

 

[JohnnyForElectric]

I think yours was something different. This one describes the fault resulting in the systems rebooting, and propulsion being unavailable until that reboot process is complete. Still, startling even for even 2 seconds!

Actually microcontrollers reboot very quickly, so 1-2 seconds seem plausible to me... Also do you think this error is it, please? New Recall Email

 

[blackout]

This is where I am. @blackout I have to agree with the others though that a defect (software) shouldn't be tolerated when there are enough gremlins that can get me. But I too am taking this in stride, disappointed in VW's handling of it but still enjoying the relatively trouble free ID.4 ownership, and fairly confident they're on the right path, even if they're meandering. I can't begrudge anyone else for feeling differently at this point, especially somebody who experienced this failure and was told the fault couldn't be identified.

You described my thoughts a few posts later. I’m not tolerant, per se. I have a full expectation that this is going to be resolved (especially now that the government is involved), and so like you it seems to me like a remote possibility that it’s going to impact me in the meantime, so away we go.

While I personally find much of the venom sprayed at VW on this forum overblown, I can also understand where people are coming from and VW have themselves to blame for today’s latest episode in the saga. Had they been forthcoming and on top of things over the last two years, certainly they’d have some brand/relationship capital in the bank to use today.

This is why in my line of work you have an unhealthy drive to make the client happy. When the big one happens, you don’t want it to happen after a whole bunch of little ones. Your chance of survival is better that way.

 

[Erhard]

I was doubting my decision about getting rid of my iD4 but after getting the email regarding this I am so happy that I did.

The car is unreliable and a safety hazard.

Sorry I would. It go this far. Many cars have unknown issues that could cause problems.
I always complained that vw is not communicating, now they did, but not exactly what I was looking for😭

 

[VW Dave]

Consumers have been trained by products like cell phones to expect everything digital to work essentially perfectly. The same consumers have no idea of the complex differences between a cell phone and a "digital car". A cell phone is unlikely to kill anyone. A car is a whole different thing. VW has known about this particular issue for a relatively LONG time, but didn't think it was important enough to warrant its own recall. NHTSA convinced them otherwise.

How old is the CANBUS digital architecture in these cars? Wikipedia says it was developed in the late 80s. The first production car to use it was a 1991 Mercedes. Why have companies like VW stuck with this architecture for 20+ years? Clearly it's now a big can of worms for everyone involved. It would be very hard for a car maker and all their dozens of vendors to develop and implement something more modern (though I'm sure they have it in their skunkworks lab).

I know I'm ranting and I'll stop now. But this particular issue and VW's knowledge of it for over a year, and their inaction, or more likely a "Well, it'll get fixed in the BIG GIANT UPDATE!" attitude, just doesn't set well with me at all. And I've been the textbook definition of a VW Fanboy since my 1967 Beetle.

I was at my dealer today for an airbag issue. While prowling the lot I easily spotted what is obviously a '21 buyback. It had a sign on the windshield saying "DO NOT SELL - PROPERTY OF VW GROUP OF AMERICA". The dealer wasn't even trying to keep the car out of sight.

 

[TidingSStables]

My wife's Volvo XC90 had an ECU problem where the car would entirely shut down. No lights, no engine, no power steering, nothing worked. First incident was on 5N just past the 5/405 split (for those in SoCal). It was late at night and she was able to muscle the steering wheel to safely get the car to the shoulder. Volvo denied there was any issue. After a few more incidents, and a complaint with NHTSA, they brought in a team to look at it. Lo and behlod there was a "warranty" on the ECU (there wasn't) and they replaced it for free. I looked into it further and this seemed to be a known issue, but not widespread. I'm convinced there was a silent recall in effect.

With all that's happening my buyback may be a blessing in disguise.

They will try to get away with murder if they can until the lawyers come a knocking.

 

[oobbyb]

So would you rather they waited to communicate anything?
I am always hearing on this forum about how bad they are at keeping the customer informed. Now that they are trying to do that, the complaints are that they don't have all the information right away.

