[288]

Hey everyone,

I have appreciated your informative posts. In spite of what VW has been trying to get me to believe, you have confirmed many issues I am having with my 6 week old FWD SEL. It's going to the dealer for several days next week, we'll see what happens.

My FWD SEL did not study in school, it has a low IQ drive. I'm guessing it's somewhere in the 50'ish range. Several IQDrive elements have been so dangerous, distracting, or unexpected for me and my passengers I have turned them off or quit using them all together. AEB slams us to a halt and back in our seats when we enter our garage unless I enter at an angle then whip the steering wheel hard to essentially shimmy the Taos into its slot. LW fishtails the vehicle back and forth within lanes until a point when it blasts us with an alarm and message. It's off now. For sure my SEL failed the RCTA course, it's not even in the ballpark compared to other vehicles I have owned or rented. Unless I run over a pedestrian and hear screams there will be no sound coming from the RCTA. ACC causes the SEL to pulse in heavy multi-lane traffic. It acts like it is tracking different vehicles in different lanes. Several times it has brought me to a surprise and abrupt halt when someone entered an interstate exit ramp or turn lane, even when traveling on a straight road. The folks behind me didn't appreciate it much either, I'm actually surprised I haven't been rear ended yet. I stopped using ACC too.

The infotainment system sometimes reboots while driving. The screen will go black for a minute or two, a clock will appear, disappear, and another reboot will happen. It takes a minimum of 20-30 seconds to as long as 3 minutes for it to boot in the morning. It's definitely not possible to begin driving immediately as recommended in the owner's manual if you need or want to use comm, nav, media, or radio. I hope your Taos doesn't do this to you.

I'm going to have the dealer pull the circuit breaker on the wireless charging pad. It barely charges and makes our phones extremely hot. There should have been a physical or logical on/off switch as provided by other manufacturers.

I agree with your posts about the annoying beeps when the driver's door opens. Settings in my digital cockpit have changed over night (i.e., map display). What I have not seen and hope you do not experience is being locked out of the steering wheel and digital cockpit before sunrise or after dark if the headlights are not on. I cannot comprehend the thinking that went into these three "features."

As some of yours, my FWD SEL's powertrain surges, jerks, coughs, and chokes from 0 to about 25. Some are so strong our heads hit the headrest. You don't dare try to change lanes or accelerate quickly to get around traffic if you had to slow quickly from 40-55 to 5-15, there will be no power for 1-2 seconds. I'm going to try changing the drive mode setting as some of you have recommended, provided I can find the setting buried somewhere deep down in the most convoluted and disorganized software structure I've ever experienced.

And the list goes on and on. It's sad and somewhat funny that VW will have someone with no experience or knowledge of the entire Taos line follow up on an email or call. They do not want to hear nor can they appreciate that driving this SEL raises the anxiety and fear level of anyone in the vehicle due to the many distractions, alarms, messages, reboots, and more. There are many times when it has scared the hell out of me and my passengers. Some settings and behaviors are just bizarre and ludicrous, they are incomprehensible.

Well, so much for my hello. Like I said, I have appreciated your posts and have learned from them. Keep them coming. I am worried about the reputation and value of this vehicle as more and more problems are found and reported. Although highly doubtful, VW needs to address the issues quickly with TSB's or recalls. In the mean time, if anyone can convince VW to buy this thing back please do so.

Thanks,
Low IQ Taos FWD SEL

 

[Yebba]

Hey everyone,

I have appreciated your informative posts. In spite of what VW has been trying to get me to believe, you have confirmed many issues I am having with my 6 week old FWD SEL. It's going to the dealer for several days next week, we'll see what happens.

My FWD SEL did not study hard at the engineering factory, it has a low IQ, I'm guessing somewhere in the 50'ish range. Several IQDrive elements have been so dangerous, distracting, or unexpected for me and my passengers I have turned them off or quit using them all together. AEB slams us to a halt and back in our seats when we enter our garage unless I enter at an angle then whip the steering wheel hard to essentially shimmy the Taos into its slot. LW fishtails the vehicle back and forth within lanes until a point when it blasts us with an alarm and message. It's off now. For sure my SEL failed the RCTA course, it's not even in the ballpark compared to other vehicles I have owned or rented. Unless I run over a pedestrian and hear screams there will be no sound coming from the RCTA. ACC causes the SEL to pulse in heavy multi-lane traffic. It acts like it is tracking different vehicles in different lanes. Several times it has brought me to a surprise and abrupt halt when someone entered an interstate exit ramp or turn lane, even when traveling on a straight road. The folks behind me didn't appreciate it much either, I'm actually surprised I haven't been rear ended yet. I stopped using ACC too.

