We are required to announce our departure, right? 😉 I usually find it valuable to read why others decide to move on from their rides so here goes.
[TLDR: Overall, owning the id4 has been a ‘good’ (but not great) experience. It was fine in the city with decent roads, local service, and more charging options, but it’s not the right vehicle for me here in no-mans-land.]
I love driving it on good roads, the suspension is firm and steering is tight. I love Travel Assist! The headlights are A++ especially after activating the matrix feature. The A/C is ice cold no matter how hot outside, even during L3 charging. There are a lot of things to love about the id4, including some pure VW weirdness (features, not bugs).
Documented extensively on this forum are gripes about the car, some of which I share. I won’t miss the lack of physical switch gear and non-intuitive capacitive switch design. I don’t mind learning new routines and adapting to a new vehicle but the id4 controls often leave me with, “this should be easier.” A number of things I had to tighten, trim, realign, or snap into place when I got the vehicle, quality control could be better.
The main reason for getting rid of the car is my location. I live in the dead center of the Oklahoma panhandle. While there is L3 charging in my hometown, it is sparse in any direction, a minimum of 120-160 miles. I typically drive 70-75 mph highway speed, so winter road trips require 100% charge before leaving home, hit the first (and only) available charger, and HOPE it is functional and putting out more than 30 kW because it might be another 100+ mi. to the next one. The advertised 255 mi. range may be possible in ideal conditions but I often see half that in real world winter highway use.
And that firm suspension was great on good roads in Florida where I bought the car, but it is punishing here on the crap surfaces I have to drive.
Then there is VW dealer/service. The closest is 120 miles away, second closest is 240 miles away, and neither have inspired confidence. There is no dropping the car off and picking it up the next day at that distance. Now out of warranty, it’s a minimum of 1 week out of pocket rental (+Uber to/from the rental) anytime I have service done.
The id4 has never left me stranded (a plus!), but it’s been in the shop more than any vehicle I’ve owned. When the current ‘clunk in the trunk’ problem is resolved I’ll sell it outright. I had hoped to keep it as long as I could, like my ’98 Jetta TDI. For what it’s worth, that Jetta had far less unscheduled maintenance (and squeaks and rattles) at 160K miles than this car has at 60K.
This weekend I dropped it off at the dealership again (fourth visit for the same issue) and bought a low mileage used Lincoln Corsair PHEV. Is a 28 mi EV range PHEV ideal in the grand scheme of electrification? No but for my use it will handle my daily work commute and errands in EV mode. I drove it home all the way across Kansas on one of the many EV desert routes that would have been impossible with the id4.
My other half’s car is a Mach E (which has been flawless so far, btw), and I’m sure I’ll be back in a full EV someday. For now we’ll enjoy having a vehicle to use for trips without the constant calculation of routes and ranges.
[TLDR: Overall, owning the id4 has been a ‘good’ (but not great) experience. It was fine in the city with decent roads, local service, and more charging options, but it’s not the right vehicle for me here in no-mans-land.]
I love driving it on good roads, the suspension is firm and steering is tight. I love Travel Assist! The headlights are A++ especially after activating the matrix feature. The A/C is ice cold no matter how hot outside, even during L3 charging. There are a lot of things to love about the id4, including some pure VW weirdness (features, not bugs).
Documented extensively on this forum are gripes about the car, some of which I share. I won’t miss the lack of physical switch gear and non-intuitive capacitive switch design. I don’t mind learning new routines and adapting to a new vehicle but the id4 controls often leave me with, “this should be easier.” A number of things I had to tighten, trim, realign, or snap into place when I got the vehicle, quality control could be better.
The main reason for getting rid of the car is my location. I live in the dead center of the Oklahoma panhandle. While there is L3 charging in my hometown, it is sparse in any direction, a minimum of 120-160 miles. I typically drive 70-75 mph highway speed, so winter road trips require 100% charge before leaving home, hit the first (and only) available charger, and HOPE it is functional and putting out more than 30 kW because it might be another 100+ mi. to the next one. The advertised 255 mi. range may be possible in ideal conditions but I often see half that in real world winter highway use.
And that firm suspension was great on good roads in Florida where I bought the car, but it is punishing here on the crap surfaces I have to drive.
Then there is VW dealer/service. The closest is 120 miles away, second closest is 240 miles away, and neither have inspired confidence. There is no dropping the car off and picking it up the next day at that distance. Now out of warranty, it’s a minimum of 1 week out of pocket rental (+Uber to/from the rental) anytime I have service done.
The id4 has never left me stranded (a plus!), but it’s been in the shop more than any vehicle I’ve owned. When the current ‘clunk in the trunk’ problem is resolved I’ll sell it outright. I had hoped to keep it as long as I could, like my ’98 Jetta TDI. For what it’s worth, that Jetta had far less unscheduled maintenance (and squeaks and rattles) at 160K miles than this car has at 60K.
This weekend I dropped it off at the dealership again (fourth visit for the same issue) and bought a low mileage used Lincoln Corsair PHEV. Is a 28 mi EV range PHEV ideal in the grand scheme of electrification? No but for my use it will handle my daily work commute and errands in EV mode. I drove it home all the way across Kansas on one of the many EV desert routes that would have been impossible with the id4.
My other half’s car is a Mach E (which has been flawless so far, btw), and I’m sure I’ll be back in a full EV someday. For now we’ll enjoy having a vehicle to use for trips without the constant calculation of routes and ranges.
