The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at low speeds downhill, the vehicle stalled. Additionally, the vehicle stalled randomly while near objects in the road when the collision avoidance feature engaged without warning. The contact called the local dealer where the collision avoidance feature was disabled remotely. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 28,000.

- King George, VA, USA

Vehicle goes into emergency mode for 4th time. Happened twice in 2 days. A total of 4 times in 5 months. With no warning, multiple warning lights come on and the car applies emergency braking until the car is brought to a stop. There is no opportunity to choose a safe place to bring it to a stop. Driver is unable to accelerate until car is parked and restarted. The 4th time this happened, was on an interstate traveling at 75 to 80mph with vehicles around traveling at same speeds or in excess of that speed. Luckily there was an opening on the shoulder that I was able to quickly pull the car into and the car behind me didn't rear end me. This is the 4th time it's happened and could have caused bodily harm. VW does not care. A software update was performed in February that was supposed to fix the problem. Because it didn't, VW wanted to replace my entire ECM because they thought it was faulty. After threat of buyback did they finally start digging into the car. Techs found a faulty relay switch. They replaced it and said problem couldn't be recreated so it was fixed 'as far as anyone could tell' and didn't need a new ECM.

- Columbus, IN, USA

3 weeks after we bought a pre-owned Atlas from a VW dealer, the battery died without any warning. We checked-we did not leave anything on in the car. We tried to jump start it for an hour with no luck, so I googled it. The Atlas has had many issues with its battery and many people have been stranded because of this. The battery they put in the vehicle is not powerful for this SUV, especially with the auto-start/stop feature, which permanently drains the cells of the battery so it can't be jumped. The only solution is to replace the entire battery with a new, better one. We called VW Corp but they would not do a thing! issue is, VW knows about this issue and has 'acknowledged' it by extending the initial battery warranty to 3 years from when it was first installed. So you have to be lucky enough to have the battery die within the first 3 years of owning the car or else you are left to pay for something that is defective and they know about.we were 3 months outside of their extended warranty, but only had the car 3 weeks! this is a safety issue: Your battery could suddenly die when you're at the light of a busy intersection, in the dark, your kids in the car, etc. And you can't even turn your hazard lights on to warn other cars that your car is dead. Or you could get stranded in the mountains with no cell reception, or out in the middle of nowhere in a storm or blizzard. What's worse is VW uses the auto-start/stop as a selling feature and they do not warn you or disclose this battery issue even though they know about it! they should honestly recall all original Atlas batteries and pay to have them replaced with better ones that can hold up to the SUV and the auto-start/stop feature, which you can't turn off permanently, by the way. You'd have to turn it off manually every single time you drive it. It is unacceptable that they know about this and do nothing.

- Charlotte, NC, USA

Two weeks ago, our 2018 Atlas displayed faulty steering lock. Vehicle was disabled and towed to dealership. After $1,300 in repairs with new steering module, the vehicle displays this again, and won't move. Vehicle is at dealership again and is dangerous because if this happens when driving, the vehicle won't steer and is going inoperable.

- Albuquerque, NM, USA

2018 Atlas with under 17K and air bag error comes on. Also leaking coolant.

- Schleswig, IA, USA

I have taken my 18 Atlas sel premium in at least 4 times to have the coolant checki have had the low coolant warning come on 3 times stating there is low coolant. There is a strong burning coolant smell radiating from my vehicle on many occasions. When taken to the dealer they have done overnight pressure tests and cannot find the leak. My car is now out of warranty and I fear now they will find the issue and make me responsible.

- Tiffin, IA, USA

Car randomly puts transmission into emergency mode

- Washington, DC, USA

Driving on highway, engine and brakes stop working 2 times. Got the car in the VW shop, they said it was a loose fuse connector. They "fix it" and 2 days later we have the same problem. Car will be back on shop. Called VW each time, opened a case with them to.

- Santa Rosa, CA, USA

Unexplainable loss of coolant. My car was 4 times at dealership and they never find any leaks but I'm loosing coolant and sometimes it can smell it evaporate when I park my car.

- San Jose, CA, USA

2018 Volkswagen Atlas. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle being unresponsive. Consumer states that vehicle has had several issues since purchasing it. On 05/07/18, while driving 55 mph, vehicle became unresponsive. Vehicle was towed to dealership. Vehicle was repaired. On 02/21/19 the vehicle's remote start stopped working and the coolant light came on. Vehicle was taken to dealer and the cylinder head and catalyst were replaced. On 05/30/19 the A/C unit would not blow out cold air and vibrated when turned on. The A/C blower motor was replaced. On 07/02/19 a light came on the dash and a rattling sound came from vents. Debris was found in the vents and traces of metal were found in oil. The oil was changed and parts were replaced. On 12/2719 the coolant light came on. Metal shavings were found in the oil. Vehicle received a new engine. On 02/17/20 a noise is heard when driving vehicle. Manufacturer has been notified of failures. Manufacturer offered to pay remaining balance on vehicle, so that consumer could trade-in vehicle. Consumer declined offer.

