Complaint volume
148 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
2024 Volkswagen Atlas Complaints
148 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2024 Volkswagen Atlas, grouped by component category.
148 Total complaints
6 Crash reports
2 Fire reports
6 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, unknown or other, engine. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 6 crash reports, 2 fire reports, 6 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 6 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 9,587 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to service brakes, unknown or other, engine?
- 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 2024 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.
2024 Volkswagen Atlas
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2024 Volkswagen Atlas complaints?
6 Crash
2 Fire
6 Injury
0 Fatality
2 Towed
4 Medical attention
What are the most common 2024 Volkswagen Atlas complaint categories?
SERVICE BRAKES 21
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 13
ENGINE 11
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 10
POWER TRAIN 9
AIR BAGS 7
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 4
STRUCTURE 4
VISIBILITY/WIPER 4
148 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2024 | POWER TRAIN | Driving on 55MPH multi lane road in a heavy load of traffic. While driving at a steady rate of speed the engine, with the gas pedal depressed, suddenly increases in RPM's and is no longer keeping speed. Pressing the gas further only increases the RPM's but does not propel the vehicle. Very unsafe trying to navigate the vehicle to a safe stop withing traffic flow. Error Drive System message on dash. Previous to this even the same symptoms occur when accelerating out of a u-turn but did not show Drive System Error. Vehicle is unpredictable in normal driving conditions in regard to acceleration and engine response. It is a hazard on the road to both the occupants of the vehicle as well as the other vehicles on the road. Vehicle has been dropped off with the dealership for determination. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | POWER TRAIN | On occasion, maybe 20% of the time when slowing down at an intersection or leaving a stop sign the car will stay in 3rd gear, I have verfied it is in 3rd gear by putting the transmission into sport mode so it will display the gear indicator, when this happens the car is very slow to respond unexpecting this to happen we have to put the car to the floor but by the time the vehicle reacts 5 to 10 seconds have gone by and the car continues to stay in 3rd regardless of the amount of throttle applied most of the time.we have had 2 very close incidents where this has happened and if the other driver had not slowed down we would have been hit. We have taken the car to Volkswagen of Desmoines and attempted to have them fix it at 10,000 miles but they said they could not replicate the issue. We took a 5 hour trip a few days ago and had this happen to us about 8 times. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | STRUCTURE | Driver side rear quartet panel window cracking and disintegrating from inside the vehicle after 400 miles since new. No impact or other damage prior to crack formation. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Aug 2024 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V464000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | VISIBILITY/WIPER | Around the end of May 2024, a rock/pebble put a barely noticeable knick in the windshield of the vehicle. On July 20, 2024, a crack formed that may or may not have originated from this knick....after driving 1600 more miles and while the vehicle was parked over night. I believe this is a defect in the craftsmanship of the windshield, as it should be able to hold up to a small pebble hitting it, and the fact that it cracked 1600 miles and two months later is absurd. I have read multiple reports of the same thing happening to their VW Atlas's. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | STRUCTURE | - Rear driver side door opened while driving, and could not be shut. It took multiple attempts to once again shut and lock the door. The latch would not catch. - This put a toddler (in a carseat) at risk, as the door issue occurred in the rear of the car. - Luckily, there was an adult passenger who was able to manually hold the door shut to get the car to a safe location. -It has not yet been replicated or reviewed by the dealer, but an inspection is scheduled for next week. - No warnings appeared, and the car did not indicate that any doors were open, even when the door was fully ajar. - The car was purchased 62 days ago, as a new vehicle. And there have been no accidents. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING | Multiple times the interior lights will not turn on or the turn on by themselves and flash even after turning the car off and on again. Brought it to the dealership with the complaint a few times, and dealer told me nothing they could do even with the video of it happening. When this is not working, the emergency call and other features do not work either. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jul 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 3 weeks after buying the car, I turned it on and there was an awful clicking noise. I turned the car off and the clicking was still happening and then both door started smoking. We had to pull the battery and have the car towed. Dealership had to replace electrical panels in the doors. | Crash: No Fire: Yes | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Our Vehicle's GPS system will not calibrate and the navigation system is completely off when driving. The affected safety and driving systems have caused our car to stop suddenly at freeway speeds on the freeway, As well, while driving in town, our safety deterrent systems will alert constantly due to the wrong location is being sent to the car. Volkswagen Company notified dealerships yesterday to prepare for an onslaught of consumer complaints about this issue. There is no expected timeline to deal with this directly as it is not a hardware issue but rather a cellular GPS issue with Verizon wireless. Volkswagen has no intent on dealing with the safety issues with this car and accepts that your car may stop suddenly on the freeway because the car thinks you are in a school zone. My family's safely comes first and we can no longer drive our car. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jun 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | CUSTOMER STATES THAT WHEN DRIVING AT FREEWAY SPEEDS 60 AND UP HEARING A POPPING TYPE NOISE SOUNDS LIKE POPCORN POPPING IN MICROWAVE CAN ONLY HEAR WHEN RIDING IN THE BACK SEAT Caused by ROAD TESTED AND VERIFIED A POPPING NOISE COMING FROM REAR OF INTERIOR NEAR TAIL LIGHTS. REMOVED VENTS TO FIND NOISE IS COMING FROM DEPRESSURIZATION VENTS OPENING AND SHUTTING. VERIFIED TO LIKE VEHICLE AND FOUND THIS IS NORMAL OPERATION | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | I was driving approximately 72 - 74 mph on an expressway and approaching traffic ahead of me. To move around this traffic, I switched lanes and attempted to accelerate. Immediately upon pressing the accelerator, the vehicle began to sputter, jerk, and decelerate, and the engine revved at what sounded like a very high rate of RPMs. The vehicle continued to sputter and jerk as it decelerated to a speed of approximately 55 – 58 mph. Once the vehicle reached that speed range, I was able to maintain my velocity; however, the vehicle continued to sputter and jerk until I brought it to a full stop. Additionally, if I attempted to accelerate, the RPMs turned at a very high rate and no acceleration occurred. I reported the issue to the dealership immediately and brought it to the service department when they opened the following morning. At the time of writing this, the vehicle remains in their possession and has not been returned to us. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| May 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | My wife and I bought a new VW Atlas 2.0 SEL on [XXX] 2024. On the way home from Auto Imports in Brainerd, MN, the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) shut off suddenly in the dark slowing the car until I disconnected the Adaptive Cruise Control. My wife drove our autistic grand daughter to her therapy session in Grand Forks, N.D. using as we customarily do [XXX] . It happened to her twice on the way home. We took the car to Valley Imports in Fargo four times and were told each time many other Atlas's were experiencing the same and other problems. ACC disengaging, brakes stopping the cars etc. The navigation system had to be repaired it was off by 1 mile and the Stop/Start system has never worked. The dealer told me The Start/Stop system only works in perfect conditions, not to cold, not to hot etc. It has never worked. After the dealer tried to follow the VW recommendations 3 times it continued. I have experienced the ACC defect dozens of times and on [XXX] 2024 7 times on [XXX]. We dropped the car at the dealer and after one week at the dealers on [XXX], 2024 , and a new radar sensor was installed, it happened again twice on the way home on [XXX] crowded with semi-truck traffic connecting the US to Canada. Most importantly on the return from the dealer or the third repair on [XXX], to Walhalla on [XXX], the brakes suddenly slowed the car from 75 to 68 until I could disengage the ACC. There were cars and semi-trucks following us creating a dangerous situation. All we need is for the ACC to shut off or the brakes to suddenly slam on as described in front of distracted semi-truck driver heading north or south on the interstate behind us and we have a disaster. We will not drive the car again nor risk my wife, grand daughter's or my life. I found the case of [XXX] v. VW U.S.D.C. [XXX]. VW has known about these dangerous defects, has done nothing and concealed them. Risking our lives. . INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | I am reaching out to you with urgent news regarding a concerning situation involving Volkswagen and a dangerous malfunction in their vehicles. After purchasing a brand-new Volkswagen Atlas from Ken Garff in Gilbert AZ, I have encountered persistent malfunctions in the vehicle's technology, particularly the Apple CarPlay feature and the integrated navigation system. These malfunctions have not only posed a significant safety risk while driving but have also severely diminished the usability and value of the vehicle. Even more alarming is Volkswagen's response to this issue. Despite numerous attempts to address the problem with both the dealership and Volkswagen customer service, I have been informed that a fix for these malfunctions will not be available until at least 2025. This is an unacceptable timeline for resolving a safety issue that puts drivers and passengers at risk every time they get behind the wheel. Furthermore, Volkswagen sold the vehicle with full knowledge of the malfunctioning features, yet failed to disclose this crucial information during the purchase process. This lack of transparency is deeply concerning and raises serious questions about Volkswagen's commitment to customer safety and satisfaction. The map spins while I’m driving, and directs me to turn on roads that don’t exist in my current location, causing me to be distracted and attempt to turn where there are no turns available. The dealership has verified the issue, confirms VW is aware and says there is no fix. When I called VW customer service, they said a fix wouldn’t be available until 2025 at the earliest. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2024 | STEERING | The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while his wife was driving approximately 55 MPH, the vehicle independently veered to the right. The failure recurred severely times and independently veered to the left or right. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 1,200. | Crash: No Fire: No | 1,200 |
