Complaint volume
163 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
2022 Volkswagen Atlas Complaints
163 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2022 Volkswagen Atlas, grouped by component category.
163 Total complaints
3 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
2 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 service brakes, engine, air bags. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 3 crash reports, 2 fire reports, 2 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 13 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 42,048 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to service brakes, engine, air bags?
- 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 2022 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.
2022 Volkswagen Atlas
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2022 Volkswagen Atlas complaints?
3 Crash
2 Fire
2 Injury
0 Fatality
1 Towed
1 Medical attention
What are the most common 2022 Volkswagen Atlas complaint categories?
SERVICE BRAKES 29
ENGINE 17
AIR BAGS 14
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 11
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 6
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 4
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 3
163 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2024 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the air bag warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the front passenger’s side occupant detection system was faulty and needed to be replaced along with the front passenger’s seat wiring harness and front passenger’s seat sensor. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 54,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 54,000 |
| Apr 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Navigation system is useless. Constantly telling me I’m on a road I’m not actually on. Thousands of people with the same issue in forums online and VW does not appear to know how to fix. Seems to be a CarPlay/navigation issue. Maps are wrong regardless if phone is connected. Reset of infotainment only fixes problem for a few minutes. Currently it tells me I’m driving off road in the middle of a lake, although the car is currently parked in my driveway. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | The brakes in this vehicle grind, squeal and jutter and have done so since 3k miles. Under hard stopping conditions I am not confident with this braking system. We have taken the car to the dealership multiple times and every time they advise there is nothing they can do. We have reported the issue to VW of America and they have told me that this is normal, but brakes making these types of sounds and operating this way is not normal. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES | Leased vehicle in Aug 2022, brand new. Approx. six months later the vehicle exhibited a recurring noise when braking which sounds like a grinding. The noise is also accompanied with a gurgling sound when stopping originating from the engine compartment on the driver's side. Dealership said it might be break dust, they cleaned the area and test drove the vehicle. It worked fine for less than a day before the noise returned. Additionally, the car has surged when at a stop and turned off unexpected with Auto Start/Stop off. Dealership diagnosed the issues as related to the battery from the factory but stated it is not yet with in the failure limits to constitute a warranty replacement. Just to be clear, the battery is failing but not at the rate the manufacture would cover the replacement. Told by the dealer to wait until the problem becomes worse so they can replace it under warranty. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | vehicle has recurring noise when braking, sounds like a grinding. There is also a gurgling noise when stopping coming from the engine compartment on the driver's side. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | There needs to be a recall on all 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. There is a major issue with the braking system that if goes unaddressed, will cause accidents. There are many, many people complaining about it and I’m guessing until we start seeing deaths related to it, nothing will get done. The braking system is grinding, squealing and jumping when attempting to brake. This is going to continue to get worse until something gets fixed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The atlas has shit off mid drive twice so far. Once with the auto shut off button turned off and once not turned off. It cause the vehicle to suddenly brake and nearly get my family rear ended. Many times it detects objects not there and tries braking in the middle of intersections, while making turns nearly causing us to be tboned. It is not worth my families life so it is currently sitting at the dealership No lights are on the dashboard at this time | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | BACK OVER PREVENTION | The collision alert system is activated when we brake and a terrible grinding noise occurs. It seems that the brake issues makes the collision system think the car is not being stopped by the brakes. The dealer refuses to do anything about the issues because there is no nhtsa recall. They claim the issue is humidity. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The infotainment system which displays the backup camera does not come on when the vehicle is started. It can take from 3 to 15 minutes to come on. The dealer has reset the system. They then told us a couple “hacks to try” like putting the parking brake in and off several times. No of this works and they say since NHTSA have not issued a recall the can not do anything. This issues means the vehicle if frequently backed up without the back up camera an important safety feature. Could you please issue a recall so they will finally do. The issues | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | The brakes make an awful grinding noise that sounds like metal on metal . When braking the collision alert system will go off as if a crash is inevitable like no one is braking. I have had pedestrians flag me down and tell men that the noise is a brake rotor issue and that the pads must be completely gone cause they have never heard them sound that bad. The dealer claims they are fine and it is a know issue and safe even if the collision alert system goes off unnecessarily. The most dangerous thing is the lack of interest they have in investigating the problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | Breaks grind as if they are used up but vehical is new and shouldnt have run through the pad so quickly Breaking becoming harder to stop | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | SERVICE BRAKES | Very loud grinding noises and squeaking especially in the mornings when you use the brakes. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Occasionally when the auto stop is on, and I’m a red light the car will obviously stop. However when it’s time to press the gas the car doesn’t move. I make sure it’s in drive. I then press brake again and go back to pushing gas and car won’t even accelerate. I’m then left to turn the car in and off again and then the car will drive. I’ve reported this issue to my dealership and they say they’ve had a few complaints. This is a safety issue because if I’m at a red light that turns green and a car is driving at regular speed thinking I’m about to drive for the green light, yet my car is having this issue I will get hit one day. This happened I. A flat road 4 times now. And it’s random. It’s haplened once whole the auto stop was off too. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SERVICE BRAKES,ENGINE | When I start driving the vehicle after it has been sitting for a little while (anywhere between a couple hours to overnight), the first few times I use the brakes, it sounds and feels like the brakes are grinding. There is a loud metallic grinding noise until I come to a full stop. This will last for several miles, and eventually go away. At the same time it does this, the driver side alert (cameras) start beeping like crazy. I have taken it in once as it started very shortly after I got the car and they replaced the brakes to appease me even though they said everything looked perfectly fine. They also said the sensors for the camera just needed cleaning off. All of this started happening again about 6 months later. In addition, I also have issues with the car shutting off whenever it feels like it and requiring a manual restart, In the middle of intersections, etc. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | brand new car of VW 2022 Atlas Premium, but, with the brake grinding noise issue from starting driving this brand new car. The dealer acknowledged this noise issue, but, stated no safety issue, and asked me to call VW directly. We called VW directly, they said, no safety issue. We questioned we spent about $60k for this brand new car, why having such extremely brake noise from driving from day #1 , why the manufacture and dealer did not take care and fix this issue? and such grinding noise made my wife not dare to press the brake hardly. Such noise made the driver feel so scared, and this scare potentially cause the safety issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | Brakes started going out at 20,000 miles along with tires falling apart. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | My brakes have been making a weird sound when I break and at times grind as if the brakes need to be changed. I have taken my car to be serviced for this issue and they tell me that my brakes are great with no issues. That the Atlas have that issue but it’s normal. There are times that it seems my brakes fail. This poses a safety risk for me and my family | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,SERVICE BRAKES | 1. Dealer has accepted the problem and indicated they are unable to do anything, that all Atlas do the brake screetching and sensors going off with no reason. 2. Brakes- Everytime at starting the car in the morning or around 15 to 30 minutes after use (parked), they screech and it feels as if the pads slide and not truly break. This happens always along with a water-like gargling sound. The screeching also makes the sensors go off. The concern is the safety as you can feel the breaks do not respond the same when this happens vs after using three or four stops. You can feel and hearvhow the pads slide and the car has difficulty breaking. 2. The left side sensors of the mirror and side of car go off random and it is annoying to say the least. The safety issue is that when you are driving, reaching a stop and they go off, it can somewhat scare you and you then hit the breaks thinking something is really there being sensed by the sensors. This could cause an accident. I have videos of the sensors problem showing how even though there is nothing around, they go off. I alao have videos of the breaks making the noice. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | This car has stopped several times while I have been driving. Top speed on the highway, and the car stalls. It stops completely, and I will have to manually restart it. This has been happening for the past year, since I got the car. The dealership states they have updated the software to fix it. The screen does not always come on when I start the car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ENGINE | While driving the engine just stops running, no power at all and then it tells me to manually start the engine. This has happened at least 5 times in traffic!! Yesterday I was backing up and almost got hit because my engine died and I couldn't steer! | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the vehicle shut off inadvertently. The contact stated that while in the process of veering to the side of the road, the vehicle restarted independently. The contact continued driving; however, the Lane Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Braking assist, Driving Assist, ESC system, TPMS warning lights, and other unknown warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the ACC mode exceeded the set speed while driving. The contact stated that she deactivated the ACC mode; however, while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle abruptly decelerated to 20 MPH upon releasing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact was awaiting a call back. The failure mileage was approximately 16,800. | Crash: No Fire: No | 16,800 |
| Nov 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Automatic braking happened when crossing an intersection. I pressed the gas to go and went a couple of feet before the automatic braking kicked in. I had to put the car in park and restart the car. Luckily I was at the front of the traffic line so I was not going at a high speed because if I had been on the freeway, etc. this would have been so dangerous . This car has 15K miles and things like this should not be happening. I have 5 kids and this would cause detrimental damage at high speeds. I started having brake issues (grinding noises, brake slippage etc.) only a couple months after getting the vehicle and have been to dealer several times to resolve the issues but no fix has lasted more than a couple months. I have an appointment to go in again next week to check automatic braking as well as the grinding noises again as they also happening again. Apparently faulty brakes are a known issue that VW will not fix. It was one thing to have to go into the dealership every quarter to get them replaced, but now this added issue of the automatic brake turning off makes me feel very unsafe to drive it. VW needs to do something to resolve the brake issues on the Atlas. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC | The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed, and the brakes made an abnormally loud squeaking sound. The vehicle then lost motive power. The vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 14,000 |
| Oct 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | Roughly 60 days after we purchased our Atlas the brakes started squealing, grinding, and when its wet or raining, it is nearly impossible to stop the vehicle without slamming the brakes so hard that the anti-lock braking system engages. This is a safety hazard/concern. We contacted the dealership where we purchased the vehicle (out of state) and they said this was standard and not to worry. This was mentioned at our first service at our local VW dealership and we were again told that this was normal and that the brake pads were wearing just fine. The safety concern was not addressed, nor is this normal. At our second service appointment, we asked that these be checked again and for them to address the difficulty in stopping during wet conditions. Same response, this is normal and brakes are not covered under warranty. We have since contacted the original selling dealership who lined up another service appointment with our local VW dealership, and again, we received the same answer as before. We do have audio/video of the squealing and grinding noises, and again, we have been told this is standard, and its a known problem with the VW Atlas. There are many other complaints similar to this. This should reach the level of a recall before something catastrophic happens and someone loses their life over it. I/we as owners of this type vehicle should not have to spend thousands of dollars replacing brakes shortly after purchasing this type of vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2023 | SERVICE BRAKES | Brakes make a HORRIBLE METAL TO METAL, screeching, sharp noise when breaking. Just knowing the money that was paid for this vehicle and as I drive and brake at my children school it sounds like a cheap made vehicle. Something may be done because the sound the brakes make us truly unacceptable. I can’t believe Volkswagen has not come up with a fix. A lot of people are having issues with it. They need to resolve it for all of us Volkswagen Atlas owners. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |