10,000 Miles in the 2021 Volkswagen ID.4 | 2021 VW ID.4 Long Term-Test Update | The Good & the Bad 

The ID.4 experience is one of peaks and valleys; we love how it drives, but the user experience drives us up a wall. What's more important to you? Let us know in the comments below!

Have a 2023 ID.4 and absolutely love it. Has had zero issues, not even with software, drives great, has good range, charges great, roomy, and the newer software is much better.

We've just bought a 2023 ID.4 Pro and have driven it for about a month. The driving experience has been excellent. Smooth acceleration, nice handling and super quiet in the cabin. Build quality is excellent with no panel gaps or poor interior fit out. Apple Carplay and Android Auto have worked flawlessly. That being said the UI isn't great. It has worked fine but it's just not very intuitive. If VW can come up with a UI that makes a little more sense then they have quite a car on their hands. All up we really love our ID.4.

I have an European 2021 ID.4 with 3.0 Over The Air software. It works great now. It is a good car that, nevertheless, had several noticeable issues at the beginning. There are no software bugs anymore and, for example, Travel Assist works great now: it follows the road curves very accurately and the steering wheel turns smoothly (in this aspect, comparable to the Tesla SFD). After 1 year and 4 month I can say that the car is worth it.

I have a ID.4 2021 Pro S driving experience is amazing, quiet ride, no issues at all. Car is fantastic for everyday drive. Did 2 road-trips from Boca Raton, FL to Charlotte with no issues. It’s my first EV car moving from gas cars.

This is SO HELPFUL! Ive been very drawn to these but with those user errors Im not even going to take time to look at it

I bought mine 8 months ago and I’m super happy, my experience has been fantastic; great size, amazing torque, good suspension, super quit and the look and feel is perfect.

We URGENTLY need a car video titled "a car is not a phone" !!!!

I got one of these right before Christmas. I have 4450 miles on it and no software issues. Some things require more touches than they should, like changing stations on the radio, but not really the climate control. Just set it on auto and touch the “buttons” to raise and lower the temp. The travel assist works very well, once I’m on the highway, I don’t need to steer or work the pedals, and that’s with lots of curves and stop and go traffic. Where I live, teslas are extremely common, and I didn’t want the same thing as everyone else. You do give up is a little range, I have the awd and I only get about 265. It’s a good car if you want something different.

I have 2022 id 4 pro s and I love ot! I had no issues with it at all!

The car is good! the New update is great

I think being aware of the issues, I still feel Comfortable purchasing an AWD, Pro S this summer

In regards to the auto down feature with the windows…my 2016 Fusion SE with tech package has that and I did the same thing when I bought the car. Didn’t know it was enabled and must have had the key in my pocket while I napped. Woke up and wasn’t aware until the guy from my town’s city hall messaged me and told me. It was snowing that day. Learned how to turn that off immediately and it’s been off since then. Probably handy down south when it is super hot but not in MN.

The main advantage of the steering wheel touch sensitive buttons is swiping. You don’t need to look down or fidget when you swipe. It took me by surprise when I realized this is how those sensitive buttons are intended to be used. It’s amazingly intuitive to use, when you need to adjust ACC cruising speed or sound volume or skip songs. You just swipe your thumbs across the middle of the small panels , super easy and effortless, no need to look down or find the right buttons. It’s a pity those buttons are misunderstood.

This is very informative as I'm considering buying this for my parents. The "CLIMA" system is the deal breaker.

I have the ID4 2023 model with 3.1 software and have no software issues. In the 6 months I have had it, at no point has it been necessary to roll down the rear windows, so I really can´t see the problem with the lack of bottons. The volume it controled at the steering wheel, but if you insist on using the bar under the screen, just slide it and it doesn´t matter where you hit it. Same with the temp control.

I don't know why everyone freaks out about the window buttons. Every reviewer is always driving by themselves yet whining that they can't roll down the back windows easily... but why and who, when driving solo, needs to roll down the rear windows? I own an ID.4 and don't find it a bother at all. When my kids are in the car with me in the back, they can roll down the windows on their own.

The window going down when holding the unlock button is not only a volkswagaon feature.

The unexpected windows roll-down case recalled me of my own experience with my 2010-built Opel Astra. One winter morning I discovered that all windows were rolled down during the heavy snowfall. And I'm sure I didn't touch my keyfob at all.

With buttons on the ignition key to open all the windows, Volkswagen has been doing this for a long time. He was already with my Golf 3.

I share your pros and cons 100% - I have exactly this car (and same color)😅

Did the wet interior upset the electrics and is it better to simply plug in your phone for more reliable connectivity? In my car if I hold the button down long enough it closes all the windows.

I bought a VW id4 hot wheel so far I have had no issues besides the braking when I sent it across the patio table and it fell off and scratched on the concrete

It kills me how people are saying that $41K is a low price for a car.

I wouldn't hold my breath on that software update. I've been waiting 20 months.

My 2021 ProS now has 80k miles, and software 3.1 updated earlier this year, makes it run a bit better - but I never had any problems.

I heard a few times about the rear windows buttons problem, but I have another problem. In 99% I open windows without looking and instead of front, I open rear window (changed few cars of different brands). I think for some part of clients it could be good feature to have only 2 buttons.

it could be a consideration for purchasing because the price is cheaper and the specs are almost the same as competitors

wheres the wrap up video after the update?

I heard VW discontinued software updates for many owners a while back. Believe they were taking way too long to update and the process was not going smoothly for the dealerships. I’m sure they will get Edmunds’ taken care of tho 🤷‍♂️

Do the Carplay and Android Auto issues persist if you use the wired connection to connect or is it all through the wireless connection?

When is the next update video?

Android auto issues are most likely a google side issue if youve had it work before. Google pushes random updates that breaks things more than it fixes

Thinking of purchasing a EV (maybe an id 4) but we are snowbirds and would be leaving it behind outside in the cold North Idaho winters. Is storing it 4 months in the cold bad for the battery health, should that be left plugged in? Any help would be appreciated, we can't seem to find any info on this subject. Thanks!

Last I heard, 41k is A LOT OF MONEY! 🤔🤔🤔

any idea what the 3rd , & 4th , 30k 40k inspections cost that aren't covered by VW?

No knobs no deal. Other than that, pretty nice vehicle.

Have 33k miles on my 21 pro s and it's been an absolute nightmare. Worst car by far I've owned. Suspension issues, ac control module failed from factory, faulty 12 v battery, and infotainment system is absolute garbage. I know there is a planned update, but my wife got it on hers and it's a very lack luster update. The current issue is there is a recall pending for a software bug that may cause lost of propulsion during driving. On top of all that seats are wearing out and cracking despite not using them, and a similar story on leather steering wheel starting to crack. While everyones dealer will be different but the two dealers in my area have been slow and frequently have to bring vehicle in multiple times before issues are actually fixed. Extremely poor ownership experience overall.

31’ turning radius vs 40’ in a depla Why lol. That’s a safety issue needing almost 50% more room to make a U-turn. That’s why they call it a Y-turn??!! 😅

Interesting you say you only like the drive. Replicates my experience of the Cupra Born EV platform which is incredibly poor. Never meets the technical specifications on official website which VW seems to think are “a range” (albeit a range it never gets in to). I’d avoid VW, much better options and continued feeling they’ve not learnt from Dieselgate

Bring back physical buttons in cars! It’s like car designers designed their interfaces from a desk and not while driving.

touch only controls should be made illegal in road vehicles. Mechanical buttons, knows, and switches should be mandatory

VW used to have excellent interiors and switchgear. VW completely ruined the switchgear on the ID4 and the GTI. I simply won't consider these cars as a result.

Do yall think about people that live in apartments 🤔 too

in all honesty, the car looks as exciting (to own) as a 2.0L (115hp) Mk3 Golf GTI...meaning not very exciting at all

Every ID4 owner has been waiting for that hallowed day when software that actually works, drops.

🤔Two switches for four windows.....maybe they were trying to save weight

Driven my ID.4 for 30k miles….catch up

If you want to ensure that you have software issues and UX issues, do a RU-vid review of a car.

How do we get the message across to VW, that we WANT physical buttons, not this.

Had software issues with this and never recommend it to anyone .

A nice, but expensive, 2nd car

That it is similar to crappy ICEv is not a good thing.

There is one true ID4. It's when Presid Whitmore gives speach 2 fight back on ID4 day against allen. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Or maybe you dont know how to use the windows control. The update for the touch screen is awesome. Americans are so basic.

3:46 a.k.a. the stuff VW use to be known for.

The 2023 are great and the dash is much quicker. No CarPlay issues, don’t get an android lol.

The disaster of an infotainment system is a dealbreaker. You interact with it just too much for phones to be disconnecting, mileage to be that far off, OTA updates that don’t end up being OTA. It’s clear VW is still over their head in this department, which is nuts considering how long they’ve been doing this.

Looks like VW didn't care about automotive reviewers' and consumers' feedback. They put the same crappy infotainment in the new Atlas and Crossport regardless even after saying they would change it for future models based on the ID4 backlash

Great review but VW reliability is questionable at best. Sticking with my Lexus ES. Not one problem ever

The electric car makers' obsessive approach to buttons is awkward and unreasonable. All philosophy seems wrong. Like Tesla, that strives to get rid of as many physical buttons as possible, which makes the driver's experience clumsy and unsatisfactory. VW's approach seems pretty unbaked on that. They have been thought like there should be some buttons there, but let's put them less than usual. Putting just three buttons (left and right and front and rear) for opening and closing windows is outright silly.

My takeaway from this review: "... at least it's terrible!" 🤔

So did you guys just fire these "editors" / "contributors"? No followup on this video. What "software" update did you get? They have kept the USA stuck on 3.1.0 for a year now. No fixes. And there have been some recalls - especially with their crappy handles. The software is a decade behind and horrific. Also Munro has done a WAY better job of reviewing this car that you guys could dream of. Try harder.

This isn’t AWD? Criminal

So you driving an electric car and the 90% of the presentation is about the multimedia and touch buttons??? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Everything about the inside looks like a poor man's Chevy Bolt.

What a disaster

What a cheap cheap cheap interior.

Tech is all that matters and ID.4 falls so short. It’s why iPhone dominates and so does Tesla! Buy the right one like millions do. Tesla all the way.

This car is complete trash. I luckily just finally wrapped up my lemon law case with VW so I’m more than excited to be surrendering this car back to them soon.

EV trash like all EVs.