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.
After starting the car and trying to reverse, the car would not go into reverse. In addition all warning on the dashboard went off and the windows rolled down. The car would not move. After shutting down and restarting the car it proceeded to accelerate only to suddenly brake in the middle of the road as if the emergency brake was activated. The windows would roll down again and all the warning signs on the dash would appear. I took my car to the dealer and I was told that it was the door latch and there was no Estimated amount of time for completition. This has been 4 weeks now. I have had my car for only 6 months.
1. My car has randomly slammed on the brakes while driving. I was driving with my daughter and when it happened, she thrusted forward and almost hit her head on the dash. The seatbelt did lock. I reported it to my dealer and the car was checked out and found no issues. They just said that people have been complaining about "squeaky" brakes, which I have taken my car in for before along with a grinding noise coming from my front driver side brakes and was told nothing is wrong. 2. Two times my car has turned completely off while driving. I brought it to the dealer and was told they couldn't find anything wrong. It happened 2 times in 1 week. One time was pulling into a parking spot and another time was when we were at a stop and the light turned green for us to go. I had to put my car in park and restart my engine. What would happen if I was driving 50 MPH on a highway and the power went off and I had no brakes and couldn't slow down? I was very upset that the dealer could not find anything wrong. I have left 3 messages for the service manager and he never returned my call. I do not feel safe in my car but am stuck with this car for another 2 years. Something needs to be done! My neighbor's Atlas is the same year and model and his car has been in the shop for over a month with the same issues. 3. I was in a drive thru last week and the "central warning light" went on with another light ( I can't rememberthe other light) and the service department couldn't find anything wrong.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the parking brakes and alarms illuminated on the instrument panel. The driver-??s and rear passenger-??s side windows rolled up and down independently. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was notified; however, informed the contact that parts were not available. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 MPH and decelerating, the vehicle stopped abruptly. The driver's side rear window independently rolled down and the parking brake inadvertently engaged. The contact was able to pull over and drive to her residence. Additionally, the alarm was beeping. The check engine and battery warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that a message was displayed that the engine was still running. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the door harness needed to be replaced; however, the parts were on back order. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle with the auto start first then after getting into the vehicle, there was a 12 volt battery in which was not charging, as well as, advising the contact to stop driving the vehicle warning displayed. The vehicle's start and stop failed to function. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the alternator had failed and the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The contact found that their vehicle's failure related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V616000 (Electrical System) however their VIN was not included. The vehicle had not been repaired as of yet due to the necessary part was on back order. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case regarding the matter. The failure mileage was 6,009.
- Fayetteville, NC, USA
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My vehicle has had 2 fuel pump replacements, my emergency brake has gone off while driving and while idling 3x slamming me to a hard stop and end arguing my kids and I. I have also had multiple events of being in a turn lane or busy intersection with my automatic start/stop turned off and my car will not engage and throws a sign up on dash telling me to restart my car. This is dangerous! Consumer stated they knew it was a safety issue but could not help me.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH on the highway, the brakes applied without the brake pedal being depressed. The contact was able to pull over and made it home safely. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and it was diagnosed as the wiring harness needing to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 12,000.
Between mid-November and early December 2021, my 2021 Volkswagen Atlas started randomly braking while the vehicle was in motion. There were loud beeping sounds, multiple error notifications on the dash, and the rear driver's side window kept randomly going down. I recently read an article from an online publication called autoblog, which indicated to me that this problem is occurring in these vehicles at an alarming rate. The dealership has provided a loaner, which is significantly less than the vehicle I purchased. Meanwhile I am paying $564 per month for a vehicle I cannot use, and the dealership is unable to provide me with a date that the vehicle will be repaired. We are not into month four of this issue with no resolution in sight.
Hello, I'm writing to share a safety concern regarding the 2021 VW Atlas. In January 2022, I was driving with my small children in the vehicle. The alarm went off for no reason when I first entered the car. Next, my passenger side windows went down on their own and would not go back up. All sorts of alarms/light went off in my car. Next, it started to throw my vehicle into emergency brake while driving. VERY DANGEROUS! This should be a safety recall. The vehicle has been in the shop for 2 months, waiting on a part.
