2018 Volkswagen Atlas: start-stop system problems

Filed Jan 17, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · TX

Purchased Car with 17,000 miles on it. At 35,400 miles I had an electrical issue, cars was driving slow and jerking, sputtering while on the highway. the EMP ? light came on. I brought to the Clear Lake Volkswagen and they had to change our alot of the electronic system. I drove my car for about 9 months and my battery that was brand new died. There was a something with the electronic system. All along since I have owned the car, it would randomly stall when I would come to a stop. Never a big issue and just thought it was something with the stop/start. Last week while driving on the highway, 4-7 times when I would just take my foot off the gas the car would stall. I would have to pull off the the side of the highway, (NOT SAFE) put car in park and start it again. I again brought it to the dealership and they told me it is the Carbon gasket filter along with a clogged fuel line. I am hearing that has happened alot. I AM SELLING THIS CAR AS SOON AS I GET IT BACK. It has had engine issues since 6 months owning. NEVER BUYING VOLKSWAGON AGAIN.

Filed Jul 25, 2024 · Engine · AZ

The car started to feel like it had the shivers. Could feel some kind of vibrations of sorts. Some time prior to this the car would stall when it would switch with the engine start stop function. We were told nothing was wrong with it. Prior to the vibrations or around the same time the check engine light went on. We took the car to the dealership and were told we had low pressure in one of the cylinders and near low in some others. They recommended a new engine.

Filed Oct 26, 2023 · Electrical · 87,000 miles · IN

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that the Auto START/STOP feature failed to operate as needed. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated while pressing the START/STOP button, the vehicle failed to start immediately. The contact stated that the vehicle eventually started after several attempts. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who retrieved several fault codes. The vehicle was also taken to the dealer where it was purchased, and the contact was informed that the START/STOP battery was likely the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that there were no recalls on the VIN. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 87,000.

Filed Jan 2, 2021 · Brakes, Electrical · 30,000 miles · ME

Atlas is on its 3rd battery in 30,000 miles. When the battery fails it will die in an intersection during auto start stop. After boosting electronic steering, brakes, adaptive lighting, regular lighting, blinkers all fail and often limits to 15 MPH

Filed May 14, 2019 · Electrical · 23,000 miles · AL

I was driving on a busy highway and came to a stop in traffic. The auto start-stop activated, and the engine turned off while I was stopped. Traffic started moving again so I took my foot off the brake, which is typically when the engine restarts, but the engine was completely silent and the car was dead. I tried restarting it to no avail. I had this same issue two months ago, and volkswagen replaced the battery. After the car died, I got an error message saying the battery was low and I should drive to recharge it, however at that point the battery was too dead to drive. I really wish this error message would have shown up before the car died. Why did the auto start-stop activate if the battery didn't have enough juice to activate the engine?? Two different batteries, same issue.

Filed Mar 4, 2019 · Electrical · 21,000 miles · AL

I pulled up to a red light at a busy intersection and the auto start/stop activated stopping the engine. When the light turned green, the engine would not restart and a warning popped up stating the battery was almost dead and I should drive to charge the battery. It was a little too late for that! I did not receive any type of warning prior to the battery dying, and why on earth would the start/stop allow the engine to stop if the battery didn't have enough juice to restart the vehicle?? I received a lot of angry honking from people stuck behind me in the intersection, but thankfully a cop nearby saw what was going on and stopped all traffic to assist with pushing my vehicle off the road. My car is barely a year old, this should not have happened. I was three miles from a huge international airport and on my way to catch a flight, but instead I had to wait on roadside assistance to come help my stranded vehicle.

Filed Feb 12, 2019 · Electrical · 20,000 miles · MO

Vehicle battery stopped working within less than an year, dealership service is hard to work unless the car is completely dead and will inform customers that the battery was undersized on the vehicle. It will suddenly die when auto start/stop function is engaged, it can happen while stopped at a red light.

Filed Feb 4, 2019 · Electrical · GA

Twice I have been stranded because the auto start stop is not providing enough power to the battery and therefor the vehicle will not start sometimes without being jumped. I have been stranded twice because the auto shut off has turned the vehicle off at a light and then the vehicle would not restarte.

Filed Dec 31, 2018 · Electrical · 15,000 miles · ND

The battery on my vehicle has died multiple times. It is only a year old but it has died while driving in the auto start/stop mode and after parked at work and in my garage. Today it was -25 degrees f and it completely died on me after being at work for 4 hours, which was incredibly dangerous. Also, more often than not, my auto start on my key fob doesn't work either.

Filed Dec 13, 2018 · Electrical, Engine · 12,000 miles · CA

Car automatic start/stop function frequently fails to restart engine. This has happened over ten times with two of those almost ending in me being rear ended at high speed. Dealer says battery is defective and replaced the battery but issue is happening again. No way to permanently disabled start/stop function. This is a safety hazard.

Filed Sep 24, 2018 · Electrical, Engine · 250 miles · IN

The most concerning safety issue is the malfunctioning auto start/stop system. On four occasions, it has shut off the vehicle while in motion, pulling into a parking spot, resulting in loss of power steering. On a separate occasion, it shut-off the vehicle while stopping to pay the parking attendant but failed to restart the vehicle when I released the brake and step on the accelerator. I had to put the vehicle in park and manually restart the vehicle. I have also had multiple experiences when I have turned off the auto start/start when I started the vehicle only to have it reactivate itself and shut-off the vehicle when I stopped at an intersection. Other issues involve the "infotainment" system and climate control electronics. On multiple occasions, the radio has turned itself on after I have turned it off. As for the climate control system, it periodically deactivates the rear passenger compartment climate control and shuts off airflow to the rear passenger compartment and I have to manually reset the system through the button on the dashboard. These experiences indicate the vehicle electronic and software systems are unstable and the volkswagen dealer has not been able to fix the issues, as they have recurred after the dealer claimed to fix the issues. I am concerned about my family's safety in this malfunctioning vehicle. The date below is the most recent event involving the auto start/stop system. The first occurrence was in mid-february 2018, approximately two weeks after purchasing the vehicle.