Exterior Lighting Problems of Volkswagen Atlas - part 2

Dual daytime running light (drl) led headlights failures. The led drl strips integrated into the headlight assembly stopped functioning within 3 years of ownership (60,000 and 75,000) miles. . The failure requires replacing the entire headlight assembly, which can cost over $2,000 per unit, as the led strip is not separately serviceable. Drls are critical for vehicle visibility during daylight, reducing the risk of head-on and front-corner collisions by making the vehicle more conspicuous to other drivers. There is absolutely no reason these lights should be going out when they are intended to last up to 20 years and I believe vw is at fault and this should be a recall.

See all problems of the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas 🔎.

My 2024 Volkswagen Atlas se began collecting visible moisture inside the rear tail light assembly less than 18 months after purchase. Over time, this led to intermittent lighting failure, sometimes the lights function, sometimes they don’t. This is a safety concern, especially at night or in poor weather. After researching the issue, I found that this is a widely reported problem among vw Atlas owners and has even been referenced in vw’s own technical service bulletin 94-22-01, which is published in the NHTSA database. The bulletin calls this “normal condensation,” but this is beyond that there is visible water pooling and electrical malfunction and I know of others who report the same thing. Vw is down playing this to avoid the recall. Despite being under extended warranty, this is not covered because vw considers it cosmetic unless there’s proven seal failure. The vehicle is available for inspection and has been evaluated by a certified vw service center. Volkswagen needs to address this as a design or sealing defect, especially when it affects vehicle safety systems like brake and signal lights.

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While under warranty the passenger side headlamp unit was replaced. This was about one year ago- now the drive side has gone out on a car that is less than 3 years old. The dealership quoted me $1792. 33 for this repair. There is no reason why these should be going out when they are led. I am part of a facebook group for Atlas owners and this a known issue. I see the daylight running light on multiple Atlas vehicles daily when I am driving around town. This should be a recall.

See all problems of the 2022 Volkswagen Atlas 🔎.

Passenger daytime running light has stopped working at 61,952 miles. This light is not able to be replaced by itself which is the issue. The entire lighting assembly has to be replaced costing $1400 for single, passenger side assembly, not including labor. At this cost, it is unrealistic and unreasonable to replace this safety feature every time it goes out. This is an unsafe design due to the fact that many customers would not be able to afford to pay more than $1400 to replace the light causing a potential safety hazard.

Daytime running light failure at 36k miles on one side. Entire assembly requires warranty replacement with acc sensor calibration. Appears to be a common issue.

See all problems of the 2023 Volkswagen Atlas 🔎.

Passenger side led daytime running light is out at 67,000 and is going to cost over $2k to get replaced. Led lights should not be going out that quickly. I have also found lots of the same complaints online for the same year, make and model.

Daytime running lights are both inoperable. This is a known issue with these vehicles. Both went out at the same time and are $2000 to replace. It’s a robbery.

The daytime running light strip in the headlight fails. Identical failure to the Honda accord - which had a recall/warranty extension issued.

Daytime running lights went out after 50k miles (warranty is out at this point). To fix this issue vw is requiring to change the whole light fixture, which costs more the $1,000. This is an outrageous expense to fix a single led strip to support drls, and forces drivers to go without lights to avoid paying for it. This issue is very common on this model, with multiple online sources/forums with the same experience.

Drivers side drl led complete failure at 62000 miles. Known issue all over the internet. I bought the extended warranty. I called to check coverage and they told me absolutely not covered even though I have the platinum level extended warranty. Only fix is remove bumper and replace headlight assembly, then dealership has to supposedly reprogram the new headlight and the cruise control or they won’t work if you tried to replace the assembly at home to save money. Vw obviously knows of this issue and to my knowledge has done nothing to help customers. The safety concern with this is the other solution to the drl led going out, if you can’t spend $2000 on a light, is to use an ob-11 and deactivate all drls. This could make the vehicle less visible under certain conditions and potentially lead to a collision.

Head lights not fully functioning. Day time running lights not providing adequate visibility. There have been many complaints and many owners experiencing this issues routinely around the same amount of miles. There was no indication of the issue in any way shape or form on the dashboard .

My daylight running headlights are out, went out before 40k miles. They said they would have to replace the whole assembly for over 1000 each. I have read many people’s complaints with the same issue. How can a car company not provide safe headlights that last more than 40k miles. I cannot afford to fix it and with all these Atlas on the road with people in the same financial situation it is dangerous. They should have to replace these assemblies through recall before someone gets killed.

Our led headlight failed at 80,000 miles and is not just a simple bulb change. We have to replace the entire headlight and the cost is over $1000 for one.

Daytime running lamps on both left and right side have failed and no longer working. Right side lamp failed first at roughly 95k miles on vehicle and was followed by left side failure at approximately 100k miles on vehicle.

Passenger side daytime running light led strip out at 50k miles. Leds have long life span and should not go out so soon. Concerned there is electrical issue as the vehicle has had multiple recalls including sensors and other electrical components.

Day time running lights burn out too quickly. They are led lights and should last longer than 50,000 miles of the cars life span. Volkswagen does not see it covered under their extended warranty either. It is a costly repair and should be further investigated as Volkswagen has not fixed the issues.

?vehicle tries to pull me into a completely different lanes I have no intentions of trying to go into while on the highway ?vehicle completely shut off while driving. Electrical panel flashed with all the lights then said to start vehicle manually. ?vehicle's gas saving feature when stopped, works intermittently and randomly, even with same applied brake pressure.

See all problems of the 2019 Volkswagen Atlas 🔎.

The daytime running lights went out at 45,500 miles. Called dealership and I am one week out of warranty. The cost to fix one is $2000 and requires complete new assembly and reprogram cruise control. Absolutely ridiculous for a daytime running light that burned out. Should be able to replace or offer assistance from vw.

1. Component/system failed, available for inspection? failed passenger side led daytime running light (drl) strip in headlight assembly, likely due to led burnout or wiring issue. Entire headlight unit needs replacement ($1k+ quote). Available for inspection upon request. 2. Safety risk? non-working drls reduce vehicle visibility in daylight, increasing collision risk by 10–20% (per NHTSA). Poses danger to driver, passengers, and others, especially in low-light or fog. 3. Confirmed by dealer/service center? confirmed via service center 4. Inspected by others? inspected by service center 5. Warning signs prior to failure? no warning lamps/messages typically appear for Atlas drl failures. Noticed issue around 55k miles; no dashboard alerts.

Unknown - bought vehicle last year. The right passenger headlight led strip went out which ended up costing $1600. The drivers side headlight led strip just went out, which is going to cost me another $1600. Looking online, it looks like many other vw Atlas owners are experiencing the same issues, all within 20-60k miles of having their vehicles. There needs to be a safety recall for these headlights. To have to pay $1600 to get this fixed is absolutely ridiculous. The only way to fix the led strips is to replace the entire headlight which is why they're charging so much money to do so.

Received message that daytime side light was out in my 2021 vw Atlas. Went to the dealership and they said that it will cost $3,152. 23 for entire headlight assembly to be replaced because bulb cannot be changed as it is led. I did research on the issue in reddit and there are many many 2021 vw Atlases with the same issue! they have also opened up complaints in NHTSA. It is cost prohibitive to fix a light on this car and a major safety issue.

Daytime led running light (front passenger side) stopped working and has not come back on. I am told the whole lighting assembly has to be replaced at a cost of $800 to $1,000. I have seen many other complaints online from owners of the same vehicle that are experiencing the same issue with one of the front led daytime driving lights.

Both headlamps in vehicle stopped working within a month of each other. Vehicle has less than 50,000 miles on it. Volkswagen claims lights should last longer than this. Online forums are riddled with this issue, and headlamp price is unreasonably high for a family vehicle ($700-1100 per headlamp). Headlamps are also backordered, making driving the vehicle unsafe at night and under certain weather conditions.

See all problems of the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas 🔎.

We were pulled over yesterday for having a headlight out, but it ended up not being a headlight, it was the led runner light on the passenger-side headlight assembly. Our vehicle is only at 68,214 miles. The Volkswagen dealership quoted me about $1,800. 00 to have it replaced, which I thought was exorbitant. In doing research on this issue, most 2021 Atlas have the identical issue, the led runner lights going out at the 50k - 70k mile mark. Currently it is impossible to even find stock of new headlight assemblies because of the number of vehicles that have had this issue. This should be a recall due to a defective headlight assembly, not a cost to the consumer. I've driven several vehicles past the 200k mile mark and I have never had to have a headlight assembly replaced, and especially not after only 68k miles. It would be unusual to have to replace a headlight at that many miles, let alone an led strip, which should essentially last the life of the vehicle. There is a group considering bringing a class-action lawsuit against vw for the faulty electrical systems in the 2021 Atlas, so I hope this gets addressed quickly.

I continue to receive an error message to " check rear tail light " . . . I have had the actual light and wiring assembly replaced. The error message continues. I have taken it to two vw dealerships - neither of which know how to fix the problem, and can only suggest days of a wild goose chase to find the problem. One dealership opined that the wiring was coroded, which was causing the error message. This raises other safety concerns of fire, etc.

The daytime running light has gone gout prematurely.

The led day time running lights have started to go out. They are completely out in the passenger side and one of the two out on the drivers side. Unsafe once all are out. These lights can not be replaced as the whole housing for 2k each side. So 4k to fix a safety issue of daytime running lights.

Daytime running light strip (led) on the passenger side stopped working at about 70,000 miles. The main daytime running light also does not work on that side. Online forums are full of this very same complaint, most failing at about 50-60k miles. The led strip is housed within the entire headlight assembly, so the repair is around $2,000. The part alone is $995 from vw. There is no option to simply replace the led strip. This malfunction does not affect the main headlight at night, only during daytime operation. This problem should require a recall, as it affects visibility by other drivers. I welcome inspection, as this appears to be a very common issue. No other warning messages, etc. Were given.

Dlr lights on passenger side failed at 62k miles. Common problem with vw Atlas lights.

2024 Atlas sel model does not have illuminated controls on the information system below the display. While trying to adjust settings at night it is possible to hit other vehicle functions and potentially get unwanted results that could result in destractions and unsafe driving such as accidentally deactivating the drive assist and driving mode buttons below. Vw fixed the issue in 2025 but should issue a consumer convenience recall to fix this issue.

Led lights on headlight are gone out! parking lights malfunctioning! inspected by car shop and interfering with passing state inspection!.

Led low beam headlights failed while driving at night from a long distance trip. This presented a major safety issue for my family since we could not see the road. This is a common problem facing many vw Atlas owners with low milage too also, vw will not cover the costs involved since each headlamp costs $1200 and is not covered under their highest tier warranty plan (platinum warranty) that we purchased. Now we have a family car that we can only drive during the daytime. California requires daytime running lights on rainy days too which also presents a visibility risk to my family. I recently received a warning from a traffic police officer because I worked late and had to use my bright lights to get home after the sun had set.

The low beams went out and you have to replace the entire front lighting assembly.

Hello, this vehicle (2018 vw Atlas) does have defective headlights (headlight stopped working), high beam works fine but low beam doesn't. I did a thorough research and looks like this issue is very common on all vw Atlas, dealer is telling us that the whole assembly needs to be replaced since the design of this headlight does not have a bulb that can be replaced, the cost of each headlight is over $1,000 each and over $500 in labor and they are on backorder since a lot of people are having this issue. Please assist us on getting this resolved since it is a safety hazard, people cannot drive their cars without lights, vw should be able to do a recall on this bad design/quality headlights.

My car (2021 vw Atlas se) has 63 xxx miles, and the left side running light just went out. I took it to the dealer, who informed me this wasn't covered by any warranty and that replacing the running light would cost $1400. This is ridiculous, and so after doing more research, I found that I am among hundreds of other owners of this vehicle type who are having the same issue around the 60k mile mark. This cannot be a coincidence. Other owners suggested that I submit my claim in the hope that you will get vw to do a recall to fix this issue.