While traveling at approximately 45 mph, my vehicle suddenly stopped with no reason. My window on the driver side and left rear passenger window rolled down approximately 2-4 inches, my windows locked, driver side door kept locking and unlocking. My emergency brake suddenly engaged and multiple warning lights came on. I had to turn my car off for it to start responding normal again. It happened first 1/3/22 and again 1/26/22.
Car randomly shuts engine off completely when start/stop is activated and at a stop. I-??ve had to put the car from gear into park and restart the car due to this issue. I consistently get fault warnings for the electronic parking brake and driver side control panel in which the drivers side and passenger window randomly roll down.
The entire electrical system went haywire. Driver aids malfunctioned, windows up/down, the parking brake engaged while driving. Dealer and VW claim it is an issue with the wiring harness. They have no parts to repair the car and there are a dozen more with the same issue at the dealer.
I purchased a brand new 2021 VW Atlas Cross Sport. In January I started experiencing major electrical sensor failures including automatically opening the windows, engaging the electronic parking brake when in motion, power steering sensor warning, engine warning and epc warning. VW has told me this is a wiring harness failure and they have over 6000 cars with this problem and can not give me a date as to when the parts will be available. I can not drive the car any distance for fear it will break down as I have had to have it towed once already. VW of America has provided no resolution for time to fix this brand new car.
My wife, 4-year-old and 3-year-old were driving down a 3 lane NYS Highway at approximately 20mph when my abovementioned vehicle came to an immediate stop due to the fact that the parking brake automatically engaged. Error messages popped up on my informational display stating driver door contact fault as well a parking brake error. My vehicle was brought to the dealership, and it was determined that the cause is a faulty wiring harness from engine compartment to the driver-??s door. This could have been worse if my wife was traveling at a higher rate of speed or if there were cars behind here when this happened. Fortunately, enough that was not the case in this situtation.
My car check engine light came on, the car stated beeping loudly, the automatic breaking system slammed the breaks on for no reason repeatedly and the windows were going up and down by themselves. The only way to get the car to stop all of this was to turn it off put it in park and restart it at which point it would move forward a little bit before the brakes would slam on again and the beeping and windows would repeat. I had two children in the car and it was very unsafe as the car kept stopping itself suddenly in city traffic. There was nothing wrong with the car before this all started. I took the car strait to the dealer where I was told they do not have the part to fix it (door harness) and they have no loaners to offer.
When I was driving anytime I started to slow down the emergency brake would activate and apply the emergency brake to stop the car. The back window also went down. The check engine light and warning message came on saying there was an error with the auto start stop feature. The dealership advised that the driver door wiring harness was needing replaced and they have been seeing this in the 2021 atlas.
According to my local dealership, the microchip in the driver door is malfunctioning. My car incorrectly detects that the driver door is open and puts the parking brake on while the car is running or in drive. Alerts like, -??error: driver door contact switch-?? pop up. -??Cruise control not available-?? has also popped up.These alerts did not begin to pop up until the parking brake started being triggered on February 9th when the car was 4.5 months old with 5,000 miles. The driver side window as well as the window behind it will also roll down at times when this happens. To get my car to release the parking brake, I have to turn the car off and open and close the driver door. On average, I have to repeat this process 5 times before the car will detect that the door is closed and disengage the parking brake. My car has incorrectly alerted me that the driver door was open while I was driving down the highway. According to the dealership, the part that needs to be fixed is on backorder nationwide and I won-??t be able to get my car fixed until July. They are also out of loaners because so many people are having this issue. My safety as well as the safety of others in cars around me is at risk as the car will put the parking brake on thinking that the driver side door is open.
Upon starting vehicle, dash screen indicated that there was an issue with the Driver Door Contact Switch, and back driver's window lowered automatically. This automatically triggers the emergency brake to engage. If you disengage the emergency brake, the vehicle beeps, acting like a door is open, even with all doors closed. There were other incidents where this did not happen until driving on the road, in which the vehicle would engage the emergency brake as it was stopping. The brake would have to be manually disengaged in order to keep driving down the street. This may have been a safety hazard to others around if the vehicle all of a sudden turned on the emergency brake. This problem is not new to the local Volkswagen dealer, where my vehicle has been for the last month. Eight other vehicles are there with the same issue. They said that a door harness replacement is needed, but this part is backordered for the foreseeable future.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Austin, TX, USA