Volkswagen Atlas

Which Volkswagen Atlas years should you avoid?

Going by 2,028 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the Volkswagen Atlas years to avoid are 2019, 2021 and 2018.

• 2019484 complaints, 2.6× a typical Atlas year, most often about the airbags.
• 2021482 complaints, 2.6× a typical Atlas year, most often about the electrical system.
• 2018467 complaints, 2.5× a typical Atlas year, most often about the airbags.

Better bets: among years old enough for a low count to mean something, the 2020 drew the fewest complaints without an unusual share of serious ones.

Too new to judge: 2025 and 2026. Complaints take a few years to arrive, so a new model year looks better than it is.

How this is worked out: each year is compared with a typical year of the same model, which takes most of the difference in sales out of it, and its share of serious failures is compared with every other car of the same model year, because older cars were complained about differently. A year needs 25 complaints to be judged at all. Complaints are unverified owner reports. Full method →