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2022 Volkswagen Atlas complaints

Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 2022 record →

Electrical System
Filed Sep 7, 2023TX

Door wire harness failed. This was post correction of all previous recalls, which included replacement if door wiring harness. The failure caused a stall and initiation of emergency brake. This occurred at a stop light with a teen driver. Driver restarted automobile and proceeded.

Engine
Filed Sep 7, 2023TX

Oil pressure relief valve failed causing a loss of engine oil. This resulted in a low oil warning while driving. Excessive oil deposits were found throughout the engine bay creating a risk of belt slippage which could result in engine failure while driving.

Service Brakes
Filed Aug 29, 2023CA

My sensors continue to beep when there is no obstruction around the vehicle. At times, this will also cause the brakes to grind. When I take it in for inspection, they are unable to find any malfunction because this happens inconsistently. This puts myself and others at risk because it is very distracting to the driver. The vehicle has been inspected by the service dealer, but they have not been able to reproduce the problem. Other lights have also popped up randomly... the driver seat belt sign, when I did have my seat belt on and the EPC sign while I drove down my street.

Engine
Filed Aug 23, 2023IL

Vehicle was purchased in Feb 2022. At around 4500 miles a low coolant level alert came on the dashboard. I checked the coolant level and saw that it was low with signs of leaking. Purchased coolant from VW dealer and topped off. Brakes make a metallic scraping/grinding sound when coming to a stop downhill at a slow speed. Vehicle runs loud and slow. Feels like engine airflow is obstructed, but it isn't. Infotainment systems constantly freezes, turns off, restarts and frequently crashes. Inductive mobile charging unit has never worked.

Service Brakes
Filed Aug 5, 2023AZ

The breaks make a horrible grinding and squeak sound. Feels unsafe to drive car.

Forward Collision Avoidance › Automatic Emergency Braking
Filed Aug 4, 2023CA

Began getting front end collision alerts and unexpected automatic emergency braking shortly after purchase. Unexpected braking, slowing/stopping of the vehicle is a safety hazard. Returned car to VW dealer in Irvine, CA in Feb 2023 and July 2023. Explained this was safety issue concern. The dealer claimed the issue was from damaged front bumper sensors from debris or other impacts, though the car is only operated normally on So. Cal. roads and freeways. Dealer also claimed that small windshield chips were causing the sensors and front collision system to malfunction. We stated that these safety related components should withstand more than a few months of normal driving and the warnings/unintended braking presented a safety hazard to us and other drivers. I told the dealer the issue is not the sensors, but likely a bigger underlying problem with the system’s programing or software. The dealer insisted the sensors and windshield were the issue. Knowing it was unlikely the sensors, I requested the dealer provide me with the original sensors for future inspection. Both dealer and VW initially refused to cover any “repairs.” Once mentioned contacting DOT ODI, VW offered to pay for labor of the sensors if we purchased the 3 required ($661.48). Dealer said we would need to pay for the windshield ($789.89) and installation ($250.00)and they would cover cost of calibrating the windshield sensors. Total out of pocked $1,701.37. Told them I wanted just to do the sensors first to see if

Engine
Filed Jun 23, 2023IN

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

Electrical System
Filed May 24, 2023CT

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.

Unknown or Other
Filed May 22, 2023TX

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.

Service Brakes
Filed May 4, 2023TX

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.

Back Over Prevention
Filed Apr 7, 2023CT

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.

Service Brakes
Filed Apr 5, 2023NV

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

Service Brakes
Filed Feb 21, 2023TX

Brand new Atlas has the worst brake pads/rotors! Screech & squeal incessantly in reverse and when braking. Dealer has said this is "normal" and is not under warranty. Drive to and from work every day and this happens each time within the first 10 minutes of starting the car.

Forward Collision Avoidance › Warnings
Filed Jan 25, 2023CA

Emergency braking system was activated on 15 FWY, traveling north just south of Magnolia (33.8652148,-117.5413564) No vehicle or objects were in front of me. I was in the far left lane traveling at freeway speeds for over 2 miles before the emergency braking system was activated. The vehicle traveling behind me was able to maneuver into the other lane to avoid hitting me. I took the vehicle to the dealership and the indicate the logs only shows the warning was activated, but do not show the vehicle applied the brakes. This is the 3rd instance of this happening. I also have had 2 legit instance where someone cut me off and the emergency braking system activated as design to avoid the collision. VW states these entries are not in the logs. This indicates there has to be an issue with the software. I am also experiencing false positives on the other sensors in the system, the system indicate a vehicle or object is on the side of the vehicle, I have videos showing the sensors are falsely altering.

