Automatic Emergency Braking Problems of Volkswagen Atlas - part 2

I was driving between 35 and 40 mph on a 252/providence road at wallingford Ave in nether providence twp, PA 19086 last night at approximately 8:30p. It was dark, about 65 degrees and not raining. Road conditions were dry. The pavement is under repair with a temporarily patched utility trench for new water or gas lines in the drive lane. Just before the stated intersection, there are 2 large temporary steel plates on the road, which are somewhat raised (not flush). I was lightly applying the brakes to reduce speed. As my front tires made contact with plates, the collision warning flashed on the dash screen, no audible warning, and the brakes automatically and suddenly applied. The vehicle wheels locked and there was tire screeching heard. The vehicle came to a complete stop. There were no other vehicles in-front, behind, or on-coming. The vehicle stayed straight and there was no collision or damage. I am guessing the vehicle collision system sensed a shadow, 'saw' the light reflecting off the plates, or indicated a slippery surface due to the steel plate. The anti-lock brake system apparently didn't work as the wheels locked. The vehicle just stopped! I was the only occupant and for the record, in no way impaired. I'm pretty attuned to how my vehicle drives and reacts. Occasionally I'll get a false audible and visual alarm indicating a forward vehicle detection when there is nothing there. I've noticed this on dark, winding roads where I figure the glare from my headlights caused a false indication. This is the first time I experienced automatic, emergency braking.

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My '19' Atlas had given me several issues after 2 years. The engine light has illuminated several times. Im not sure if is just being reset or if the problem is actually being fixed. At any rate, I have continuously complained about smelling coolant since Feb 21. Only to bring vehicle in, have the coolant topped off, and hear it's nothing's wrong. It has been checked and inspected and yet there has been no headway of the originating of the issue. The dealer has changed the canister & head gasket a few times (even speculated water pump issues). It was said the problem had been fixed. That statement couldn't be more inaccurate a few weeks ago I was told I needed a new head/spark plugs and the block was warp and I would not be able to drive it until it was repaired (a $5k job). My vehicle is 4 years old it is well kept and is always in for scheduled/routine maintenance. I was told this is a known issue. Had I been told this before buying, I would of reconsidered my purchase. Why isn't this a manufacturers recall? or the buyer isn't informed. The manufacturer should be mandated to use reliable materials for this vehicle. For a vehicle to fail at 70k is insane. I am utterly disgusted. In addition, the collision display randomly comes on while driving and vehicle often halts unexpectedly. Unsafe if driving on the road with other vehicles. I have brought it to the dealers attention several times unsure if it has been annotated but I am always told bring it back if it does it again. And no solution has been given. This has been a problem well over a year and a half. Again this should be a recall issue. I love this vehicle and want to keep it but these experiences will definitely detour me from future purchases of the vw brand.

Door wire harness failed. This was post correction of all previous recalls, which included replacement if door wiring harness. The failure caused a stall and initiation of emergency brake. This occurred at a stop light with a teen driver. Driver restarted automobile and proceeded.

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Multiple incidents. Automatic emergency breaking - vehicle suddenly stops in the middle of the road while driving, when pulling out onto roads and when reversing, when there are no oncoming vehicles, objects or humans. Two recent incidences where I was almost in a collision, the automatic emergency breaking did not activate at all. Parking sensors - the sensors come on frequently when there are no objects in front of the vehicle. They intermittently stay on. The vehicle has been inspected multiple times for these issues by the volkswagon dealer. Problems began very soon after purchase. The dealer has not been able to reproduce the problem so they have continuously sent me home with the malfunctioning vehicle. They did replace on sensor and have done multiple updates over the years, but the issue continues. Safety is put at risk because the car suddenly stops in the middle of the road or in intersections. This could cause a t-bone or being rear ended. This most recently happened to my new driver (daughter) and it scared her and put her in the face of oncoming traffic because the stop occurred and before she could get going again, cars were coming. If it happened on the freeway it could be deadly. Same daughter, a few minutes after the previously described incident, almost hit a fence. We stopped within about 2 to 3 inches of it and the automatic/emergency breaking system did not activate at all. These two are just the most recent incidents. These have been occurring since I purchased the vehicle.

The “front assist” feature malfunctioned while driving. While driving at 29 mph, the vehicle “front assist” feature initiated. A red warning icon illuminated on the dashboard signaling an imminent/impending collision and caused the vehicle to immediately lock the vehicles brakes and seat belts. There were no pedestrians, vehicles, or objects ahead or remotely close to the roadway. The front of the vehicle was clear or debris and foreign objects. It was sunny and clear. If the roadway was rainy or snowy — the brakes and steering locking up would’ve been catastrophic. Vehicle has not been to dealership for inspection/testing of the system as event occurred earlier today. Vehicle has not been inspected by manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others as of present. Other than this event occurring once before, there has been no indication or warning lights — other than the large red dashboard icon.

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When braking normally, the aeb alert tone sounded, and the display showed a red brake warning with "brake booster failure" displayed on-screen. The brakes then became extremely sensitive and caused the car to abruptly grind to a stop with full abs action. This occurred in traffic, and the car behind me narrowly avoided a collision due to the uncommanded abrupt halt. I pulled over and the error cleared itself after a few seconds. I pulled the diagnostic error codes from the ecu, and this is the output: 0213 [0x0000d5] archive (inactive) c10a329: vacuum sensor, implausible signal single vacuum pressure sensor sends no valid data status bits: 1 priority: 1 frequency: 1 unlearning index: 84 odometer: 27031 km date, time: 2023. 03. 27 09:34:50 paramteric values: 00 00 80 18 32 00 00 00 cf 47 00 00 02 ff 00 5e 02 40 b0 00 00 00 10 status: confirmed (this is from a previous activation, but the recent one is the same). This is the third time this has happened, but the first to put me in actual danger of a crash. I have previously brought this to the dealer but no fix was applied. They were aware of this happening on other vehicles but they did not have a fix. The model year after was recalled due to wiring issues, but my car has never been recalled for anything related. I believe this is a significant safety issue and should be addressed by the manufacturer before it causes a serious incident.

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Vehicle emergency break activates, unable to release, or when teleased after multiple attempts the light continues flashing on the break button and warning alert on the dasboard. The first time it happened I arrived to destination and parked, when parked as I am waiting it activated when the door was opened. It has not been inspeacted yet, it fist started about 1 week ago. Its unpredictable when it will happen.

Purchased brand new 2023 Atlas premium r line. First few weeks noticed exposed wires above pedals under steering wheel area, a/c not blowing cold air and touchscreen glitches. Took back to dealer March 2-18. They put a panel over exposed wires factory forgot. They also said they could not find anything wrong with ac or touchscreen. It was working fine, then few days later same problems followed by total power loss/ car completely shut off and locked up when accelerating at a traffic light. Then about week later car abruptly came to a complete stop while driving on road. No warnings prior, after randomly braking itself various alerts flashed and beeped while windows malfunctioned rolling themselves down. Screens then went black. The next day tried to test it out slowly to drive it back to the dealer, but did the same thing twice within 20 min. Luckily was driving at a slower speed this time. Had it towed to the nearest vw dealer where it currently is now. Reporting this braking, electrical malfunction because not only is a car that randomly stops and brakes itself dangerous to the people in it, it's a safety hazard for anyone behind or near it. Shocked this could even happen, I looked up the issue and found vw had a similar problem in others with the door harness, but this was at a faster speed and more than the brakes failed and went haywire. Something electrical or faulty wiring may seriously be wrong with these 2023's and don't want anyone to get hurt. The pictures attached are from second incident. Didn't know it was going to brake and stop so didn't have time to capture it stopping, and at the moment first instinct is to control car and pull over safely. But did manage to take pictures of random error codes before it goes black and back to normal like nothing happened. So scary and unsafe.

Automatic emergency braking when driving across a light rail track. The location: an intersection at north san jose, CA area. Google map location and street view attached the issue: 1) only at this location + for more than 3 times, when approaching or over the light trail track, my car dashboard displayed frontal collision imminent warning and the emergency brake was automatically triggered. One time it almost caused the car behind mine to rear me. 2) during all the incidents, there were no light rail train nearby. It didn't matter if there were cars in front of or beside mine. Traffic light were green. All day time; clear weather. 3) reported the issue to volkswagon service station, technician checked but found no defect. 4) my car was purchased 2018. It didn't have this issue until starting from 2021 the workaround: it appears, while approaching the track, don't hit the gas pedal, then it will be fine. It could be there are some train signal system interfered with my car's collision warning system.