- Indianapolis, IN, USA

Needs new catalytic converter. Needs excessive gas. Told to just keep driving until back ordered catalytic converter comes in. I don't feel like it's safe to drive especially with my children. Check engine light came on. Researching the problem and VW definitely has a problem and has not voluntarily recalled the vehicle.

- Chepachet, RI, USA

There is a strong gas smell inside and outside my vehicle while driving and stationary. VW replaced the upper and lower fuel rails and the high pressure fuel pump on the first service visit. I could still smell the gas outside the vehicle, not inside, when I left the service bay. I returned it and they said they couldn't recreate the gas smell so they cleaned the vents and put a strong potpourri in the vents. ? outside gas smell persisted in the front and the rear of the car that was very strong so I took it for a 3rd time. A week later VW corporate let lindsay VW service know to remove the intake and check the injectors. All seals were severely damaged and they replaced them. I picked it up a few days ago and now the gas smell is so bad inside (again) and outside the vehicle. While driving it is so strong that I opened the window to help air it out until I got home, but the gas smell outside made it even worse. The car is unsafe. There have been countless recalls, it's wept rain water several inches deep into the front seat foot wells, they didn't replace the carpet when they did the repair and I worry about mold. But this gas situation has been going on since October and it's very concerning. I don't feel safe in this car and I want VW to take it back.

- Herndon, VA, USA

Battery has been dying and was dead this morning. 2 year old car in san diego temperate weather. 18K miles. From forums, it seems this car has faulty stock batteries that cannot sustain the start/stop strain on the batteries. Having to take to dealership for replacement. Uncertain they will properly cover it.

- San Diego, CA, USA

While driving down a canyon in heavy snow, the grill shutters iced shut. Once down, we drove about 20mins across town, then started a long climb up a freeway, about 20mins of constant uphill. On reaching the top I noticed that the engine oil temp, which is normally around 200deg, had reached 230deg, as the oil cooler is behind the grill shutters, and wasn't getting any air flow. There was no warning from the car that the shutters were stuck shut, or that the oil was getting hot.

- Katy, TX, USA

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. While driving approximately 50 mph, the vehicle stalled and all the warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle did not restart. The vehicle was towed to J bertolet Volkswagen (555 rte 61, orwigsburg, pa 17961) where it had been kept since August 14, 2019. The dealer diagnosed that the vehicle needed a new engine. The contact also mentioned that the vehicle stalled one other time on February 1, 2019 while driving 25 mph. The vehicle was taken to teddy Volkswagen (3743 boston rd, bronx, NY 10466) where they kept the vehicle for three months and replaced the catalytic converter. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failures and the contact was offered half off the engine replacement price (without labor). The approximate failure mileage was 72,000.

- Bronx, NY, USA

Electrical issue causes the transmission to fail. As you press on the gas this issue does not allow the car to move forward. Has stopped on me now twice in 3 months. First repair took 20 days. Was very dangerous and scary because it happened on freeway the first time and on a hill the 2nd so the car began to roll backwards.

- Dublin, CA, USA

My VW Atlas sel 2018 is shutting off while I'm driving. So far this has happened 3 times. Once while I was in reverse at slow speed, second time while I was in traffic and the most recent while I was driving in my neighborhood. It is very scary because I have to put in park, press the brake pedal and start the car again, while in the highway. The screen displays an error in the start-stop, and also en engine error that says: Engine on due to system error and one time the check engine light turned on. The unit has spent weeks in the VW dealership and still they can't find what is wrong with it, they return the car and it happens again. I do not feel safe driving this car, I have a son and I need a car I feel safe driving.

- San Juan, PR, USA

Fuel distribution rail pressure pipe leaking fuel. Smelled fuel when walking past vehicle on 8 May 2019 when stationary and not running. Fuel was visible on top of engine below pipe.. was returned by dealer on 17 may19 after they acknowledged leak and reset seals. On 9 Jun 2019, smell of fuel was detected when starting vehicle. Fuel visible on top of engine below pressure pipe. Vehicle was stationary and had again been sitting over night.

- Chambersburg, PA, USA

While sitting at a red light for about a minute the car turns off due to the cars on/off feature. When the light turned green the car would not start back up. I had to put the Atlas in park and rest set to turn it on. It will not turn back on until after a few tries. This has happened to me about 5 different times now. I now drive with that feature turned off until VW can fix this glitch. Very unsafe while sitting traffic and car is stalled in the middle of the road.

- Chula Vista, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that the check coolant indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to legend Volkswagen (side a, 158 merrick rd, amityville, NY 11701) where they replaced the radiator and added coolant. The following day, the contact smelled coolant outside of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer on five different occasions regarding the coolant. The contact stated that the coolant odor became worse over time and could be smelled inside the vehicle. The manufacturer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 3,672.

- Seaford, NY, USA