— Volkswagen has recalled 307,000 Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport SUVs because the passenger airbags may deactivate when they shouldn't.
The problem is serious enough Volkswagen is warning owners to keep people out of the passenger seats until they are repaired.
Recalled are 2021-2024 Volkswagen Atlas and 2020-2024 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport SUVs equipped with passenger occupant detection systems that may be defective.
The Atlas system may experience a fault in the wiring and deactivate the front passenger airbag even though the seat is occupied.
"The affected vehicles are equipped with a passenger occupant detection system (also known as Body Sense) in the front passenger seat. On these vehicles, the system is integrated into the seat heating and controls the activation of the passenger frontal airbag. The seat heating is connected to the Body Sense control unit under the front passenger seat via a wire." — Volkswagen airbag recall document
The system can detect a malfunction if the wire has a contact fault, switching off the passenger airbag even if someone is in the seat.
There should be a "Passenger Airbag OFF" airbag warning light and message in the instrument panel and occupants will hear a chime indicating a problem with the airbag.
Volkswagen announced a 2018-2021 Volkswagen Atlas and 2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport airbag recall in March 2022 for the same problem. But SUVs from a different production period and different technology weren't included in the recall.
The recall decision was based on 1,730 warranty claims for replaced passenger occupant detection system components.
Nearly 37,000 of the SUVs are recalled in Canada.
Again, keep people out of the seats if at all possible.
VW Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport airbag recall letters are expected to be mailed August 16, 2024. Dealerships will replace the passenger occupant detection system sensor mats and wiring harnesses.
Volkswagen Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport owners may call 800-893-5298 and refer to airbag sensor recall number 69PZ.