Automatic Emergency Braking problems of the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas - part 2

Starting in November, a series of alarms would go off on the dashboard on the engine, lane assist, collision warnings, etc. As the problem progressed, the windows would go down automatically, and in the most severe instances, the car would engage the emergency park brake while coming to a stop!!! this happened more and more frequently to the point the car became undrivable as you awaited the car engaging the emergency parking brake while coming to a stop!!!! the car has been at the dealership since 11/22/21 as the door control wiring harness is on backorder. Someone will get hurt if this goes unrepaired.

I have a faulty door harness that causes the vehicle to think they the door is open, when it is not. Because the car thinks the door is open, the e brake engages while driving and a loud beeping ensues. Several sensors also start flashing like check engine, start/stop system failure, check oil, etc. The part is back ordered with no eta and vw don’t do a recall because they don’t want to be on the hook for all of these cars. A quick google search will show you that this is a widespread safety issue that is being ignored.

The emergency brake will randomly go off when driving or taping my brakes. Then doors will lock and windows roll half down. I have to stop car, turn off and turn on again to get the car moving again. This happens randomly and frequently. It is 2/13 and my car has been in the shop since 1/3/2022.

Check engine light came on, windows were going down 1/8 of the way on their own, parking brake goes on automatically while engine is on while driving and pressing on brake, cannot utilize any controls on driver door. Dealer checked and it is the door harness that is on backorder. I was told 41 customers ahead of me waiting for same part in northeast USA. Car is not safe to drive due to parking brake automatically engaging. Vw of America notified and my case was escalated and I have initiated the PA lemon law arbitration process. Issues first appeared 11/8/21. I have been given a smaller loaner vehicle from dealer on 11/9/21 and am still using that.

Our car starting firing many warning every time we would drive it including breaking without us telling it to. We took it in twice for it to be fixed, the first didn't work and the second they replaced a door chasey and I hope it works long term. Very scary to be driving with 2 little kids in the back and a possessed car. Super dangerous.

Between mid-November and early December 2021, my 2021 Volkswagen Atlas started randomly braking while the vehicle was in motion. There were loud beeping sounds, multiple error notifications on the dash, and the rear driver's side window kept randomly going down. I recently read an article from an online publication called autoblog, which indicated to me that this problem is occurring in these vehicles at an alarming rate. The dealership has provided a loaner, which is significantly less than the vehicle I purchased. Meanwhile I am paying $564 per month for a vehicle I cannot use, and the dealership is unable to provide me with a date that the vehicle will be repaired. We are not into month four of this issue with no resolution in sight.

Lane assist erratic performance. 1)on October 21st, 2021, while leaving a parking slot (cars parked on both sides of the affected vehicle) the “lane assist” warning and the instrument panel “lane assist” light came up (I. E. , lane with a car on the lower side of the instrument panel). This occurred while moving less than 5 mph. The parking brake activated stopping the car and the lane assist was disabled (I. E. , turned off). 2)on October 25th, 2021, while turning on the vehicle, a “malfunction” was briefly displayed on the instrument panel. There were no cars or objects on either side of the vehicle. Immediately after, a warning symbol and a yellow lane with a car symbol was displayed. The lane assist was disabled. The warning signs were cleared after the car was turned off and back on, but the lane assist remained disabled (I. E. , turned off).

Random front assist activations occurred while driving: 1) first activation occurred while beginning to move forward going around 10 mph. Front assists warning sound and display (I. E. Red car) came up and performed a sudden stop(brake). Car on front was about three cars length and moving forward. After car stopped front assist activation disappeared from the screen. 2) second activation occurred while driving around 45mph. No cars directly on front but on the right lane. Front assists warning sound and display (ie red car) came up. Car continue forward and front assist activation disappeared from the screen. 3) third activation occurred while driving with no cars in the vicinity or any obstacle (~25mph). Front assists warning sound and display (ie red car) came up. Car continue forward and front assist activation disappeared from the screen. The first two occurrences happened a day apart. The car was taken to a vw dealer but nothing was found (9/15/2021). There were no log in the computer of any front assists event. The third occurrence happened a day after the car was returned from the vw shop(9/16/2021). All occurrences happened within 1 week including today's event.

My wife was driving our 5 day old Atlas along the interstate with cruise control set at 65mph. She was traveling up an incline that had a slight turn to the right along the interstate. There was not a car within 500+ yards of her car. All of a sudden she started hearing beeps and the car abruptly slammed on the brakes causing the Atlas to shift all of its weight to front and causing the rear tires to lift off of the ground. The front driver side portion of the car then skidded across the asphalt and into the safety rail. The airbags never deployed although the entire front was destroyed. My wife has had trauma from this accident and vw never offered a single thing for any kind of help. The car was brand new for $44,000 and took on $27,000 worth of damage so it was not enough to be a total loss. We have the automatic braking DE-activated because we are terrified of it.

My wife's 2021 Atlas cruise control has not worked since we purchased the vehicle in July 2020. When starting the vehicle via remote start (app or remote) it disables the entire front end collision system and the cruise does not work. It has been in the shop over 3 weeks in total now with no fix in sight. We are now being told that we wait 6 weeks to see if we qualify for their lemon law standards. No loaner was offered.