2018 Volkswagen Atlas: false forward collision warnings

Filed Jan 27, 2025 · Driver assistance · NV

My wife was driving to the store on surface streets at about 9am on a clear morning. At a stop light, waiting for the green. After light turned green she accelerated at a normal rate. Midway through the intersection (at about 10 mph) the vehicles emergency braking system engaged for no reason slamming her to an immediate stop. There were no obstructions in front or to either side of the vehicle. There was another car behind her that almost rear-ended her. My wife's safety was at risk because she could have been involved in a collision which may have resulted in injuries to my wife and or others and she was sitting, shaken in the middle of an intersection thinking that someone had hit her from behind. The vehicle has not been taken to the dealership yet. My wife states that the vehicle displayed many indicator warning lights on the instrument panel after it stopped including the Advance Warning lights, but instead of just showing a collision warning with the car, 3-double bars and lanes in red, it showed (in red) a car with 4-double bars all around the vehicle, no lanes and the vehicle shut off. The car started again when she took her foot off of the brake.

Filed Mar 13, 2023 · Driver assistance · CA

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.

Filed Jul 14, 2021 · Driver assistance, Engine · 28,000 miles · VA

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at low speeds downhill, the vehicle stalled. Additionally, the vehicle stalled randomly while near objects in the road when the collision avoidance feature engaged without warning. The contact called the local dealer where the collision avoidance feature was disabled remotely. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 28,000.

Filed Feb 26, 2019 · Acceleration · 85 miles · NY

The forward collision avoidance and object detection were not working when I picked up the new lease vehicle from the dealer on june 19, 2018. Upon starting the vehicle a message appears on the console that the front assist is "not available". Automatic braking, collision avoidance is affected. Acc (assisted cruise control) is also not operational without the front assist functioning. The dealer has made several attempts to fix the problem. There have been five separate attempts by vw service to fix this problem. Each time they corrected the problem it stops working within 1-5 days. I have taken the SUV in for repair for this problem on 7/12/18, 7/24/18, 10/8/18, 2/12/19, 2/26/19.

Filed Sep 6, 2018 · Acceleration, Brakes · 1,000 miles · TX

I have had this car two months and it has now been in service twice. As of today they have had it for two weeks. The autonomous break system is way too sensitive and the car stops going down steep inclines or going over pot holes while in motion. The car has stopped in the middle of driving at least 7 times. I take it to service, they say there is no record in the cars computer of the incident. The front sensors are always beeping. I pull up to a stop sign, the sensors go off. I do a u-turn and the sensors go off. Some days way too excessively, some days not at all. It scares me to death and I slam on my brakes because I am afraid I am going to hit something. I take it to service, they say there is no record of it in the cars computer. Front end collision alert, I was driving down the road and was the only one on the road and the front end collision alert went off. I of course slam on the brakes in the middle of the road with no traffic, thank god no one was behind me. I take it to service, they say there is no record in the cars computer of it. Service has been able to recreate the issue with the front sensors, but says there is no fix. The customer care rep for vw stated today on the phone that they recognize there is an issue with the sensitivity of the autonomous breaking but has no fix for it so I will have to deal with it. I live in houston, I will die if I hit a pot hole and stop. It's unacceptable and a huge safety hazard. I am reading all over the internet about this issue with the autonomous braking problems. It should not be allowed to continue. Someone is going to die. I was able to video the issue with the sensors and vw has the video and recognizes a problem but states that's just the way the car is going to work. States they see the issue there too, but there is no fix.

Filed Jul 17, 2018 · 6,500 miles · FL

On four separate occasions, my 2018 vw atlas sel premium has activated the brake maneuvering system without warning. There is an aggressive braking combined with a loss of control of acceleration. Typically, this occurs when exiting a driveway or parking lot. On two of the occasions, I was merging into heavy oncoming traffic and the system left me stranded in a dangerous location perpendicular to oncoming traffic. This is a huge safety concern for me and especially if my wife and children are in the car. The car is currently at the dealer service center and there is currently one other atlas in the shop for the same complaint. Multiple sources on the internet from other owners have announced similar occurrences. Many have reported that the service center simply tells them to deactivate the system. Well, that is not a fix... It is a temporary work around. Many have stated that vw engineers have reported back that the system works as intended and no fix is required. This is unacceptable. If the system is working as intended and is activating during potentially dangerous situations when there is no actual need for collision avoidance braking maneuvers, the system may need to be redesigned. I have not verified personally as to if vw denies any fault but I will certainly do so if the service department tells me that it is operating normally and I should just disable the feature. I paid extra for that feature, along with other safety features available because I want them for added safety should I, or my family, need them. The feature itself shouldn't put me in a dangerous situation.