10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
639 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.

2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport electrical problems

electrical problem

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2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport Owner Comments (Page 2 of 3)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #21

Nov 192021

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles

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

I purchased a New 2021 VW cross sport in 02/21. I have had multiple safety-related issues 1. Car randomly stopped; check engine light illuminated. visited dealer was told the fuel injectors were faulty. Dealership replaced. When I drove the vehicle home, there was an intense smell of gasoline. Went back to dealer was told there was a fuel leak. This is a safety risk as the vehicle could catch fire. 2. Car randomly stopped loud squeaking-??s sound can be heard. Visited the dealership was told the main engine gasket seal was leaking. Again a huge safety issue 3. Windows, and sunroof roof randomly opening. was told by dealership unable to duplicate the issue. 4. Squeaking from rear suspension after long trips. was told by dealership unable to duplicate the issue. These are all major safety issues. When i purchased this new vehicle for myself and newborn son I did not realize this car would be a safety hazard. I am afraid to drive it.

- Dyer, IN, USA

problem #20

Jan 012022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
Faulty door harness per VW service department in Valdosta, GA. This has caused over several near missed rear end collisions as the car will automatically activate the emergency brake while driving. Multiple error messages pop up. Windows roll down automatically. Vehicle has been sitting at dealership for 30+ days and dealership will not provide loaner vehicle, rental or hold payments with VW Credit. This has affected my way of life tremendously as I now have no vehicle to get to work and no vehicle to take my kids to school in. Dealership said I could still drive the vehicle, completely disregarding the fact that a car had to completely run off the road to prevent from hitting me after my emergency brake randomly activated while I had my kids in the back. So here-??s to making payments for my car to sit at the dealer with no help, no eta on repair, NOTHING!

- Live Oak, FL, USA

problem #19

Mar 262022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
I WENT TO MY CAR ON MARCH 26, 2022 IN THE MORNING AND ALL FOUR OF MY WINDOWS WERE ROLLED DOWN, THEY WERE ROLLED UP WHEN i LEFT THE CAR THE PREVIOUS DAY. ACCORDING TO THE RECALL NOTICE IT SAID THAT THIS ISSUE COULD BE RELATED TO A BRAKING ENGAGING UNEXPECTEDLY.

- Riverside, CA, USA

problem #18

Mar 272022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles

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

driving at low speed in parking lot, alarms sounded, engine and hazard lights came on and then driver's side windows rolled down partially. a few seconds later, the emergency brake automatically engaged, stopping the vehicle. i was able to disengage the emergency brake and continue driving, but dashboard lights remained on. very scary.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

problem #17

Dec 292021

Atlas Cross Sport

  • 8,000 miles
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated while driving at 8 MPH, the automatic emergency braking system engaged and the vehicle stopped abruptly. The emergency parking brake warning light illuminated. An audible message "Ignition Is Turned On" was engaged. The contact stated that he disengaged the emergency parking brake and continued to drive; however, the failure reoccurred while driving at low speed as he was approaching a traffic light. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle windows rolled down independently and would not roll up unless he turned off and restarted the vehicle. The contact stated that he was unable to lock the doors of the vehicle using the key fob or the driver's side power door lock switch. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the driver's side door wiring harness needed to be replaced; however, the part to repair the vehicle was not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.

- Middletown, DE, USA

problem #16

Mar 192022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
windows going down on their own, has been sporadically happening for a few months

- Blue Ridge Summit , PA, USA

problem #15

Jan 042022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles

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

While sitting in a drive thru the car completely turned off while in drive as I was waiting to move up in line. Then when I went to start the car the next day, the dashboard lit up and all of the windows started going up and down out of now where. After speaking with a service rep about the issue I was informed that it was a door harness issue which is a huge safety risk because it is tied to the electrical components of the vehicle. My vehicle stayed in the shop a little over 2 months and then the issue was repaired. After completing an update, I keep getting a message to reset my trip each time I start the car and then I received a warning that my front assist is not available. When I read more into this I found that the car can brake unexpectedly thinking that a collision is going to take place when it is not, therefore causing a driving risk. This warning came on 3 separate occasions. My car was just purchased in December 2021 and I am concerned about all of the issues that I am experiencing so early on. Two weeks after purchasing my car it was in the shop starting January 7th until March 12th, this was to repair the door harness, then a week later I am receiving the sensor notification. My sensor notification has come on 3/19, 3/22 and 3/23. I am concerned about the overall safety and reliability on this vehicle. My car was in the shop for over 2 months and now I have a new issue.

- Chicago, IL, USA

problem #14

Mar 212022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • 1,500 miles
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, all the windows independently rolled up and down and the electric braking system would not operate. The air bags error light, Auto START/STOP, Lane Assist feature, and door contact switch illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer and diagnosed with a wiring harness failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 1,500.

- Upper Darby, PA, USA

problem #13

Nov 082021

Atlas Cross Sport

  • 3,700 miles
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknown warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the windows started rolling down and up independently. On another occasion while driving approximately 20 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance Emergency Automatic Braking engaged erroneously. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and the contact was able to drive the vehicle to the local dealer. The vehicle remained at the dealer unrepaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the contact was informed that parts were not yet available to repair the vehicle. The failure mileage 3,700.

- Monaca, PA, USA

problem #12

Dec 012021

Atlas Cross Sport

  • 13,000 miles
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated that since owning the vehicle, various electrical failure had occurred with the vehicle. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would independently brake without incident as the check engine warning light would appear on the instrument panel. The contact also stated that the front driver-??s side door failed to unlock while his wife was outside the vehicle with the engine running. The contact's wife was forced to enter the vehicle threw the front passenger-??s side door. In addition, the contact also mentioned that both the front and rear driver-??s side windows would independently roll down without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed and remained in the dealer's possession. The contact was given a rental vehicle for the same model vehicle and the independent brake failure occurred with that vehicle also. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 13,000.

- Glenwood, IL, USA

problem #11

Dec 012021

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles

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

The emergency brake would go on when I was close to stopping. I would have to shut it off. The windows would roll down by themselves. I took it in to get checked and they said it was a wiring harness issue that needed replaced.check engine light would come on.

- Canfield, OH, USA

problem #10

Nov 032021

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
My car-??s door harness defect was a terrible safety issue!! I was merging onto a major 3-lane highway in New Jersey with my 3 children in the car, when my vehicle suddenly shut off, and the emergency brake came on! I could have easily been seriously rear-ended with my family in the backseat. A huge accident would have been the result. This frightening experience plays over in my mind every time I drive my car. It has given me nightmares ever since; I presently have no confidence in this vehicle, & rightly so. In addition to the emergency brake going on, the car windows rolled down on their own, and the dashboard system was beeping incessantly & flashing about 10 different error codes, one after the other. This same scenario happened 4 more times before I could reach my own home. Then, I had to drive my vehicle to the VW dealership the next day to drop it off for repair, and the scary situation happened 3 more times on the way. Unacceptable. I was without my vehicle for 2.5 months because the part was on extended backorder. I am told that even though the door harness was replaced, the defect could happen again, because the part has not been fully redesigned. Therefore, I am driving in fear, every time I get into my car!

- Park Ridge, NJ, USA

problem #9

Feb 112022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
I have a 2012 VW Atlas Cross sport with 6400 miles on it. For the last month and a half my driver side door doesn't work, there are four different warning lights on and every time i brake it starts beeping and the parking brake is automatically activated, leaving both driver and passenger windows will come down by themselves. If has become impossible to drive and the dealership is least bothered and said to go to VW US since it's their car. I had to drive holding my door once to the dealership as it was not closing.

