10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
11,572 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2018 Volkswagen Atlas brakes problems

brakes problem

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2018 Volkswagen Atlas Owner Comments (Page 1 of 4)

problem #66

Jun 122024

Atlas

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

While driving down the road the vehicle automatically shuts off without power brakes or power steering. Must come to a complete stop put the vehicle into park and the vehicle will then restart. Has happened twice in one week.

- Clarksville, TN, USA

problem #65

May 132024

Atlas

  • miles
Car starts beeping loudly and a -??brake booster faulty-?? alarm pops up on the screen. Brakes become spongy during alarm and a little after. Issue has happened multiple times and has gone to the dealer multiple times for parts replacement/work. Other VW owners have complained of the same issue happening to them.

- Gilbert, AZ, USA

problem #64

Feb 052024

Atlas

  • miles
I have experienced an alert/alarm for a "Faulty Break Booster", "Break System Failure", as well as other Break related alarms go off while driving. Multiple times I have been going over 40 mph and the vehicle has instantly breaked and came to a stop on it's own. I have taken my vehicle to the dealer and was advised there is no issue. This issue seems to happen randomly as I have been unable to recognize any similarities between conditions and frequency.

- Waynesville, NC, USA

problem #63

Nov 302023

Atlas

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Vehicle displays -??Brake booster faulty-?? and all warning lights trigger. Vehicle auto brakes itself and stops with little ability to steer. No warning/fault codes were stored when brought into the repair shop to address the issue and they could not duplicate it. It is an intermittent problem but looking at online forums it is NOT ISOLATED AND IS DANGEROUS.

- Milton , WI, USA

problem #62

Sep 212023

Atlas

  • miles
When starting up my vehicle the battery turns on but the engine will not start. My dash will light up with multiple warnings. These are the specific ones that warn me: Error: electronic stabilization control (ESC) Error: hill hold assist BRAKE - Brake booster faulty ERROR: Hill hold assist Front assist not available. ERROR: tire pressure monitoring system. Trans. in emerg. Mode. You can continue driving. FAULT: electronic parking brake. Eventually my car starts up, but this is after several attempts. Once I shut car off and go to start back up, it goes through the whole process again. My car was taken into Volkswagen dealership and they said it was my fuel pump, fuel filter & battery. They -??fixed-?? that but by the time I drove my car home, the issue started back up again. My safety is 100% put at risk because not only does my car not start up right away but I can be driving my vehicle and it will slow me down on a main highway and make me brake and then I need to attempt to restart my car to get it started up again several times. I have children I drive around in this vehicle and it is not safe to drive. My car has been illuminating the check engine light and all the other ones for each error I stated above. The problem itself has not been identified. When I did research, the 2019-2020 VW Atlas-??s were recalled for this same issue it seems. But mine wasn-??t because it is a 2018.

- Crofton , MD, USA

problem #61

Aug 222023

Atlas

  • miles
While driving, the car suddenly slowed to nearly stopping and a "Brake Boost Faulty" red warning light displayed on the dashboard. I was not breaking at the time. The brake pedal felt soft and the car would not regain acceleration. I had to stop the car, turn off ignition, restart for the car to drive normally. This occurred twice once while driving over 40 miles per hour and again at approximately 25 mph. IN both cases I was not braking when the incident happened.

- Falls Church , VA, USA

problem #60

Jul 072023

Atlas

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Our 2018 VW Atlas will randomly shut the engine off even with auto start/shut off disabled. This has happened 5 times in 3 months. It has done so on the highway and on main streets putting our family of 6 at risk of being in an auto crash every time. The brakes have automatically came on 2 times. Forward collision sensors come on with nothing in front of us which also puts the breaks on and makes a distracting loud beep which has made me jump out of surprise while driving. The EPA rated fuel economy is 26 highway and 22 city. We drive both and rarely get above 16 combined MPG even with multiple drivers and making an attempt at getting better economy. Our Atlas also makes a loud -??clunk-?? sound from the undercarriage in the center/rear of the vehicle. It does this while driving or while parked with the vehicle idling. Also not major but sometimes when the front passenger window is half down, if you push the button to roll it up, it goes all the way down. We are going to take it in to VW soon but there is a lot wrong that either make driving it a hazard to ourselves and other drivers and makes us feel very uncomfortable. We love it but we are also afraid of it. There is currently no open recalls. I-??ve been a mechanic, a machinist and an engineer for nearly 20 years. Some stuff just doesn-??t make sense. I read the crank and cam pulses, usually you-??d expect a drop in pulse that could cause the engine to shut down but there-??s nothing. Nothing on the scan tool or on the onboard vehicle diagnostic.

- Honolulu, HI, USA

problem #59

Jun 282023

Atlas

  • miles
I would be driving under 30mph and would get a warning on my dashboard that would say "Brake Booster Faulty", in addition the "Brake" light would illuminate and my brakes would become spongy and harder to engage.

