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.
On 5 Dec 20212, at approximately 1:30 while driving to the Fairfield Inn & Suites, 1707 69th Street, North Bergen, New Jersey 07047, we turned onto 69th street but missed the right turn to the hotel, so I went up the hill and made a U-turn back and the accelerator got stuck somehow and the brake pedal did not work. We were going down the hill extremely fast pumping the brakes with no luck. Rather than hit the car waiting for the Red Light I turned my car toward a power pole, and crashed extremely hard. My wife and I were both transported by ambulance to the Hackensack University Medical Center. My wife has to have spinal neck repair surgery, is still in the hospital with no sensation in her arms & fingers and is being sent to Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation for 5 weeks of Rehabilitation, with a prognosis of up to two years to fully recover. I suffered whiplash, bruising, tissue damage and in severe pain in my neck, back and stomach. The vehicle was towed and is in the Tominos Towing lot at 5419 Tonnelle Ave. Telephone 201-223-0235, and the accident police report is at the police dept. at 4233 Kennedy Blvd. Case#21-116842.
The rear window rolls down by itself with nobody touching any of the buttons. The light pops up on the dash and says faulty electrical. The vehicle will suddenly stop in the middle of driving. The emergency break applies. The emergency brake light comes on. Check engine light illuminates. Unable to safely drive as the vehicle just stops without warning. Vehicle in motion on the street and on the highway occurred several times
Car has stopped abruptly in traffic on two occasion in what should have been innocuous circumstances. First was traveling in a straight line on a slight decline and no hazards, slow moving moderate traffic (about 25 - 30 mph), where the car was coasting (drive neither accelerating or braking) in perfect weather. Second was making a turn at a green left turn signal, probably at speed of 15 mph; again perfect weather. Dealer response was to indicate the system was sensitive and offered to deactivate it. Second response was to "recalibrate" it for $400. This vehicle has less than 12,000 very light miles on it.
Multiple times the SUV will automatically break with the parking break. It has happened will trying to take off from a light. And while driving. City street
- Jacksonville, NC, USA
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Autonomous breaking occurs without warning with nothing on the road. This has happened on several occasion, but today (09/16/2020) this occurred while driving approximately 55 mph on apd 40 in cleveland, Tennessee with no obstruction in front of vehicle. Dashcam footage may be available, I'll check later today to see if it was captured.
Car disengaged adaptive cruise control and emergency braked suddenly ("slammed on the brakes"), while dashboard lights flashed warnings of front end impact and disengagement of acc and all assistance systems. The car was traveling 68mph on a straight line, flat bridge over water. Other cars were to the side and rear of the vehicle, but no front end collision was possible at the time. Dealership claims this is a radar issue that "every car has." Extremely dangerous!
The auto braking system activats on its own while in motion. On multiple occassions the car has suddenly braked and ive come to a complete stop in the middle of the road. No cars, debris, hazards, or anything were in front of me that should have activated the automatic collision prevention system. It is so sudden that it left my neck and shoulders (seat belt area) very sore. The automatic collision prevention system is supposed to be a safety feature but nearly caused a collision. I have taken it to the dealer multiple times for the problem but everytime they say there are no errrors reported on their computer and there is nothing they can do. This is a known problem among many VW owners and VW knows too but doesn't address it.
When going up or down a steep hill, and also 1 time pulling out of a parking lot my emergency brakes have engaged 5 times. No cars have been around (luckily) and I was not about to hit anything. My collision sensors also go off daily-the entire time I'm driving even while nothing is around. I can pull up to an empty intersection and they will do off. I have tried to change the sensitivity and this still happens. They are not consistent either- the same road can make it go off one day and not the next. But they are always going off while driving and I have to exit out of the screen
When driving the vehicle the brakes will automatically engage slamming the car into a stand still and potentially being hit. There are sensors that activate the brakes and they go off when there is nothing around to set them off. Took the car in. They could not duplicate the problem. They called the tech assist line and they acknowledge this is an issue that they have heard of but will do nothing about it. They say if the brakes slam on then the sensors are working. This was happening to my car daily and I honestly was afraid to drive the car. This is a total safety issue for your car to slam on the brakes for no reason in an unsafe location. I have turned the maneuver braking off but I paid a lot of money for that feature that does not work safely. I also get other random warning lights that go off for no reason. They plug it in to look for codes and nothing shows up so they do not feel there is a problem to address.
My brakes have locked up 4 or 5 times (since purchasing the car in April 2019) when exiting a parking lot with minimal slope to turn onto the street. The car makes a grinding noise and alerts beep. The car must be placed in park, then reverse to make the drive feature function again to get out of the middle of the street. The force of the braking, locks up the seat belts as well. Thankfully no one has been behind me to avoid rear end collision nor oncoming. I am nervous to pull out of a driveway now
The brakes activated on their own while in motion, and the car came to a complete stop in the middle of the road. No cars were in front of me or anything else that should have activated the automatic collision prevention system. The car behind also had to stop to avoid crashing into my rear. The automatic collision prevention system is supposed to be a safety feature but nearly caused a collision.
Car just stops when leaving a parking lot and my driveway, no other cars are in the area. Braking is jerky alert system goes crazy with no one around the car just stops. This happen to us a total of 7 times so far. I the first time I reported to the dealer was on June 8 the car had 500 miles. Went back to the dealer late June and they test drove the car with us. It didnt stop but the service manger did witness the sensitive alerts and stated that he would contact the field manager. No follow up from the dealer was received for three weeks. This dealer is not acting in good faith. Then he says that there is no updates to the collision warning system and told us to call customer care. I have a 43,000 car that I am afraid to drive.
While exiting parking lots at low speeds, the braking system slammed on the brakes bringing my car to a complete stop. One exit had somewhat of a steep slope, the other one was almost flat. Thankfully no one was behind me or I could have easily been rear ended since nothing was around me and nothing else could have caused the brakes to slam on. Car is also very jerky while accelerating or braking. Jerks through the gears and then jerks while braking. This happens at low speeds, most prevalent in neighborhoods going over bumps or slowing for stop signs.took my car in to get looked at, they preformed a "software update" and said it would most likely stop the jerking. When I was leaving, I was given a "vehicle emission recall-proof of correction-ca" form just in case the dmv asked me for this form. The "software" update seemed to somewhat fix the problem but not all the way. My car either drives super jerky or smooth, no in between. In my opinion, for a $40, 000 car, this is ridiculous. Haven't even made a payment on it and im not looking forward to it (unless it was actually driving correctly).
While driving 35mph, no one in either direction, flat street surface, braking system went on with the alert on dash and noise.it has happened 4 times where the cars braking system turns on, brakes while accelerating, and then it takes several seconds before you can move from the intersection, hoping not to have a collision from car that is behind.took to the dealers several times and they cannot verify. The engine light was on for several weeks.one dealer said they cannot see me for another 2 weeks. Called VW headquarters to get me in sooner. The triangle light with exclamation point was also on. The key light was on as well while my car was running, stating the keys were not in the car. When I went to accelerate, car turned off. Sunroof was leaking--have a video remote keys do not work all the time. Start up has issues, doors lock when I am close to the car for no reason, doors do not unlock from the inside until I turn on the car, the rear door does not open at times- have a video, if keys are in pocket, doors do not unlock easily(was told I have to hold the handle correctly or it will not open) the side alert system goes off all the time when nothing is there. Front windows would not go down -on receipt they stated they found windows were fine. Advisor told me that the button on the door was burned out, but they did not write that in the report. Steering issues where the car was moving right to left and very loose.
While driving at low speeds, exiting a parking lot with a downward slope towards a street, the car's autonomous emergency braking system activated, immediately causing the vehicle stop unexpectedly. No other car was in front of the vehicle, indicating that the system perceives the road as an obstacle. The unexpected stop caused another vehicle behind me to nearly rear-end my vehicle. Additionally, they aeb system did not allow me to quickly restart acceleration, which left me temporarily stranded for a couple second perpendicular to the street.
Automatic braking system deploys without cause. Situation: Driving on interstate, no cars within a half mile, going 75 with acc and breaks automatically slammed on with a collision warning. Sensor and car were clean, no cars or possible impacts. This has happened 3-4 times. Additional situations: Acc turns off both on interstate and on long highway bridge. Situations were different, both day and night time/ with other cars and without. All situations had no possible chance of impact. Acc will turn off while car is going in 50-70 mph range and suddenly break, in the middle of the road, without any warning. Dealership responded "nothing is perfect" this has now happened roughly 7 times, with no advice from the dealer other than to "see if I can just turn the assistance systems off." They were not able to see my car immediately when I took it in after the braking incident today and have scheduled me for a later date.
Automatic braking stops car when exiting parking lot onto main road, could not pull straight out of parking lot. Emergency braking deployed 3 times. On coming traffic had to stop because car would not move unit I turned system off. Multiple cars were behind me and could not back up enough to not block traffic. No obstructions where in front of me just slightly steeper angle exiting parking lot.
Upon accelerating my 2019 VW Atlas down an empty street between 10 to 20 miles per hour the autonamous emergency brake sensor malfunctioned and the car suddenly came to a complete stop jolting us forward. It was so unexpected that my hands slipped off the steering wheel and landed on the dash board. The halt came with a very loud noise. As I explained to the dealership technician and VW corporate office regional case manager, there was no vehicle in front of me. There were no pedestrians, animals, obstacles, etc. On the roadway. The day was sunny and the grill emblem that houses the system sensor was unobstructed and clean. If there would have been a vehicle behind me I would have been rear ended. The dealership told me that "they could not duplicate the issue" and per corporate engineers the sensor is working per specifications and no fault codes were found with the sensor. Imagine receiving this explanation after that scary incident happens to you out of no where. Now I can't get back into the vehicle without thinking when it will happen next. Too have written a letter to the CEO of Volkswagen seeking a resolution to the problem. My thought is that it's a problem with the sensor's software code and Volkswagen doesn't have a solution. Please I ask that this issue be investigated and a recall be issued. The internet has info on other owners with same issue along with a class action lawsuit filed in California against VW for the same issue. Thank you.
Emergency brake activated when the vehicle was in motion and turning towards an open parking space. Nothing was in front of the vehicle at the time of the emergency brake deploying. This left the vehicle stuck in the middle of parking lane and could have been hit by cross traffic.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Centreville, MD, USA