Other powertrain problem on the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan
When other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan report other powertrain problem at a median of 7,500 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 2,500 miles and a quarter after 15,000 miles, from 26 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 400 miles at the tenth percentile to 27,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 26,575 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
Reports bunched into a band this tight usually mean the component has a life of its own: it goes at roughly the same mileage regardless of who owns it.
92% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 425 miles | 2,125 miles | 8,000 miles | 14,350 miles | 27,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 12 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 1,200 miles, and latest on the 2024 at 115,000 miles.
By volume the 2018 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
When I'm giving gas/ accelerating, there is a "hissing-sound" coming from outside and more clearer and louder to the passenger side person position. Can hear it even clear if I roll down the windows. Sound starts coming anywhere from 0 - max MPH no matter which roads I drive in. Don't know for sure which part of the car is doing the sound but "acceleration" is the causing it and when I let the car roll without giving gas, the sound stops. So you should definitely give gas/ press acceleration pedal to hear this sound. Its been 9 months since I purchased this car and has roughly 11k miles on it. (tiguan se 2018 4motion) sounds from driver's side b column is also noticeably loud when driving.
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 volkswagen tiguan. While driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle made a rattling sound. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to volkswagen of abilene (1350 s clack st, abilene, tx 79605, (325) 673-4663) and was repaired, but the contact was unaware of the diagnosis. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact to wait for a response for trading in the vehicle. The failure mileage was 750. The VIN was not available.
The vehicle has a start/stop feature that is on by default and is dangerous when waiting to make a turn. It temporarily shuts the car down and restarts upon release of the brake pedal to move the car forward which causes severe hesitation in excelleration. To make matters worse the transmission in this vehicle jerks and hesitates. When it does finally kick in it causes the car to surge forward to fast and makes it difficult to drive and handle in a turn, epecially with oncoming traffic. Have almost been t-boned a few times due to both of these issues. We dont feel safe in this vehicle!! These issues need to be addressed by volkswagon before someone is seriously hurt. We love the styling and look of our tiguan but feel the transmission and start/stop issues are very unsafe!!
Also reported on the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Seat belt or retractor failure
Other electrical problem
Other fuel system problem
Sunroof failure or glass breakage
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 39 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan?
Across 26 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 7,500 miles. A quarter were filed before 2,500 miles and a quarter after 15,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2018 Volkswagen Tiguan?
39 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.7 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed