Complaint volume
465 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2019 Volkswagen Atlas Complaints
465 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2019 Volkswagen Atlas, grouped by component category.
465 Total complaints
7 Crash reports
0 Fire reports
9 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are air bags, forward collision avoidance, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 7 crash reports, 0 fire reports, 9 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 137 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 20,914 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to air bags, forward collision avoidance, unknown or other?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2019 Volkswagen Atlas?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2019 Volkswagen Atlas
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2019 Volkswagen Atlas complaints?
7 Crash
0 Fire
9 Injury
0 Fatality
7 Towed
4 Medical attention
What are the most common 2019 Volkswagen Atlas complaint categories?
AIR BAGS 111
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 36
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 28
SERVICE BRAKES 26
STEERING 21
ENGINE 19
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 12
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 12
POWER TRAIN 12
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 8
465 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While driving( multiple scenarios ranging from 10 mph, 70 mph, 30 mph and even while car was parked) alarm would go off and message displaying “brake booster faulty” while also illuminating the “brake” light on dashboard. Brake pedal then becomes stiff and/or spongy, while not working properly. Once car is turned off and back on, “ABS” light is also illuminated. Could not brake my car today with 2 children in backseat. Very dangerous. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE | I own a 2019 vw atlas and I had called the dealership about low coolant level light that had came on and you know what I was told it’s common in the atlas’s and that they just use coolant and I’m thinking to my self that cars don’t just use coolant and I’m finding out more and more a lot of people are having this issue the funny thing is that the had told me to just come on down and they will top it off with coolant | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I have had the emergency brake suddenly deploy about a dozen times since purchasing this car. All have been at relatively low speeds, as in parking lots or when making a turn on street. There has been nothing in my path to cause the emergency brake system to deploy. I took it to the dealership and they said that the computer only registered one deployment and there was nothing that could be done. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | WHEELS | My car just hit 30,000 miles. The light for loss of tire pressure on my left rear tire goes on. I go to the gas station to put air in the tire, and touch the tread with my fingers. THE INSIDE INCH OF TREAD/RUBBER ON BOTH REAR TIRES IS COMPLETELY WORN DOWN --- down to the metal. Seems like a serious alignment issue to me on this vehicle. Service and tire rotations regularly performed at the VW dealership in accordance with manufacturer recommendations. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | On two occasions the Auto Start/Stop system has engaged and turned off the engine at a stop light (performing correctly), but then failed to restart the vehicle. The vehicle did not provide any error message, it just did not try to restart and began rolling forward when the brakes were disengaged. The vehicle was then required to be placed in park and manually restarted. This presents a safety concern at a stop light as you could be rear ended if the car behind you is anticipating you to start driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On September 29th, my wife was driving approx 40 mph and her 2019 VW Atlas came to a screeching halt for no reason. The automatic emergency braking system engaged and caused the car to slam on the brakes and stop. Luckily there wasn't another vehicle directly behind her as this could have caused a very serious accident. We took the vehicle to local VW for service to diagnose and they could not make any repairs or determine anything at fault. There are numerous comments online from other VW Atlas drivers that are having these issues and for some year models, a faulty door wiring harness or electrical shorts in wiring could cause the issue. VW has even issued recalls for some year models but not 2019. Please investigate immediately and contact me with a resolution. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2022 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V152000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The dealer had been notified of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer had been notified of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. The contact stated that the vehicle continued to experience issues and has since been traded in. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Error Airbag keeps coming on and dealership cant find issue and cant replicate problem but it happens every time we get in car and are driving. This is very dangerous if we get in a accident and airbags dont deploy. Also There has been some weird electrical issues with vehicle that cause lights to flicker and turn on and off inside car dash. Dealership cant figure it out due to not replicating issue. Last issue is with brakes. Something in the electrical system is causing brakes to fully engage slamming us into the dash board and windshield. Has happened 3 times since owing vehicle. Dealership again said they cant replicate issue. This is getting to be the worse car we have purchased. First time owning a Volkswagen and probably the last time. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | While driving along the interstate on a clear day, I heard a loud explosion that sounded like a very, very loud pop. It took me a moment to realize that my sunroof had essentially exploded. I have a large panoramic sunroof, and the front section was completely shattered, and a section toward the middle of the side that touches the middle panel was blown out, with a small section missing. I pulled over on the road and realized that the entire front section of glass was buckled up, bowing upward to the center to the point where it seemed to explode. I heard nothing before the pop and saw no object coming from the road or elsewhere. Traffic on the opposite side of the interstate was at a standstill and it's unlikely anything came from that side that I may not have seen. It looks like the sunroof bowed upwards under pressure and exploded in the middle. Fortunately, my sunshade was closed and this kept pieces of glass from falling on me and my passenger. Also fortunately, I was able to react with safety. A young driver may not have been able to maintain control of the vehicle with the loud exploding noise. Since it happened, the glass has continued to fall, so the hole now is bigger than what it was initially. I contacted VW and was told they could examine the car and send pictures to VW to see if they would cover it under the car's 72K mile warranty, but I would have to wait 7-10 days for an answer. They did not offer to provide me with a car while I wait. I am replacing it through my insurance glass coverage, but believe that VW should have been responsible. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that the Forward Collision Avoidance Emergency Automatic Braking engaged and the vehicle came to an abrupt stop. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the mechanic mentioned an unknown wiring harness that might be the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 72,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 72,000 |
| Sep 2022 | FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | While driving my 2019 Volkswagen Atlas, there was a sudden and significant loss of power accompanied by a check engine light and "ECP" warning light. My engine was sputtering and and would not accelerate. I immediately needed to pull off the road as it was not safe for other drivers. I turned the car off and then back on. The "ECP" light went away but the CEL remained and the engine still had a noticeable sputter. I brought my car to a local VW dealer for inspection. They diagnosed the issue as a faulty fuel injector that needed immediate replacement. Any further damage could cause a fuel leak which may lead to a fire hazard. They told me this was a known issue with VW Atlas'. After doing some further research, I see that an NHTSA investigation has already been issued regarding this issue. There are multiple Atlas owners who have reported the exact same issue. I reported this to VW customer service today and they told me they did not consider this a widespread issue, and until a recall is issued, there is nothing they can/will do. There have been no issues with the car prior to this, and this issue occurred out of the blue. It is extremely frustrating because, not only is this resulting in an insanely expensive repair, but my son was in the car with me when the car suddenly lost power on a busy highway. This is a significant issue impacting a larger population of VW owners. Thankfully for us, this was caught before there was a major fuel leak and danger of fire like many others have reported. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | I was travelling at about 60 mph on a two lane road with no area to pull over. The car all the sudden slowed and to keep speed required alot more rpm. I found a place to pull over. I saw no lights but as I tried to get back on the road the traction control light came on. I thought it was because I was in some dirt. But as tried to get back to speed the car started to smell, was very sluggish, and required more power than ever before to come close. I pulled over again to find that the brakes were smoking. From my estimate the brakes were on this whole time. I shut the car down and then everything was fine again, if I left my foot off the gas and had the car in drive it would slowly move forward. Then the whole thing happened again, I could tell the behavior because the car would drop speed and then engine would be reving trying to keep speed. I pulled over again to restart the car to get it back to normal. This whole process at least 4 more times. Sometimes it happened after braking for a little bit and other times withoutbdping anything. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS | Without warning the airbag error light has come on | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2022 | AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 1. The SUV battery will die at any given time. I've replaced it twice already 2. The care will give the all red notification that you're about to get in an accident, the car will then break fast then turn off | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Problem first started in April 2022, start/stop malfunction, then the engine light would come on and car would decelerate until I pull over to the side of the road and turn off the engine. Once it restarted then it was okay. Brought it to the Dealer and they fixed it. Got the car back and it was working fine. However we noticed that the car RPMs would go up when pressing on the brake. Then in July into August while driving on the toll-roads at 65-70 mph, car engine would make straining noise then ETC and engine light come on, then the car decelerate. We press on the gas pedal and it would not pick up speed. It drastically reduced speed from 70 mph to 55mph. We would have to move to the shoulder and turn car off. Wait then then start the car. The car would be fine for another 2 weeks, before doing same thing. Finally on 8/26/22 it did same thing reduced speed on toll-road, would not pick up speed, ETC and Engine light came on with radiator light. But then it also overheated. We drove it home at 15mph. Then had it towed to dealer to be fixed, the radiator light was still on. We are hoping that this time it will be fixed and not cause any more trouble. Dealer is working on fixing the problems. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2022 | AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the windows would engage independently and roll down. The contact was unable to roll the windows up. The contact stated that the failure occurred increasingly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the failure was associated with NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V152000 (Air Bags) and the VIN was included. The dealer replaced the doors control module and the front door wiring harness; however, the failure reoccurred. Additionally, the contact stated while driving with or without cruise control activated, the automatic emergency braking (AEB) system would engage inadvertently. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH with the Adaptive Cruise Control activated, the vehicle stopped independently. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal and resumed normal driving. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the failure was associated with NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V152000 (Air Bags); however, the remedy repair failed to fix the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 15,000 |
