general problems of the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas - part 2

1/28/19 car starts fine,drive 15 min, run 3 errands, then can't start car. Electronic display has all warning icons flashing. Battery test 50% power. Jumpstart car,epc and engine icons stay lit. Charge battery at home. Car runs fine for 2 days. Then car won't start again, epc icon lit, run car 20 minutes, then try to drive car but cannot exceed 13 mph. Call for tow; truck never arrives ( 3+ hours). Attempt to start car, starts fine, no warnings lit; drive to dealer. Dealer says battery "defective", replaces under warranty. Car has 26600 miles and I have owned for 18 months. Dealer says epc not lit while they looked at the car so they cannot address. Ridiculous. Car fine for 2 days, then epc light back on. I have spent probably 40 hours or more at vw dealership waiting for various repairs over the last 18 months. A google search reveals many vw Atlas have epc problems, and if you just google Volkswagen and epc you can find hundreds of postings for this issue with almost every vw model. I will be taking the car back in but am not confident I will get a satisfactory repair based on all the other online complaints about this issue.

My car battery has died twice now in 2 months on a car that is only about 1 year old. Without warning and it was very difficult to get it jumpstarted again. Taking it into the dealer to have it inspected but have seen several forums of others who own the same car that have also had this issue.

I have had issues with the battery dying on my Atlas for the last several months. I have driven it, gone into a store for 5 minutes and coming back out and the battery is dead. Or the car won't start the next morning after sitting my heated garage overnight. In my instance the car has been stationary the entire time but I know others have had this happen while in motion. This has happened 7-8 times recently and its unacceptable for this to be happening on a car this new. I have not had the car not restart in an intersection yet like many others have had happen but regardless its still a significant safety concern and vw needs to address this issue. I have read many items that people have taken their cars into the dealer to get the battery replaced and the problem still occurs. Vw needs to recall 2018 Atlas's for this problem and find a permanent fix for this problem. It is clearly an issue that they know about and need to take action on it now. I can't have my family in vehicle that that I don't know when it will or will not start.

The battery on my vehicle has died multiple times. It is only a year old but it has died while driving in the auto start/stop mode and after parked at work and in my garage. Today it was -25 degrees f and it completely died on me after being at work for 4 hours, which was incredibly dangerous. Also, more often than not, my auto start on my key fob doesn't work either.

Sunroof glass exploded for no apparent reason.

On 11/20/2018 my low coolant light came on. I took it to a local dealership in town & they topped off the coolant. The tech advised me to take it to my registered dealership for inspection. On 11/21/2018 I took it to my dealership & stated the issue and noted the warning light. They inspected the vehicle, found the fluid was low (again only 24 hours after being topped off). Ran a pressure test & inspected for leaks. The tech said the fluid was low & they don't know why/where. They said this is normal. This is not normal on a 1 year old vehicle with < 10k miles purchased brand new. This is a pressurized system so either it's a bad head gasket & the system will burst, it's leaking & they didn't look very hard, or it's leaking into my engine cylinders & mixing with oil which will seize the vehicle. This complaint comes in addition to another complaint I filed with NHTSA where my vehicle died while in motion on 02/10/2019. This Atlas is not safe to drive & has obvious manufacture defects/poor engineering.

When attempting to start the vehicle, it barely started and then went into limp mode. Had to get it towed to the dealer. The dealer determined that the battery was defective and had an insufficient charge to power the computer. The battery was replaced under warranty.

The auto rake system on my Atlas sel is extremely dangerous. When exiting driveways/parking lots that are steep, the front sensors sense the road, start beeping and on several occasions stopped the car in the middle of the road before I could get completely on the street. This forces you to either turn off the system (that you are paying for), or exit very slowly hoping that the system won't brake all of a sudden. Volkswagen needs to address this issue before accidents happen.

