2023 Volkswagen Atlas

The defect

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport and 2023-2024 ID.4 vehicles. Certain bolts on the chassis, brake system and/or suspension (such as bolts for certain cross member, engine mount, control arm, subframe, rear brake carrier, etc.) of affected vehicles may not have been correctly tightened during the manufacturing process.

The risk

A loss of vehicle control increases the risk of a crash.

The remedy

Dealers will replace the bolts as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 25, 2025. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 42HX.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 546 vehicles across all model years covered

The defect

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Atlas and 2020-2024 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may experience a fault in the wiring and deactivate the front passenger air bag when the seat is occupied.

The risk

A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.

The remedy

Dealers will replace the PODS sensor mat and wiring harness, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 30, 2024. Owner notification letters will be mailed in phases, on October 18, 2024, December 10, 2024, December 20, 2024, and January 17, 2025. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69PZ.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 271,330 vehicles across all model years covered

The defect

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Audi Q5 Sportback, Q5, 2022-2023 Volkswagen Atlas FL, and Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The engine connecting rod bearings may become damaged, which can result in engine failure.

The risk

A damaged engine can result in engine failure and a stall, increasing the risk of a crash. If the engine failure causes an oil leak, it can increase the risk of a fire.

The remedy

Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace an affected engine, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed December 6, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298 and Audi's customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 13i4 (VW) and 13i5 (Audi).

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 76,515 vehicles across all model years covered

The defect

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2023 model year Atlas FL and Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. Certain brake lines may leak at the threaded connections.

The risk

A brake fluid leak may increase the distance required to stop, increasing the risk of a crash.

The remedy

Dealers will replace the affected brake lines, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on November 23, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 47T2.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 555 vehicles across all model years covered

The defect

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Atlas, 2020-2023 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021-2023 Atlas FL vehicles. The door wiring harness electrical contacts may corrode, disrupting the electrical connection and delaying the deployment of the driver or passenger front side air bag during a side impact crash.

The risk

A delayed air bag deployment can increase the risk of injury.

The remedy

Dealers will secure and, as necessary, replace any the front door wiring harnesses showing a fault code, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 20, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 97GF.

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. · up to 222,892 vehicles across all model years covered

Closed preliminary evaluation · opened September 28, 2023 · closed December 18, 2024

forward collision avoidance

On September 28, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE23017) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Front Assist automatic emergency braking (AEB) system in model year (MY) 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles.The reports alleged that activation of the AEB system occurred while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Volkswagen indicated that it is aware of a total of 292 reports that may relate to the alleged defect in MY 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles.Volkswagen stated that some customers possibly had an inadequate understanding of Front Assist and its limitations.  However, many consumer complaints alleged that Volkswagen dealerships were unable to reproduce the condition or Volkswagen dealerships informed the consumers that this braking is considered normal Front Assist operation. ODI's analysis shows that MY 2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles have the highest rate of unique incident reports alleging AEB inadvertent activation when compared to their Volkswagen peers.The rate of unique incident reports alleging AEB inadvertent activation in MY 2018 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles was comparable to their Volkswagen peers. To date, ODI has received a total of 69 consumer complaints of inadvertent activation of Front Assist in MY 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles.  In total, ODI reviewed 264 unique (i.e., non-duplicative Vehicle Identification Numbers) reports that may relate to the alleged defect, which include eight reports of incidents involving an alleged injury and two reports involving a crash. PE23017 has been upgraded to an Engineering Analysis (EA24004) to further assess the scope, frequency, and potential safety related consequences of the inadvertent AEB activations in MY 2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles. To review the ODI reports cited in the Closing Resume ODI Report Identification Number document, go to NHTSA.gov.

My car has started to stall out when I am stopped at a sign, light, reversing or a low idle. When I change to reverse from park, the car stalls. I have to put it back in park start and try to reverse again. Same thing happens when I go from reverse to drive. I have done a little research online, and a lot of these 2023 Volkswagen Atlas’s has this issue.

NHTSA complaint 11756573. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

The back up camera is no longer working as well as the infotainment system

NHTSA complaint 11754902. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

2023 Volkswagen Atlas R-Line. While driving (moving) on a congested road the vehicle signaled "Please start engine manually" the gas pedal became unresponsive. Power steering, radio, A/C, all still worked, but I had to come to a complete stop to restart engine. The same thing has happened multiple times now with the last one being in the middle of the road trying to complete a U-turn. This is incredibly dangerous for not only my family but others on the road not expecting a vehicle to stall. This has been identified by multiple other owners on-line. There is no warning or change in operation of the vehicle prior to the message coming up. This could lead to a crash, or worse a fatality.

NHTSA complaint 11755094. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Lost complete control of both the brake and the throttle while attempting to pull into a parking spot at low speed. Car started to roll backwards down a hill and I was unable to stop it. Had to cycle the car off and back on to fix it. Took it to a VW dealership service department and they reported no fault codes so there was nothing they could do. No check engine light or fault codes.

NHTSA complaint 11754756. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

While driving, the vehicle stalls and shuts off completely without warning, creating an immediate safety hazard. This engine stalling occurs randomly at various speeds, including while actively operating the vehicle in traffic. There is no Check Engine Light (CEL), malfunction indicator, or dashboard warning prior to the stalling event, depriving the driver of any advanced notice to safely pull over.A subsequent inspection revealed that the evaporative emissions (EVAP) carbon canister is failing. The component failure allows unmetered fuel vapors or liquid fuel to flood the engine intake tract, rich-loading the engine and causing an immediate stall.

NHTSA complaint 11753871. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

26,500 miles

The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while reversing, the vehicle suddenly shut off and was restarted. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on three occasions while reversing and while the weather was extremely hot. The vehicle was taken to the local O'Reilly Auto Parts Store who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The local dealer was notified of the failure. The manufacturer was not yet notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 26,500.

NHTSA complaint 11751739. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.