• Volkswagen is recalling just over 16,000 ID.4 SUVs due to a problem with the doors.
• Water can seep in via the exterior door handles, reach the interior circuit board and possibly short it out.
• The Volkswagen ID.4 is on its sixth recall in the last year.
Volkswagen is recalling 16,207 units of its ID.4 electric SUV, the sixth such action for the model in the past year.
This time, the problem concerns the exterior door handles. These can allow water to get inside the door assembly. If that water reaches the handle's circuit board and short-circuits it, it could cause the door to open unexpectedly.
The information shared by Volkswagen includes elements that seem contradictory at first glance. It says that the door can open if the vehicle is “subjected to high lateral forces at speeds of less than nine miles per hour,” or about 15 km/h. Let's just say it's hard to imagine a very high lateral force at low speeds. It might be possible in the case of a very sharp turn made at low speed.
In any case, if hit by moisture, the circuit board demonstrate “communication problems between the door handle and the door control unit,” causing the control unit to “signal an open command” to the door.
Regardless of the speed or situation, a door opening while a vehicle is in motion is potentially dangerous. Before a door actually opens, occupants might become aware of the problem on hearing the usual sound of a door being locked or unlocked.
The vehicles covered by the campaign were manufactured between March 3, 2022 and March 16, 2023. Beginning March 20, 2023, the door handle supplier revised its production process for manufacturing the interior membrane.
Volkswagen engineers have not yet settled on a fix. Dealers have already been notified and the first letters will be sent to owners starting May 26. A second set of letters will be distributed once a solution to the problem has been found.