Adaptive Cruise Control problems of the 2023 Volkswagen Atlas

2023 vw Atlas cross sport sel awd, about 57,500 miles. Available for inspection. Oct 3, 2026: infotainment screen would not turn on. A soft reboot, a multi-hour shutdown with the car locked did not fix it. The unit is stuck in a reboot loop ("starting navigation" then fails, repeating). By about the third restart, the blower fan stopped completely: no heat, no ac, no windshield defrost or defog, no ventilation. Rearview camera, radio, and navigation are inoperative. Cruise control, adaptive cruise control, and lane keeping assistance do not work. Warning lamps came on when the climate system failed (photographed oct 5): electronic stability control, power steering, front assist (forward collision warning/emergency braking), lane assist, other driver assistance faults, and tire pressure. Safety risk: with no defrost or defog, the windshield can fog or ice with no way to clear it, a serious visibility hazard in chicago-area weather. No rearview camera when backing near pedestrians and children. Collision warning and lane keeping are offline. Vw customer care (case 07775134) told me this is a known issue caused by a vw software update pushed to the vehicle and that a service bulletin exists. I did not request or consent to this update and was unaware of it. Vw declined to cover the repair as out of warranty, offering only possible coverage of the diagnostic fee if a dealer confirms the software cause. Not yet inspected by a dealer, independent shop, police, or insurer. The failures appear to violate fmvss 103 (defrosting/defogging) and fmvss 111 (rear visibility). Other manufacturers have recalled vehicles with free software fixes for this same failure type. I ask NHTSA to investigate and determine whether a recall is warranted.

Driving down 4 lane state highway adaptive cruise on. Car in front of us pulled into left turn lane, was no longer in front of us. Dash lit up emergency notification and slammed us on breaks. Reported to vw told “likely a sensor issue tech just not there yet”. Happened again on state hwy. Traveling at 65 mph. No cars on hwy with us emergent message on dash and slammed on breaks. Recently happened when pulling off from stop light through 4 lanes of traffic. I was first car going between 5-8 mph. Dash lit up with emergency notification. Immediately braked and engine turned off. Car had already been taken into dealer for other electrical issues with infotainment and consistently told nothing wrong. Last time taken in for infotainment reported the braking issue. That is when they made statement about sensors. This could cause terrible car accident especially traveling at high speed or stopping in intersection where could be hit from behind or hit by oncoming traffic. Taken to vw multiple times. No problems ever identified. Only changes infotainment system after I brought video evidence of what was happening. Cannot provide them with evidence of this occurrence. Last time take. In had no loaner available car was not left and evaluated bc of disagreement with service.