- Las Cruces, NM, USA

problem #58

May 302023

Atlas

  • miles
When braking normally, the AEB alert tone sounded, and the display showed a red BRAKE warning with "Brake Booster Failure" displayed on-screen. The brakes then became extremely sensitive and caused the car to abruptly grind to a stop with full ABS action. This occurred in traffic, and the car behind me narrowly avoided a collision due to the uncommanded abrupt halt. I pulled over and the error cleared itself after a few seconds. I pulled the diagnostic error codes from the ECU, and this is the output: 0213 [0x0000D5] Archive (inactive) C10A329: Vacuum sensor, Implausible signal Single Vacuum Pressure Sensor sends no valid data Status bits: 1 Priority: 1 Frequency: 1 Unlearning index: 84 Odometer: 27031 km Date, time: 2023.03.27 09:34:50 Paramteric values: 00 00 80 18 32 00 00 00 CF 47 00 00 02 FF 00 5E 02 40 B0 00 00 00 10 Status: Confirmed (This is from a previous activation, but the recent one is the same). This is the third time this has happened, but the first to put me in actual danger of a crash. I have previously brought this to the dealer but no fix was applied. They were aware of this happening on other vehicles but they did not have a fix. The model year after was recalled due to wiring issues, but my car has never been recalled for anything related. I believe this is a significant safety issue and should be addressed by the manufacturer before it causes a serious incident.

- Baton Rouge, LA, USA

problem #57

May 152023

Atlas

  • miles
Brake booster fault warning, brakes want to lock up. Rear seat belt buckles won-??t allow belt buckle to insert. Have received brake booster fault several times recently. If I stop motor and restart warning goes away and brakes function correctly.

- Canton, GA, USA

problem #56

Oct 262022

Atlas

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On several occasions when braking to come to a stop at a relatively low speed, the car began lurching as pressure was applied to the brake pedal. The brake pedal was jumping up and down and making a hydraulic-type noise. At the same time, a message indicating "Brake Booster Failure" appeared on the panel, and the parking brake light illuminated. The problem resolved after sitting still for approximately 30 seconds. The car is currently being serviced at a Volkswagen dealership, and they have not been able to diagnose any issues.

- Bryn Mawr , PA, USA

problem #55

Oct 072022

Atlas

  • miles
What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request" The front brakes unevenly wore to the point where the driver side brake is like new and the passenger side brake is a safety issue. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk Because of the extreme wear on the passenger side braking system the whole front braking system needed to be replaced prematurely to ensure safety. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? A simple Google search shows that this is a common issue with the 2018 VW Atlas. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? It was inspected by the manufacturer, but VW insists there is nothing wrong with the components despite not being able to explain why the passenger side front brake was so significantly more worn than the driver side front brake. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear" No. This was identified during an oil change. I was told that it was a safety issue for me to be driving on a front brake that was so worn. When I brought it in for the brake work, I suggested there was a defect in the design and the brake replacement should be covered by the warranty. I was then informed that I really didn't need to have my brakes replaced at this time.

- Highland Park, IL, USA

problem #54

Sep 292022

Atlas

  • miles
Twice over last few months the vehicle has just stopped on me on its own. Yesterday it said brake floater faulty and brakes didn-??t work right. I pulled over, shut truck off and restarted and went away. It was fine after that.

- Alsip, IL, USA

problem #53

Jul 132022

Atlas

  • miles
We are RANDOMLY having our brake light come on, followed by an alarm and a -??BRAKE BOOST FAULTY -?? warning on out dash. While this is going on-??the brakes will start -??pumping-?? a few times with just a light touch of the brakes. This is starting to happen every day or two. The warning lasts about 30-45 seconds typically.

- Bluefield , WV, USA

problem #52

Jul 202022

Atlas

  • miles
Alarm brake booster fault goes off and the brakes are harder to use and the brake effect is reduced. Have happend daily the last week.

- Falls Church, VA, USA

problem #51

Jul 082022

Atlas

  • miles
Brake Booster faulty sensor, brakes spongy driving under 30mph happened twice now.

- Manhattan, IL, USA

problem #50

Nov 272021

Atlas

  • miles
My trucks breaks has given out multiple times almost causing accidents in the middle of driving with no warning. Message on dash says faulty breaks, break failure before it quickly goes away. The abs break light comes on and the car stalls almost causing me to get rear ended. I purchased the car Oct 12,2021 car start having issues December 2021. It is extremely dangerous to drive. I took it to car max in forth myers fl when I almost hit a tractor trailer WITH MY CHILDREN IN THE CAR ! Carmax refused to look at my vehicle or give me a rental for it being unsafe. This has happened on multiple occasions. I shouldn-??t have to pay for something like this to get fixed when I was sold a faulty car from the start. I have spoke with a few Lawyers over this matter about CarMax and Voltswagon. I only have one photo I don-??t have a chance to take other photos when it happens because Im to busy trying not to get hurt.

- Flowery Branch , GA, USA

problem #49

Apr 152022

Atlas

  • miles
My car recently started feeling like my tires or rubbing on something when I make sharp turns. Now when I brake my car feels and sounds like it is grinding on something. It started happening while on way home from a trip a couple of days ago. While I wait for service appt the car is unsafe to drive as I need to really push on brake to ensure complete stop, it feels like the car is rubbing on metal and is very bumpy when coming to stop. Have only driven in slow speeds since returning home bc we are afraid the brakes will fail.

- Bakersfield, CA, USA

problem #48

Mar 112020

Atlas

  • miles
Emergency brakes occurred without anyone or anything in front of the car. Braking malfunction warning also came on.

- Seattle, WA, USA

problem #47

Jan 282021

Atlas

  • 43,000 miles
The brake booster light appeared, then the brake pedal became spongy, pulsed and the vehicle slowed down. This happened on highways with light traffic with 4-5 car lengths within the same lanes moving 60 mph and driving in a parking lot. The manufacturer sent technicians/engineers to troubleshoot and help result. These occurrences the was not vehicle going on a road that had an incline or decline. 1) the weather was dry, sunny, with no precipitation of any kind. 2) the weather was dry, night, with no precipitation of any kind.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

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