# UPDATE - 2018 Tiguan SEL Premium - Rain Sensing Wipers Not Working



## ahealey74 (Sep 12, 2017)

Shortly after taking delivery of my new Tiguan I noticed that the rain sensing wipers were not operating. They worked fine in intermittent mode, but did not function when toggled to rain sensing / auto. 

On my first trip to the dealer they replaced the wiper stalk on the steering column. This seemed to fix the problem, however the sensitivity was way off. Light mist or drizzle would not activate the wipers, but full on rain or a decent squirt from a water bottle would.

Second trip they replaced the rain sensor, but could not fix the sensitivity problem. The found that by pressing on the sensor housing they got better sensitivity results but could not maintain consistency when it was not manually held tighter to the windshield.

VW tech has since informed them that the entire windshield assembly needs to be replaced, possibly a faulty sensor bracket, too much glue, or more likely they just can't figure out what else to do at this point. My dealer has told me they have not received any other similar complaints.

I'm glad they are fixing the problem but this seems like a lot to go through for a car that is barely two months old. Otherwise enjoying my new Tiguan.


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## mauislick (Aug 30, 2017)

hence the 6 yr warranty.......
thanks for the info


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## ahealey74 (Sep 12, 2017)

Final update - after replacing the wiper stalk, then the rain sensor, the dealer replaced the ENTIRE windshield assembly indicating that there was an issue with the housing holding the sensor flush to the windshield. The system is now flawless - in fact it might even be oversensitive. The slightest hint of mist will set the wipers off on any setting except for the lowest. It took them some time to diagnose and fix the problem, but they did a great job and couldn't have been nicer throughout the process.


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## ice4life (Nov 6, 2017)

ahealey74 said:


> Final update - after replacing the wiper stalk, then the rain sensor, the dealer replaced the ENTIRE windshield assembly indicating that there was an issue with the housing holding the sensor flush to the windshield. The system is now flawless - in fact it might even be oversensitive. The slightest hint of mist will set the wipers off on any setting except for the lowest. It took them some time to diagnose and fix the problem, but they did a great job and couldn't have been nicer throughout the process.


Awesome! One more fix and it would've been a buy back case!


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## vdubs kopfschuss GLI (Sep 25, 2014)

i wish this was an option on the SE trim level. i really enjoyed this feature on my GTI SE.

i feel VWoA really screwed up the options and features with the trim levels on this car. 

but, glad you were taken care of. i think this is a positive note, usually you just hear people complaining about how the dealership did nothing to help fix an issue haha.


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