2018 Volkswagen Atlas problems
NHTSA has received 678 complaints about the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas, and 16% of them involve electrical system. After that come engine (15%) and air bags (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 678 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 13 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 30 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 17,000 miles 316 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 177 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 79 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 30 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 9 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 14 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 3 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 316 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 17,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 19,000 miles (66 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 13 complaints mention a crash; 30 injuries reported. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 81% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Volkswagen Atlas with enough data (524 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 17 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
My wife slid into a curb during a left-hand turn into our neighborhood due to ice. She damaged the right front wheel and a couple mechanics, scratching the right rear wheel as well. There is no damage to any other part of the exterior; however, this curb impact set off all of the interior side airbags, including one seat airbag. My wife received minor pain from airbag impact but thankfully my children were not in the car because a side airbag deployed directly inside my child's head restraint.
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 volkswagen atlas. While driving 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact stated that there was an abnormal sweet and musty odor emerging from the vehicle. The contact and occupants sustained headaches and nausea due to the odor. Medical attention was not received. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and provided case number: 190150480. No further assistance was provided. The contact requested a buyback of the vehcile.
On many occasions, the automatic braking system and blind spot detection systems have engaged at inappropriate times. Most recently, the automatic braking system engaged when safely merging with proper signaling from the right lane, which was ending, to the next to the left lane when the only vehicle in the vicinity was fully in the left turn lane.
While my family and I were driving in our week old 2018 atlas we stopped at a red light and my wife who was securely seated in the passenger seat with the seatbelt on all of a sudden hit the dashboard. We pulled over amediately and upon further investigation we found out that the seat belt became unstitched from itself by the floor anchor.
While sitting at a red light for about a minute the car turns off due to the cars on/off feature. When the light turned green the car would not start back up. I had to put the atlas in park and rest set to turn it on. It will not turn back on until after a few tries. This has happened to me about 5 different times now. I now drive with that feature turned off until VW can fix this glitch. Very unsafe while sitting traffic and car is stalled in the middle of the road.