I was driving my 2018 vw Atlas with 8,800 miles on it on 11/5/18. I was stopped at a traffic light and when the light turned green the car's engine did not turn back on from idling and all the lights on the dashboard started going off telling me various things. I do not think having an ecofriendly car is worth it turning off to not turn back on when it's supposed to. I had to have it towed to the dealership, who fixed the car telling me that there were software updates and that the battery was drained. The printout from working on it says that the battery charging system is good but the battery was defective internally, on a car that's a little over a year old. There was absolutely no warning, the car would not recognize my key, would not turn on, and essentially was useless in traffic and extremely unsafe. I am thankful my children were not in the car. Vw claims the problem is fixed but reading others complaints I am doubtful and afraid that it's only a matter of time before this happens, without warning, again. I cannot have this happen due to safety reasons, being a single parent of two young kids, and I had to also miss a day of work to deal with a problem that should never have happened in the first place. I am also wondering if this problem has anything to do with my car having an oil spill after an oil change that the dealership did incorrectly in August. They did not tighten the cap to the extent it should have been tightened and oil spilled all over my garage, stained it, and it's never coming out. Vw fixed that and gave a free oil change in the future? I really hope that did not mess up my new car and cause this new issue to happen. I cannot have any more issues happening with this car and the battery/computer issues need to be fixed so that they don't ever happen again.

After making a left u turn on a local road, I heard a loud "eeek" sound and then the car became dangerously shaky. The mechanics at the vw service center told us that the passenger side axle was broken. We purchased this car brand new and had only driven 2300 miles with it so far. Vw customer care has not been helpful. They were not able to assure us that the vehicle will be safe to drive, only told us that the replaced axle will have a 12 month warranty. We have left multiple vm for the customer care person who's supposed to handle this case but have not heard back. It has been 2 days already. We do not feel safe in a vw vehicle and the way they responded to this issue showed truly how little they care about vehicular safety and quality.

Purchased the Atlas brand new. 2000 miles in started to hear loud rattling noise coming from the front of the car like the struts were going bad, took to dealership they stated my dust boot cover was stuck and just needed to be greased. 1000-2000 more miles later same noise came back took it to the dealership they couldn't duplicate the noise it is especially loud when going over bumps. I made shop manager ride with me and he heard the noise. He replaced a strut mount and dust cover. 2500 more miles later and the noise is back. Boot cover is stuck again. Dealership fixed it again car is back in the shop for the noise again. Problem has been reported to vw no response yet. This is the 4th rental car I have had due to this problem. On the third go around they told me they fixed the problem and I didn't even get out of the parking lot and heard the noise. Turned right around and took it back. They gave my rental car back and had my car for a week.

When vehicle travel down an incline like a driveway, the emergency breaking feature will unexpectedly engaged, causing the vehicle to come to a complete and sudden stop. When this occurs, I have no control over the continued movement of the vehicle. I am required to change gears and/or restart the vehicle in order to move the vehicle again. This poses a extreme safety issue as the vehicle will shut down when you are attempting to pull out of a private drive and on to a active roadway, increasing the risk of a side on vehicle collision. Issue was reported to vw service department. Service manager was able to duplicate the issue. Service manager also tested another vw Atlas on the sale lot with the same feature. Service manager reported that the same issue occurred with the other Atlas as well. Service department was unable to correct the issue, reporting the vehicle is "operating as designed. " this issue poses a major safety issue no only to the driver and occupants of the vehicle, but to other motorists on the road. Volkswagen has been given notice of the issue and refuses to acknowledge of take action.

Takata, oil was low upon purchase, had to replace oil within the first 100 miles and second time at 5,000 miles along with the coolant! coolant was completely gone at 5000 miles. Air vents are horrible- smell of oil/coolant seeping into the vents when the vehicle is on. Outdoor smells come into the car along with exhaust from other cars. Shifter jumps and is stiff while going out of park to neutral, from park to drive etc. Very toxic this vehicle is, not safe when idling. . . When in neutral the vehicle as I would be in a drive thru perse and then brake to go from neutral to drive, the trans will "jump" grind into gear!.

Noise coming from transmission at take off; passenger driver side and driver side door weathering seal coming off; noise coming from steering when turning sounds like upper suspension mount faulty.

