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NHTSA defect investigation · Recall Query

Volkswagen recall query RQ24010

Inadvertent Door Opening. NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this recall query about the latch on 3 model years (2021–2023). Opened May 16, 2024, closed Nov 4, 2024 after 6 months without a recall. closed

What NHTSA says

Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filed

On May 16, 2024, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Recall Query (RQ) RQ24010 to investigate the remedy and scope of recalls 23V-213 and 23V-312. The affected vehicles by these recalls included model years (MY) 2021 through 2023 Volkswagen ID.4 vehicles. ODI received reports of the vehicle’s doors opening while the vehicle was in motion post recall remedy.  ODI, also, received similar allegations on vehicles that were outside the scope of the recalls. Volkswagen issued recall 23V-213 on March 29, 2023, and recall 23V-213 on May 03, 2023. These recalls addressed the defect of water ingress into the circuit board assembly of the door handle. Water ingress can cause communication issues between the door handle and the door control until. This malfunction resulted in the vehicle door inadvertently opening while the vehicle was in motion. Over the course of the investigation, ODI received 17 unique VIN VOQ complaints of the vehicle doors opening while the vehicle was in motion occurring either post recall remedy or on a vehicle that was outside the recall scope. Volkswagen submitted 190 unique VIN complaints reporting the same circumstances. On September 4, 2024, Volkswagen submitted recall 24V-651 to address the issue of inadvertent opening of the door while the vehicle is in motion. The scope of this recall expands the affected vehicles to include all MY2021-2024 Volkswagen ID.4 models, including those remedied under the subject recalls. The recall remedy consists of replacement of the door handle assembly on all four doors as well as a software update.  The software update is performed to update the door handle parameters. The new door handle will have the membrane relocated to the back of the handle to avoid standing water within the handle.  Also, a protective coating will be on the front and back of the circuit board to avoid direct moisture formation. In view of the action being taken by Volkswagen, Recall 24V-651, ODI is closing this Recall Query.  The Agency reserves the right to take additional action if warranted by future circumstances. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.

Stage Recall Query — NHTSA works to complete one within eight months Opened May 16, 2024 Closed Nov 4, 2024 Manufacturer Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. Components Latches/Locks/Linkages › Doors › Latch

A Recall Query is a look at a recall that already exists — whether its remedy works, whether it reached every vehicle it should have, whether the manufacturer met its obligations. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the resumes carrying the full reasoning are linked below.

The paperwork NHTSA filed

Source: every document on this action, at nhtsa.gov
DocumentCodeFiledAt NHTSA
Opening resumeINOA2024PDF
Closing resumeINCLA2024PDF
Information request to the manufacturerINIM2024PDF
Manufacturer's response — dataINRD202437 files 12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637

40 of 161 documents shown; the rest are under this number at nhtsa.gov.

These are NHTSA’s own files, served from the agency’s site — the resumes are what ODI wrote when it opened and closed the action, and the rest is the correspondence behind them, including what the manufacturer sent when the agency asked. They are linked, not copied: where a document names the people who wrote in, that redaction is the agency’s to make and its copy is the one you should read.

What owners had already reported

Source: complaints on file the day it opened

When NHTSA opened this on May 16, 2024, owners had filed 623 complaints with the agency about the model years above, of which 6 named the latches/locks/linkages NHTSA went on to investigate. Owner complaints are the agency’s main early signal: ODI screens them, and a Preliminary Evaluation is usually where a pattern in them ends up.

This is what the complaint file held on that date, not a claim about which reports prompted the investigation — NHTSA’s complaint records carry no investigation number, so nobody can make that link from the data alone. The opening resume linked above names the reports ODI itself cited. Complaint records on this site begin with 2016.

What this means for an owner

Source: and what happens next

An investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.

This one is closed. A recall query ends with NHTSA’s finding on the recall it examined — the remedy stands, is widened, or a new campaign follows; the file names the recall it concerned and NHTSA’s closing resume carries the reasoning.

Model years it names

Source: as NHTSA filed them

A vehicle page’s investigation list carries the same action; a name here is the scope NHTSA opened, not a list of affected VINs.

Common questions

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Is RQ24010 a recall?

No. A recall query is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Is RQ24010 still open?

No. It closed on Nov 4, 2024 without a recall.

Which vehicles does RQ24010 cover?

NHTSA opened it on 3 model years: 2023 Volkswagen ID.4, 2022 Volkswagen ID.4, 2021 Volkswagen ID.4. That is the scope of the inquiry, not a list of affected vehicles; a recall, if one follows, defines its own population by VIN.