Volkswagen Atlas Complaints

981 consumer complaints on file.

#11512994March 21, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
I was sitting at a stop light and the car just SHUT OFF and would not re-start. It was very dangerous. The start/ stop system was enabled as it always is - since it defaults to this feature when you start the vehicle. The electronics starting glitching when the car shut off. This is not the 1st time the car would not start, it has happened 3x over the course of 3 weeks. When we try to jump start the vehicle it has taken up to 30 minutes to sit on charge to get the car to turn over. We have had the battery tested and charged at VW all test come back that it is a good battery. Seems that the start/stop system is faulty and drains the battery. I have spoke to VW and booked an appointment to have the look at this issue. Something is Seriously wrong with this vehicle and start/stop system. I have read many posts that I'm not alone with VW Atlas leaving families in dangerous situations because the car just shuts off and won't re-start.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11512472March 17, 2023
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:COOLING SYSTEM:FAN
The contact owned a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at approximately 15 MPH, she had turned the air conditioner on and felt that hot air was blowing out. The contact stopped at a traffic signal turned the vehicle off and on again and noticed that the air conditioner was now blowing cool air. The contact had begun to smell a burning rubber smell and noticed that smoke was being emitted from under the hood on the driver's side. The contact stated that when she stopped at another traffic signal all of the dash alarms began to flash and she heard warning chimes sound as well. The contact pulled over into a parking lot and turned the vehicle off. The contact stepped out of the vehicle when she saw black and white smoke coming from under the hood, then flames burst out from under the hood. The contact stated that the entire front end of the vehicle was engulfed in flames. The fire department was called and extinguished the flames with water. The contact stated that the heat and flames melted the front tires. The fire department wrote a report. The vehicle was towed to an impound lot. The contact stated that the vehicle was declared a total loss by her insurance provider. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
Yes
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11510761March 8, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
Shortly after leaving the dealership, and while driving on the highway, I was cut off by another vehicle and the front assist / collision avoidance did not turn. I immediately reported the issue to the dealership, and the next day the representative came over, reviewed all the settings, and confirmed that it was properly configured. Nonetheless, it still did not work. Moreover, the alert has only occurred sporadically and under odd circumstances, such as an empty intersection (but not always, even though I drive by the same intersection very frequently). I took the vehicle to the service department for inspection, and they told me that all of the sensors appear to be working correctly. Nonetheless, it is clear that the system is not working. Indeed, it should have activated (at least the alarm) under other circumstances, and it has not. I wrote to VW in February, and they have not responded.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11509635March 1, 2023
AIR BAGS, STRUCTURE:BODY, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
I was hit from behind and slammed into the car in front of me while stopped at a light. The collision totaled my Atlas at 95% The air bags did not deploy nor did their give a warning for the collision. The damage was so severe that the inner frame of the vehicle is beyond repair. Recent warranty repairs were done to this vehicle prior to the accident one set to the dash electronics in the .ast 4 months. This car remains at the body shop awaiting INS settlement for the car
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11509631March 1, 2023
AIR BAGS
The Airbag warning light turns on/off at random times while operating vehicle. Sometimes the light remains on until the vehicle is restarted. During the events, only the driver was in the vehicle and nothing was on top of the passenger seats. There is also a pop-up Airbag message that displays on the dashboard panel and stays on for several seconds, when the Airbag warning light turns on.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11508773February 23, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
I was driving on a city road and making a right turn on a green light, I glanced to the left to avoid any driver possibly crossing a red light as I usually do as a defensive driver! Before I know it my SUV had jumped the median divider into the other side of the road and landed on another vehicle stopped. The safety system did not give me any signals to stop or to auto stop. I was very slow and from previous experience with this vehicle it did stop at being close to a concrete side of the street but in this situation it did not. None of ADAS parts of the system worked! My ATLAS is badly damaged so is the other car. I have other issues in the last month that were not as dangerous but are glitches in the safety and technology package. I contacted VW but they said that the design does not cover this, which is not correct based on other situations I noticed in the last three months since I purchased this vehicle.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11508332February 21, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
Brand new Atlas has the worst brake pads/rotors! Screech & squeal incessantly in reverse and when braking. Dealer has said this is "normal" and is not under warranty. Drive to and from work every day and this happens each time within the first 10 minutes of starting the car.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11505486February 3, 2023
ENGINE, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Engine cuts off at slow speeds or at a stop. Engine failure requires placing vehicle in park and restarting. This occurs at least once per day. Display notes that vehicle requires manual restart. Took to dealer and they advised nothing was wrong.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11503699January 25, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Emergency braking system was activated on 15 FWY, traveling north just south of Magnolia (33.8652148,-117.5413564) No vehicle or objects were in front of me. I was in the far left lane traveling at freeway speeds for over 2 miles before the emergency braking system was activated. The vehicle traveling behind me was able to maneuver into the other lane to avoid hitting me. I took the vehicle to the dealership and the indicate the logs only shows the warning was activated, but do not show the vehicle applied the brakes. This is the 3rd instance of this happening. I also have had 2 legit instance where someone cut me off and the emergency braking system activated as design to avoid the collision. VW states these entries are not in the logs. This indicates there has to be an issue with the software. I am also experiencing false positives on the other sensors in the system, the system indicate a vehicle or object is on the side of the vehicle, I have videos showing the sensors are falsely altering.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11503013January 22, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