Frequently while driving the �lane assist� feature misinterprets freeway on ramps and old temporary construction lines and veers tha car away. This dramatic sudden turning can swerve the vehicle into another lane, off the road or into another vehicle. It happens nearly every day during normal driving.

Vehicle stops suddenly and shuts off. Sloped driveways. Vehicle in motion approaching end of any driveway with certain angles will suddenly slam on the brakes and shut down, leaving stranded until restart. Possible to be rear ended or hit from any direction where traffic may be coming from. Sensors beep quickly right before this happens. The vehicle has plenty of ground clearance.

I'm contacting you with an issue that needs immediate attention. There is a serious defect with the vw Atlas we leased 2 months ago. The automatic braking system deploys at unexpected and inappropriate times producing a life threatening situation. The automatic braking system has activated, dangerously and inappropriately, several times, usually when pulling out of a driveway and attempting to enter a lane. Although there is no obstruction or risk of collision, the car senses the insignifcant change in slope from driveway to road and slams on the brakes causing the driver to lose all control. The car is then stalled in the middle of oncoming traffic. Recently, my wife and two children pulled out of the driveway of our local supermarket and made a left turn. The automatic breaking system was activated and she was left stalled in the middle of oncoming traffic. Another driver barely avoided colliding into our rear side door where our 3 year old son's car seat is located. We have taken this issue to our local dealership, and they checked the system, and told us �it is performing as the manufacture intended it to�. This is a serious design issue and its only a matter of time before it results in a major accident and I can only pray that my young children aren't maimed or killed. The vw service people have shown us a complicated way to turn off the automatic braking system in the car, however this needs to be done every time you start the car. I feel its inevitable that a busy mother doing chores with two toddlers will forget to turn off the system at some point. This matter needs to be resolved before disability or loss of life occurs. There needs to be a way to fix the system or permanently disable it. We asked vw to permanently disable the system but they declined. We look forward to your prompt reply thank you. Gurpreet mundi, MD.

One of the safety features of the 2018 vw Atlas is the automatic breaking system in the instance that a crash may occur. With this the front sensors of the vehicle warn prior to by either beeping or in some cases slamming on the automatic breaks. I have found that when I am on a hill of a certain grade, that the sensor system recognizes the bottom of the hill as an obstacle and many times when trying to accelerate off the hill turning onto the next road the automatic breaking system goes into effect stopping me dead into cross traffic and in some instances giving no warning to someone behind me that I may break urgently when I should be accelerating through an intersection/from a hill. I have almost been hit 3x with these issues and now find that I have a lot of stress when trying to drive off hills that this will continue to happen. I have tried turning off the front vehicle warning (which needs to be done every single time you restart the car) and this doesn't make any difference. To this same note, when I am in stop and go traffic, my front sensors continually go off which is a complete distraction when driving.

On four separate occasions, my 2018 vw Atlas sel premium has activated the brake maneuvering system without warning. There is an aggressive braking combined with a loss of control of acceleration. Typically, this occurs when exiting a driveway or parking lot. On two of the occasions, I was merging into heavy oncoming traffic and the system left me stranded in a dangerous location perpendicular to oncoming traffic. This is a huge safety concern for me and especially if my wife and children are in the car. The car is currently at the dealer service center and there is currently one other Atlas in the shop for the same complaint. Multiple sources on the internet from other owners have announced similar occurrences. Many have reported that the service center simply tells them to deactivate the system. Well, that is not a fix. . . It is a temporary work around. Many have stated that vw engineers have reported back that the system works as intended and no fix is required. This is unacceptable. If the system is working as intended and is activating during potentially dangerous situations when there is no actual need for collision avoidance braking maneuvers, the system may need to be redesigned. I have not verified personally as to if vw denies any fault but I will certainly do so if the service department tells me that it is operating normally and I should just disable the feature. I paid extra for that feature, along with other safety features available because I want them for added safety should I, or my family, need them. The feature itself shouldn't put me in a dangerous situation.

My SUV is in the shop for stopping when it should not stop. When pulling out of driveways. The vehicle will apply the automatic braking system leaving me and the suvout in the middle of traffic.

