VW’s EA888 burns oil fast enough that Tiguan owners in seven states are still suing

Owners of 2022 and 2023 Volkswagen Tiguans with the 2.0-liter EA888 TSI engine allege that their engines burn oil fast enough to leave them adding a quart between services. A federal class action over that claim, filed in New Jersey on December 16, 2024, was cut down to seven states in an April 27, 2026 ruling: Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, New York and Pennsylvania.

Five months after that ruling, the case is still open, and no court has found that the engines are defective. The fight is over a number Volkswagen itself publishes, and over whether owners who say they blow through it can sue as a group.

Piston rings that the plaintiffs say do not hold oil back

The lawsuit, Zeiders et al. v. Volkswagen Group of America, is before Judge Brian R. Martinotti in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, No. 2:24-cv-11197-BRM-JSA. Its theory is mechanical: a lack of piston ring tension that lets engine oil into the combustion chambers, where it burns. CarComplaints also reports allegations that a faulty positive crankcase ventilation system fails to relieve crankcase pressure, and that oil consumption can damage emissions components.

Owners in the suit describe oil warning lights and top-ups between changes. One plaintiff described engine “sputtering” and “hesitation,” which a dealer allegedly called normal, according to the Carscoops report on Volkswagen’s defense.

The consumption limit Volkswagen says its engines meet

Volkswagen’s position is that these engines are within spec. The company’s standard allows consumption of up to 0.5 quarts per 600 miles, or 0.5 liters per 1,000 kilometers, per the case summaries, and its owner’s manual permits about one quart per 1,200 miles, which is the same rate stated another way. Volkswagen has argued that no plaintiff showed a vehicle exceeding that standard and that no plaintiff has claimed a stall, failure or engine damage, only consumption.

A 2024 technical service bulletin, number 2017813/19 and titled “Oil Consumption Measurement,” tells dealers how to test a car when an owner reports excess use, according to CarComplaints. The plaintiffs’ side, per the leadership notice from their counsel, describes owners needing top-offs after roughly 1,000 miles rather than at the 10,000-mile service interval, a pattern that would sit at the edge of the stated limit or beyond it depending on how much oil a car consumes between fills.

Consolidation, a dismissal bid and a shrinking class

The case has moved in steps. Three separate suits, by Scott Worthington, by Zeiders and Calvin Westlund, and by Maria Lydia Martinez, were consolidated in February 2025, and the court appointed Benjamin F. Johns of Shub Johns and Holbrook as interim co-lead counsel on February 11, 2025, according to that firm, which represents the plaintiffs. The firm’s timeline shows the first complaint filed December 16, 2024, a consolidation motion on February 4, 2025, and a March 13, 2025 deadline for a consolidated amended complaint, the pleading that the January ruling addressed. The consolidated plaintiffs number seven, all buyers of 2022 or 2023 Tiguans, according to the firm’s account of the January ruling.

On January 8, 2026, Martinotti largely denied Volkswagen’s motion to dismiss, the plaintiffs’ firm reports. Claims that survived include breach of express warranty, fraudulent concealment, negligent misrepresentation, unjust enrichment, consumer fraud statute violations and breach of the implied warranty of merchantability.

The April 27 ruling did the narrowing. Reports differ on its framing: CarComplaints says the judge rejected nationwide claims while allowing state-level claims to proceed, and Autoblog says the nationwide class was dismissed after Volkswagen argued that owners in other states “have suffered no injuries.” Both name the same seven states. Volkswagen also argued that no judge or jury can compel a recall, which belongs to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, so the plaintiffs’ request for a recall order faces a separate obstacle. CarComplaints adds that Zeiders, whose name is on the case, voluntarily dismissed his own claims.

The states that fell away matter as much as the seven that remain. Owners elsewhere are outside this class as it now stands, according to both reports, and their remaining options are a warranty claim with Volkswagen or a suit of their own. The sources reviewed give no class certification or trial date. The open question is whether the seven surviving state claims can be tried together when the central dispute is a measurement: how much oil counts as too much, with Volkswagen’s own published limit of 0.5 quarts per 600 miles as the yardstick the company points to, and the plaintiffs’ records of top-ups as the evidence that will be set against it. Volkswagen has told the court, in the company’s own framing, that consumption within that limit is not a defect, and the judge has so far let the plaintiffs’ warranty and concealment theories go forward regardless.

This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.

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