10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
1,068 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

Get notified about new defects, investigations, recalls & lawsuits for the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas:

Unsubscribe any time. We don't sell/share your email.

Get free help with your lemon!
close ad

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #45

Mar 252022

Atlas

  • miles
Parking brake automatically turns on while driving. This has put me at risk for accident when pulling out across traffic where my car stops mid acceleration or coming to a stop sign where my car stops early. Not confirmed by a dealer but has been reproduced multiple times. Has not been inspected. No warnings of this issue prior to the occurence. In addition my windows automatically roll down out of no where and my alarm system automatically goes off as well as an error with the automatic stop/start feature.

- Cocoa, FL, USA

problem #44

Mar 252022

Atlas

  • miles
The recall on my car says - Safety Risk: In the event of a side crash, when the side airbag deployment may be necessary, the side airbag may deploy later than designed. This may lead to an increased injury to vehicle occupants. VW should, but refuses to buy this car back from me. It is unsafe to drive and/or put our children in the car in this condition.

- Sea Cliff, NY, USA

problem #43

Mar 202022

Atlas

  • miles
Warning lights and alarms would go off, the driver-??s side windows would roll down and the car would suddenly brake while in traffic.

- Fresno, CA, USA

problem #42

Mar 222022

Atlas

  • miles
Issue started 3months ago. Door contact error popped up on dash, then drivers back window rolled down. Happened 3 times in 1 day, then stopped. Now, March 22nd, issue came back plus more. 1st i couldnt open my drivers doors front and back, from the outside. Doors were unlocked. I had to climb over from passenger side to get in and open the door. Then driving the dash would beep, no error, then back drivers window would roll down half way on its own. When I stopped at stop signs or lights, everything went crazy. Dash errors would flash up and beep, -??ATTENTION ENGINE IS RUNNING-??, -??STOP AND START ERROR-??, -??DOOR CONTACT ERROR-??, -??FAULTY PARKING BREAK ERROR-??, then the back drivers window would roll down again. I immediately called and set up an appointment. I researched problem to see if others had this issue and saw the recall. When the dealership seemed not to care, I drove there And showed them the video I took of my dashboard. The service guy took the report and said he would order a door contact wire thing, but he didnt address the other issues i had or how it relates to the recall. He said he would call the next day and didnt. I called him today, 3/24 and he said the door contact part is on backorders. He offered me to take my car home until the part is in. Im reporting this because of the nonchalant, non critical the service department seems to have with this dangerous issue. My Atlas has only 7,500 miles and i use it to drive my kids. I would not have purchased such an unsafe vehicle, especially when it cant be fixed. Its a danger to my family and others on the road!

- Chesapeake, VA, USA

problem #41

Mar 132022

Atlas

  • miles
On 3/14/22 took my car in to the dealership with the following problems, window opening on their own car braking on its own at low speed, driver door functions not working and a bunch of warning lights coming on. Took my car out the same day and was working fine until 3/23/22 when all the problems i mentioned above started happening again. On the first visit the tech replaced the door latch for the driver front door cleared codes and rechecked. The tech also found 3 error codes U105400: information electronics control module 1 no communications U019900: Lost communications with " door control module A" B177501: Door warning light/entry light electrical error.

- Alexandria, VA, USA

problem #40

Jan 212022

Atlas

  • miles
Phantom breaking, vehicle alerts, windows rolling down, driver side door not opening, parking break engages, windows stop working.

- Putney, VT, USA

problem #39

Mar 162022

Atlas

  • miles
The vehicle slams the breaks while breaking, it is very violent and hurts my back when it does it. This would be the second time this same part had been replaced when it finally gets replaced. I have several close encounters with people almost rear ending me due to the sudden stops

- Ashland, KY, USA

problem #38

Feb 192022

Atlas

  • miles
Problem started initially with random safety alarms and lights going off. Then alerts that door was open, or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems were not available. Then windows would roll down, for no reason. This happened within the first 2,000 miles of driving. Then on February 19, 2021 after multiple alarms going off, the car initiated the emergency brake while I was driving in a parking lot. My car stopped on it's own, suddenly. Luckily there was no one behind me. There are 7,500 miles on the car when the emergency brake incident occurred. I took it to the dealer the next day and was told since the car stopped at such a slow speed it should be safe to drive.

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #37

Feb 102022

Atlas

  • miles
My 2021.5 Atlas had experienced issues with window rolling down and parking break initiated as I was coming to a stop on Jan 3 2022. Dealership told me the harness needed to be replaced and they think I was ok to drive and would contact me when the part was in. Fast forward a month later I could barely drive as it kept breaking, I was driving and accelerating on to an expressway going almost 50 mph and the break initiated jolting my car (it felt like I had been hit). And I almost was as my collision alert went off when someone almost rear ended me! I drove straight to enterprise and had my atlas towed to the dealership-were it is still sitting. I have heard there is a recall yet when I enter my vin my vehicle is not listed on the recall so not sure how accurate they are able to find out which vehicles have this issue. My car literally had 9000 miles and is not drivable and not safe.

- Omaha, NE, USA

problem #36

Feb 262022

Atlas

  • miles
When driving at roughly 50+ mph the windows roll down one their own and the driver door contact switch error comes on. Once slowing down, the parking break engages when you are still moving the vehicle. I have contacted VW to get this serviced and they have told me there is no fix currently and that I will be charged to provide my own rental vehicle.

- Hillsboro, OR, USA

problem #35

Feb 072022

Atlas

  • miles
The shocks will all of a sudden come up with -??parking brake Fault-??, -??start/stop-?? fault, -??driver door switch fault-??, Che j engine light comes on. It will then randomly throw on the parking brake while driving causing the vehicle to come to a complete sudden stop while driving then the back windows will roll down. It does this off and on-??

