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.
The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. While driving various speeds, the battery warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle seized. The vehicle was taken to three rivers Volkswagen (3694 Washington rd, mcmurray, pa 15317, (724) 941-6100) where it was diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. The battery was replaced, but the failure recurred eleven months later. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear usb drive caused the failure because it drained the battery. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.
Electrical issue causes the transmission to fail. As you press on the gas this issue does not allow the car to move forward. Has stopped on me now twice in 3 months. First repair took 20 days. Was very dangerous and scary because it happened on freeway the first time and on a hill the 2nd so the car began to roll backwards.
While sitting at a red light for about a minute the car turns off due to the cars on/off feature. When the light turned green the car would not start back up. I had to put the Atlas in park and rest set to turn it on. It will not turn back on until after a few tries. This has happened to me about 5 different times now. I now drive with that feature turned off until VW can fix this glitch. Very unsafe while sitting traffic and car is stalled in the middle of the road.
I was driving on a busy highway and came to a stop in traffic. The auto start-stop activated, and the engine turned off while I was stopped. Traffic started moving again so I took my foot off the brake, which is typically when the engine restarts, but the engine was completely silent and the car was dead. I tried restarting it to no avail. I had this same issue two months ago, and Volkswagen replaced the battery. After the car died, I got an error message saying the battery was low and I should drive to recharge it, however at that point the battery was too dead to drive. I really wish this error message would have shown up before the car died. Why did the auto start-stop activate if the battery didn't have enough juice to activate the engine?? two different batteries, same issue.
- Sterrett, AL, USA
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Battery dies with short idle. Waited less than 10 minutes for my husband and warning came on to drive the car to charge the battery. I was in a parking lot with air conditioning on. Engine had manually shut off so I went to restart and battery would not turn on. This has happened before.
I was stopped at a busy intersection when the battery died. This was the second time in 2 weeks that the battery died. Traffic had to be rerouted around me as I sat waiting for a jump start. I took it to the dealer and they say the batter is on back order which makes me think that this is a systemic problem affecting this vehicle.
Was driving down my driveway and the electronic brake all of a sudden malfunctioned and turned on, and locked up all movement. The system was screaming electronic brake malfunction, do not drive, brake is activated. I was able to eventually put it back up near my house in the parking portion of the driveway. This is not the first time that the brake has malfunctioned however it is the first time that it has done it while I was driving, normally I can turn off the car wait about 5 minutes or so and then it'll stop malfunctioning however this time the brakes locked up and the car would not move. I could not get the brake to turn off. Had the car towed to the dealership (still showing a malfunction after vehicle was off all day). At the dealer for several days, they said they could not replicate the incident and the car does not keep a log of malfunctions internally so there was nothing to be done. I have a long list of problems with sensors, camera systems, and other electronic failures going back through August 2018
The battery has gone dead 3 times, , once at a stop light while driving and once after driving 45 minutes, turning car off for gas, then dead at gas station... just drove to dealership today and it happened again while in the waiting bay in the service department, jennings Volkswagen had to jump car to move it... was sitting off for 5 minutes after driving for 1 hour
I pulled up to a red light at a busy intersection and the auto start/stop activated stopping the engine. When the light turned green, the engine would not restart and a warning popped up stating the battery was almost dead and I should drive to charge the battery. It was a little too late for that! I did not receive any type of warning prior to the battery dying, and why on earth would the start/stop allow the engine to stop if the battery didn't have enough juice to restart the vehicle?? I received a lot of angry honking from people stuck behind me in the intersection, but thankfully a cop nearby saw what was going on and stopped all traffic to assist with pushing my vehicle off the road. My car is barely a year old, this should not have happened. I was three miles from a huge international airport and on my way to catch a flight, but instead I had to wait on roadside assistance to come help my stranded vehicle.
When riding in the passenger seat the air bag would disengage and engage as the person moved in the seat with the movement of the car. Moved the seat back and it went off, dealership mechanic could find nothing wrong. Last happened this morning, started after a few seconds of grinding, then went 12 mph, shut down, then started fine. Had the vehicle for 14 months the battery went dead, when pushing the start button it would catch and continue to try starting even when the finger was removed. When it started epc would come up and the vehicle would move at about 12 mph. Shut the vehicle down and start again, it would run ok. Have had it into repairs twice and nothing is found, yet it continues to start or not start and run slow. Warning comes up check running light, check right headlight, check left headlight. Replaced the battery two months ago, have already had to charge because it has gone dead. It is like the computer panel is not turning off. The vehicle has always been stopped - parked when it will not start, sometimes for a few minutes some times over night after having to use the fog lights. I have all the recalls fixed, but this started after having those fixed. My battery was replaced after 45,000 miles.
My Atlas died in the drive thru while running (stationary but about to move when it died) without any warning. The vehicle has less than 25,000 miles and had just been serviced less than one month prior. When it died, the car dash was blinking different messages but one said, 'drive to charge 12V'. I couldn't turn the engine over; the windows would not go up; and I was stuck in the drive thru for almost an hour before someone was able to jump my car to get it to the dealer. Dealer said they had changed 4-5 batteries out of the same type of car that week. That was three weeks ago. No eta on when a battery will be available. I went nearly 10 ten days without a car and now I have a loaner. No information on cause of problem or whether a new battery will fix the problem. Neither the dealer nor VW have given me any information or guidance on whether the vehicle will be safe to drive after battery replacement'I repeatedly explained that my vehicle died while running 'thankfully not in an intersection or red light'but still no information on the issue. I also am not getting any information as to why it could take over a month to even get a battery.
Vehicle battery stopped working within less than an year, dealership service is hard to work unless the car is completely dead and will inform customers that the battery was undersized on the vehicle. It will suddenly die when auto start/stop function is engaged, it can happen while stopped at a red light.
Purchased new 2018 VW Atlas with now, 10K miles. The last 2 weeks the dash sensors have been randomly going off & on. Sunday 02/10 I was driving, the vehicle shut off while in motion. Brakes locked, no steering control, no electrical. When tried to restart the first time -T he sensor said to 'drive to charge 12V battery' but the car would not turn back over to do so. Towing company was able to jump it, the battery was running @ 15V which is too high for VW (confirmed with service tech this is abnormal). Was not able to keep it running, so we had it towed to the dealership. Dealership called & said "bad battery VW Atlas is known for chronic battery failure". I was told a new one is on backorder with no eta - but that my Atlas is sitting in the lot next to another Atlas with the same problem, that has been waiting on a replacement for 3 weeks. Will use a loaner car for a month until mine is functioning. I was also told the replacement battery may or not be a fix/solution but it's all they can do for now to get the car running. Beside myself there has been no formal recall to this to prevent catastrophic injury to VW Atlas owners who own a vehicle that fails while in motion. Located on a city street - did involve local law enforcement to prevent additional threats to danger in the roadways.
Sitting at a red light and when it turned green, my start/stop function would not turn my car back on. The dash had all sorts of lights flashing and my car would not start. Said the 12V battery was drained. Had to push my car out of the way and get someone to jump my car.
I was driving the car on a city street when it suddenly just shut off and would not come back on. This is the second time this has happened, and there is no warning and no way to get the car pulled to safety.
Twice I have been stranded because the auto start stop is not providing enough power to the battery and therefor the vehicle will not start sometimes without being jumped. I have been stranded twice because the auto shut off has turned the vehicle off at a light and then the vehicle would not restarte.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Beverfalls, PA, USA