Volkswagen is recalling 49,958 model-year 2025 Tiguan SUVs because a software error can shut off the ignition while driving, potentially stalling the engine and disabling other systems.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2025 Tiguan vehicles. A software error may cause the body control module (BCM) system to reset. This may result in the ignition switching off, resulting in an engine stall. It can also lead to a loss of certain controls, warning lights, exterior lighting, or failure of the rearview camera system. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 101, “Controls and Displays,” and 102, “Transmission shift lever sequence, starter interlock, and transmission braking effect,” as well as FMVSS numbers 111 and 108.
Owners can check their vehicle identification number (VIN) on the NHTSA recall lookup to see whether their Tiguan is affected.
Here is the relevant information from the NHTSA Recall notice:
NHTSA ID Number: 26V587
Manufacturer: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Components: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Potential Number of Units Affected: 49,958
Estimated percentage with defect: 100%
Descriptive Information
The recall population was determined by production records.
The recalled products differ from products that were not included in the recall because they were built with a specific version of body control module software.
Description of defect or noncompliance:
In affected vehicles, a software issue may cause the Body Control Module (BCM) to reset unexpectedly while the vehicle is being driven. If the BCM resets, the ignition may switch off, resulting in an engine stall and loss of certain controls, telltales, exterior lighting, and rearview camera systems. As a result, the affected vehicles do not comply with FMVSS 101, 102, 108 and 111.
Description of the safety risk, including crash, fire, death, injury:
Unexpected loss of motive power and/or the loss of controls, telltales, exterior lighting, and rearview camera systems can increase the risk of a crash.
Description of the cause:
The FCCU Manager (fault control unit) inside the BCM is not set up correctly.
Identification of any warning that can occur:
None stated.
Chronology
January 2025: Ignition switched off while driving in a test vehicle. Cause analyzed further internally and with supplier.
March 2025 – June 2025: Analysis showed that certain error correcting code (ECC) errors could lead to a BCM reset due to specific software coding related to system error handling.
September – October 2025: Volkswagen Product Safety committee considered the topic and reviewed the failure modes and information from the field. Given the nature of the topic and the number of factors required to trigger the failure mode, it was unclear whether any additional cases would likely occur, so further field monitoring was decided to investigate further.
October 2025 – April 2026: A small number of potential cases were identified in other markets, but none in the US. There is no specific diagnostic trouble code (DTC) for this failure mode, so the individual claims potentially related to this topic needed to be analyzed further with the support of the supplier to determine if they were consistent with this topic.
April 2026 – August 2026: Ongoing discussions between Volkswagen North American Region and Volkswagen AG regarding the analysis of this topic and whether any cases could be expected in the region.
September 2, 2026: Topic was presented at Volkswagen Brand Product Safety Committee and out of an abundance of caution, a noncompliance recall was decided because failures could not be ruled out.
Volkswagen is not aware of any crashes, fires, injuries, or deaths associated with this defect.
Volkswagen is not aware of any warranty claims relating to this issue.
Remedy
Description of Remedy
Remedy Type: Software
Description of remedy program:
To address this issue, authorized Volkswagen dealers will update the Body Control Module (BCM) software in the affected vehicles free of charge.
How remedy component differs from recalled component:
The remedy uses updated software, version 0326.
Description of recall schedule:
Planned Dealer Notification Date: Sep 18, 2026 – Sep 18, 2026Â
Owner remedy notices are scheduled to be mailed November 6, 2026.
Affected VINs were scheduled to become searchable September 18, 2026.