The infotainment system sometimes reboots while driving. The screen will go black for a minute or two, a clock will appear, disappear, and another reboot will happen. It takes a minimum of 20-30 seconds to as long as 3 minutes for it to boot in the morning. It's definitely not possible to begin driving immediately as recommended in the owner's manual if you need or want to use comm, nav, media, or radio. I hope your Taos doesn't do this to you.

I'm going to have the dealer pull the circuit breaker on the wireless charging pad. It barely charges and makes our phones extremely hot. There should have been a physical or logical on/off switch as provided by other manufacturers.

I agree with your posts about the annoying beeps when the driver's door opens. Settings in my digital cockpit have changed over night (i.e., map display). What I have not seen and hope you do not experience is being locked out of the steering wheel and digital cockpit before sunrise or after dark if the headlights are not on. I cannot comprehend the thinking that went into either of these three "features."

As some of yours, my FWD SEL's powertrain surges, jerks, coughs, and chokes from 0 to about 25. Some are so strong our heads hit the headrest. You don't dare try to change lanes or accelerate quickly to get around traffic if you had to slow quickly from 40-55 to 5-15, there will be no power for 1-2 seconds. I'm going to try changing the drive mode setting as some of you have recommended, provided I can find the setting buried somewhere deep down in the most convoluted and disorganized software structure I've ever experienced.

And the list goes on and on. It's sad and somewhat funny that VW will have someone with no experience or knowledge of the entire Taos line follow up on an email or call. They do not want to hear nor can they appreciate that driving this SEL raises the anxiety and fear level of anyone in the vehicle due to the many distractions, alarms, messages, reboots, and more. There are many times when it has scared the hell out of me and my passengers. Some settings and behaviors are just bizarre and ludicrous, they are incomprehensible.

Well, so much for my dribble. Like I said, I have appreciated your posts and have learned from them. Keep them coming. I would not be surprised to see the reputation of this vehicle decline as more and more problems are found and reported. Although highly doubtful, VW needs to address the issues quickly with TSB's or recalls. In the mean time, if anyone can convince VW to buy this thing back please do so.

Thanks,
Low IQ Taos FWD SEL

yikes…have you contacted VW USA regarding your multiple issues? i’ll be interested to see if there are any stored codes and what those are when it goes into the shop—keep us posted.

 

[CorradoG60]

The SEL Nav system is a mess across the VW line. The heralded MiB3 system is a cruel joke.

In my Jetta SEL, I manually reboot the system at least once a day because of no sound, or because it only partially booted the first time. And yes, it takes at least 30 seconds on cold boot to become active, so if you need to use nav or wired carplay you must wait up to a minute. Our 2021 Tiguan SE starts faster and I only once had to reboot it in 3 months of ownership. It doesn’t have NAV so it’s a different MIB3 software version.

I also experience the ACC of responding to brake lights in an adjacent lane. If you feel it doing it you can press gas pedal. I never experienced it in previous VWs with ACC, nor in our 2021 Tiguan SE.

As for rear assist, it only responds to movement. It doesn’t respond to stationary objects. It is not a park distance control. This is true in all VW cars without park distance control. RCTA is not a substitute for paying attention. It’s simply a helper.

Edit: RCTA responds best to cars moving quickly behind, which is the purpose. It’s not to replace looking back and using the camera. It’s to try to help when backing into a road or when some fool comes behind fast in a parking lot even after you started backing up. It’s not a pedestrian monitor, though on my car it does notice people foolishly walking right behind my car while I already started backing up. In my opinion, it’s nice to have for the occasional idiot who zooms into my backup path, but normally the backup camera is plenty.

 

[288]

yikes…have you contacted VW USA regarding your multiple issues? i’ll be interested to see if there are any stored codes and what those are when it goes into the shop—keep us posted.