Service Brakes
Filed Jan 22, 2023NJ

Brakes are always squeaky and making grinding noises for the first 10 minutes of every drive. Brake pedal is also squeaky. Was brought to dealership two times and told that it's normal.

Service Brakes
Filed Dec 6, 2022TX

Was driving under 10mph and the brakes suddenly locked despite nothing being in way that would trigger ABS system. Brakes have also been grinding and feel off going down steep inclines, and sounds like water is moving around when i press them, even lightly. This is not safe and VW refuses to acknowledge an issue!

Service Brakes
Filed Nov 25, 2022CA

The automatic emergency braking is engaged when when it should not. This happens while traveling at highway speeds, I have been lucky the 4x it is has happened that no one was behind and I was able to override and safely continue on my way. I took the vehicle to the dealership and they stated that there are no entries in the system log indicating any automatic emergency braking. This is very concerning, since I have had 2 incidents where the emergency braking was activated when it was supposed to. These are not in the logs either. I am also experiencing issues with the blind spot warning sensors too. I have video proof of a false alarm. The dealer said VW will not allow them to fix a vehicle with video proof. There appears to be an issue with the sensor system in the vehicle since the blind spot sensors is falsely alerting and the forward collision sensors are initiating the automatic emergency braking system. Volkswagen Customer CARE # 05487060

Service Brakes
Filed Nov 6, 2022KY

I have a 2022 Volkswagen atlas with 15k miles on it. My brakes are making a hard sweeping noise when braking. It has been happening for a few weeks now. When I start to push on the breaks no matter the type of weather, it sounds like it is metal on metal. I do not know if it is the calipers sticking or if it is something more.

Service Brakes
Filed Oct 26, 2022TX

Brakes are very squeaky and sound like grinding metal when in use. This happens every day for the past year regardless of weather or moisture. Most recently they have started skipping. I can feel the break pedal pulsing as if the brakes are bouncing and the car “skids”. This morning I was coming out of my driveway, around 3 mph, and a vehicle passed by so I pressed the brakes and the car still moved out into the street. This is going to cause a crash at some point if the brakes are not stopping the vehicle as intended by the driver.

Service Brakes
Filed Sep 1, 2022IN

While driving the car started squealing, under under 40 mph. Pulled over, shut car off and turned back on. Started driving again up to around 40, squealing entire time. Pulled into parking lot. Stop start car drive. Same thing. Turned on the emergency brake, turned it off. Drove, squealing persisted. Parked, turned parking brake on, pushed on gas car took off, parking brake disengaged by itself and squealing went away.

Unknown or Other
Filed Jul 24, 2022FL

I bought my 2022 VW atlas with technology last year November , the main issue i have with it is the shift gear is hard to release from parking to reverse or drive sometimes, when it finally released it makes a big shakes effect on the engine , i had report the issue to my local vw dealership last time i took it for service, they didn't do anything about it, i'm so worried because the car is brand new and i don't want it give me engine mount problem soon. what should i do about the problem?

Unknown or Other
Filed Jul 15, 2022TX

I was sitting at a red light and was preparing to make a left hand turn. I proceeded to make the left turn driving less than 10 mph as I normally have done in the past. I have been this same route everyday for the past 3 years. As I was completing the turn the Atlas fish tailed to the right. It was a dry and sunny day in Texas.It was no reason for this and almost caused an accident and it was scary. The car was in economy mode and not in driver assistance. Not sure what happened. No warning light came on.

Forward Collision Avoidance › Automatic Emergency Braking
Filed Jun 13, 2022AL

The vehicles parking brake came on and the car shut off by itself in the middle of the road.

Air Bags
Filed Jun 9, 2022FL

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V152000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Air Bags
Filed May 17, 2022NY

What I experienced: the wireless phone charger doesn’t work properly and the phone is impossible to pair with the car a lots of time. All the windows rolled down by itself when I stated the engine. The remote start fail to work multiple times. Most importantly there is a safety recall on the vehicle what currently doesn’t have the fixing solution. I would like to know my legal options according to this serious safety issue I would like to bring back the car and get the refund. At this point I am not sure I want to deal with Volkswagen anymore based on their customer care.

Electrical System
Filed May 16, 2022WA

I received crash warnings while driving 60mph but no car was near to trigger the warning. Vehicle rear passenger side window rolled down on its own about 5 inches. Same trip, the rear driver side window rolled down about 5 inches.

Visibility › Windshield Wiper/Washer › Motor
Filed May 10, 20226,500 milesOH

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving in snow, the windshield wipers stopped working as needed. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to park on the side of the road and manually tighten the windshield wipers bolts that were loose. The contact was able to continue driving but stated that the windshield wipers were not aligned and fractured around the areas of the windshield. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer and was informed that no failure was found due to the windshield wipers not being meant to clean snow. The dealer informed the contact to keep tightening the windshield wiper bolts as needed. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 6,500.

