2018 Volkswagen Atlas: jerking or lurching

Filed May 4, 2026 · Driver assistance · WY · 1 injury

I was driving on 2nd Street and realized I wasn’t going to make it through the light, so I stopped. I noticed that I had stopped in the crosswalk, so I decided to back up. Before backing up, I checked everything—I looked in my left mirror, my right mirror, behind me, and also at the rearview camera. There were no cars in sight behind me. As I started backing up, I heard a beeping sound indicating there might be a car behind me. I checked my mirrors again and looked at the camera, but there was still nothing there. I continued backing up and kept hearing the beeping sound. I checked again—mirrors and camera—and still saw nothing, so I kept going. I sped up slightly. Then suddenly, within seconds, my car slammed to a hard stop. It was a very abrupt emergency stop that caused my head to jerk forward and backward. It felt like someone had hit me from behind. Right after, I looked at my dashboard and saw multiple red warning lights and messages indicating that an emergency situation had occurred. I immediately checked my rearview mirror and side mirrors again, but there were no cars behind me at all, only vehicles beside me on my right hand side that were going straight, since I was in a left-turn position. I am in hospital because of my pain. I have pain in my neck and head , I’m dizzy, the room is spinning, I’m nauseous. My nose is stuffy and I feel like I have cold, and my vision is blurry.

Filed Jul 16, 2025 · Fuel system · AL

while operating the vehicle felt a jerk and then the check engine, oil, and EPC warning lights illuminated, and the vehicle decelerated and lost power on the highway, we were able to coast to the nearest parking lot. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed and determined that the high pressure fuel pump was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired But was said the 2018 atlas had a known fuel tank issue which caused all the gas to rush to one side allowing air and pressure changes in the system could this is be what led to the fault of the high pressure fuel pump. The vehicle code was reproduced at the dealership. No prior warning signs.

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 Aug 13, 2024 · Brakes, Electrical · VA

The vehicle slammed on brakes, Electronic Stabilization Control light came on, transmission went into emergency mode, check engine light came on, and many other lights. I had to jerk the car to avoid the ditch since i was in a curve on a highway. Brakes continued to kick back and would not allow me to pull to side of road even in neutral. Battery message came on and said it was not charging. I was stuck in the lane and several people had to swerve or brake hard to miss me.

Filed Mar 8, 2023 · Driver assistance · CA · 2 injuries

First time-Driving on road at 45 mph when my car started flashing red for a forward collision and my cars automatic emergency brake stopped me immediately with nothing in front of me on a clear road. The stop was so forceful we thought we were hit from behind with no one around us. The force causing both my teenage son and I to have strained necks with the force of us stopping immediately. I was forced so far forward my head hit the windshield. Second time-driving in a parking lot at 10 mph when my cars emergency red flashed in dashboard then immediately stopping my car with no car or speed bumps ahead of me. The car behind me nearly hitting me. We got out of car to ensure they had not hit us because again with the force of the immediate stop, all in the car were forced forward in a jerking position. Took into manufacture and they said nothing was showing up and they have no idea what I’m talking about

Filed Nov 2, 2022 · Brakes · PA

On several occasions when braking to come to a stop at a relatively low speed, the car began lurching as pressure was applied to the brake pedal. The brake pedal was jumping up and down and making a hydraulic-type noise. At the same time, a message indicating "Brake Booster Failure" appeared on the panel, and the parking brake light illuminated. The problem resolved after sitting still for approximately 30 seconds. The car is currently being serviced at a Volkswagen dealership, and they have not been able to diagnose any issues.

Filed Oct 18, 2019 · Acceleration, Brakes · 18,000 miles · SC

The car stops on its own while driving, all lights on dash illuminate, and car starts again as if nothing happened. Twice going up the driveway and three times while on back roads. No one was in front of or behind us for two of the times. One of the times, it was during traffic so the speed was slow enough not to have an impact. One other time it stopped about half a car length away from the curb when parking the car. While on the highway, going 70, with the blinker on to get over to the center lane, the car jerked me back to the right..I was in the right lane, a car in front of me, a car behind me, no cars in the middle lane, and two in the far left lane coming up. Absolutely no reason for the car to think there was a car to the left of me. The two cars in my original lane and the two cars in the far left lane remained in those lanes. I have taken the car to two different dealerships, a total of three times and they could not recreate the problem, so they are unable to fix the issues. My case was escalated to the se regional case manager, who put the case in for review to buy back the vehicle and was notified today, 10/18/2019, that they are not going to buy it back but they will continue to service the vehicle under the warranty. How can they service the vehicle if they can't find anything wrong with the vehicle. I can't believe they expect to drive this unsafe vehicle until someone dies! I paid extra to buy this vehicle for the safety features, which is what is causing this to be unsafe. It would be unethical to sale the car, but too unsafe for me to drive and put my family at risk of getting in a vehicle accident and dying. Please have a recall issued to address the issues before someone dies and telling consumers to disable these functions is not the right answer either. I have had issues from the beginning, but thought it was hiccups. Date is approximate.

Filed Feb 15, 2019 · Steering · 30,000 miles · IL

At around 40-50 miles an hour the lane assist will periodically jerk the steering wheel to one side when there is a break in the lines painted on the road. I have had the car to the dealership over 8 times for this issue and they are unable to du[plicate the problem and therefore unable to do anything about it. They tell me to either turn the lane assist off (but I paid extra for the capability) or get used to it because that car is working within the manufacturers specifications.

Filed Jan 31, 2019 · Engine · 7,000 miles · IN

Vehicle hesitates excessively under acceleration at times, in both forward and reverse gears. Won't back up a mild grade (like a driveway) without excessive acceleration, causing the vehicle to lurch. Won't accelerate after slowing behind a turning vehicle without excessive acceleration, causing the vehicle to lurch.

Filed May 31, 2018 · Driver assistance, Steering · 1,700 miles · CT

The driver side, front wheel suspension system has been replaced twice due loud vibration noises, rattling noises, and repeated steering issues. The steering wheel violently jerks to the right or left and pulls the car out of the desired direction of travel. The vw atlas is at the dealership service department for a third time since date of pirchase (feb 2018) for the same steering issues and noise issues. The 'auto-braking' system that's designed to prevent rear end collissions has malfunctioned on two separate occasions. Both malfunctions were when pulling out of a parking lot with a downgraded slope toward the street. On both occasions, as I was pulling out of the parking lot to merge into moving traffic, the electronic braking system engaged as the car was moving down the sloped parking lot exit leaving the vw atlas frozen in place as street traffic was rapidly approaching. I had to put the vw atlas in 'park' and back in 'drive' in order to release the electronic break system. This auto-breaking feature has created to safety situations where my vw atlas was completely stopped while attempting to merge with moving traffic, nearly causing accidents in both situations.

Filed Mar 25, 2018 · Steering · 1,000 miles · TN

Lane assist has jerked car towards oncoming traffic on several occassions, making it a useless and dangerous feature. Adverse weather and inadequate road lines/markings exasperate the issue, but I have had instances where neither of these conditions were present and lane assist still jerked the car into oncoming traffic. In order to avoid an accident while using this feature, one must keep ahold of the steering wheel much stronger than what is typical, otherwise it will pull out of your hand. When it has occurred, I had to actively fight against the pull. This has occurred on city streets as well as on the highway. I keep this feature turned off due to the risk that it poses while left on.