I don't have a code reading device but I hope to find out soon when I take it to the dealer. Will post if anything is found.

Yes, contacted VW multiple times. They responded promptly and with concern but the folks just don't know anything about the Taos. None of the folks I spoke to had a Taos or had spent any time in it. All they could say was check the settings, read the manual, and take it to the dealer.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[288]

The SEL Nav system is a mess across the VW line. The heralded MiB3 system is a cruel joke.

In my Jetta SEL, I manually reboot the system at least once a day because of no sound, or because it only partially booted the first time. And yes, it takes at least 30 seconds on cold boot to become active, so if you need to use nav or wired carplay you must wait up to a minute. Our 2021 Tiguan SE starts faster and I only once had to reboot it in 3 months of ownership. It doesn’t have NAV so it’s a different MIB3 software version.

I also experience the ACC of responding to brake lights in an adjacent lane. If you feel it doing it you can press gas pedal. I never experienced it in previous VWs with ACC, nor in our 2021 Tiguan SE.

As for rear assist, it only responds to movement. It doesn’t respond to stationary objects. It is not a park distance control. This is true in all VW cars without park distance control. RCTA is not a substitute for paying attention. It’s simply a helper.

Edit: RCTA responds best to cars moving quickly behind, which is the purpose. It’s not to replace looking back and using the camera. It’s to try to help when backing into a road or when some fool comes behind fast in a parking lot even after you started backing up. It’s not a pedestrian monitor, though on my car it does notice people foolishly walking right behind my car while I already started backing up. In my opinion, it’s nice to have for the occasional idiot who zooms into my backup path, but normally the backup camera is plenty.

Thanks for the comments about the infotainment system and booting. Sounds like my problem might be with nav, I'll have the dealer check it out.

VW support called and delivered me a 15 minute lecture about the RCTA in the Taos, even though the person had never been in a Taos. I was informed that the driver cannot be pressing on the brake, and most important, the driver must be pressing on the gas and the vehicle must be moving. No other vehicle has operated like this, including our other VW, so I was surprised at this info.

As reported by a couple folks in the Atlas forums, I've had more than a dozen folks, vehicles, and even a couple dualies pass by me but there is no detection unless they are right on top of me. I'm going to have the dealer take a look at it. If they find anything I will report back. Great comments about not relying on this system and instead looking back and using the camera. Everyone needs to be aware that this system cannot not be trusted.

Thank you.

 

[CorradoG60]

Thanks for the comments about the infotainment system and booting. Sounds like my problem might be with nav, I'll have the dealer check it out.

VW support called and delivered me a 15 minute lecture about the RCTA in the Taos, even though the person had never been in a Taos. I was informed that the driver cannot be pressing on the brake, and most important, the driver must be pressing on the gas and the vehicle must be moving. No other vehicle has operated like this, including our other VW, so I was surprised at this info.

As reported by a couple folks in the Atlas forums, I've had more than a dozen folks, vehicles, and even a couple dualies pass by me but there is no detection unless they are right on top of me. I'm going to have the dealer take a look at it. If they find anything I will report back. Great comments about not relying on this system and instead looking back and using the camera. Everyone needs to be aware that this system cannot not be trusted.

Thank you.

Interesting. I think they are right that you must be moving as well as the object, but not sure if they are right about it needing a throttle input to work. I will check next time and also see if it’s consistent between Tiguan and Jetta.

As for ACC, is the front sensor array in the RV mirror pod on the Taos? It is on the Jetta, but it’s under the grill on the Tiguan and was also on my Alltrack and we never have (had) it get confused by adjacent lanes on the Tiguan/Alltrack.

 

[loakland]

Interesting. I think they are right that you must be moving as well as the object, but not sure if they are right about it needing a throttle input to work. I will check next time and also see if it’s consistent between Tiguan and Jetta.

As for ACC, is the front sensor array in the RV mirror pod on the Taos? It is on the Jetta, but it’s under the grill on the Tiguan and was also on my Alltrack and we never have (had) it get confused by adjacent lanes on the Tiguan/Alltrack.