We 2021 owners have had <zero> communications until last autumn and I'm still running the antiquated, buggy 2.x software 18 months later. To be fair, all I wanted was a vehicle that functioned as advertised with a service network that would fix any problems. Instead, I got an unreliable beta product that has left me stranded on multiple occasions and an untrained dealer network to semi-service the problems. Now VWoA has yet again sent me another platitude laced email with no delivery dates. Hooray, hooray hooray for WVoA! Should I trade the old 2021 for two thirds of what I paid for it and drive off a 2023 with latest and greatest 3.X software, better batteries and live happily ever after? To borrow from the email, since my safety and that of my passengers is <my> highest priority, I think I'll pass.

 

[oobbyb]

It's confusing, on the one hand,
- don't call us, we'll call you in March,
on the other hand,
- "Customers experiencing this situation are advised to contact their authorized Volkswagen dealer ... to have the vehicle diagnosed/repaired"

So, a repair is available, but? Personally, I'd say that a car that loses power isn't an "inconvenience".

Agreed, Its a hazard, not an inconvenience. The interesting and alarming bit is that the company started getting reports of this issue in July 2021, and they they make this public today? One would think that after the whole diesel-gate affair, VW corporate would be more transparent. We was WRONG!

July 2021: Reports from Europe received regarding potential software issue in HV battery management system. Analysis started.
September 2021: Testing of potential consequence conducted and risk assessment initiated. Risk assessment indicated no unreasonable risk for motor vehicle safety.
September 2021– August 2022: Ongoing data monitoring for this HV battery control unit issue, based on limited number of fault entries observed in data received from the field and the fact that no crash or injury allegation were observed related to this topic January 2022: The supplier reported an issue with the pulse inverter software that could potentially lead to the deactivation of the pulse inverter. Analysis started.
August -September 2022: VOQ’s were analyzed for the ID.4 alleging potential stalling events. Some reports from the US market indicated that the battery management software issue could have led to stalling allegations at ID.4 vehicles. These reports were discussed with ODI during a Quarterly Meeting. Further investigations and analysis were initiated.

 

[Metier]

Yes it’s a computer, yes there are bugs in computer software, but VW has known about this for 2 years and no fix. Is this bug in majority of 2022 ID4 no is this a bug in 2023 ID4‘s no. Yet they do a token few 2021 upgrades to appease the masses to only come out to say we are halting the upgrades because there is a software bug that could stop your car from accelerating until you reboot the car. We are sorry if you might be on a freeway when this happens.

 

[Metier]

So would you rather they waited to communicate anything?
I am always hearing on this forum about how bad they are at keeping the customer informed. Now that they are trying to do that, the complaints are that they don't have all the information right away.

Too bad it is 2 years after they knew the issue existed. But then again it might of hurt their sales.

 

[oobbyb]

Yes it’s a computer, yes there are bugs in computer software, but VW has known about this for 2 years and no fix. Is this bug in majority of 2022 ID4 no is this a bug in 2023 ID4‘s no. Yet they do a token few 2021 upgrades to appease the masses to only come out to say we are halting the upgrades because there is a software bug that could stop your car from accelerating until you reboot the car. We are sorry if you might be on a freeway when this happens.

Windows 95 was fixed faster than these bugs. These are management problems with VW and Cariad. If you have a 2021, don't expect a fix anytime soon.

 

[oobbyb]

Yes, and no mention of which vehicles are affected...

FYI:
Production Dates : MAY 26, 2020 - JAN 20, 2022 VIN Range 1 : Begin : WVGFMPE24MP000559 End : WVGUNPE27MP066592

 

[id4alex]

It appears they sent it to all Model Year 2021 owners. I received the email though I do not have an affected vehicle per to items in NHTSA notice.

• Range of affected VIN's does not include First Edition (position 4 = D)
• Manufacture date does not include (at a minimum) the first wave of First Editions (my manufacture date was Feb 2020).

I have a 2021 Pro S and have never gotten a communication from VW. I was just at the dealer today for my 1 year service and asked about software updates and got only a vague answer that they are doing it in phases.

 

[Dore21]

Hi,
Please check the app myVW for the RECALL