- Shoreline, WA, USA

problem #34

Feb 142022

Atlas

  • miles
After starting the car and trying to reverse, the car would not go into reverse. In addition all warning on the dashboard went off and the windows rolled down. The car would not move. After shutting down and restarting the car it proceeded to accelerate only to suddenly brake in the middle of the road as if the emergency brake was activated. The windows would roll down again and all the warning signs on the dash would appear. I took my car to the dealer and I was told that it was the door latch and there was no Estimated amount of time for completition. This has been 4 weeks now. I have had my car for only 6 months.

- Austin, TX, USA

problem #33

Mar 112022

Atlas

  • miles
1. My car has randomly slammed on the brakes while driving. I was driving with my daughter and when it happened, she thrusted forward and almost hit her head on the dash. The seatbelt did lock. I reported it to my dealer and the car was checked out and found no issues. They just said that people have been complaining about "squeaky" brakes, which I have taken my car in for before along with a grinding noise coming from my front driver side brakes and was told nothing is wrong. 2. Two times my car has turned completely off while driving. I brought it to the dealer and was told they couldn't find anything wrong. It happened 2 times in 1 week. One time was pulling into a parking spot and another time was when we were at a stop and the light turned green for us to go. I had to put my car in park and restart my engine. What would happen if I was driving 50 MPH on a highway and the power went off and I had no brakes and couldn't slow down? I was very upset that the dealer could not find anything wrong. I have left 3 messages for the service manager and he never returned my call. I do not feel safe in my car but am stuck with this car for another 2 years. Something needs to be done! My neighbor's Atlas is the same year and model and his car has been in the shop for over a month with the same issues. 3. I was in a drive thru last week and the "central warning light" went on with another light ( I can't rememberthe other light) and the service department couldn't find anything wrong.

- Lake Forest, CA, USA

problem #32

Dec 162021

Atlas

  • miles
Could automatically brake at slow speeds, windows would go up and down basically the car would go crazy.

- Seekonk, MA, USA

problem #31

Mar 122022

Atlas 6-cyl

  • miles
My vehicle has had 2 fuel pump replacements, my emergency brake has gone off while driving and while idling 3x slamming me to a hard stop and end arguing my kids and I. I have also had multiple events of being in a turn lane or busy intersection with my automatic start/stop turned off and my car will not engage and throws a sign up on dash telling me to restart my car. This is dangerous! Consumer stated they knew it was a safety issue but could not help me.

- Seneca , IL, USA

problem #30

Mar 142022

Atlas

  • miles
My airbag light randomly went on a few days after my 10k miles inspection at the Platinum VW dealership in Hicksville, NY. I brought it in and was told there is a safety issue due to a faulty sensor in the passenger side door which can both cause the airbag not to deploy (or to randomly deploy) and can also cause the parking break to automatically engage while the car is in motion. While the VW dealership was totally not transparent about this, the rental agency told me that i was there were more than 15 customers before me with the same issue in the same car, and that one such customer's breaks automatically deployed while the car was in motion at over 30mph. I called VK corporate and they

- Roslyn, NY, USA

problem #29

Dec 032021

Atlas

  • 12,000 miles
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH on the highway, the brakes applied without the brake pedal being depressed. The contact was able to pull over and made it home safely. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and it was diagnosed as the wiring harness needing to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 12,000.

- Bristol, TN, USA

problem #28

Oct 282021

Atlas

  • miles
Between mid-November and early December 2021, my 2021 Volkswagen Atlas started randomly braking while the vehicle was in motion. There were loud beeping sounds, multiple error notifications on the dash, and the rear driver's side window kept randomly going down. I recently read an article from an online publication called autoblog, which indicated to me that this problem is occurring in these vehicles at an alarming rate. The dealership has provided a loaner, which is significantly less than the vehicle I purchased. Meanwhile I am paying $564 per month for a vehicle I cannot use, and the dealership is unable to provide me with a date that the vehicle will be repaired. We are not into month four of this issue with no resolution in sight.

- Finksburg, MD, USA

problem #27

Jan 202022

Atlas

  • miles
Hello, I'm writing to share a safety concern regarding the 2021 VW Atlas. In January 2022, I was driving with my small children in the vehicle. The alarm went off for no reason when I first entered the car. Next, my passenger side windows went down on their own and would not go back up. All sorts of alarms/light went off in my car. Next, it started to throw my vehicle into emergency brake while driving. VERY DANGEROUS! This should be a safety recall. The vehicle has been in the shop for 2 months, waiting on a part.

- Virginia Beach, VA, USA

problem #26

Mar 132022

Atlas

  • miles
We have 2021 Atlas purchased Nov. 2020 the AEB and parking collision sensors and system engage at random times while driving. The most recent incident was while parking the car 3/13/22 there were no cars in the parking lot and while turning into the lot and parking spot the AEB engaged and stopped the car completely this is not only unnecessary but while having kids in the car I was left to look around and be like what just happened. Finally parking the car the car was not near the curb on the front nor the side. This happens while driving and I would hate for it to happen on a freeway in rush hour traffic. Because of this feature defaulting like it has for the past months I know take surface streets on the way home from work. When taking the vehicle to the dealership they are dumbfounded have ran test and state there is nothing they can do- They are aware of the issue but its one of those things that "you had to be there" to experience what I am talking about. When i run the Car Net app - there are no recalls or updates or known issues with my vehicle. Yes the car is available for inspection. I would say in the past year this has happened 7-10 times. This feature is great when you need it or when it is supposed to work but at times when it is not needed puts our safety at risk.

- Chandler, AZ, USA

Read the next 20 complaints »