The Radar array is behind the VW logo in the grill. Had many of the same issues as stated above but it was a faulty radar sensor from the factory. No issues since it has been replaced. I also have the FWD SEL.

 

[CorradoG60]

The Radar array is behind the VW logo in the grill. Had many of the same issues as stated above but it was a faulty radar sensor from the factory. No issues since it has been replaced. I also have the FWD SEL.

Good to know. They hid it so well I thought was moved. Is that true on the Jetta as well?

 

[Burnt taco]

Hey everyone,

I have appreciated your informative posts. In spite of what VW has been trying to get me to believe, you have confirmed many issues I am having with my 6 week old FWD SEL. It's going to the dealer for several days next week, we'll see what happens.

My FWD SEL did not study in school, it has a low IQ drive. I'm guessing it's somewhere in the 50'ish range. Several IQDrive elements have been so dangerous, distracting, or unexpected for me and my passengers I have turned them off or quit using them all together. AEB slams us to a halt and back in our seats when we enter our garage unless I enter at an angle then whip the steering wheel hard to essentially shimmy the Taos into its slot. LW fishtails the vehicle back and forth within lanes until a point when it blasts us with an alarm and message. It's off now. For sure my SEL failed the RCTA course, it's not even in the ballpark compared to other vehicles I have owned or rented. Unless I run over a pedestrian and hear screams there will be no sound coming from the RCTA. ACC causes the SEL to pulse in heavy multi-lane traffic. It acts like it is tracking different vehicles in different lanes. Several times it has brought me to a surprise and abrupt halt when someone entered an interstate exit ramp or turn lane, even when traveling on a straight road. The folks behind me didn't appreciate it much either, I'm actually surprised I haven't been rear ended yet. I stopped using ACC too.

The infotainment system sometimes reboots while driving. The screen will go black for a minute or two, a clock will appear, disappear, and another reboot will happen. It takes a minimum of 20-30 seconds to as long as 3 minutes for it to boot in the morning. It's definitely not possible to begin driving immediately as recommended in the owner's manual if you need or want to use comm, nav, media, or radio. I hope your Taos doesn't do this to you.

I'm going to have the dealer pull the circuit breaker on the wireless charging pad. It barely charges and makes our phones extremely hot. There should have been a physical or logical on/off switch as provided by other manufacturers.

I agree with your posts about the annoying beeps when the driver's door opens. Settings in my digital cockpit have changed over night (i.e., map display). What I have not seen and hope you do not experience is being locked out of the steering wheel and digital cockpit before sunrise or after dark if the headlights are not on. I cannot comprehend the thinking that went into these three "features."

As some of yours, my FWD SEL's powertrain surges, jerks, coughs, and chokes from 0 to about 25. Some are so strong our heads hit the headrest. You don't dare try to change lanes or accelerate quickly to get around traffic if you had to slow quickly from 40-55 to 5-15, there will be no power for 1-2 seconds. I'm going to try changing the drive mode setting as some of you have recommended, provided I can find the setting buried somewhere deep down in the most convoluted and disorganized software structure I've ever experienced.

And the list goes on and on. It's sad and somewhat funny that VW will have someone with no experience or knowledge of the entire Taos line follow up on an email or call. They do not want to hear nor can they appreciate that driving this SEL raises the anxiety and fear level of anyone in the vehicle due to the many distractions, alarms, messages, reboots, and more. There are many times when it has scared the hell out of me and my passengers. Some settings and behaviors are just bizarre and ludicrous, they are incomprehensible.

Well, so much for my hello. Like I said, I have appreciated your posts and have learned from them. Keep them coming. I am worried about the reputation and value of this vehicle as more and more problems are found and reported. Although highly doubtful, VW needs to address the issues quickly with TSB's or recalls. In the mean time, if anyone can convince VW to buy this thing back please do so.

Thanks,
Low IQ Taos FWD SEL

Beware that your car has a fuel
Line recall that will force the dealer to impound your car due to fire safety. Mine has been there for 7 weeks and vw can only promise that by end of November they will have an update on parts. I wound up threatening the dealer with a buy back application and they gave me a full value credit towards a awd sel that was available. I lost the color I wanted but the awd is a less troublesome car overall. Suggest you find out if your affected by the recall before your visit elsenthey will keep your car FOREVER