Complaint volume
433 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
2021 Volkswagen Atlas Complaints
433 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas, grouped by component category.
433 Total complaints
8 Crash reports
1 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 exterior lighting, air bags, 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 8 crash reports, 1 fire report, 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 36 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 21,554 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to exterior lighting, air bags, 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 2021 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.
2021 Volkswagen Atlas
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas complaints?
8 Crash
1 Fire
9 Injury
0 Fatality
10 Towed
6 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Volkswagen Atlas complaint categories?
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 47
AIR BAGS 37
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 33
ENGINE 28
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 25
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 25
SERVICE BRAKES 22
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES 13
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 11
STRUCTURE 11
433 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | While the vehicle is in motion, the warning buzzer keeps dinging saying the engine is running. The red flashing light (in the door) flashes. Keep getting the warning triangle for the door harness problem. Also keep getting ERROR:START/STOP. My parking park has also engaged a couple of times while in motion. This is dangerous and needs immediate attention. This happens every day. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 3 notices come up on dash. “Attention:vehicle is on”, “error: driver door contact switch” & then “fault: electric brake. The car beeps like crazy, driver side windows roll down on their own about 4 inches (rear and front). E brake has come on while driving. Left mirror blinker does not work. This is started happening intermittently only when turning car on - turning it off and back on helped at first, then less often now even less often however it does happen randomly when I am driving or stopped at a stop sign/stop light. Have owned the Vehicle for only around 6 months, with 5k on odometer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 3/2/22 - radio randomly displayed "Loading...." 3/5/22 - message displayed about driver door contact switch 3/12/22 - message displayed saying "Fault: Electronic parking brake". Another message was displayed saying "Attention: The engine is running". About 8 hours later, I was approaching a red light, when I put on the brake to slow down the parking brake self engaged causing me to come to a sudden stop. The car behind me almost rear-ended me. Twenty minutes later I tried to roll down the driver's window. It would not roll down, then the back driver's window started rolling down, then the front driver's window rolled down, then both windows was going up and down. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Sometime in Dec 2021, i have started experiencing issues with the car where the driver side back window rolls down warning messages popup saying driver side door fault etc with the check engine light coming on. What is concerning is when the vehicle is going at slow speeds (<5mph), the electronic parking brake engages automatically making the vehicle come to a sudden stop with jerks. Weird thing is, the problem is present on some days and some days the vehicle is completely normal without any warnings, sounds etc. Took the vehicle in for an oil change and routine maintenance and was told this is a known issue and there is a recall on it, bit no fix available. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | My vehicle is engaging the parking brake, uncontrolled window movement, and giving engine light on. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ENGINE | Today I was making a left and mid roll to go, the engine turned off. I was in the middle of the 1st lane. I had to park my car and restart it. Thank god there was not a car coming, I would've been hit. I also had cars behind me. I had my car scheduled to go in tomorrow, 4/16/22, to check on lights that go on and off starting on, 4/12/22. It is the yellow priority 2 light with the front assist light, which was not turned on this morning. These lights have gone on before and I have taken my car in for it and was told nothing was wrong. This is the 3rd time my car has turned off while driving. I have taken it in for this problem as well and was told nothing was wrong. I DO NOT FEEL SAFE IN MY CAR AND DO NOT WANT TO DRIVE IT ANYMORE. I left a message for the service manager. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The remedy to my recall is not being performed within a reasonable time. I was in the road with my one year old and I was scared to get on the highway I was afraid someone would rear end us as the vehicle stops and turns on the check engine light and a warning light on my dash. I was driving and when I was coming to a stop the vehicle stops on it on and doesn’t give the person behind me enough time to break. I would honestly see if there is something that can been done as o don’t feel safe in my vehicle but I can’t afford to rent a car in the mean time it is my only transportation my son has a doctors appt @ 130 today and I’m afraid for his life and to drive there. I would really appreciate any help that you can offer. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Hello. I have approx 12000 miles on my vehicle. Vehicle last week gave numerous warning lights and would not start. After leaving it a few hours I was able to start it but the engine light was on and warning that ABS was not active. Took it to the dealership who said there is a recall with no fix for a door wiring harness. Today, while driving the car, it came to a compete stop on the roadway and would not allow me to turn it back on. I drove the car back home and it would continuously stop and I would have to restart. I almost got into two accidents. There needs to be a more serious recall as someone is going to get hurt. Dealership says there is still no fix. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Although this is not the first issue with my VW 2021 Atlas, it will be my last. As I was driving down a two lane highway to my daughter's softball practice, the emergency break turned on and my vehicle completely jolted to a stop. By the grace of God, no one was behind us. Prior to this recent incident, the windows started to roll up and down on their own and the "Fault Parking Break" alert will appear on my dash. This occurs randomly, day or night, sunny or rainy, cold or hot. The vehicle has been to the dealership for this issue, but the alert continues. I purchased this vehicle March of 2021, issues did not occur until December and it has gone down hill quickly. Right now, this vehicle is deemed "undrivable" and will be at the dealership. This vehicle is also under the new recall where the airbags do not deploy. There is no fix for this. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while placing a child in the driver’s side rear seat of the vehicle the doors locked independently. The contact stated that the key fob and manual key was inoperable while attempting to unlock the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was notified of a wiring harness failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V152000 (Air Bags). The vehicle was not repaired due to parts not being available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 17,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 17,000 |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | Car would engage normal/parking break when driving at low speeds (15 mph) as well as when coming to a stop (2mph). Car would not allow parking brake to disengage. Rear driver side window would roll down 1/3 of the way. We would need to restart car to remedy issue, however this happened a number of times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | In January 18, 2022, when I cranked my vehicle and went to put it in reverse, the emergency brake engaged and my windows rolled down a quarter of the way. Accompanying this was a loud beep as well as warning lights glowing my dash. I thought it was a fluke, so I took the emergency brake off and killed the car. I cranked it back up and all was well. This happened several more times until I contacted the dealership on January 24, 2022. They informed me that this sounded like a door harness issue because I wasn’t the first one. They went ahead and ordered a part for my vehicle, but informed me that the part was on national back order. From January 24th until February 24, 2022, the dealership had no loaners to give me. Starting February 18th until the day the dealership had it, my vehicle started engaging the emergency brake while driving 40+ miles an hour. I felt extremely u unsafe and did not want my children in the vehicle, yet I had no vehicle to get us to/from work and school. I received a call from the dealership on February 23rd stating they had a loaner. I dropped my vehicle off on February 24th and drove a loaner until April 8, 2022 when they replaced my wiring harness. However, the wiring harness they replaced it with is faulty just like the one they took out, and it doesn’t satisfy the recall at all. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at 20 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a wiring harness failure. The dealer informed the contact that the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 20,000 |
| Apr 2022 | AIR BAGS | I have contacted Volkswagen Corporate as well as the dealership in which I purchased this vehicle from. They said that there is no solution to this recall at this time. I have asked them then for either a new car that is comparable or for a check for the amount of the vehicle. They said that they can not do anything right now as there is no solution to the problem. The vehicle is potentially unsafe if a crash was to occur. I am trying to avoid further risk to my family and myself while driving this. If the airbag does not function as it was supposed to design, then I am at risk, and potentially others. I am not sure what else to do at this time as driving my vehicle seems unsafe. In addition, I was told I can't bring the vehicle into the dealership for diagnosis. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Several times while driving at 30-35 mph, 3-4 times so far, the emergency brake will just suddenly slam the car to a halt with the emergency brake. Also, the warning lights, possibly for collision, will just go off for no reason at all. Very scary and very dangerous. I have taken it to the dealer several times, as I have two young children, and they have not been able to diagnose or fix the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | After installing a software update, we noticed an issue with our Atlas where the parking brake is engaging suddenly at very low speeds, maybe around 4 mph but definitely before the vehicle is completely stopped. It feels very odd and has even come close to getting us rear ended from behind. It is intermittent and happens on seemingly random days/times, and at the same time as when the parking brake comes on, a bunch of audible alarms and warning messages pop up, and the drivers side windows roll down on their own about 4-5 inches. One of the dash warnings is saying something about a faulty door sensor. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | VISIBILITY,LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES,SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while her son was driving at an undisclosed speed, the brakes erroneously engaged nearly causing a crash. Additionally, the door locks would randomly unlatch and the driver’s side window would erroneously roll down. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was notified but no assistance was offered. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 8,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 8,000 |