Brakes are always squeaky and making grinding noises for the first 10 minutes of every drive. Brake pedal is also squeaky. Was brought to dealership two times and told that it's normal.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11502145January 17, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL:ACCELERATOR PEDAL
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormal sound while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, and it was confirmed that no cause of failure was found. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11500335January 5, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was driving on the highway when suddenly the sunroof shattered, sending broken glass all inside the vehicle right above the passenger seats. Nothing hit the window as there were no cars around us, in broad daylight, with clear skies. It is unknown what caused this other than a manufacturing defect.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11499127December 28, 2022
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
As part of the existing recall on my vehicle, I am noticing serious mechanical issues ranging from the parking brake engaging when approaching a stop, the rear window rolling down (it's 0 degrees out), failure of Adaptive Cruise Control and a host of other electrical issues. The dealer is unable to see the car for 3 weeks and despite acknowledging my problems are consistent with the recall and have no loaner available for me in the meantime. VW Care informed me that my only recourse is to "call around" until I find one that can help me sooner. They will not offer to reimburse for a rental vehicle. This is unacceptable, the problem is not the dealer but a mechanical issue and VW needs to recognize that if their dealerships can't help because of workload then they need to support their customers.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11498220December 20, 2022
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Atlas will just turned off while driving l at various speeds, you are forced to put in park and restart you Vehicle. If you do not get off to side of road and person behind you isn’t paying attention we will be rear ended. Has happened 5 times in the last 2 weeks. Volkswagen clear lake had car for 3 days and claim that all test came back good and they could not recreate the problem. Although they only touched my car on day one and did nothing the last 2 days. They claim there will be a recall but are not willing to do anything right now because they can not Re-create the problem driving it around the block for 2 minutes. Please help car is under warranty and dealership is no help. Only thing that shows up on dash is to put in park and restart. They also have no loaner vehicles and have put me in a bind the 3 days they kept it for nothing to be done.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11496294December 6, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Was driving under 10mph and the brakes suddenly locked despite nothing being in way that would trigger ABS system. Brakes have also been grinding and feel off going down steep inclines, and sounds like water is moving around when i press them, even lightly. This is not safe and VW refuses to acknowledge an issue!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495172November 28, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, SERVICE BRAKES, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING
While driving in a city, the emergency parking brake would switch on everytime i slowed down or came to a stop. Multiple other warnings happened such as lane assistance unavailable. And one of my windows would roll down part way.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11495117November 28, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE
While driving down the road at about 50 mph, the vehicle engine shut off. The vehicle lost all power to the engine, dash board, and steering. The vehicle was unable to be moved as it could not be shifted into neutral so as to push it out of the roadway. After approximately 30 minutes, the vehicle was able to restart. The vehicle then drove for about 1 mile before it lost all power again. This incident created a grave risk, as the vehicle stopped in the lane of traffic, without any warning, and was unable to be moved. The vehicle is approximately 1 month old, with less then 4000 miles on it.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494916November 25, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The automatic emergency braking is engaged when when it should not. This happens while traveling at highway speeds, I have been lucky the 4x it is has happened that no one was behind and I was able to override and safely continue on my way. I took the vehicle to the dealership and they stated that there are no entries in the system log indicating any automatic emergency braking. This is very concerning, since I have had 2 incidents where the emergency braking was activated when it was supposed to. These are not in the logs either. I am also experiencing issues with the blind spot warning sensors too. I have video proof of a false alarm. The dealer said VW will not allow them to fix a vehicle with video proof. There appears to be an issue with the sensor system in the vehicle since the blind spot sensors is falsely alerting and the forward collision sensors are initiating the automatic emergency braking system. Volkswagen Customer CARE # 05487060
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494856November 25, 2022
SERVICE BRAKES, ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Once starting the vehicle, the light comes on the dashboard; the notification states that the start/stop function malfunctions, the emergency break malfunctions, other multiple errors come in effect. Once coming to a stop light and the brakes are engaged to slow down, the emergency brakes engage and the car locks up. Almost got into an accident 6x. Immediately made an appointment to fix the recall and request for a loaner or rental vehicle, ignored by the dealership with a message of “will call”. The door becomes inoperable; can only open and close. Does not unlock/lock or roll down the window. The back driver side window automatically opens about 4 inches without consent.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11494076November 18, 2022
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EXTERIOR LIGHTING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
We have an open case with Volkswagen, but the remedy part is on back order, in the meantime we have to use this unsafe car. The dealership where car was purchased from is not providing a loaner/rental despite being told by our Volkswagen care team specialist that he is obligated to. The car emergency brake comes on at every stop(I’m shook at every stop, knots in my stomach every single stop I make, stop sign, trying to park, red lights), driver side front and back windows open spontaneously, non stop beeping(anxiety inducing) when car is parked idle, driver side window doesn’t open manually pressing the button, CAR DOES NOT LOCK On driver door, like not at all, alarm will go on sometimes when opening, but it is never locked posing a serious threat, anyone can open my door if I am stoped at a light, or idling in car. Car can be stolen at any point, I feel unsafe and very distressed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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