Shortly after leaving the dealership, and while driving on the highway, I was cut off by another vehicle and the front assist / collision avoidance did not turn. I immediately reported the issue to the dealership, and the next day the representative came over, reviewed all the settings, and confirmed that it was properly configured. Nonetheless, it still did not work. Moreover, the alert has only occurred sporadically and under odd circumstances, such as an empty intersection (but not always, even though I drive by the same intersection very frequently). I took the vehicle to the service department for inspection, and they told me that all of the sensors appear to be working correctly. Nonetheless, it is clear that the system is not working. Indeed, it should have activated (at least the alarm) under other circumstances, and it has not. I wrote to vw in February, and they have not responded.

On two occasions, I started to back up and the emergency brake system engaged, slamming the car to a stop, as if someone were behind me but there clearly was not. I had a car full of 10 year old girls and they all screamed. Two days ago, I was traveling a city street at 35-40 mph and the emergency braking system engaged and slammed the car almost to a full stop, while in busy traffic. The cruise control isn't currently working either, it throws an error when you try to set your speed. I travel approximately 40 miles round trip to work 5+ days a week at highway speeds. If the emergency brake were to engage while I'm doing 65-70 mph in rush hour traffic and lock the brakes, it will cause an accident. What if it is raining? there is no way someone traveling a few car lengths behind me will be able to stop suddenly. I will injure myself or others and I'm honestly scared to drive my Atlas right now so it is at the local vw dealer for further inspection. I told them my worries and this needs to be recalled quickly. It is a known issue, they asked me if my windows were rolling down when this happens, which is reported in the vm forums.

We own a 2020 vw Atlas se w/technology. This vehicle has grossly failed to meet reliability expectations. Of most concern is the repeated failure of the vehicle's electric power steering rack. This component has been replaced 3 times on my vehicle. Each failure has been accompanied by a creak in the front suspension and a clunk in the steering movement. I have asked vw of America to extend the warranty on my vehicle as this failure and it's the history of failures lead me to believe I will encounter this issue again very soon. Vwoa has denied my request so far stating that my warranty had already expired. I reminded them that they had already extended my warranty for a separate mechanical issue that I experienced with both this vehicle and my previous vehicle, a 2018 vw Atlas involving the cylinder head. Between the steering rack failure and their handling of a dangerous issue with faulty door harness wiring that caused the vehicle's autonomous emergency braking to engage in traffic, I sincerely believe that NHTSA needs to get involved to mandate additional recall campaigns or warranty extensions on these vehicles to protect consumers.

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The automatic emergency braking is engaged when when it should not. This happens while traveling at highway speeds, I have been lucky the 4x it is has happened that no one was behind and I was able to override and safely continue on my way. I took the vehicle to the dealership and they stated that there are no entries in the system log indicating any automatic emergency braking. This is very concerning, since I have had 2 incidents where the emergency braking was activated when it was supposed to. These are not in the logs either. I am also experiencing issues with the blind spot warning sensors too. I have video proof of a false alarm. The dealer said vw will not allow them to fix a vehicle with video proof. There appears to be an issue with the sensor system in the vehicle since the blind spot sensors is falsely alerting and the forward collision sensors are initiating the automatic emergency braking system. Volkswagen customer care # 05487060.

While driving( multiple scenarios ranging from 10 mph, 70 mph, 30 mph and even while car was parked) alarm would go off and message displaying “brake booster faulty” while also illuminating the “brake” light on dashboard. Brake pedal then becomes stiff and/or spongy, while not working properly. Once car is turned off and back on, “abs” light is also illuminated. Could not brake my car today with 2 children in backseat. Very dangerous.

Was driving under 10mph and the brakes suddenly locked despite nothing being in way that would trigger abs system. Brakes have also been grinding and feel off going down steep inclines, and sounds like water is moving around when I press them, even lightly. This is not safe and vw refuses to acknowledge an issue!.

