Volkswagen Atlas Complaints

981 consumer complaints on file.

#11531086July 8, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
Within a week of our purchase of a brand new atlas, we started hearing squeaking and grinding noises with the front brakes. I’ve taken it into multiple dealerships for them to inspect and ensure the safety, and I’ll have given me the same spiel, that the brakes are working just fine. The grinding noise is clearly beyond normal and I’m concerned for my family safety.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11529687June 29, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
The brakes make a deep grinding sound every 4000-8000 miles. A typical sound of failing brakes. When I took the vehicle into the dealership they let me know they have a defective brake pad system. When they changed the compound in 2019/2020 this has been an issue. The pads are showing in good acceptable range. However when driving the vehicle you do not know if it is safe or not unless you take the vehicle in to make sure l. Again every 4000-8000 miles. I do not see how they are able to sell you a car with a known issue and not disclose this. This should be covered or recalled. It absolutely is a safety issue when you cannot tell if your brakes are working properly! They are telling me they see 4-5 people a week with the same issue. How is this not being recalled!
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11528590June 23, 2023
ENGINE, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, SERVICE BRAKES
Vehicle 2 hrs after purchased start/stop failure notice came on. Vehicle died without emergency brakes or any brake system at all take place in middle of the road. Took to the dealer where it was purchased from immediately-4 days later “repaired” replaced a valve stating a flap wasn’t closing correctly. 3 weeks later out of state same thing happened 3 different times traveling 70 mph on the way back to our home, only this time we had cars swerving behind us to avoid hitting us as we were in middle lane, immediately I threw on the flashers while driver was attempting to place it in park when the gear shift stuck same error all 3 times start/stop fail only this time the check engine light came on as well as the start stop error light on the dash and permanently stayed on until we could get to the dealership where we purchased it- vehicle stalled again the same way only this time attempting to park vehicle to check in for inspection
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11525800June 7, 2023
AIR BAGS
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the front passenger’s side air bags warning light was blinking off and on. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle was not including in NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V215000 (Air Bags) and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 51,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11525125June 2, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
The “Front Assist” feature malfunctioned while driving. While driving at 29 mph, the vehicle “Front Assist” feature initiated. A red warning icon illuminated on the dashboard signaling an imminent/impending collision and caused the vehicle to immediately lock the vehicles brakes and seat belts. There were NO pedestrians, vehicles, or objects ahead or remotely close to the roadway. The front of the vehicle was clear or debris and foreign objects. It was sunny and clear. If the roadway was rainy or snowy — the brakes and steering locking up would’ve been catastrophic. Vehicle has not been to dealership for inspection/testing of the system as event occurred earlier today. Vehicle has not been inspected by manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others as of present. Other than this event occurring once before, there has been no indication or warning lights — other than the large red dashboard icon.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11523614May 24, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving in stop and go city traffic with the auto start/stop disengaged, the vehicle completely shut off while in drive. After releasing the brakes to proceed in traffic I was unable to control the vehicle or accelerate. The vehicle indicated that it needed to be placed in park and started manually. During this time there was no control of the vehicle. The passengers were at risk of a disabled vehicle in city traffic and the vehicle inappropriately turned off. Since owning the vehicle this incident has occurred several times (approximately 7 times over 2 years). It has also occurred in inclined surfaces where the vehicle continues to roll and cannot be controlled until placed in park and restarted. The vehicle has been serviced by the dealership on multiple occasions and diagnosed for this concern. There is no solution from the dealership. The primary concern is safety.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11523173May 22, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
While driving down the highway our sunroof shattered and nothing had hit the sunroof. Glass fell into the car as our cover was retracted and put our baby at risk. Our car is under 1 year old and there were no warnings or other symptoms evident before the incident.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11522423May 17, 2023
ENGINE
