2023 Volkswagen Taos Recalls, Issues & Maintenance

“the service advisor and mechanic come over to me and said "we are not allowing you to leave in your car today". I asked why and they said the head gasket is gone and the engine needs to be taken apart. They said corporate requires pictures of this because it is a known problem…”

“I took the vehicle in to the VW dealership for service on 06/30/25 and they found that the head gasket had failed after only 26500 miles. A failed head gasket could lead to engine failure during operation which would create a significant safety issue”

“This vehicle has a known design flaw which causes the cylinder gasket to leak and require replacement. VW has only issued a Technical Service Notice which was no provided to owners regarding the part that needed replacement. They are correcting the problem with a differently…”

“The brakes have prematurely worn to 1mm at 20,000 miles. Volkswagen is aware and has issued a TSB regarding the premature wear, however they failed to notify us during the first 2 service appointments that the wear on the brakes were due to be replaced”

“The rear brake pads and rotors have required replacement approximately every 20,000 miles, which appears abnormal given that the front brake pads have never required replacement and are still measuring approximately 8 mm. The rear brakes have worn prematurely and unevenly…”

“I purchased this car new less than 18 months ago and have been problems with it ever since. Brakes wear down prematurely and cause metal contact to rotors that causes bad screeching, stutters and affects my braking distance”

“The vehicle has less than 16,000 miles and the rear brake pads already need to be replaced. Volkswagen refuses to cover the replacement even though the brake pads should not have worn out so soon”

“The throttle response from a stop in the Taos is not immediate. Sometimes it will take 2 seconds to react to throttle input. There have been times where you accelerate and it will go extremely slow ans then a sudden burst of acceleration. This can be extremely dangerous when…”

“I am experiencing sudden burst of acceleration when I’m gently accelerating. I have had several near misses of having an accident. I have read several other reports of the same problem on online forums. What is Volkswagen going to do about this?”

“Whenever I attempt to make a normal right or left turn, my car hesitates for approximately three seconds before abruptly accelerating into the intended lane. This delay leaves me temporarily stuck in the middle of the opposite lane, creating a hazardous situation”

“The Engine Power Control (EPC) light comes on at random, and it significantly reduces my RPMs to the point where I cannot accelerate properly on the highway or up a hill. I have almost been t-boned after pulling out into a road”

“3 times in the past year including today, the car has completely turned off while in drive at a red light or stop sign. It is not the auto start/stop, it simply completely shuts off the car and when I take my foot off the break the car says “shift gear into park and manually…”

“The vehicle has shut off completely while driving three times, each time with multiple warning lights. Incident 1 – [XXX]: Engine shut off while driving. The dealership told me it was “safe to drive in” and claimed to repair it…”

“2023 Taos SE shuts off completely at red lights/when I’m stopped more than 60 seconds. It prompts me to shift into park, put the key to steering column and restart, then shift back into drive and go. Dealer scanned it on two separate occasions and has no explanation”

“I have brought the Taos back to Volkswagen dealership repeatedly for failure of the infotainment screen this screen displays the back up camera when the car is put into reverse The dates :12/14/23 , 2/21/24 , 8/27/24 ,9/5/24 , 10/23/24 , 11/13/24”

“the infotainment system goes black while driving multiple times per week. There have been multiple times that it goes black and resets while I am backing out. This is extremely frustrating and unsafe if I am relying on gps maps to get to my destination”

“Air bags did not deploy after a direct driver side hit, and I was injured because of the accident. Car was declared a total loss by the insurance. The car is being held by State Farm if…”

“Only when lighter weight adults are in the front seat - if they move around at all the airbag sensor goes off. Meaning the airbags won’t deploy if we get into an accident. Seems like a major flaw!”

“In June 2026, I had to bring due to the engine light being on. They found out EVAP fuel leak detection pump being faulty. And less than 1 month later (July 2026), once again the engine light came on.  This time apparently EVAP canister is the problem and needs to be replaced”

“Check engine light keeps turning on and on - code P2421 EVAP canister stuck open despite all the expensive repairs at the dealership”