general problems of the 2024 Volkswagen Atlas

My wife was operating the vehicle when the check engine light suddenly came on and alerts on the dash stating that the car was overheating. She was unable to pull over as she was in the road, the car then flashed more alerts and limited her speed to under 20 mph only operating in first gear and limiting rpm to 4000. She was thankfully able to pull over as she was on a city road not a highway whilst driving with my [xxx] in the vehicle. The car was towed to a vw dealership where they stated it was a known software issue with the cooling system not operating properly. They referenced TSB xxx which was first posted in 2024. This information was not provided to the customers and only vw technicians through the TSB. If this were to happen at a high rate of speed there could have been a serious issue and my wife and daughter could not be with me today. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

The problem is the car has moments of stalls/not accelerating. From a stop, like at a stoplight, I have to press the gas pedal all the way to the floor, and even though the rpms go up, the car doesn't move or barely moves for several seconds before it finally goes. The engine is clearly running and revving the power just isn't getting to the wheels and it stalls in thr middle of traffic. I don't know exactly which part is failing because after four repair attempts, the dealership still hasn't found it. Yes, the vehicle is available for inspection. Me, my kids, and other drivers safety have been put at risk more than once. The most dangerous one was on xxx when I was merging on the highway with my kids in the car, pressed the gas to speed up and get over, and the car stalled. A semi truck almost hit us because even with my foot all the way down on the gas pedal the speed wouldn't get up and the semi had to jump over into another lane almost hitting another car. The service center at molle Volkswagen in [xxx] said the computer showed the car was stalling but couldn't find the cause or reproduce it. First visit (vw lee's summit): told it could be bad fuel, but they never drained it and I ran premium for months and it was still doing it. Second visit: a software update was all that showed up. They updated it and it failed the next day. Third visit: a bad fuel code came up, so they drained and refilled the tank. It's still doing it, with no code explaining why. Only vw dealerships have inspected it. Earlier warning: in sept. 2025, around 32,000 miles, the myvw app alerted "transmission in emergency mode" and "selector lever error. " I took screenshots, but when I brought my car to get checked, the code didn't show up or didn't store so my transmission was never checked. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

It's been about one month since engine light has lit up on the dashboard and stays on now. The first incident occurred about a week ago, as I was driving, I was slowing down to go into a roundabout, the vehicle begin to jerk and pull back, a red triangle exclamation mark light started going off warning me to safely park my vehicle as it had overheated. I assumed it was low on coolant so I topped it off to see if that would fix the issue. Then two days later after the first incident it occurred again. I came to a stop at a set of stoplights and when it was time to go, as I was accelerating I felt it starting to jerk again and again, I started getting a bunch of red warning lights to safely park my vehicle as it had overheated again and a message popped up on the dashboard about the speed. I can't quite remember the wording. I can't say for certain that I've figured out what is happening but I think that it may have something to do with the auto start/stop function. Seems like when it comes to a stop, it turns off and when I'm going to start driving again it's triggering something. I've been disabling it now when I drive my vehicle and these incidents haven't occurred anymore.

We were driving down the interstate with cruise control on. There were no other cars around us thank goodness but the car slammed on the brakes with no warning. If someone had been behind us we would have been rear ended and possibly hurt.

1. While backing up and going over grass (not curb), brakes slam on. Passenger was leaning forward while this happened and it abruptly jolted him. He thought I did it but my foot was on the gas to back up. Car rarely detects a large curb though. Service could not reproduce. Started in March 2025 2. While driving behind a car that is slowing down or turning, brakes will (sometimes) slam on and a loud beep and red symbol on the dash appears. While I know this is a safety feature, it happens at random. It doesn't always work at times when I am very close to a turning vehicle that decelerates quickly, and it will happen when I am also decelerating and several car lengths behind a car. Cause me to almost slide into oncoming traffic on one occasion. Service could not reproduce. Started April 2025. Still happening. 3. While driving 75-80mph on the highway (posted speed is 70mph), car suddenly braked and rapidly decelerated to a speed of 35mph (not a posted highway speed). This has happened several times over the past few months. Thankfully, no one was behind me or they would've smashed into me. Service disabled the feature so now I'm paying for a feature that I cannot use and doesn't work correctly. However, it is on many other vw's and could cause a serious accident to the unsuspecting driver. April 2025. 4. Windows go down at random when pulling up lever to close. Service blamed on my vent visors and says it is a safety feature to prevent injuries. However, my daughter had her arm out the window and it did not stop going up and ended up pinching her arm in the window. I had to lower it with my lever. Service cannot replicate and gives me the same reasoning every time. Ongoing since sept. 2024. 5. Car sometimes lags/hesitates when taking off from a stop. When trying to quickly enter traffic, this could cause a car to hit me if the car isn't getting up and going like it usually does. Service could not replicate. Started may 2025. Still ongoing.

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.