Volkswagen Atlas Complaints
981 consumer complaints on file.
- #11553995November 7, 2023SERVICE BRAKES
When the car is just started a horrible braking/grinding noise when trying to stop The brakes eventually stop grinding and starts making a screeching noise when coming to a stop It does feel safe at all Dealer states this is normal It is not normal for any car This happens daily
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11553809November 6, 2023STRUCTURE:BODY
I opened my hood while parked in my driveway to use the fuse puller tool in the engine fuse compartment as my infotainment screen was out and i wanted to check the fuse under the dash. There is a slight incline in my driveway but not much. I left my hood up while i used the tool and switched a fuse under the dash to check my infotainment screen. When i went back to put the fuse tool in the engine compartment and closed my hood i heard a low clang. I didn't think much of it and went back to close the fuse box under the dash. Then i noticed the hood release latch was not sitting flush to the vehicle and was pointing at a 90 angle up. I tried to push back into position but there is no hold and now my hood is locked. There is no way to open the hood with the under dash latch broken. My car has about 56,000 miles on it and I am scared to drive my vehicle not knowing if the hood will fly up at any moment. I called the dealer and because my car is out of warranty at 50k miles they refuse to fix the hood latching mechanism unless i pay out of pocket. I am scared to drive my 2 yr old vehicle because of all the little issues coming up right outside my warranty. No warnings or messages came up before the issue happened and I am not sure what will happen if I need to get into my engine compartment. This seems like a big safety issue and i am going to be left with correcting on my own before driving the vehicle again.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11553593November 4, 2023SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Automatic braking happened when crossing an intersection. I pressed the gas to go and went a couple of feet before the automatic braking kicked in. I had to put the car in park and restart the car. Luckily I was at the front of the traffic line so I was not going at a high speed because if I had been on the freeway, etc. this would have been so dangerous . This car has 15K miles and things like this should not be happening. I have 5 kids and this would cause detrimental damage at high speeds. I started having brake issues (grinding noises, brake slippage etc.) only a couple months after getting the vehicle and have been to dealer several times to resolve the issues but no fix has lasted more than a couple months. I have an appointment to go in again next week to check automatic braking as well as the grinding noises again as they also happening again. Apparently faulty brakes are a known issue that VW will not fix. It was one thing to have to go into the dealership every quarter to get them replaced, but now this added issue of the automatic brake turning off makes me feel very unsafe to drive it. VW needs to do something to resolve the brake issues on the Atlas.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11553356November 3, 2023SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed, and the brakes made an abnormally loud squeaking sound. The vehicle then lost motive power. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11552287October 27, 2023SERVICE BRAKES
Roughly 60 days after we purchased our Atlas the brakes started squealing, grinding, and when its wet or raining, it is nearly impossible to stop the vehicle without slamming the brakes so hard that the anti-lock braking system engages. This is a safety hazard/concern. We contacted the dealership where we purchased the vehicle (out of state) and they said this was standard and not to worry. This was mentioned at our first service at our local VW dealership and we were again told that this was normal and that the brake pads were wearing just fine. The safety concern was not addressed, nor is this normal. At our second service appointment, we asked that these be checked again and for them to address the difficulty in stopping during wet conditions. Same response, this is normal and brakes are not covered under warranty. We have since contacted the original selling dealership who lined up another service appointment with our local VW dealership, and again, we received the same answer as before. We do have audio/video of the squealing and grinding noises, and again, we have been told this is standard, and its a known problem with the VW Atlas. There are many other complaints similar to this. This should reach the level of a recall before something catastrophic happens and someone loses their life over it. I/we as owners of this type vehicle should not have to spend thousands of dollars replacing brakes shortly after purchasing this type of vehicle.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11551369October 23, 2023UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I told faulkner that my truck often feels like the auto on/off switch is activated when its deactivated. Meaning, if im in bumper to bumper traffic. Stop, go, slow down the suv acts as if uts going to stall. Which I have to push the gas peddle harder to give it momentum to go. Issue is if ur behind someone and you have to do this. You could hit them because it jolts forward pretty hard. The tech told me VW is aware of the issue and currently there isnt a fix. Had i known this was an issue upfront. I would have never purchased the vehicle.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11551367October 23, 2023ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Driver window is going down on its own. I was told by Faulkner VW mechanics. When this happens to hold the window botton down for 10 secs and up for 10 secs to reset it. Does not work. Still has neen doing it after my service date which was 10202023
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11551226October 22, 2023SERVICE BRAKES