Air Bags
Filed May 5, 2022OK

On Thursday, April 14th, the airbag warning light illuminated while displaying an "AirBag Error" message. The vehicle was dropped off at the dealership the same day. The information below is from the Volkswagen dealership in Tulsa, OK “Performed Guided Fault Finding diagnosis, DTC B100B: Driver's Thorax Airbag Igniter, -N199-, Resistance Too High. Performed procedure as per TSB #2066699 (revised May 3, 2022). Removed driver's seat backrest and inspected driver's seat wiring harness connector T3ax for damage, poor connection, pin terminals pushed back, ect. No issues were noted. Reassembled seat and reconnected harness. Cleared DTC memory and road tested vehicle. DTC B100B reset immediately. As per TSB #2066699, replacement of the Driver's Thorax Airbag -N199- and seat wiring harness are required. Special ordered parts. Parts are on backorder. 3CN-880-241-M SIDEAIRBAG 3CM-971-391-C HARNESS”

Forward Collision Avoidance › Warnings
Filed Apr 20, 2022NC

Two separate instances. The first: emergency break engaged for no reason while in driveway at a low speed. It jolted the car back and I had to put car in Park and then drive again. If this happened while anywhere else, it could cause an accident by being rear ended or a tail spin. Second incident: driving on interstate the forward collision warning symbol came on in red in addition to a red exclamation point. We were driving around 65mph with cars around us. The warning came on seemingly out of nowhere and then was gone several minutes later. There was no reason for this to occur. These issues are a major safety concern and we do not feel safe driving our brand new Atlas at this time.

Service Brakes
Filed Apr 5, 2022OR

My emergency brake engaged while I was slowly entering an intersection. Almost caused an accident - cars behind me had to slam on their brakes. I believe this issue is part of recall 97GF which only lists air bags as a result of faulty wiring in door harness. The e brakes engaging while driving needs to be added as another safety risk - it was a frightening experience for me and my kids.

Electrical System
Filed Apr 3, 2022CA

Parked vehicle overnight and found all windows to have rolled down on its own during the winter around February (once parked outside at 20 degrees F, second in garage 30 degrees F). Received a notification for system update after incident happened twice (we hang up our keys which is inaccessible to rolling windows down from remote). Minimal interior damage from exposure to cold temperatures, but no personal safety issues other than worrying of possible interior damage and theft. Infotainment no longer turns on instantly and has delayed touchscreen and sound. My VW has delay in connecting to CarPlay and volume does not work in some cases when raising or lowering volume while connected to phone. No warning or error messages prior to failure and occurred after system update. Have not yet notified or received notification with dealer of issue, but just received notification of recall issues on My VW after app update.

Service Brakes
Filed Mar 15, 2022FL

The parking brake was engaged automatically while driving. The car came to a sudden stop creating a hazard with traffic. There were no warning lamps or bells. At this point the vehicle has not yet been inspected by the dealer.

Unknown or Other
Filed Feb 24, 2022VA

After an automatic software update, the navigation screen and all systems that are accessed through that screen no longer work. This includes the back-up cameras for the vehicle. The vehicle was returned to the dealer who was unable to fix it citing they do not have the necessary "computer chip" and did not know when they would be able to get them. The vehicle was returned to me. There is limited visibility through the rear window of this vehicle and the absence of a back-up camera is problematic.

Electrical System
Filed Feb 8, 2022IL

At first the Infotainment system touchscreen would not turn on at first start of the day but would turn on after a few minutes. Then, after a week, it stopped turning on altogether. Wireless phone charging and Advanced Road Sign Recognition system is not working as well.

Unknown or Other
Filed Jan 30, 2022TX

The infotainment center of the vehicle does not start/work upon start of the car. I get a notification on the dashboard that audio is not available. The whole infotainment center not working on startup means I cannot view the picture/video feed from the rear camera. I tried activating the park assist feature to activate the camera but it did not work because the infotainment center was inoperable. I purchased the car one week ago and have had this issue on starting up the car everyday this past week. It takes anywhere from 2-10 minutes before the infotainment center is operable. I have notified the dealership and they have not been able to reproduce the issue because they acquire the vehicle after the info center is operable. I am not able to have the vehicle serviced at the dealership until Feb. 23, 2022. They have advised to “reset” the infotainment center. The sales associate who sold me the car did this and the problem still exists. Because I purchased the car new, with 10 miles, I did not anticipate this issue.

Reading these

NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.

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