— Volkswagen Tiguans are allegedly burning oil at excessive rates which force owners of 2022-2023 VW Tiguan SUVs to constantly add oil to the engines.
Maryland plaintiff Calvin Westlund owns a 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan R-Line Black Edition which allegedly burns too much oil.
The plaintiff says he took his Tiguan to a dealer on December 10, 2024, and despite this having been the fourth or fifth time he had to fill up his oil over the past month, the dealership told him this was a “normal” occurrence.
The next day, the VW dealer filled his Tiguan with oil and began phase one of VW’s oil consumption test, which is currently in progress.
Even though the dealer is performing the oil consumption test and isn't finished, the plaintiff asserts, "the dealership has been unable to provide Plaintiff with proper assistance or remedy."
North Carolina Stacy Zeiders owns a 2022 Volkswagen Tiguan which is allegedly burning oil at a rapid rate. The class action lawsuit alleges the dealership has performed phase one of the oil consumption test.
The Tiguan is now undergoing phase two of the test, but the plaintiff contends, "the dealership was unable to provide Plaintiff with proper assistance or remedy."
Although the vehicles haven't finished the oil consumption tests performed by dealers, the two Tiguan owners filed this class action lawsuit for more than $5 million by alleging the Tiguans suffer from oil consumption problems.
An engine lacking oil will fail to lubricate the parts and won't properly cool the engine, leading to catastrophic engine failure.
The VW Tiguan allegedly burns too much oil because of insufficient piston ring tension which allows engine oil into the combustion chamber of the engine.
"As a result, engine oil is not separated from the Combustion Cycle as intended. Instead, engine oil is burned and consumed during the Combustion Cycle. Additionally, and as a result, the crankcase becomes pressurized since gases from the Combustion Cycle are caused to enter the crankcase." — VW Tiguan oil consumption lawsuit
The positive crankshaft ventilation (PCV) system is also allegedly defective and fails to reduce pressure within the crankcase "caused by combustion gases escaping from the combustion chamber, past the piston and oil rings, and into the crankcase."
According to the Tiguan class action lawsuit, a technical service bulletin (TSB 2017813/19) was issued to dealers in September 2024 which applies to the Tiguans.
VW tells dealerships to inspect a Tiguan engine for any oil leaks, but if no leak is detected and “the customer complains that their engine is apparently consuming oil in excess of the Volkswagen oil consumption standard,” the dealer must complete the three-step “Oil Consumption Test” before any repair is carried out.
Volkswagen describes its oil consumption standard as, "up to 0.5 quarts per 600 miles, or 0.5 liters per 1000 km."
And as repeated ad nauseam in every automotive class action lawsuit about the subject at hand:
"Had Plaintiffs and Class Members known about the Oil Consumption Defect at the time of their purchase or lease transaction, they would not have purchased or leased the Class Vehicles or they would have paid substantially less for them."
The Volkswagen Tiguan oil consumption class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (Newark Vicinage): Stacy Zeiders and Calvin Westlund v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
The plaintiffs are represented by Shub & Johns LLC.
