Even when they were brand new, capacitive touch buttons on the steering wheel didn't seem like the greatest idea, but Volkswagen soldiered on, and now it's getting sued over them. A new class action lawsuit in the U.S. says these buttons aren't just hard to use — they're downright unsafe.
The complaint, filed in New Jersey (hell yeah) by a couple of owners, says that the controls on the wheel are too sensitive and can accidentally activate the adaptive cruise control with a "mere light brush of the hand over the steering wheel's haptic controls," according to Motor1. One owner says her ID 4 accelerated when pulling into a parking space after her hand brushed against the "button." The accident caused over $14,000 in damage to the crossover and injured her hand. The other owner ran into their garage while trying to park, damaging both the door and the EV.
The two plaintiffs are now apparently "terrified and hesitant" to drive their cars, according to CarScoops. The suit alleges Volkswagen has failed to disclose the alleged defect and hasn't offered customers suitable repairs or replacements free of charge. It also alleges that VW knows about the problem because of various customer complaints, internal records and information sent from dealerships.
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A Real Issue
The file contains numerous complaints from other ID 4 owners that were filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Motor1 reports. They cover unintended acceleration issues, emergency braking failures and other injuries resulting from crashes caused by these alleged problems. Many of the reports happened while drivers were attempting to park, and quite a few acknowledged they could have inadvertently brushed up against the button. We told you about this issue over a year ago.
Clearly, Volkswagen knows ditching physical steering wheel controls for capacitive touch buttons was a mistake. In late 2022, we told you that VW was ditching this type of button for actual ones because of how poorly they were received. Just above every VW product — including the latest Golf GTI — has returned to using real buttons on the steering wheel, and everybody is happy again.
Of course, this doesn't really help the poor saps who are saddled with this cumbersome switchgear. I cannot imagine that swapping one wheel for another would be a terribly difficult task, but it certainly won't be cheap. However, if the plaintiffs in this lawsuit get their way, it will be.
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