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.
2021 Volkswagen Atlas electrical complaints
Page 5 of 6: complaints 101 to 130 of 149, newest first, as owners wrote them.
When driving at roughly 50+ mph the windows roll down one their own and the driver door contact switch error comes on. Once slowing down, the parking break engages when you are still moving the vehicle. I have contacted VW to get this serviced and they have told me there is no fix currently and that I will be charged to provide my own rental vehicle.
The shocks will all of a sudden come up with “parking brake Fault”, “start/stop” fault, “driver door switch fault”, Che j engine light comes on. It will then randomly throw on the parking brake while driving causing the vehicle to come to a complete sudden stop while driving then the back windows will roll down. It does this off and on…
Shortly after purchase, we would get warning signals, without cause. Then at 18000 miles, both passanger windows rolled down and would not roll up. After recycling the engine countless times, window rolled up. Took to dealer. They stated the window harness needs to be replaced, but not apart of a recall. Stated it could take six months to get replacement part, but it was safe to drive. The next day, warning signs all over dash went off, windows rolled down and would not go up. Contacted VW corporate. Was told by corporate, this part is the "heart" of the electric system and it could cause a safety issue, but they had no loaners. I was told the they are unsure went the part would be in. So now I have an undrivable, less than a year old vehicle, with no replacement. I am still making payments and I am expected to keep that update to date, even though VW has produced an undrivable, unsafe vehicle. I was told by VW American, I would be contacted again by 3/25/22. There should be no reason we have thousands of vehicles on the road, we know are unsafe. This is putting not just VW owners and their families at risk, but those who are on the road with them.
Airbags Light on , associated with faulty wire harness. Car at dealer waiting for part. Back ordered for 5 months: told unsafe to drive. Dealer said airbag delay after collision
After starting the car and trying to reverse, the car would not go into reverse. In addition all warning on the dashboard went off and the windows rolled down. The car would not move. After shutting down and restarting the car it proceeded to accelerate only to suddenly brake in the middle of the road as if the emergency brake was activated. The windows would roll down again and all the warning signs on the dash would appear. I took my car to the dealer and I was told that it was the door latch and there was no Estimated amount of time for completition. This has been 4 weeks now. I have had my car for only 6 months.
1. My car has randomly slammed on the brakes while driving. I was driving with my daughter and when it happened, she thrusted forward and almost hit her head on the dash. The seatbelt did lock. I reported it to my dealer and the car was checked out and found no issues. They just said that people have been complaining about "squeaky" brakes, which I have taken my car in for before along with a grinding noise coming from my front driver side brakes and was told nothing is wrong. 2. Two times my car has turned completely off while driving. I brought it to the dealer and was told they couldn't find anything wrong. It happened 2 times in 1 week. One time was pulling into a parking spot and another time was when we were at a stop and the light turned green for us to go. I had to put my car in park and restart my engine. What would happen if I was driving 50 MPH on a highway and the power went off and I had no brakes and couldn't slow down? I was very upset that the dealer could not find anything wrong. I have left 3 messages for the service manager and he never returned my call. I do not feel safe in my car but am stuck with this car for another 2 years. Something needs to be done! My neighbor's Atlas is the same year and model and his car has been in the shop for over a month with the same issues. 3. I was in a drive thru last week and the "central warning light" went on with another light ( I can't rememberthe other light) and the service department couldn't find anything wrong.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 MPH, the parking brakes and alarms illuminated on the instrument panel. The driver’s and rear passenger’s side windows rolled up and down independently. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be diagnosed; however, the cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was notified; however, informed the contact that parts were not available. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 MPH and decelerating, the vehicle stopped abruptly. The driver's side rear window independently rolled down and the parking brake inadvertently engaged. The contact was able to pull over and drive to her residence. Additionally, the alarm was beeping. The check engine and battery warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that a message was displayed that the engine was still running. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that the door harness needed to be replaced; however, the parts were on back order. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified but no further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 15,000.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that when starting the vehicle with the auto start first then after getting into the vehicle, there was a 12 volt battery in which was not charging, as well as, advising the contact to stop driving the vehicle warning displayed. The vehicle's start and stop failed to function. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the alternator had failed and the wiring harness needed to be replaced. The contact found that their vehicle's failure related to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 21V616000 (Electrical System) however their VIN was not included. The vehicle had not been repaired as of yet due to the necessary part was on back order. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case regarding the matter. The failure mileage was 6,009.
Could automatically brake at slow speeds, windows would go up and down basically the car would go crazy.
My vehicle has had 2 fuel pump replacements, my emergency brake has gone off while driving and while idling 3x slamming me to a hard stop and end arguing my kids and I. I have also had multiple events of being in a turn lane or busy intersection with my automatic start/stop turned off and my car will not engage and throws a sign up on dash telling me to restart my car. This is dangerous! Consumer stated they knew it was a safety issue but could not help me.
The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH on the highway, the brakes applied without the brake pedal being depressed. The contact was able to pull over and made it home safely. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and it was diagnosed as the wiring harness needing to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 12,000.
Between mid-November and early December 2021, my 2021 Volkswagen Atlas started randomly braking while the vehicle was in motion. There were loud beeping sounds, multiple error notifications on the dash, and the rear driver's side window kept randomly going down. I recently read an article from an online publication called autoblog, which indicated to me that this problem is occurring in these vehicles at an alarming rate. The dealership has provided a loaner, which is significantly less than the vehicle I purchased. Meanwhile I am paying $564 per month for a vehicle I cannot use, and the dealership is unable to provide me with a date that the vehicle will be repaired. We are not into month four of this issue with no resolution in sight.
Hello, I'm writing to share a safety concern regarding the 2021 VW Atlas. In January 2022, I was driving with my small children in the vehicle. The alarm went off for no reason when I first entered the car. Next, my passenger side windows went down on their own and would not go back up. All sorts of alarms/light went off in my car. Next, it started to throw my vehicle into emergency brake while driving. VERY DANGEROUS! This should be a safety recall. The vehicle has been in the shop for 2 months, waiting on a part.
While traveling at approximately 45 mph, my vehicle suddenly stopped with no reason. My window on the driver side and left rear passenger window rolled down approximately 2-4 inches, my windows locked, driver side door kept locking and unlocking. My emergency brake suddenly engaged and multiple warning lights came on. I had to turn my car off for it to start responding normal again. It happened first 1/3/22 and again 1/26/22.
Parking break engages while driving. Windows roll down door contact light flashes
Car randomly shuts engine off completely when start/stop is activated and at a stop. I’ve had to put the car from gear into park and restart the car due to this issue. I consistently get fault warnings for the electronic parking brake and driver side control panel in which the drivers side and passenger window randomly roll down.
The entire electrical system went haywire. Driver aids malfunctioned, windows up/down, the parking brake engaged while driving. Dealer and VW claim it is an issue with the wiring harness. They have no parts to repair the car and there are a dozen more with the same issue at the dealer.
I purchased a brand new 2021 VW Atlas Cross Sport . In January I started experiencing major electrical sensor failures including automatically opening the windows, engaging the electronic parking brake when in motion, power steering sensor warning, engine warning and epc warning. VW has told me this is a wiring harness failure and they have over 6000 cars with this problem and can not give me a date as to when the parts will be available. I can not drive the car any distance for fear it will break down as I have had to have it towed once already. VW of America has provided no resolution for time to fix this brand new car.
My wife, 4-year-old and 3-year-old were driving down a 3 lane NYS Highway at approximately 20mph when my abovementioned vehicle came to an immediate stop due to the fact that the parking brake automatically engaged. Error messages popped up on my informational display stating driver door contact fault as well a parking brake error. My vehicle was brought to the dealership, and it was determined that the cause is a faulty wiring harness from engine compartment to the driver’s door. This could have been worse if my wife was traveling at a higher rate of speed or if there were cars behind here when this happened. Fortunately, enough that was not the case in this situtation.
My car check engine light came on, the car stated beeping loudly, the automatic breaking system slammed the breaks on for no reason repeatedly and the windows were going up and down by themselves. The only way to get the car to stop all of this was to turn it off put it in park and restart it at which point it would move forward a little bit before the brakes would slam on again and the beeping and windows would repeat. I had two children in the car and it was very unsafe as the car kept stopping itself suddenly in city traffic. There was nothing wrong with the car before this all started. I took the car strait to the dealer where I was told they do not have the part to fix it (door harness) and they have no loaners to offer.
When I was driving anytime I started to slow down the emergency brake would activate and apply the emergency brake to stop the car. The back window also went down. The check engine light and warning message came on saying there was an error with the auto start stop feature. The dealership advised that the driver door wiring harness was needing replaced and they have been seeing this in the 2021 atlas.
According to my local dealership, the microchip in the driver door is malfunctioning. My car incorrectly detects that the driver door is open and puts the parking brake on while the car is running or in drive. Alerts like, “error: driver door contact switch” pop up. “Cruise control not available” has also popped up.These alerts did not begin to pop up until the parking brake started being triggered on February 9th when the car was 4.5 months old with 5,000 miles. The driver side window as well as the window behind it will also roll down at times when this happens. To get my car to release the parking brake, I have to turn the car off and open and close the driver door. On average, I have to repeat this process 5 times before the car will detect that the door is closed and disengage the parking brake. My car has incorrectly alerted me that the driver door was open while I was driving down the highway. According to the dealership, the part that needs to be fixed is on backorder nationwide and I won’t be able to get my car fixed until July. They are also out of loaners because so many people are having this issue. My safety as well as the safety of others in cars around me is at risk as the car will put the parking brake on thinking that the driver side door is open.
Upon starting vehicle, dash screen indicated that there was an issue with the Driver Door Contact Switch, and back driver's window lowered automatically. This automatically triggers the emergency brake to engage. If you disengage the emergency brake, the vehicle beeps, acting like a door is open, even with all doors closed. There were other incidents where this did not happen until driving on the road, in which the vehicle would engage the emergency brake as it was stopping. The brake would have to be manually disengaged in order to keep driving down the street. This may have been a safety hazard to others around if the vehicle all of a sudden turned on the emergency brake. This problem is not new to the local Volkswagen dealer, where my vehicle has been for the last month. Eight other vehicles are there with the same issue. They said that a door harness replacement is needed, but this part is backordered for the foreseeable future.
The car started giving multiple warnings and the check engine light went on. When these warnings started, it would force the windows to go down and put the emergency brake on. It is a huge safety concern because when this issue worsens, it will throw the emergency brake on any time the car begins to slow down - so if a driver is actively driving the car and slowing for traffic - it will suddenly have an emergency brake trying to bring the car to a stop. The issue (Driver Door Contact Switch Error) has been confirmed by dealership. Car has been in the shop for 2 months waiting for a replacement part but in the meantime the dealer has multiple Atlas's waiting to be fixed for the same issue and the problem is all over the internet. It is unsafe to have these cars on the road.
Alerts of door being open, back windows then go down and parking break engages out of nowhere. The Check engine light comes on and there is a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark. Driver Door Contact Switch”, “Attention: Engine is Running”, “Fault Electronic Parking Brake”, and the Emergency Brake automatically engaging.
Due to a malfunctioning driver door wire harness, multiple errors occur, including a electric parking brake issue. This causes the vehicles parking brake to engage while in coming to a stop but still in motion. This does cause the vehicles abruptly come to a stop. Additionally the wire harness malfunction has caused an issue with the driver side door locking function and driver side windows. Often times the driver side door does not lock when in drive and in motion, as well as trying to lock using the key fob and in park. The driver side windows randomly lower 3-4 inches, when driving as well. I am especially concerned with the parking brake, there have been a few occasions where I have almost been hit from the rear due to the abrupt stop. I have taken the car in to the dealership and have been told the part is not available and they have multiple vehicles waiting over two months for the part. Here is a link with others that have the same issue. https://www.vwatlasforum.com/threads/error-driver-door-contact-switch.6359/
The component that failed is the Driver Contact Door Switch and the electronic parking brake. My safety and my children’s safety and the people behind me are put at risk of an accident if my parking break comes on while driving. I took it to the dealer on December 27,2021 and they said that it is the driver door wiring harness it controls everything in the car. They said they would order a new harness but it is on back order. I called dealer on Monday Feb 21,2022 and they still don’t have the part, I explained to them that as I was driving the windows automatically rolled down and I got the message contact door switch and parking break faults. They told me to deactivate the start stop system. I explained to them that it was deactivated and I got an oh well. I am worried about driving the vehicle and also teaching my son how to drive on a learners permit which we have put on hold until the problem is solved.
The driver door contact switch and door harness is faulty, which triggers several errors while driving. The lane keep assist and departure warning does not work when this is happening. Additionally, when braking, the car has several alarms that chime repeatedly, including low coolant, driver door contact switch, electronic parking brake failure, hill start assist, and dynamic cornering lights. The car beeps nonstop while the brakes are applied and the car is at a complete stop. The parking brake also engages when the brakes are applied, making it very unsafe to drive. When I called the dealership to schedule an inspection, they reported that they don’t need to inspect the car because they know exactly which part is causing the problem, and ordered me the part. However the part is on back order, so I’ve had to drive the car in this condition, as they will not put me in a rental. The dealership has Informed me there is nothing else they can do, and Volkswagen customer care will not respond to my requests to discuss.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2021 Volkswagen Atlas?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history