I leased my VW ATLAS in Feb. 2021. Since then the vehicle has been in for service many times because the brakes squeak, grind and gurgle. They even had to replace the whole front end braking system in spring of 2022. Even with the replacement, the brakes are yet again squeaking, grinding and gurgling. The service department at VW has acknowledged that this is a problem with many Atlases and does not seem to care and has told me that they just make that noise and that the brakes are functional and pose no safety risk. This I am weary of.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11551119October 20, 2023ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EXTERIOR LIGHTING
The design of the tilt and telescope steering column allows for an adjustment position that will cause the turn signal stalk to bind against the instrument panel trim with the steering wheel adjusted up and forward. This prohibits proper use of the turn signal and headlight dimmer functions. A clear design defect
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11550020October 15, 2023ENGINE
My error start/stop keeps coming on and off on my vehicle, and it randomly dies on my while driving. It has died about 10 times by now in a week and a half. I have to put the car in park, then crank it again. I have contacted my dealership, but they state they can’t get it in until December.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11548718October 6, 2023ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle there would be a knocking sound coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The failure occurred approximately three times. The accelerator pedal would fail to move the vehicle without flooring the accelerator pedal intermittently. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealer. The contact received notice of NHTSA Campaign Number23V593000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 11,000.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11547447September 30, 2023SERVICE BRAKES
Brakes make a HORRIBLE METAL TO METAL, screeching, sharp noise when breaking. Just knowing the money that was paid for this vehicle and as I drive and brake at my children school it sounds like a cheap made vehicle. Something may be done because the sound the brakes make us truly unacceptable. I can’t believe Volkswagen has not come up with a fix. A lot of people are having issues with it. They need to resolve it for all of us Volkswagen Atlas owners.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11547078September 28, 2023ENGINE
Engine unexpectedly stalls at low speed requiring a full restart. Happened one time to me less than 2 months after purchasing the vehicle brand new. Many others reported the same issue with this model and for them often times the issue persisted after dealer repairs (carbon canister replacement, etc). This is a very serious safety issue since a vehicle stalling unexpectedly in the middle of traffic can throw off the driver or other drivers on the road resulting in a collision. Some reports cite 2021 models and it is concerning the manufacturer did not address the problem going back 2-3 years.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11545055September 17, 2023STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The viechle appears to be having a very common issue of the Hood Latch being broken or snapping. I was left stranded with my car with a dead battery unable to access the battery to jump it.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11544879September 16, 2023ENGINE
My car randomly turns off while I am driving. In order to turn my car back on and use it, I need to put my car in park and press the manual restart button. This has happened more than 4 times in the 7 months I've had the vehicle. After taking it to the dealership, they could not recreate the problem, therefore nothing was done to fix it. There is no warning or noticable correlation to the problem. The first few times occurred when my car was stopped, but has progressed to happening while my car is moving (going at least 5 mph)
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11544416September 13, 2023ENGINE
The vehicle had the low oil warning light come on while driving with less than 20k miles. Oil was added and the light came on again a day later. We took to the dealer who stated that there were several premature oil leaks. They offered no explanation for the reasoning and that the parts were on backorder and cannot tell us how long the vehicle will be out of service.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11544415September 13, 2023SERVICE BRAKES
The vehicle brakes sound like metal v metal, grinding and squeaking. The dealership says that its a known problem but they have no fix. This concerns me when driving.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11543338September 8, 2023STEERING
I was making a right turn, I pressed the gas and turned my wheel right to make the turn and the steering wheel then locked and I couldn’t straighten it out and ended up driving over the sidewalk and crashing into a building. My car was totaled and I went to the hospital due to airbag burns. My insurance picked up the car and it is available to be inspected.
- Crash:
- Yes
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 1
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11543271September 7, 2023ENGINE
Oil pressure relief valve failed causing a loss of engine oil. This resulted in a low oil warning while driving. Excessive oil deposits were found throughout the engine bay creating a risk of belt slippage which could result in engine failure while driving.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0
- #11543269September 7, 2023ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Door wire harness failed. This was post correction of all previous recalls, which included replacement if door wiring harness. The failure caused a stall and initiation of emergency brake. This occurred at a stop light with a teen driver. Driver restarted automobile and proceeded.
- Crash:
- No
- Fire:
- No
- Injuries:
- 0
- Deaths:
- 0