We have an open case with Volkswagen, but the remedy part is on back order, in the meantime we have to use this unsafe car. The dealership where car was purchased from is not providing a loaner/rental despite being told by our Volkswagen care team specialist that he is obligated to. The car emergency brake comes on at every stop(I’m shook at every stop, knots in my stomach every single stop I make, stop sign, trying to park, red lights), driver side front and back windows open spontaneously, non stop beeping(anxiety inducing) when car is parked idle, driver side window doesn’t open manually pressing the button, car does not lock on driver door, like not at all, alarm will go on sometimes when opening, but it is never locked posing a serious threat, anyone can open my door if I am stoped at a light, or idling in car. Car can be stolen at any point, I feel unsafe and very distressed.

See all problems of the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas 🔎.

I have had the emergency brake suddenly deploy about a dozen times since purchasing this car. All have been at relatively low speeds, as in parking lots or when making a turn on street. There has been nothing in my path to cause the emergency brake system to deploy. I took it to the dealership and they said that the computer only registered one deployment and there was nothing that could be done.

On September 29th, my wife was driving approx 40 mph and her 2019 vw Atlas came to a screeching halt for no reason. The automatic emergency braking system engaged and caused the car to slam on the brakes and stop. Luckily there wasn't another vehicle directly behind her as this could have caused a very serious accident. We took the vehicle to local vw for service to diagnose and they could not make any repairs or determine anything at fault. There are numerous comments online from other vw Atlas drivers that are having these issues and for some year models, a faulty door wiring harness or electrical shorts in wiring could cause the issue. Vw has even issued recalls for some year models but not 2019. Please investigate immediately and contact me with a resolution.

Error airbag keeps coming on and dealership cant find issue and cant replicate problem but it happens every time we get in car and are driving. This is very dangerous if we get in a accident and airbags dont deploy. Also there has been some weird electrical issues with vehicle that cause lights to flicker and turn on and off inside car dash. Dealership cant figure it out due to not replicating issue. Last issue is with brakes. Something in the electrical system is causing brakes to fully engage slamming us into the dash board and windshield. Has happened 3 times since owing vehicle. Dealership again said they cant replicate issue. This is getting to be the worse car we have purchased. First time owning a Volkswagen and probably the last time.

While I was driving the automatic braking system engaged on 3 separate occasions last night, thankfully there was no one behind me or it would have caused an accident. A warning light did appear on the dash that read faulty brake system. I am going to contact a dealer to have it looked at.

On eight occasions this morning the faulty brake booster light has come on and the abs light and brake light are also on inside my vehicle. The brakes are squishy and almost don’t feel like they work to 50% capacity. They are jerky and click and does not seem like a simple antilock braking system problem. This is happened randomly over the last three years that I’ve owned this vehicle. But it has never happened this many times consecutively in the short period of time. I’m afraid for the safety of driving this vehicle.

The vehicles parking brake came on and the car shut off by itself in the middle of the road.

The vehicle engaged the parking brake when there was nothing in front of me. This happened twice in one day. I currently have it at the vw dealership.

The remedy to my recall is not being performed within a reasonable time. I was in the road with my one year old and I was scared to get on the highway I was afraid someone would rear end us as the vehicle stops and turns on the check engine light and a warning light on my dash. I was driving and when I was coming to a stop the vehicle stops on it on and doesn’t give the person behind me enough time to break. I would honestly see if there is something that can been done as o don’t feel safe in my vehicle but I can’t afford to rent a car in the mean time it is my only transportation my son has a doctors appt @ 130 today and I’m afraid for his life and to drive there. I would really appreciate any help that you can offer.

Front passenger side tire on vehicle ruptured after the driver struck a rock in the road during the morning commute. Driver stopped vehicle and changed damaged tire using the provided spare tire. The spare tire provided with the vehicle by Volkswagen is not a full-sized spare. Upon continuing the commute, the car began to malfunction. The electronic stability control featured engaged, braking the car to almost a stop. Driver was unable to accelerate. Each time acceleration was attempted the electronic stability control would engage causing the car to come to almost a complete stop. The tire air pressure sensors were also malfunctioning with the spare. In order to get the car safely to the destination, the driver had to manually turn off the electronic stability control feature and reset the air pressure sensors. This practice had to be completed each time the car was started. However, the driver discontinued using the car until the tire could be replaced. Once the tire was replaced, the car systems went back to driving normally. Volkswagen should recall these cars and provide a full-size spare tire as the vw Atlas is basically nonoperational on the small spare tire provided. It puts the driver of the vehicle in a very unsafe situation. ,.

Although this is not the first issue with my vw 2021 Atlas, it will be my last. As I was driving down a two lane highway to my daughter's softball practice, the emergency break turned on and my vehicle completely jolted to a stop. By the grace of god, no one was behind us. Prior to this recent incident, the windows started to roll up and down on their own and the "fault parking break" alert will appear on my dash. This occurs randomly, day or night, sunny or rainy, cold or hot. The vehicle has been to the dealership for this issue, but the alert continues. I purchased this vehicle March of 2021, issues did not occur until December and it has gone down hill quickly. Right now, this vehicle is deemed "undrivable" and will be at the dealership. This vehicle is also under the new recall where the airbags do not deploy. There is no fix for this.

Vw Atlas 2021 is having issues with the driver side harness which there is an active recall without repair for. Car started to show error messages related to parking brake, air bag functionality, windows roll up and down, parking brake has engaged while driving in early April. Multiple dealers contacted and no loaner vehicle or repairs identified or offered. Car feels completely unsafe to drive due to random braking and error messages.

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at 20 mph, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a wiring harness failure. The dealer informed the contact that the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

I was driving between 25-30 mph at dusk. Suddenly a loud red warning appeared on the dashboard, and the car came to a screeching halt. I did not touch the brakes - it happened all on its own. There was nothing in front of me, such as a collision. It was not raining. The only factor that changed, which might be completely coincidental, is that I was just going over top of a large metal plate on the street that is used to cover road construction. The plate was just like any other, and stuck up maybe an inch. By the brakes slamming on, I was hit by the car behind me, who was also going 25-30 mph. This caused my passenger to be thrashed around - luckily neither of us were hurt. The driver of the other vehicle was not hurt but his car's hood was badly damaged. He had two kids in the back seat. I see this article, but when discussing it with the dealer, they claimed to have no knowledge of the issue or recall, even though it says the issue has been happening since 2020. . Read more...

While my wife was driving home from work, all lights on the dashboard illuminated and the airbag warning symbol came on as well as both front windows opened on their own. Upon arrival at home as she pulled into the drive the emergency brake momentarily activated. Luckily the brake activated once she had pulled out of the main traffic or she may have been hit from behind. She called bud brown, our local vw dealer and was advised it was a known issue with the wiring on a door harness. She was advised that this part is not available and may not be available for many months and that there was nothing we could do. At present due to the known nature of the issue, it has not been inspected by vw or anybody else. At present when starting my car, only the airbag warning light is lit up. The car is available for inspection at any time and by anybody.

Warning lights and alarms would go off, the driver’s side windows would roll down and the car would suddenly brake while in traffic.

The vehicle slams the breaks while breaking, it is very violent and hurts my back when it does it. This would be the second time this same part had been replaced when it finally gets replaced. I have several close encounters with people almost rear ending me due to the sudden stops.

Several times while driving at 30-35 mph, 3-4 times so far, the emergency brake will just suddenly slam the car to a halt with the emergency brake. Also, the warning lights, possibly for collision, will just go off for no reason at all. Very scary and very dangerous. I have taken it to the dealer several times, as I have two young children, and they have not been able to diagnose or fix the problem.

My airbag light randomly went on a few days after my 10k miles inspection at the platinum vw dealership in hicksville, NY. I brought it in and was told there is a safety issue due to a faulty sensor in the passenger side door which can both cause the airbag not to deploy (or to randomly deploy) and can also cause the parking break to automatically engage while the car is in motion. While the vw dealership was totally not transparent about this, the rental agency told me that I was there were more than 15 customers before me with the same issue in the same car, and that one such customer's breaks automatically deployed while the car was in motion at over 30mph. I called vk corporate and they.

Driving my daughter to school and the car threw itself in park with the emergency parking brake. There has been a few instances of this along with windows rolling down, the car throwing codes and alarms going off. I was driving 10mph when it threw itself in park throwing my daughter and I forward and almost getting rearended. This is not safe. Dealer is aware and has ordered the part with no clue when they will receive it to fix my car.