The forward collision avoidance and object detection were not working when I picked up the new lease vehicle from the dealer on June 19, 2018. Upon starting the vehicle a message appears on the console that the front assist is "not available". Automatic braking, collision avoidance is affected. Acc (assisted cruise control) is also not operational without the front assist functioning. The dealer has made several attempts to fix the problem. There have been five separate attempts by vw service to fix this problem. Each time they corrected the problem it stops working within 1-5 days. I have taken the SUV in for repair for this problem on 7/12/18, 7/24/18, 10/8/18, 2/12/19, 2/26/19.

Vehicle has a maneuver braking system that is faulty. The system is supposed to detect if there is a vehicle or object that you are about to hit and auto brake. When I pull out of my driveway at home or work the system auto brakes and activates the maneuver braking when there is no vehicle or object present. This seems to occur on driveways that have a slight decline. This is a safety issue because when the maneuver braking is activated the car stalls in the middle of the road for no reason.

Vw called to inform me a the safety recall. The first person I spoke with at the dealership said my car was not affected. The second person at the dealership stated my car was affected. When I run my number in the website search it does not show a recall. This is dangerous. If I was not suppose to drive my car due to this recall fix your search site. It is misleading.

I read under a complaint site that you could press the start stop button while in motion not in park and shut off the vehicle at speed. I tried this and it does shut off the vehicle. The location of the button is right next to the gear shift and is easily accessible to children and any number of accidental reasons to press it the vehicle becomes very hard to steer and brakes become very different while not running. I fear for my family. I tried this in a parking lot while going very very slow to ensure my ability to stop safely if needed. At speed I don't know if I could have. The Atlas has 83 miles on it so it's a factory safety issue.

Forward collision system fault random forward collision system stopped working for approx. 45 days, fault error on display but did not show up vw vehicle status report "Volkswagen car net security & service (vehicle diagnostic and maintenance) happened in baja sur mexico and vw USA would not cover under warranty service in mexico. Started working again unexpectedly without being repaired.

The steering wheel of my 2018 Atlas front wheel drive shakes when stepping on the gas from stop when the road is wet. I took it to the dealer 3 times and I was told that this is how the esp works. I even talked to vw customer service and I received a letter that my vehicle is performing as designed. I've driven front wheel drives before and never experienced this type of issue. I am concerned that there might be a hidden issue that is hiding right now and may cause an accident in the future. I've searched the Atlas forums and no one is experiencing this issue.

First the engine light came on couple days called spoke master mechanic stated shouldn't be problem as long as it's not blinking,bring in for check up. Engine light turn off . Car wouldn't start. Car was taken to dealer mechanic for about week. 3weeks later after getting car back. Engine turned off while in drive motion on my disable husband that has one leg. Thank god my two other adult children's were there. I'm afraid to take a chance traveling with this car. I fear for my family's life and safety as well as mine. My Atlas has been towed back to the dealership repairs and has been there for 3 weeks.

Takata recall.

The heating system is not functioning properly when the remote starter is used, and there is no immediate solution to address the problem. The heating system disperses cold air instead of heating the cabin and defrosting the windows/windshields. This has been an issue since getting the car in November 2017. V told me this is a known national issue and no immediate solution. I'm concerned that all vw customers who purchased a in Atlas with a remote starter, are not getting the service the paid or are paying for. Nice addition prospective buyers or new leasers are not being informed. I know you have major issues to work with at the national level; however, since the scope of this issue is national you may want to be aware.

My 2018 vw Atlas came from the factory with the a/c condensation drain tube twisted. This is a known issue with almost 9700 2018 vw Atlas vehicles. A safety recall was issued to replace the drain hose and the air bag module. Somehow my car was missed and the dealer and Volkswagen does not want to acknowledge the issue and replace the air bag module. The manufacture recall number is 87f9 the NHTSA recall number is 18v-537. The recall states that if the drain tube is twisted it and the module are to be replaced. I am trying to find out why my Atlas was not listed in the recall. It appears to be in the VIN range listed on the recall.