| Mar 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Vehicle Nav often looses location, and sets location miles off from where the vehicle was while in motion. Car Net often says that it's not registered when it is, timezones switch to completely different parts of the country and driver assistance features deactivate when the GPS looses it's location. Vehicle has been to dealer three times for these issues, the first time software was updated, but issues persisted. The second time was to diagnose that it was a Car Net module problem with an extended backorder. The third time was to replace the Car Net module, which the technician had problems trying to program and was eventually successful, but two days later the problems arose again. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,VISIBILITY/WIPER | The backup camera stopped working on March 19. Because the car is less than a year old, we thought it was a minor glitch and would go away on its own. On March 20, the backup camera was still not working. On March 21, with the backup camera still not working, we contacted the dealership to schedule an appointment to diagnose and fix it but the next available appointment isn't until June (three months from now). This is just a diagnosis appointment, not an appointment to fix the issue, and they said depending on the diagnoses we'd have to book another appointment to actually fix it which could be again months out in terms of availability. A non-working backup camera is a safety hazard and simply shouldn't be a problem on a brand new car less than a year old. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2024 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | Driving on a straight road in the rain approximately 45-50 mph with no other cars in front. Automatic braking system went on 3 times within 200 yards. Very scary- could have been rear-ended or hydroplaned. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | SEAT BELTS | The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed with his sons in the rear seats, one of his sons informed him that his other son who was occupying the rear driver's side seat had playfully put the seat belt around his stomach and could no longer breathe. The contact stated that he pulled to the side of the road and immediately unbuckled the seat belt; however, the seat belt continued to retract and to tighten around the chest of his son. The contact stated that the seat belt did not loosen after been unbuckled. The contact was able to use an emergency device and cut the seat belt. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 8,000 |
| Feb 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | I was told by dealership that due to the boosters transmitting radio frequencies in rural areas that it interferes with the adaptive cruise control. I have gone on 3 trips where this causes the front assist and cruise control to disengage at highway speeds. Had someone been behind me they would have rear-ended my vehicle. In 6 months has happened three times but the dealership has not been able to reproduce due to our high population in our area. Dealership is aware but they don't know how to fix as manufacturer hasn't released any information. Car was purchased in 9/2023 and happened twice within 3 weeks. Third time was 2/17/24 on another trip through a rural area. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2024 | POWER TRAIN,ENGINE | On [XXX], I was driving that vehicle on [XXX] in the vicinity of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, Florida, with three persons inside when the vehicle experienced substantial vibration, a loud knocking noise and major loss of power while in the high speed lane. This occurred somewhere around 8:45 AM. Traffic was heavy thereby increasing the risk of an accident resulting from the loss of power and vibration. I was able to keep the vehicle running and slowly make my way to a suitable place to safely park the car. When this occurred there were several warning lights that appeared. The vehicle has been serviced by a VW dealer in Port Charlotte, FL. VW subsequently replaced the "Longblock and Turbocharger", reassembled the Engine and Transmission assembly and reinstalled that into the vehicle. They apparently had certain issues with the thermostat housing gasket after the engine was replaced. I am aware that there is an existing recall issued by VW (Safety Recall Code 13i6). I further understand that recall covers 2,018 vehicles built before 5/12/23. My vehicle was built somewhere around [XXX] suggesting that the scope of this recall may have been grossly underestimated. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6) | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2023 | SEAT BELTS,SEATS | 1. The plastic piece attached to the outer section of the back passenger seats of the 2024 VW Atlas is designed where the seat belt gets easily tangled in the seat tract, allowing the seatbelt to get caught and rendering the seat inoperable. This component should be available for inspection upon request. 2. This design flaw poses a risk by potentially causing the seatbelt to get caught, rendering the seat inoperable. In the event of a crash or sudden stop, this issue could compromise the effectiveness of the seatbelt, jeopardizing the safety of the occupants. 3. I am unsure if any other VW customer have experienced this issue as the car is only two weeks old and I have encountered this issue and fear it will happen again with kids utilizing the backseats. In order for the seat to become functional again it required that it be removed by a technician and I was recommended to purchase seat belt covers. 4.Yes, I have taken the car to the dealership and they are going to engage their engineer for a potential solution to for this design issue. 5. No | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2023 | ENGINE | Engine failure. Can not start. Lost all the fuel with in an 1 hr after filling the tank. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2023 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle there would be a knocking sound coming from underneath the hood of the vehicle. The failure occurred approximately three times. The accelerator pedal would fail to move the vehicle without flooring the accelerator pedal intermittently. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact had not taken the vehicle to the dealer. The contact received notice of NHTSA Campaign Number23V593000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 11,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 11,000 |