- Melville, NY, USA

problem #8

Jan 242022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
Car started engaging emergency brake while driving. Started off in park and progressed. Windows would roll down and lights would come on. Took in to VW. They said door harness needs replaced. No ETA for part. They said they had a temporary fix that they did but It did not even make it out of the parking lot of service without the ebrake engaging again. Refused to drive it home and was given a loaner a few days later. Loaner tiguan did same thing within an hour of leaving the dealership. I returned it immediately and showed them the video of the issue. Filed a corporate compliant at this time and they said we were not eligible for buyback because it was not fixed but they have no estimate or fix to make things right. VW gave us the run around. Lied about contacting us. Avoided all calls and emails. They are crooks and know the car is bad and are hiding issues. We eneded up trading car in taking a major loss!! They said there was nothing they could do for us. They are endangering so many lives by allowing these cars on the road and primarily putting the financial burden on the customer. Either wait and hope the harness comes in which they have no idea when or get it replaced and hope it works and ebrake never engages. I am in a group of atlas owners who are all going through the same thing. Worst part is they had my car listed the next day for sale passing this issue onto some poor unsuspecting person. These cars are dangerous and VW needs to be held accountable for what they are doing and fix this issues or reimburse people properly for THEIR poorly made dangerous car.

- Bluffton, SC, USA

problem #7

Feb 142022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
on 2/2/22 Brought vehicle to nearest dealership.Upon inspection they ordered a HARNESS;TECH CHECKED AND FOUND LOST COMMUNICATION WITH DOOR CONTROL MODULE DRIVER SIDE DOOR MODULE FAULTY PART ON ORDER. My vehicle is available for inspection upon request keeping in mind underivable safety issues. on 2/02/2022 to start with, drove into dealership because of windows on drivers side opening, dash board lights all lit up.on 2/14/2022 while driving on highway and thru streets emergency brake would go on and give a hard brake stop. lights on and beeping. to get vehicle moving we had to turn off car, get out while on highway open and close doors to try to reset only for it to happen over and over while in traffic on the highway and then in city streets.The vehicle has been parked in my driveway since 2/14/22

- Staten Island, NY, USA

problem #6

Nov 102021

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
While driving the vehicle it would randomly turn on the emergency brake, roll down the windows, and start flashing all of the lights. We were told it is a door wire harness issue. We have been waiting on the replacement part for 5 months now with no end in sight. The

- Haubstadt, IN, USA

problem #5

Feb 282022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
Emergency brake engaged while driving, car warning beeps and warning alerts while stopped and while driving, windows opening while driving - cannot be closed from driver side, car alarm activated when opening door. Dealer states the problem is a door harness and parts not available. They state there is a problem with many other VW Atlas 2021 cars. Over 80 in their lot with same problem.

- Brick, NJ, USA

problem #4

Nov 182020

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
Front drivers door wiring harness has malfunctioned causing every error light on dash and info center to come on and causes Emergency brake to be applied even while driving the drivers side front and rear window both roll down 5 inches sometimes car will not restart tire monitoring lights come on head light warnings it is literally every warning light and sounds start beeping door won't lock or unlock alarm just randomly goes off so they had to unhook battery. took to shop 11-23-2021 and has still been in shop for 66 days as of 1-29-2022 and part still is on backorder with no date confirmed for part to been installed been talking with VW customer care I have started a case so far the latest info i have gotten is part might ship last week in February that will bring my vehicle to being in the shop for over 90 days but I'm sure the date will be pushed back again. i was also told by dealer they have 10 other of the same vehicle in shop for same part

- Benton, LA, USA

problem #3

Jan 242022

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
Error message -??driver door contact switch-?? occurs, drive door and driver side passenger windows roll down, locks disengage, alarms ding and causes a sensor to engage the emergency parking break which occured both while stationary or while moving.

- Cincinnati , OH, USA

problem #2

Oct 082021

Atlas Cross Sport

  • miles
There is a wiring harness that is faulty and it causes the car to think the door is open which causes the car to put the emergency brake on while coming to a stop.

- Plainwell, MI, USA

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