VW ID.4

when the 3 years are up, they’ll look after you. No need to stresss. You’ll be offered a good deal to get you into a 2026

I’d 85k on mine and nothing was said. Don’t think they even looked at it

Would you not consider just handing it back at the end of the term and then buy it from them at it’s trade value ? Or buy a similar one, there should be plenty decent used ID.4’s at €20K or less at that point. Finance some of it if €20K isn’t accessible. At least you’ll be off the PCP hamster wheel and still have a decent EV that’s cheap to run.

totally. We keep a pcp Golf for about €325pm between both of us and tbh it’s a small luxury to have one car with a warranty, doesn’t need tyres or NCT and only really needs 1-2 services (as it’s usually gone by the 3rd anniversary).
When the last car was traded in, the surplus after clearing the finance was more than the 30% max pcp deposit, so VW gave the option of writing us a cheque for the difference, or reduce the monthlies further

Depends on the dealer whether they’ll sell it to you at a trade price or want to retail it ? You obviously don’t want to appear overly keen that you want it. You could always get a friend to try them for a cash price on it just after you leave it back to them if you think they don’t want to do a deal with you.

There is about 2.5years of EVs, from when the grants changed in July 2021 thru the end of 2023, that will just have to work through the system, but there is simply no chance of owners getting anything other than hammered when the cars list prices have dropped by so much since.

UPDATE on the app, being cut-off wtc

As some of you will know a few months back it seemed I was cut-off from the app and would have to pay to get info on charge level, switch on aircon etc. and I was not willing to pay. I went into the app yesterday and all the info and functionality is back in the app, without me doing/paying anything!

Totally agree. I was quoted from 20k to 26k by a number of dealers to come up two years. If I continued paying that ever two years, I'd be spending 100k to 130k to drive a 45k car for 10 years. Ridiculous😡

First Road Trip in My Wife’s 2025 Volkswagen ID.4 – Wexford to Mayo

This was our first long journey in my wife’s new 2025 ID.4, her second after owning a 2022 model. Coming from a Polestar, I found the experience quite disappointing.

One of the biggest drawbacks is the lack of Android Automotive. While the car supports Android Auto, it’s not deeply integrated, and the USB-C ports are unreliable. They often fail or break easily. Wireless connectivity is also unstable; the phone frequently disconnects and reconnects, making it frustrating to use.

I opted to use the car’s built-in navigation, which has improved significantly since the 2022 model. It now shows charging stations along the route, allows filtering for fast chargers, and makes route planning easier. However, the infotainment system remains overly complex. While it’s no longer laggy, the interface is cluttered with shortcuts and menus that feel unnecessary. This seems to be a common issue with German EVs, too much emphasis on layered software design over usability.

About an hour into the trip, the navigation system lost GPS accuracy (location data), placing us back in Wexford and showing us driving through fields. This triggered the stupid speed limit warning chime continuously, mistaking motorways for 60 km/h zones. It was incredibly distracting and made charger navigation nearly impossible.

We switched to Google Maps, which worked better, but unlike Android Automotive, we couldn’t add chargers to the route seamlessly like you can on Automotive. We eventually picked a charger manually and redirected the car there.

Our first stop was an Ionity charger, which unexpectedly stopped charging at 68%. The charger itself was functional, but the car wouldn’t resume charging. We moved on to an ESB charger later in the trip, which also cut out at around 68% and wouldn’t restart. Locals confirmed that ESB chargers are frequently unreliable, and many rely on them despite their poor performance but I think the issue was the car.

Interestingly, the Ionity station had a card payment terminal beside the chargers, which was helpful due to reported poor mobile connectivity in the area. The Ionity app also failed to load the map properly. Despite setting the car to charge to 100%, it never reached that level. I suspect that interference between the VW app and the car’s software may be causing issues, as this was also a problem with her previous ID.4.

A few days later, we tried charging again at Ionity. It cut out once more, but I managed to switch to another charger and complete the session. Charging infrastructure in the west of Ireland is sparse, and street chargers are always occupied by retired grandads in their plug-in hybrids.

Overall, I’m not impressed with the ID.4. My wife doesn’t trust it, and that’s a serious concern. In 2025, we should be past these kinds of issues. My own car, by comparison, is reliable, charging is straightforward, Google Maps integration is seamless, and the car simply works.

The ID.4’s software complexity and poor integration are its biggest flaws. Even home charging is inconsistent, sometimes stopping overnight. It feels like the car’s systems are over-engineered and not well coordinated. VW needs to simplify their software or adopt proven systems from other manufacturers. There are rumors that VW may eventually license Chinese software, which could be a step in the right direction.

The ID.4 is a great family car in terms of space and comfort, but it’s let down by its software.

Did I mention the boot starts shouting at you when you stand under it for too long?

The ID.4 is a great family car in terms of space and comfort, but it’s let down by its software.

Do you know what software version it is running? Is it on v5.x?