| Aug 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The issue does not occur while I am driving at speed. It begins to happen when I am coming to a stop. The warning on the info center in the dash starts to beep and shows an image of the car with blinking lines saying I am about to hit something. This is while I am sitting at either a stop sign with nothing again NOTHING in front of me. A couple of times it has slammed the brakes on it. I have taken videos of this going on showing the image in the info and than showing that nothing is in front of me. I have had the vehicle to two dealers and their statement is that the car is not throwing a code. This past week The latest dealer got VW to replace the sensors. When I picked up the car as soon as I put it into gear it started again. I was frustrated and tired. My wife was already on her way home so I just left the dealer with the car. I bought the car new. No accidents. The only work has always been done at a dealer. This is a safety hazard as like I said it has slammed the brakes on it a couple of times. This only seems to happen when the temps are above 85 or so. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | When driving the forward collision warning comes on, beeps loudly and applies the vehicle brakes when nothing is in front of the vehicle. This caused someone to almost run into the rear of my vehicle. Also, if I use the automatic start feature of my vehicle, the cruise control feature is not available once the car is in motion and will not work until the car has been shut off and restart via the start button inside the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | On eight occasions this morning the faulty brake booster light has come on and the ABS light and brake light are also on inside my vehicle. The brakes are squishy and almost don’t feel like they work to 50% capacity. They are jerky and click and does not seem like a simple antilock braking system problem. This is happened randomly over the last three years that I’ve owned this vehicle. But it has never happened this many times consecutively in the short period of time. I’m afraid for the safety of driving this vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | AIR BAGS | THE AIR BAG LIGHT HAS BEEN ON SINCE I TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP 2 MONTHS AGO. I WAS TOLD THAT IT NEEDED A NEW AIRBAG BUT I NEED TO WAIT BECAUSE THEY DIDNT HAVE ANY IN STOCK. THEY TOLD ME THAT IT COULD TAKE MORE THEN 1 MONTH TO GET THE AIR BAG. I TOLD THEM IF I COULD LEAVE THE VEHICLE UNTIL IT WAS FIXED BECAUSE I DIDNT FEEL SAFE DRIVING A VEHICLE THAT HAD THE AIR BAG LIGHT ON ON MY DASHBOARD AND NEED A NEW AIRBAG. THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY DID NOT HAVE ANY VEHICLE AVAILABLE TO LEND ME ONE AND THAT IT WASNT UNSAFE TO DRIVE THE VEHICLE EVEN IF IT NEED A NEW AIR BAG AND WITH THE DASH BOARD LIGHT ON SAYING AIR BAG NEED SERVICE. I WANT TO KNOW IF I CAN REQUEST THE DEALER TO LEND ME A VEHICLE AND LEAVE MINE WITH THEM UNTIL ITS FIXED? CONTACT INFORMATION: [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6). | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2022 | AIR BAGS | The front passenger air bag light comes on indicating the air bag is off even when someone is sitting in that seat. An error light showes a warning on the dashboard when the deactivated air bag light is on but it will go off eventually for a while. I called VW directly & they said to "Google" it! We took it to a dealer & they couldn't offer an explanation only suggesting I check for a recall. My concern is that any passengers are not protected. I believe there is an issue with this vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The vehicle had a warning come up on the dashboard, the warning was as follows: “Brake Booster Faulty”. The brakes then felt like ABS was engaged (brake pedal pulsating) and the brakes fully engaged and took the car to a full and complete stop from 20 miles per hour. After turning the car off and back on the warning had gone away and we continued on. The warning then came on two additional times during the same trip and instead of stopping the car, the brakes would pulse and not work as well as should be expected. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Brakes did not work as expected and slammed themselves, had this occurred on the freeway that could have caused a pile up. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? No, but it has happened on multiple occasions and the dealer told us it was fixed previously. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? Currently being inspected by the dealer. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? As noted the “Brake booster faulty” error flashes on the dashboard when this problem occurs. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | STEERING | Steering Wheel column fully locked while parked. Was not able to turn the car on as the steering wheel had issues. Had to call a tow company to take it to the dealership for repairs. They had to replace the steering wheel column module. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2022 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | The contact owns a 2019 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while waiting in a drive-thru line with the brake pedal depressed, the vehicle lurched forward crashing into the vehicle in front. The contact stated that she attempted to shift into the park however, the vehicle shifted to reverse while the brake pedal was still depressed and the vehicle crashed into the vehicle in the rear. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that no one was injured. A police report was filed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where no failure cause could be determined as well as the failure was unable to be duplicated. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and the contact was awaiting a callback. The approximate failure was 29,900. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | 29,900 |
| May 2022 | AIR BAGS,PARKING BRAKE | Thos vehicle has opened the rear hatch on two separate occasions, which was confirmed as an issue by both the local dealer, McLarty Volkswagen in North Little Rock, and Volkswagen Corporate. The airbag light is constantly on, and the parking brake may engage randomly. Volkswagen Corporate told us to "drive it as long as you feel comfortable with it, or just park it, but there isn't a plan and new parts can take 4-6 months to be ready." They also said no loaner vehicles are available due to the large amount of issues they are having. This is unacceptable as my wife and children ride in this vehicle daily and put their lives on the line with these issues. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |