2024 VOLKSWAGEN ATLAS Complaints

The brakes are extremely squeaky and it terrible grinding sound whenever I braked. It sounds like water going back and forth under the car. I have taken it to the dealership multiple times. I requested a test drive of the vehicle. Their response is yes, vehicle was driven. its the same noises my coworkers have with their own atlas.

The brakes are grinding, pads were checked at local shop and were noted to be 11mm and should not be grinding

I’ve owned the Atlas for a little over a year now and throughout the year the vehicles infotainment system and electrical system has had several recurring issues. I’ll get notifications while I’m driving of the front and rear sensors being inactive, the entire infotainment system will periodically reboot while driving, the automatic braking system unexpectedly engaged on a couple occasions - even when there was not a collision hazard, the systems Bluetooth connectivity will go on and off while driving which affects my ability to use gps and creates a distraction while trying to correct, the infotainment system will crash while I’m in reverse which takes away the use of the back up camera, and just the other day the voice control activated while I was driving (without being prompted) and I couldn’t deactivate it without manually rebooting it while I was driving. I did a few google searches to find a resolution but it appears many others are having similar issues. These recurring issues have distracted my attention while driving and have created some dangerous situations that could have easily caused a crash or incident.

Acceleration problem upon accelerating passing a vehicle has become a safety issue. Approaching a vehicle and slowing down to pass, upon accelerating to pass, RPM drops drastically to almost a complete engine stall. I am partially in the passing lane with no power. Engine RPM then increases after the stall. I have been to the dealer with this, they cannot find the problem. No codes are set. This is a safety issue to me and other drivers approaching me due to the engine hesitation. Thank you for your consideration in this problem.

October 27th- As my husband was parking at work, the vehicle suddenly refused to shift into any gear—Park, Reverse, or Drive—and defaulted to Neutral. The dashboard displayed a warning message: “Risk of Rolling! P not possible. Please apply parking brake.” Despite multiple attempts, the Atlas could not be shifted or safely parked. After several failed tow attempts, VW Roadside Assistance successfully towed it to Ourisman Volkswagen of Laurel. As parents of young children (ages [XXX] , [XXX] , [XXX] , and [XXX] ), this experience was nothing short of terrifying. We drive this vehicle for school drop-offs and daily errands—had this malfunction occurred in traffic or at highway speeds, the outcome could have been catastrophic. We are grateful that no one was harmed, but this incident has left us traumatized and unwilling to transport our children in this vehicle again. This is not merely a mechanical inconvenience—it is a critical safety and reliability failure. A nearly new vehicle should never exhibit such dangerous behavior. For this reason, we are respectfully requesting that Volkswagen initiate a buyback of this 2024 Atlas and allow us to part ways with a vehicle we no longer feel safe operating. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Steering wheel locks/sticks momentarily while driving, started noticing this after driving long distances (over 60 miles) and now is starting to happen on shorter distance drives. I have taken it to a VW dealership and they "couldn't recreate the problem". When this happens, the steering locks momentarily and when trying to correct the path of the vehicle, you almost have to jerk the wheel to maintain a straight path. This makes the vehicle feel like I am zig-zagging in the lane. It happens throughout the drive, not just one time. No warning lights are shown when this occurs.

The braking system and driver assist feature (“Maneuver Braking Function”) on my 2024 Volkswagen Atlas have repeatedly malfunctioned. The vehicle displays the warning message “Maneuver Braking Function Currently Not Available,” accompanied by loud grinding and mechanical noises when braking. The issue began shortly after purchase and has persisted despite three separate service visits to Volkswagen of Wesley Chapel. During these visits, the dealership noted they are aware of an issue with the Atlas Brakes but they had not seen it occur with the error message coming up. Later, the service team claimed they replicated the issue and said it was caused by the car being left in “transport mode” at delivery. I was told that removing transport mode fixed the problem, but the same symptoms and warnings reappeared on my drive home. At my third visit, I was told the car was never in transport mode and that this was a known issue with the VW Atlas that could not be repaired but that they were concerned with the error message. They said they removed the error message- but did not actually fix anything that could prompt the error message. Upon leaving the car is contuing to make the same sounds, grinding and produce the error message upon braking. The problem has been reproduced and acknowledged by the dealership but not corrected. The braking behavior remains inconsistent, and the grinding sensation suggests a mechanical fault. Because this affects the braking system and a safety assist feature, it poses a risk of reduced braking performance or delayed response time in traffic, putting occupants and others at risk. The vehicle remains available for inspection upon request

While driving down a one way, my infotainment system completely shut down. The infotainment system controls lane assistance, blind spot sensor, A/C, radio etc. So when this occurred, all of the sensors in the vehicle also stopped working. As I attempted to change lanes, another vehicle was approaching on by driver side but was located in my blind spot. Because I didn't see anyone and the alert on my side mirror didnt go off, I assumed the lane was clear and attempted to merge. As I began to merge I noticed another vehicle in the lane at the last minute and clipped it (front driver side fender with passenger side of vehicle) before returning to my lane and eventually pulling over to assess damage. Prior to the accident an attempt to have the infotainment system recall addressed by VW was made but they scheduled the appointment almost a month out (November 5th, 2025). Due to this, I had to continue driving an unsafe vehicle with no safety alert features placing myself and my family at a higher risk of danger.

Infotainment screen has had issues since the last recall completed on or about July 21st 2025. Currently my Infotainment screen and heads up window is not operational as of October 24, 2025. I keep doing a soft reset which corrects it for may be a day or so. But clearly its only getting worse and it continues to happen even in the middle of driving. I shouldn't have to continuously reset the screen every other day. Amongst this bigger issue I also have issues with car play it doesnt work or just stops working and neither does the car charger/usb ports. They work when they get ready to. I'm also having issues with the remote start. It works when it gets ready to, with a full tank of gas. This car has 12000 miles and not having the safety components working as they should is not good. No radio no safety sensors no backup camera no navigation is a hassle that noone should be experiencing with out a fix. I know this is common I just want a permanent fix because the update recall clearly was not it.

software-related problem affecting the infotainment system and connected electronic sensors, including the loss of backup camera, loss of dash screen control information (black out). Loss of defrost control since it is part of hvac system controlled by video screen. Loss of sensors front and rear. Dealer has seen the car. We have called a week later. No expectation of a fix or timetable.