My vehicle while driving on the highway at 65-70mph had the automatic emergency brake system engage. We came to a complete stop and if the highway was not empty could have resulted in a traumatic incident for my family and I. I called Volkswagen and they do not have a fix for this issue. This is our only vehicle and we are not comfortable driving it. It could happen again and could be worse than the first time.
2021 Volkswagen Atlas driver assistance complaints
Page 2 of 4: complaints 11 to 40 of 73, newest first, as owners wrote them.
I was driving on surface streets at approximately 25mi/hr when the car suddenly breaked on its own all lights in the dash turned red and the car made an alarm sound. This lasted a few seconds but the cars behind me had to break in order not to rear end me. The sudden break felt like I got hit by another car
The forward collision warning activated out of the blue and the automatic emergency braking was applied for no reason. Was driving to go pick up daughter from school on March 11, 2024 at approximately 11:50 AM. Driving on neighborhood road with speed limit of 40 mph. Driving at 40 mph with no other vehicles anywhere near me in front, behind, or in opposing lane. All of a sudden the front collision warning light on dash popped up and the emergency brakes applied for no reason! This caused the vehicle to seize up and come to a screeching halt. Luckily there were no vehicles behind me that could have rear-ended me, and there were no other vehicles coming from opposing direction that I would might have slid into. There was NO reason why this should have happened. There were NO vehicles anywhere in the vicinity. No leaves falling, no debris in the roadway, nothing. No inclement weather, it was sunny and dry but cold approximatley 40 F. Inspected front of vehicle afterwards and there was nothing obstructing the sensors or cameras on front end.
Component Malfunction: Emergency Braking system (EBS) engaged without warning systems alerting inside the car cockpit at a speed of 50 MPH on a high speed 4’ lane street. The car would not move forward and disengage the EBS until the ignition was turned off and appeared to reset the car. The driver was able to drive to the next driveway and inspect the car and review the site on the street where the car suddenly engaged the EBS. There was no visible evidence of debris or obstacles in the path of travel. Safety: The sudden stop physically jolted the driver, causing muscle soreness for several days. There were no cars in the area at the time, if there had been, the car would have created a major accident due sudden stop in traffic and potential physical damage to the driver. The sudden stop did impact the drivers shoulders and back muscles for several days of soreness. Dealership confirmation / Inspection: The issue was reported to the dealership and the next day was driven to the dealership (at the request of the dealership service team). The dealership is currently inspecting the vehicle. No other inspections occurred outside the owners visual inspection of the wheel wheels and brakes immediately after the EBS incident Prior warning lights / related incidents: There was warning lamps that lasted for about a mile of driving approximately a week before this incident and the car sensors have suddenly gone off in the past without any cars in the vicinity. The car has also been having wire harness issues in the drivers door that result in unresponsive or opposite operation of the window switch on the drivers side door.
My brake warning comes on from time to time while driving, adaptive acc warning light comes on from time to time letting me know I need to stop using it, front sensors comes on while driving letting me know I'm to close to an object while driving and there's no vehicle there or close to my SUV. This has happen on several occasions and been taken to vw service department, (vw of oakland), and was told they can't recreate the problem . Last date this happen was 01/03/24, I have video of the incident on my cell phone.
The gps in the vehicle navigation shows an inaccurate location of the vehicle, which causes problems for adaptive cruise, and vehicle safety notifications on the dash. Incorrect speed limit indicators occur as a result, and vehicle navigation is rendered useless. It looks ridiculous to all passengers as the vehicle will show on GPS somewhere it isn’t, even driving through fields where there are now roads. Problem is intermittent and can last for days or minutes at a time. Known problem on the 2021 as well as more recent models of the vehicle.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance system erroneously activated causing the vehicle to suddenly stop in the middle of the road. The contact indicated that during the failure, no other vehicles or objects were nearby to cause the system to be activated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. After retrieving the vehicle, the failure occurred a second time. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 11,300. The dealer installed a new door ajar switch and safety harness service but not replaced.
I was hit from behind and slammed into the car in front of me while stopped at a light. The collision totaled my Atlas at 95% The air bags did not deploy nor did their give a warning for the collision. The damage was so severe that the inner frame of the vehicle is beyond repair. Recent warranty repairs were done to this vehicle prior to the accident one set to the dash electronics in the .ast 4 months. This car remains at the body shop awaiting INS settlement for the car
As part of the existing recall on my vehicle, I am noticing serious mechanical issues ranging from the parking brake engaging when approaching a stop, the rear window rolling down (it's 0 degrees out), failure of Adaptive Cruise Control and a host of other electrical issues. The dealer is unable to see the car for 3 weeks and despite acknowledging my problems are consistent with the recall and have no loaner available for me in the meantime. VW Care informed me that my only recourse is to "call around" until I find one that can help me sooner. They will not offer to reimburse for a rental vehicle. This is unacceptable, the problem is not the dealer but a mechanical issue and VW needs to recognize that if their dealerships can't help because of workload then they need to support their customers.
While driving in a city, the emergency parking brake would switch on everytime i slowed down or came to a stop. Multiple other warnings happened such as lane assistance unavailable. And one of my windows would roll down part way.
We have an open case with Volkswagen, but the remedy part is on back order, in the meantime we have to use this unsafe car. The dealership where car was purchased from is not providing a loaner/rental despite being told by our Volkswagen care team specialist that he is obligated to. The car emergency brake comes on at every stop(I’m shook at every stop, knots in my stomach every single stop I make, stop sign, trying to park, red lights), driver side front and back windows open spontaneously, non stop beeping(anxiety inducing) when car is parked idle, driver side window doesn’t open manually pressing the button, CAR DOES NOT LOCK On driver door, like not at all, alarm will go on sometimes when opening, but it is never locked posing a serious threat, anyone can open my door if I am stoped at a light, or idling in car. Car can be stolen at any point, I feel unsafe and very distressed.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 MPH, the message "Apply Brakes" displayed and the vehicle abruptly stopped. During the failure, there were no other vehicles or objects were nearby to cause the Forward Collision Avoidance safety feature to be activated. In addition, the contact indicated that while driving the vehicle, safety messages would be displayed that included the cruise control and parking sensors unavailable. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer was contacted and the contact was informed that the failure was related to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 22V152000 (Air Bags); which included a wiring harness repair however, the parts were not yet available. The failure mileage was 31,000.
VW Atlas 2021 is having issues with the driver side harness which there is an active recall without repair for. Car started to show error messages related to parking brake, air bag functionality, windows roll up and down, parking brake has engaged while driving in early April. Multiple dealers contacted and no loaner vehicle or repairs identified or offered. Car feels completely unsafe to drive due to random braking and error messages.
Car will brake unexpectedly while driving which almost caused me to have several accidents while approaching traffic lights. Windows also open unexpectedly. All dashboard lights turn on while driving. Not very safe to drive at all.
Brought to dealer on 3/04/2022 engine check light was coming on and off at time and hill start assist error, drivers door module wire harness has shorted out and parts are on back order. Power seat moving by itself. Driver side rear window going down by itself. Remote start not working. Emergency brake not working and applying itself while driving. Issue still has not been resolved.
3/2/22 - radio randomly displayed "Loading...." 3/5/22 - message displayed about driver door contact switch 3/12/22 - message displayed saying "Fault: Electronic parking brake". Another message was displayed saying "Attention: The engine is running". About 8 hours later, I was approaching a red light, when I put on the brake to slow down the parking brake self engaged causing me to come to a sudden stop. The car behind me almost rear-ended me. Twenty minutes later I tried to roll down the driver's window. It would not roll down, then the back driver's window started rolling down, then the front driver's window rolled down, then both windows was going up and down.
Sometime in Dec 2021, i have started experiencing issues with the car where the driver side back window rolls down warning messages popup saying driver side door fault etc with the check engine light coming on. What is concerning is when the vehicle is going at slow speeds (<5mph), the electronic parking brake engages automatically making the vehicle come to a sudden stop with jerks. Weird thing is, the problem is present on some days and some days the vehicle is completely normal without any warnings, sounds etc. Took the vehicle in for an oil change and routine maintenance and was told this is a known issue and there is a recall on it, bit no fix available.
The remedy to my recall is not being performed within a reasonable time. I was in the road with my one year old and I was scared to get on the highway I was afraid someone would rear end us as the vehicle stops and turns on the check engine light and a warning light on my dash. I was driving and when I was coming to a stop the vehicle stops on it on and doesn’t give the person behind me enough time to break. I would honestly see if there is something that can been done as o don’t feel safe in my vehicle but I can’t afford to rent a car in the mean time it is my only transportation my son has a doctors appt @ 130 today and I’m afraid for his life and to drive there. I would really appreciate any help that you can offer.
Hello. I have approx 12000 miles on my vehicle. Vehicle last week gave numerous warning lights and would not start. After leaving it a few hours I was able to start it but the engine light was on and warning that ABS was not active. Took it to the dealership who said there is a recall with no fix for a door wiring harness. Today, while driving the car, it came to a compete stop on the roadway and would not allow me to turn it back on. I drove the car back home and it would continuously stop and I would have to restart. I almost got into two accidents. There needs to be a more serious recall as someone is going to get hurt. Dealership says there is still no fix.
Although this is not the first issue with my VW 2021 Atlas, it will be my last. As I was driving down a two lane highway to my daughter's softball practice, the emergency break turned on and my vehicle completely jolted to a stop. By the grace of God, no one was behind us. Prior to this recent incident, the windows started to roll up and down on their own and the "Fault Parking Break" alert will appear on my dash. This occurs randomly, day or night, sunny or rainy, cold or hot. The vehicle has been to the dealership for this issue, but the alert continues. I purchased this vehicle March of 2021, issues did not occur until December and it has gone down hill quickly. Right now, this vehicle is deemed "undrivable" and will be at the dealership. This vehicle is also under the new recall where the airbags do not deploy. There is no fix for this.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at 20 MPH, the vehicle experienced phantom braking. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a wiring harness failure. The dealer informed the contact that the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.
Several times while driving at 30-35 mph, 3-4 times so far, the emergency brake will just suddenly slam the car to a halt with the emergency brake. Also, the warning lights, possibly for collision, will just go off for no reason at all. Very scary and very dangerous. I have taken it to the dealer several times, as I have two young children, and they have not been able to diagnose or fix the problem.
I was driving between 25-30 mph at dusk. Suddenly a loud red warning appeared on the dashboard, and the car came to a screeching halt. I did not touch the brakes - it happened all on its own. There was nothing in front of me, such as a collision. It was not raining. The only factor that changed, which might be completely coincidental, is that I was just going over top of a large metal plate on the street that is used to cover road construction. The plate was just like any other, and stuck up maybe an inch. By the brakes slamming on, I was hit by the car behind me, who was also going 25-30 mph. This caused my passenger to be thrashed around - luckily neither of us were hurt. The driver of the other vehicle was not hurt but his car's hood was badly damaged. He had two kids in the back seat. I see this article, but when discussing it with the dealer, they claimed to have no knowledge of the issue or recall, even though it says the issue has been happening since 2020. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/19/vw-recalls-246000-atlas-suvs-due-to-issue-with-airbags-brakes.html If this had occurred when a car was not just right behind me, but maybe 20 car lengths back, they would have plowed into me going 30 mph. This could have been extremely bad, and someone could die from such a situation. This is not the first time the loud warning light has come on for no reason. Every so often it will come on, even though there is nothing close to the vehicle. However, it is the first time it has braked like this. I have also found the software to be very glitchy at other times. Suddenly the radio might turn off, the navigation system goes very wrong, and so forth. When mentioning this to the dealer, they blamed Apple due to CarPlay. When I explained that these have nothing to do with CarPlay, they had no response. A software update did just occur maybe a week or two ago. I don't know if this is related to the brake issue.
While my wife was driving home from work, all lights on the dashboard illuminated and the airbag warning symbol came on as well as both front windows opened on their own. Upon arrival at home as she pulled into the drive the emergency brake momentarily activated. Luckily the brake activated once she had pulled out of the main traffic or she may have been hit from behind. She called Bud Brown, our local VW dealer and was advised it was a known issue with the wiring on a door harness. She was advised that this part is not available and may not be available for many months and that there was nothing we could do. At present due to the known nature of the issue, it has not been inspected by VW or anybody else. At present when starting my car, only the airbag warning light is lit up. The car is available for inspection at any time and by anybody.
Driving my daughter to school and the car threw itself in park with the emergency parking brake. There has been a few instances of this along with windows rolling down, the car throwing codes and alarms going off. I was driving 10mph when it threw itself in park throwing my daughter and I forward and almost Getting rearended. This is NOT safe. Dealer is aware and has ordered the part with NO clue when they will receive it to fix my car.
Warning lights and alarms would go off, the driver’s side windows would roll down and the car would suddenly brake while in traffic.
The vehicle slams the breaks while breaking, it is very violent and hurts my back when it does it. This would be the second time this same part had been replaced when it finally gets replaced. I have several close encounters with people almost rear ending me due to the sudden stops
My 2021.5 Atlas had experienced issues with window rolling down and parking break initiated as I was coming to a stop on Jan 3 2022. Dealership told me the harness needed to be replaced and they think I was ok to drive and would contact me when the part was in. Fast forward a month later I could barely drive as it kept breaking, I was driving and accelerating on to an expressway going almost 50 mph and the break initiated jolting my car (it felt like I had been hit). And I almost was as my collision alert went off when someone almost rear ended me! I drove straight to enterprise and had my atlas towed to the dealership-were it is still sitting. I have heard there is a recall yet when I enter my vin my vehicle is not listed on the recall so not sure how accurate they are able to find out which vehicles have this issue. My car literally had 9000 miles and is not drivable and not safe.
While driving on March 12, 2022, multiple alarms beeping and warning indicators appeared on the dashboard and the emergency brake suddenly engaged immediately halting the car to a complete stop. This happened multiple times during a short drive. On March 16, 2022, while this vehicle was parked with the engine running, more warning indicators appeared. The first was " Fault: Electronic parking brake" and the second was "Caustion: Engine is running". Right after that, two windows partially rolled down on their own. About 5 minutes later, as I was pulling into my driveway, the same two warning indicators came back on - this time the vehicle was in motion. This vehicle is scheduled for routine maintenance on March 22, 2022 and this was mentioned to the service department at the time the appointment was made. The vehicle has not yet been inspected. There is no warning when these issues are going to happen making it unsettling to drive this vehicle not knowing when or if it will abruptly stop on the road or highway. This is definitely a safety issue. Photos of the March 16, 2022 indicent are attached to this.
Our car starting firing many warning every time we would drive it including breaking without us telling it to. We took it in twice for it to be fixed, the first didn't work and the second they replaced a door chasey and I hope it works long term. Very scary to be driving with 2 little kids in the back and a possessed car. Super dangerous.
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