Our vehicle has an auto start/stop function. At least a dozen times since we've owned the vehicle, the engine does not RESTART after a stop at a traffic light or in stop go traffic. The vehicle must be placed in park and the engine must be restarted. An error displays on the dash that says "please start engine manually" with the graphic for the start/stop system. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS BECAUSE THE CAR BASICALLY STOPS IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC AND NEEDS TO BE RESET. I have brought this in to two separate dealers for diagnostics and least 3 times. The dealers say they cannot replicate the issue and there is no error recorded to the OBD-II computer so they cannot diagnose. In online forums, this appears to be a common problem and dealerships refuse to diagnose or fix. It is extremely unsafe and NHSTA should investigate.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11521593May 11, 2023
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The ac on driver side went out. I seen online where a recall was in the process. I want to know if this is true before I have to pay all this money out of pocket. I don’t understand how this can happen when the car is practically brand new not even two years old yet.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520547May 5, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The wireless phone charging pad causes phone to become extremely hot to the point where the phone stops working and shows a warning message about its hot temperature --fire risk. Phone was in the wireless charging pad for about 30-minutes. My family and I have I-phones (Apple I-Phone Model 12). Prior to the hot temperature incident, the wireless charging pad would not charge the phone and on many occasions would not even register that the phone was on the pad to charge. This has happened with and without the phone's case and with different phones. The vehicle was checked by local VW Service department but not fixed because there is no repairs/updates provided by VW, per Service Advisor. Therefore the issue remains. Please address the wireless phone charger pad issue. Thanks.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11520478May 4, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
The brakes squeak and grid a lot. During the rain the brakes do not stop fast at the first apply and they don't perform well, because a lot of debris from the brake pads are stuck at brake system. VW Certified Technician stated that it is manufacturer defective brake system and it needs replacement but they refused to replace it under warranty. This issue was stated by me from the first week I bought this vehicle.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11518475April 22, 2023
ENGINE, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Got Error: Start-Stop
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11517619April 18, 2023
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance system erroneously activated causing the vehicle to suddenly stop in the middle of the road. The contact indicated that during the failure, no other vehicles or objects were nearby to cause the system to be activated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. After retrieving the vehicle, the failure occurred a second time. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 11,300. The dealer installed a new door ajar switch and safety harness service but not replaced.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11516583April 11, 2023
AIR BAGS
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that the message "Passenger Air Bag Off" was displayed. The contact became aware of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V215000 (Air Bags) which she related to the failure; however, the VIN was not included. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 48,614.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11516541April 11, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, EXTERIOR LIGHTING, ENGINE
Car was returned from VW dealer Friday for door harness replacement. Saturday night around 930pm we were driving on the toll road when the car starts malfunctioning at 75mph. Various warnings flashed and beeped. My husband was trying to keep control and merge over to slower lanes so we could pull over to safety. During this time the speedometer showed we were going zero which we clearly were not, windows started rolling down then the vehicles screens and outside lighting went black. This is at night while trying to get over 3 lanes of traffic safely. We coasted off ramp where car died. Had interior lighting on knobs, but no outside lights and could not start or be put into neutral. Stranded with windows stuck down and waiting long time for a tow truck due to holiday weekend (night before Easter). Poor tow truck driver had a difficult time due to how the vehicle locked up and could not be put into neutral, not even manually. The tow truck driver was finally able to get the car loaded and gave us a ride home. Due to holiday, VW roadside assistance was not available and couldn't tow to dealer until Monday. Monday morning the VW tow company had a difficult time getting vehicle loaded because the way it locked up and still would not start. It had power such as interior lights, but would not start, couldn't be put into neutral and windows still down. Due to the fact this has happened several times in this BRAND NEW vehicle I was able to record the incident. I can attach recording and screenshots if it will let me.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11516011April 7, 2023
BACK OVER PREVENTION, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE
The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that the Forward Collision Avoidance system was malfunctioning. The contact stated while driving 30-45 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance warning light illuminated while there were no vehicles or objects nearby. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the Forward Collision Avoidance system could have been triggered by significantly small objects and was operating as designed. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring. Additionally, the contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera image displayed, then disappeared. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic tests; however, the dealer failed to update the contact for two weeks. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The manufacturer informed the contact that they were waiting for an engineer to provide the next steps going forward. The failure mileage was unknown.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11515593April 5, 2023
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING
Purchased brand new 2023 Atlas Premium R line. First few weeks noticed exposed wires above pedals under steering wheel area, A/C not blowing cold air and touchscreen glitches. Took back to dealer March 2-18. They put a panel over exposed wires factory forgot. They also said they could not find anything wrong with AC or touchscreen. It was working fine, then few days later same problems followed by total power loss/ car completely shut off and locked up when accelerating at a traffic light. Then about week later car abruptly came to a complete stop while driving on road. No warnings prior, after randomly braking itself various alerts flashed and beeped while windows malfunctioned rolling themselves down. Screens then went black. The next day tried to test it out slowly to drive it back to the dealer, but did the same thing twice within 20 min. Luckily was driving at a slower speed this time. Had it towed to the nearest VW dealer where it currently is now. Reporting this braking, electrical malfunction because not only is a car that randomly stops and brakes itself dangerous to the people in it, it's a safety hazard for anyone behind or near it. Shocked this could even happen, I looked up the issue and found VW had a similar problem in others with the door harness, but this was at a faster speed and more than the brakes failed and went haywire. Something electrical or faulty wiring may seriously be wrong with these 2023's and don't want anyone to get hurt. The pictures attached are from second incident. Didn't know it was going to brake and stop so didn't have time to capture it stopping, and at the moment first instinct is to control car and pull over safely. But did manage to take pictures of random error codes before it goes black and back to normal like nothing happened. So scary and unsafe.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11515533April 5, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
We purchased this vehicle new in 2022, since the purchase, we have taken the car in for defective brakes and brake noise. 2 different dealerships have resurfaced the rotors and brake pads for a total of 3 resurfaces and the noise ( grinding like metal on metal ) still exists. We have contacted VolkswagenUSA and they are not able to tell us what is causing the noise and want us to pay 10% of the repair costs event thought this issue has been going on during the warranty period. Thank you
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11514451March 29, 2023
AIR BAGS
I purchased new fully loaded VW Atlas for around 50K in March 2021. I choose VW Atlas 4 wheel drive due to brand name and thought my family will be safer in it. On Sun - 03/26/23 afternoon my wife was driving locally with my two kids in the back on local road and all of sudden all side airbags deployed without any reason. My wife and kids got very scarred as airbags deployed all of sudden for no reason. The car got out of control a little and right side tires scratched against the curb before she stopped and everyone go out of vehicle. She drove the car straight to VW Dealership in Sioux City so we can have them look at this once they open on Monday. On Monday 03/27/23 I called VW customer care and gave them all this detail. They asked me to take the car to dealership so they can look at it which I had already done. On 03/29/23 Dealership called and said according to VW Product manager there was an impact and airbags deployed because of this and I have to get the car fixed myself. My wife was going at 35-40 miles and the tires rubbed the curb after airbags deployed all of sudden. VW also has a recall for 2020 and 2021 Atlas as their airbags are going off unexpectedly. My Atlas is 2021.5 model but it is too much of coincide and may be VW needs to add 2021.5 models to recall. The VW service manager showed me another blue Atlas with tire bent inside due to impact and the airbag was not deployed but their product specialist says my car rubbing the curb caused the airbag to deploy. There is no impact anywhere on the body, not even a hair line scratch besides tires rubbing curb. My family does not feel safe in this car anymore. I am glad that this did not happen on highway or sudden malfunction like this on highway could have caused collision impacting mine and other families. I am hoping that VW will step up, take responsibility and do the right by customers instead of giving me run around.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11514028March 27, 2023
SERVICE BRAKES
We just purchased a certified pre-owned vehicle from the dealership. Since we've had the vehicle, it produces a loud squeaking sound when braking. We took it to a brake shop and were advised the rear brakes get so hot and are glazed over and need to replace the rotors. When I look online I see this is a common problem for this vehicle and that the manufacturer has done nothing to get it fixed.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

← Back to Volkswagen Atlas