| Mar 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was driving between 25-30 mph at dusk. Suddenly a loud red warning appeared on the dashboard, and the car came to a screeching halt. I did not touch the brakes - it happened all on its own. There was nothing in front of me, such as a collision. It was not raining. The only factor that changed, which might be completely coincidental, is that I was just going over top of a large metal plate on the street that is used to cover road construction. The plate was just like any other, and stuck up maybe an inch. By the brakes slamming on, I was hit by the car behind me, who was also going 25-30 mph. This caused my passenger to be thrashed around - luckily neither of us were hurt. The driver of the other vehicle was not hurt but his car's hood was badly damaged. He had two kids in the back seat. I see this article, but when discussing it with the dealer, they claimed to have no knowledge of the issue or recall, even though it says the issue has been happening since 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/19/vw-recalls-246000-atlas-suvs-due-to-issue-with-airbags-brakes.html If this had occurred when a car was not just right behind me, but maybe 20 car lengths back, they would have plowed into me going 30 mph. This could have been extremely bad, and someone could die from such a situation. This is not the first time the loud warning light has come on for no reason. Every so often it will come on, even though there is nothing close to the vehicle. However, it is the first time it has braked like this. I have also found the software to be very glitchy at other times. Suddenly the radio might turn off, the navigation system goes very wrong, and so forth. When mentioning this to the dealer, they blamed Apple due to CarPlay. When I explained that these have nothing to do with CarPlay, they had no response. A software update did just occur maybe a week or two ago. I don't know if this is related to the brake issue. | Crash: Yes Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | This issue occurred several different times starting in early January. At first my drivers side windows would go down by themselves and I would see errors display but then the emergency brake on in my vehicle turned on by itself. Once the car was barely moving on the driveway and twice I was going about 25mph. The Volkswagen dealership told me it is the wiring harness that needs to be replaced in my vehicle. They cannot replace the wiring harness because it is on backorder and they cannot give me a loaner because "they just don't have any". | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the door latch light and the air bag warning light illuminated. Later while driving approximately 30 MPH, the door contact sensor illuminated. Additionally, the rear and front driver’s side windows rolled down independently. The failure persisted. The contact stated that the Emergency Automatic Braking system activated inadvertently and slowed the vehicle while driving. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was not diagnosed but not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 9,200. | Crash: No Fire: No | 9,200 |
| Mar 2022 | SERVICE BRAKES | No notice engagement of E-Brake at stops and twice at speeds between 3-5 mph while accelerating. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While my wife was driving home from work, all lights on the dashboard illuminated and the airbag warning symbol came on as well as both front windows opened on their own. Upon arrival at home as she pulled into the drive the emergency brake momentarily activated. Luckily the brake activated once she had pulled out of the main traffic or she may have been hit from behind. She called Bud Brown, our local VW dealer and was advised it was a known issue with the wiring on a door harness. She was advised that this part is not available and may not be available for many months and that there was nothing we could do. At present due to the known nature of the issue, it has not been inspected by VW or anybody else. At present when starting my car, only the airbag warning light is lit up. The car is available for inspection at any time and by anybody. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving my daughter to school and the car threw itself in park with the emergency parking brake. There has been a few instances of this along with windows rolling down, the car throwing codes and alarms going off. I was driving 10mph when it threw itself in park throwing my daughter and I forward and almost Getting rearended. This is NOT safe. Dealer is aware and has ordered the part with NO clue when they will receive it to fix my car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | My 2021 Volkswagen Atlas is having an issue with a faulty wiring harness in the driver-side door that causes the car to brake unexpectedly while driving in traffic, putting me at risk of causing an accident or being rear-ended. This issue also causes the windows the randomly roll down, and I can no longer lock or unlock the driver's side door. When I put the car in drive, the warning light for the door being open comes on the dashboard and it plays the warning sound as if the door is open. I first contacted Darcars Volkswagen in Silver Spring, MD regarding this issue on March 22, 2022, and was referred to Volkswagen Customer Care because there is no ETA for when the part will be available for the fix. Volkswagen cannot provide a rental or loaner car for me at this time, leaving me without a car and making loan payments on a car I cannot drive due to the electrical issue. I have asked Volkswagen to buy back this car at my loan pay-off amount since they cannot provide transportation while they fix this issue, and they do not know when the issue will be fixed. Volkswagen has yet to answer my request to buy back the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2022 | AIR BAGS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | The recall on my car says - Safety Risk: In the event of a side crash, when the side airbag deployment may be necessary, the side airbag may deploy later than designed. This may lead to an increased injury to vehicle occupants. VW should, but refuses to buy this car back from me. It is unsafe to drive and/or put our children in the car in this condition. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |