2021 Volkswagen Atlas: jerking or lurching

Filed Sep 19, 2025 · Acceleration, Fuel system · TX

The car began revving at lights when I was in drive and stopped at red lights. The normal at rest rev is 0.75 however I have seen it as high as 1.5 and had to put the car into park to reset the acceleration. This had been consistently happening over the past month. The first visit to the dealer, I needed a new battery... that didn't fix the issue. The tech said that after the battery was replaced that the scan showed no error codes. The only codes before the battery replacement were low voltage indicators throughout the car. The next day the same issue happened again. The second scam showed no faults however I asked them to clean the throttle body (which they never suggested) and they did. They said that they recalibrated the new clean throttle body measurement to the computer. For the following 10 days, when I stopped at a light, the tachometer was perfectly stable at 0.75 and there was no "jumping" around like before. Until this day, the acceleration happened at a "stop". However on day 11 after the throttle cleaning, I was SLOWING DOWN to approach a red light and the tachometer revved to 3.0 and I needed to stop immediately and throw it into park. This is so dangerous. I may cause an accident by either lurching forward or needing to hit the breaks to stop the acceleration. There are no error or warning lights that show on the dashboard!!! After the battery was changed, the dealership said they had someone drive it for 10 miles to recreate the issue but found none yet it started up the next day. GROK has been helpful. It suggested first the throttle cleaning which did help, and three other repairs. I'm planning to pay a shop that deals with German cars specifically to scan and evaluate. The car has 43,000 miles on it. This is a testament to German engineering? No longer. I have never seen this in any other of my vehicles. All three uploads failed even though I got them to the most minimum of info.

Filed Aug 29, 2023 · Engine, Fuel system · NC

When coming to a stop, the car RMP's fluctuate up and down, jerk/jolt, and stall while still in drive. The only way to restart the vehicle is to put it into park and then hit start. Sometimes, vehicle status indicates a start/stop error, but no check engine light would come on. I have a huge safety concern about this because the vehicle is in motion when it stalls, and the only way to restart is to put it in park. This causes the flow of traffic to stop abruptly, increasing the outcome of an accident.

Filed Aug 2, 2023 · Acceleration, Brakes · TX

I have several issues. My main concern is when turning on an incline (hill or mountain), my vehicles rpm's rev up and I am unable to stop it for several seconds. Sometimes, it will clunk and the rpms will go back to normal after sever seconds but most times the vehicle just jerks and the rpms come back down. I drive through a street with a 4 way stop very often and the issue happens every time. Secondly, i am not sure if its my steering or my brakes but when i come to a stop there is a clicking noise at my pedal and it makes it a little tougher to stop the vehicle. I can be at a full stop and if i push my brake pedal down more, it will click multiple times. I have also noticed this jerk/click when i make a sharp left turns such as in a parking lot. My vehicle jerks a bit while it clicks and i am concerned something will brake while i am turning or stopping and my wheels wont stop.

Filed May 11, 2022 · Seats · OH · 1 injury

The captain seats lurches forward at a high speed without any warning as well as without any precipitating event. This has occurred three times, once with the driver side captain seat and two times with the passenger seat. The indicator on the top of the seat was down before each event so the assumption was the seat was securely locked in position. A child was in a car seat on the passenger side captain seat during the last unlatching event resulting in the child hitting the back of the passenger seat knocking her front teeth loose and bruising her nose (pic attached). The driver stopped in traffic and put the car in park to get out and assist the child as this was the only way to get the seat back in position. The car is to be inspected by the dealer today.

Filed Apr 16, 2022 · Brakes, Driver assistance · NC

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.

Filed Feb 16, 2022 · Brakes, Driver assistance · OH

At random times during driving the fault electronic parking brake with turn on and abruptly stop the vehicle making it jerk forward. It will trigger the windows to roll down, and errors will pop up stating lane assist is unavailable with beeping noise. This puts my family at risk because I was completely scared when the parking brake automatically came on while exiting the highway and an 18-wheeler truck was behind me with my daughter in the car. I had to completely turn my vehicle off and back on to keep going. When I took my car in on February 1,2022 the Service Manager said that there were multiple vehicles in their possession with the issue. He said it would take a month to get it fixed. After speaker to a regional supervisor for Volkswagen they did not have a ETA for getting the parts needed to perform the repair, yet I am still paying a mthly payment and insurance on a vehicle I own that's not in my possession. I have screenshots from my CarNet app with the warning issues that I shared with the manufacturer. There seems to be no sense of urgency to get this repaired or provide a vehicle that is comparable to fit my family size while waiting on the parts for repair.

Filed Sep 20, 2021 · Driver assistance · TX

I have been having issues with my 2021 Atlas SE R-line Technology since the day after I purchased it. I assumed since it was a brand new car that it would have an adjustment period & I wanted to love it, but I have become afraid to drive it. Several times, the vehicle has slammed to a stop while another vehicle is making a U-turn in front of me, or simply driving next to me, but not close enough that the automatic braking should be engaged. I was almost rear-ended by the vehicle behind me each time as I went from driving to a complete stop. In June, the vehicle came to a hard stop for no reason while backing into my garage and no vehicles or objects were in the way. The dealer told me a door sensor was to blame, but the problem still exists today. The vehicle also freezes at times when put it into drive or reverse. It will eventually jerk forward or backwards after some time, but its very unpredictable. This has even caused my right side mirror to scrape the side of my garage, almost breaking it off when its unexpectedly jerked backwards twice. I informed the dealership, Volkswagon of Clear Lake of my experiences and each time, I am told that they are unable to re-create the issue and there are no reported problems during their inspections, with the exception of door sensor repair. I have no idea how to recreate an issue or help them to do so. I traded in a perfectly good 2014 sedan in hopes of getting more space for my family, but all I've gotten is a headache! I even asked the dealership why the window sticker shows I should have power folding mirrors, but mine don't fold, but I'm told that's something I should've addressed when I purchased the car. My anxiety level goes up every time I drive this vehicle and after reading the VW Owners forums, I'm not alone. The same issues I've experienced, and more, have been reported by so many others, yet we are ignored. Please help us before more people are hurt while driving this dangerous vehicle.