2018 Volkswagen Atlas: battery drain or dead battery

Filed Apr 5, 2021 · Electrical · IN

Battery keeps dying. Seems to be a rampant problem with vw atlas. Https://www.cargurus.com/cars/discussion-t73111_ds837472

Filed Mar 28, 2021 · Engine · 35,665 miles · NC

3 weeks after we bought a pre-owned atlas from a vw dealer, the battery died without any warning. We checked-we did not leave anything on in the car. We tried to jump start it for an hour with no luck, so I googled it. The atlas has had many issues with its battery and many people have been stranded because of this. The battery they put in the vehicle is not powerful for this SUV, especially with the auto-start/stop feature, which permanently drains the cells of the battery so it can't be jumped. The only solution is to replace the entire battery with a new, better one. We called vw corp but they would not do a thing! Issue is, vw knows about this issue and has 'acknowledged' it by extending the initial battery warranty to 3 years from when it was first installed. So you have to be lucky enough to have the battery die within the first 3 years of owning the car or else you are left to pay for something that is defective and they know about.we were 3 months outside of their extended warranty, but only had the car 3 weeks! This is a safety issue: your battery could suddenly die when you're at the light of a busy intersection, in the dark, your kids in the car, etc. And you can't even turn your hazard lights on to warn other cars that your car is dead. Or you could get stranded in the mountains with no cell reception, or out in the middle of nowhere in a storm or blizzard. What's worse is vw uses the auto-start/stop as a selling feature and they do not warn you or disclose this battery issue even though they know about it! They should honestly recall all original atlas batteries and pay to have them replaced with better ones that can hold up to the SUV and the auto-start/stop feature, which you can't turn off permanently, by the way. You'd have to turn it off manually every single time you drive it. It is unacceptable that they know about this and do nothing.

Filed Feb 2, 2020 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 20,000 miles · TX

I own a vw atlas which is 2 months old. Battery died all of a sudden 2 months back. Had to jump start the vehicle. Couple of days back battery was complete down again. I used the car everyday before battery went cold in my garage.

Filed Nov 11, 2019 · Electrical · 27,600 miles · IN

Start/stop system or other electrical "feature" drains the battery to the point the engine won't start. Worse than that, the start/stop system doesn't deactivate itself even when the battery is too low to restart the motor. We were just stranded in a parking lot in a blizzard thanks to the car not starting back up.

Filed Oct 21, 2019 · Electrical · 17,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 volkswagen atlas. While driving various speeds, the battery warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle seized. The vehicle was taken to three rivers volkswagen (3694 washington rd, mcmurray, pa 15317, (724) 941-6100) where it was diagnosed that the battery needed to be replaced. The battery was replaced, but the failure recurred eleven months later. The vehicle was taken back to the same dealer where it was diagnosed that the rear USB drive caused the failure because it drained the battery. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 17,000.

Filed Sep 25, 2019 · Electrical · 26,000 miles · VA

Battery died right after I bought car and it appears this is quite a frequent issue with this car

Filed Apr 1, 2019 · 27,121 miles · VA

Battery died out of nowhere. Now car radio is turning on by itself when car is off. Happens repeatedly after about one minute.

Filed Mar 25, 2019 · Electrical · 31,000 miles · CO

I was stopped at a busy intersection when the battery died. This was the second time in 2 weeks that the battery died. Traffic had to be rerouted around me as I sat waiting for a jump start. I took it to the dealer and they say the batter is on back order which makes me think that this is a systemic problem affecting this vehicle.

Filed Mar 2, 2019 · Airbags, Electrical · 45,000 miles · TX

When riding in the passenger seat the air bag would disengage and engage as the person moved in the seat with the movement of the car. Moved the seat back and it went off, dealership mechanic could find nothing wrong. Last happened this morning, started after a few seconds of grinding, then went 12 MPH, shut down, then started fine. Had the vehicle for 14 months the battery went dead, when pushing the start button it would catch and continue to try starting even when the finger was removed. When it started epc would come up and the vehicle would move at about 12 MPH. Shut the vehicle down and start again, it would run ok. Have had it into repairs twice and nothing is found, yet it continues to start or not start and run slow. Warning comes up check running light, check right headlight, check left headlight. Replaced the battery two months ago, have already had to charge because it has gone dead. It is like the computer panel is not turning off. The vehicle has always been stopped - parked when it will not start, sometimes for a few minutes some times over night after having to use the fog lights. I have all the recalls fixed, but this started after having those fixed. My battery was replaced after 45,000 miles.

Filed Feb 27, 2019 · Electrical · 24,000 miles · MD

Battery went dead without warning. Dealer has car does not know how long it will take to get new battery. Dealer says battery problem

Filed Feb 4, 2019 · Electrical · 10,000 miles · PA

Battery died after less than one year (bad cell)

Filed Jan 31, 2019 · Electrical · 12,000 miles · NH

I was sitting with my car parked in a school pick-up line, no-idle zone, so I had my vw atlas running on it's battery. The battery died out of the blue after a few minutes. There seems to be an ongoing battery issue with my vehicle as it has had a hard time turning over this past week. This car is only 1 year old and shouldn't be facing this issue. I'm glad I wasn't in an intersection when it happened, as I've read has happened to others. I'm taking it in to vw for inspection, but it sounds like I'm one of many who is running into the vw battery issue and I wanted to make it known.