Complaint volume
170 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
170 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2022 Volkswagen Atlas, grouped by component category.
170 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
2 Towed
1 Medical attention
What are the most common 2022 Volkswagen Atlas complaint categories?
SERVICE BRAKES 29
ENGINE 18
AIR BAGS 15
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 12
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 10
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 8
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 4
ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,AIR BAGS 3
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 3
170 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2024 | AIR BAGS | Airbag warning light appeared on the dash. I have called the dealership and they haven't offered any way to remedy the issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | Twice in the last month, while I was driving and slowing to a stop, my 2022 VW Atlas has randomly shut off while in Drive. This is an extremely dangerous situation as I have then had to put the car in neutral to get it started again. I was slowing to a light and had just passed a set of railroad tracks today. I was stuck just past the intersection in heavy traffic. My car is equipped with the “start/stop” feature; however, I had it off both times and was not at a complete stop. No warming systems prior to this happening, after the screen said “start the vehicle manually” I do have an appointment scheduled with my dealer on Thursday, July 25, 2024. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE | What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The engine shut off How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? Yes shut off, while driving on local road way. Also shut off on the highway. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? Dealership cannot recreate issue, still has vehicle. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? VW dealership Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? Purchased new in 2022 from VW dealership, has all required services, aside from the electrical malfunctions which began last year has been ongoing no other issues. We have video | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | While operating the vehicle at about 50 to 60 mph the automatic emergency breaking system activated without warning and with no vehicles in front, and violently slammed on the breaks causing the vehicle to go into emergency stop in the middle of the highway. This then caused numerous vehicles following to take measures to avoid crashing into the rear of our vehicle. Numerous lights and warning lights started flashing on and off and parts of the screens went black and turned off and on. The car then kept the breaks locked down and we had to limp the car along the shoulder of the road to the dealership to have them look at it. This incident jeopardized the Safety of my family and other drivers and passengers around them. The dealership has not been able to replicate this issue so far. Prior to this incident the technology portion of the vehicle stopped responding, and we were unable to link devices to the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Panoramic Sunroof on VW Atlas spontaneously exploded. It is at the dealership currently for repair which I was told was an "outside" force that hit it, which is not true! My entire family was in the car while we had to be out of our house for a showing and while returning home we heard what sounded like a gunshot and glass breaking. I started shaking and my husband's ears started ringing it was so loud. I immediately, looked around and asked my kids if they were ok, and they stated yes. We looked up and as we heard wind and above our heads we saw the sunroof explosion. If we didn't have the sunroof shade shut glass would have rained in on us while we drove down the road. The dealership and VW refuse to take responsibility for the $4300+ repair. I was forced to claim it on my insurance which I assume was going to take care of it after reading numerous other reports that the dealer wouldn't take responsibility. There was no prior notice there was any issue with the vehicle. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE,LANE DEPARTURE | Using adaptive cruise control with lane departure. Driving on a straight stretch of interstate with audio (music) at high level. Car suddenly braked and jerked wheel right risking a crash. Vehicle does not do well on straight stretches of road. Thinks driver is not steering, and will populate a msg on dash, followed by a red light and a signal tone. These aren't easily noticed when head is up and eyes on road with audio level high. VW should change this to remove braking and instead it deactivates cruise and/or wheel vibrate only. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Using adaptive cruise control with lane departure. Driving on a straight stretch of interstate in rain with audio (music) at high level. Car suddenly braked risking a crash. Vehicle does not do well on straight stretches of road. Thinks driver is not steering, and will populate a msg on dash, followed by a red light and a signal tone. These aren't easily noticed when head is up and eyes on road with audio level high. VW should change this to remove braking and instead it deactivates cruise and/or wheel vibrate only. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| 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 |