2020 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport Driver assistance Problems

While traveling south on Wheeler Road at the underpass of the Long Island Expressway my 2020 Volkswagon Atlas Cross Sport's emergency braking system gets activated. This has happened multiple times at approximatly 12:20 AM while heading home from work. I took the car to the dealer but the dealer said there was no way to check what happened unless the diagnostic machine was connected at the time it happened. Again, this has happened multiple times, the most recent being both January second and the third. There is no reason why this happenes as it is dark and not a sunglare issue, therei s no change of lighting, no pavement changes or obstructions, and no traffic in front of me. When this happens it scares the hell out of me because there isnt any reason why I would expect it to happen thus creating a bit of a dangerous situation for me. Maybe others have reported the same issue to you that you did or could look into the cause of this, possible a radar or broadcast system that could be the cause of the sensor activation so maybe the issue can get corrected and prevent it from happening again. Thank You for any help you can provide. Sincerely, [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11708699

Incident

Jan 2, 2026

On Sep 25 2025 my wife parked car in parking lot to check phone messages. The car was in park. When she finished she placed the car in drive. It began to accelerated rapidly even after the brakes were applied and struck a tree. Her foot was not on the accelerator. The car then rolled over onto the driver side door. A police officer in a nearby building saw the crash and said the car was probably at 30mph when it hit the tree. He and two other officers got my wife out of the car. After the car was towed away we contacted VW customer care and asked that the car be examined. The said when the car was returned to drivable condition they would examine it. Hartford insurance totaled the car and said they were not responsible to examine the care and referred us back to VW. Again VW will not go the a salvage yard to examine the car. The car had intermittent electronic signal issues and a previous recall on doors needed to be redone because originally the wrong part was installed. I did experience a previous incident months before where I felt the car accelerated quicker than I expected from a stop with slight pressure on the pedal but it was only momentary.

NHTSA ID

11696774

Incident

Sep 25, 2025

on 11/18/24 Spark plug issues and misfire cylinder causing loss of power and acceleration with engine light check light on ,EPC and tire pressure. Other Issue with navigation system giving false of whereabout and wrong directions/turns. Occasional lost of power while driving on the street. Navigation system has been replaced twice but problem still continue. in 2021 and 2023.

NHTSA ID

11626449

Incident

Nov 18, 2024

Backup camera does not come on; cuts in and out; known recall for 2021 models.

NHTSA ID

11607312

Incident

Aug 8, 2024

About two months ago, all of sudden, all of the electronic safety features were going out as reported on the dash. ECS, Lane Assist, Forward/Rear Collission sensors, side detection sensors, parking assist, tire pressure sensors, Auto Start/Stop, and more. The fact that all of these electronic assist and safety features were all disabled made the care very dangerous and confusing to drive. Changing lanes for example became a safety hazard, backing up safety hazard, lane assist, safety hazard, side view sensors safety hazard, disabled ecs - safety hazard, etc. I took the vehicle into the dealership at 57K miles and under 4 years old only to find out there were no recalls issued, warranty expired at 50K miles and a $1600 repair/service bill. This issue should be investigated and, in my opinion, turned into a safety recall. There really is no reason a car less than 4 years old should have an electronic control problem withonly 57K miles other than poor design or poor manufacturing quality causing a safety problem. Dealer has confirmed it's due to the AWD Control Module, a Pump I believe, and corroded wire harness which comes with the pump, i'm told.

NHTSA ID

11603191

Incident

Jun 1, 2024

The speedometer reads significantly higher than actual speed. Took to the dealership, they confirmed speedometer reads high but allege that it is within the 10% margin that is allow by Volkswagen. Car is currently still under full warranty and dealership says they are not allowed to fix because issue is "within allowable tolerance." Speedometer will read up to 4mph high at 60-70mph. This seems to pose a significant safety risk as well as obvious risks with law enforcement. Dealership has offered no option for fixing at owners cost nor under warranty.

NHTSA ID

11520905

Incident

Jan 3, 2023

Adaptive cruise control (acc) will not work if you remote started the vehicle. To get it normally work, you have to fully switch off the car and then push start it. Had the vehicle checked by vw dealer and they found no problem, but the car won't engage cruise after remote start. After months of this; the remote start will not work. Carnet told me to wait on an update to be released soon.....it has been 10 months and same story every time I call. Dealer can't get it sorted even though they replaced Carnet module twice!

NHTSA ID

11487768

Incident

Sep 1, 2021

After 6-7 occurrences over a year of an unidentifiable warning light type object appearing in the Vehicle Information portion of the dashboard. Also two (2ea) separate trips to the Volkswagen Dealership for repair of this issue. I was driving on raining soaked highway, as I was slowing down for stopped traffic ahead (traveling at approximately 25 mph), the aforementioned warning light flashed on and immediately and automatically applied the brakes causing the vehicle to skid sideways on the highway. I returned to the Dealership for the third (3rd) time for this item and explained what happened. The Service Manager had me look at a computer showing all of the warning lights for my vehicle. I told him the warning light that we have seen was not located in the area of where the “normal” warning lights are, but in the Vehicle Information area of the dash board. When I was picking up the vehicle after the service for this item and also a recall issue, the Service Manager told me regarding the unidentified warning light the car was “supposed to apply the brakes in that fashion”. However, the dealership could not identify the Large Red Object surrounded with four (4) Lightning Bolts warning Light. If this issue (warning light and automatically braking) would have occurred at a greater speed (the speed limit on the highway was 65 mph) the outcome would have been more serious. As a result of this occurrence and the several failed attempts identify the warning light or to repair this vehicle we do not feel safe in driving this car. According, we have sold this Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport.

NHTSA ID

11482926

Incident

Jul 16, 2022

I submitted a report on May 2nd, 2022 about a MAJOR safety concern that occurred at the beginning of April. My cross sport was phantom braking, throwing itself into Park, and involuntary E-braking. This occurred multiple times at different speeds, I avoided collision and injury but have since been unable to drive the vehicle. Myself and others on the road could have been seriously injured. It was immediately towed to the dealership and has been sitting on the lot un-driveable since April, with no fix in sight, and no communication from VW in regard to a resolution. I want to file the highest complaint against VW as they have not dealt with this in a timely manner, they have not offered assistance, and this was my only vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11466142

Incident

Apr 16, 2022

2020 VW Atlas Cross Sport. While traveling down the highway (medium speed) the vehicle abruptly threw itself into Park, and E-braked. Thankfully escaped a collision but the outcome could have been much worse. My safety and safety of others was put at risk. And the general trauma from this scary incident has lasted weeks. The abrupt braking continued to happen at low speeds / cruising speed until I could pull over. (The car is not simply braking, it is throwing itself into Park and E-Brake goes on). Also, windows roll up and down without cause, all types of warning lights and errors flash on the dashboard. Upon the dealership's service center's scan of my car's computer, they found it occurred four times. The dealership found the wiring harness was corroded, and they think the car is sensing that a door is open, causing the vehicle to switch to Park and abruptly E-Brake. The vehicle is unsafe to drive but both VW and the dealership have denied me a loaner, and have denied my requests for compensation so I can rent a temporary car - this malfunction has left me with no vehicle for weeks, zero means of transportation, and no future fix in sight.

NHTSA ID

11463110

Incident

Apr 16, 2022

While driving down a street the car engaged the emergency stop system and stopped the car, nothing in front of me or around me. Verify scary incident.

NHTSA ID

11462959

Incident

May 1, 2022

The emergency brake just comes on when you're driving, the windows will roll down on their own. The dash beeps at you like the vehicle will blow up. We were advised back in January that it was not safe to drive our vehicle. It has been sitting at the dealership not being fixed. A recall just recently came out for the vehicle, however we have been unable to drive the vehicle for almost 3 months. We still have to make payments on the vehicle and Volkswagen doesn't want to do anything to help with anything. We were informed they would not provide a loaner car and a rental car we had to pay for on our own. This is completely unacceptable. The company needs to be responsible for this and I know we are not the only ones dealing with this. We will never buy another Volkswagen just because of their poor customer support. They truly dont care about their customers and the inconvenience this has caused.

NHTSA ID

11458685

Incident

Jan 24, 2022

Driving and my car is automatically suddenly braking for me even-though my foot is on the gas. This now has happened a few times and I almost got rear-ended yesterday.

NHTSA ID

11457643

Incident

Mar 20, 2022

Unexpected emergency braking with no other vehicle nor object in driving lane/path. Such a scary experience and almost got rear-ended as we were traveling on expressway. No active recalls related to this issue, which apparently isn't unique to my personal experience with this particular year,make,model.

NHTSA ID

11457028

Incident

Mar 13, 2022

Started with not being able to enter the vehicle through drivers door, would not open from outside. Then windows started rolling down on their own. MANY different alarms and warnings would pop up while driving. This went on for about a month. I was coming up to a stop light one day and the car put itself into emergency parking brake mode. I was able to hit the gas and get out of it but this continued for a couple days. Also happened while trying to reverse, locked up in emergency parking brake mode and had to restart several times in order to even move the vehicle. VW told me it was still safe to drive but I was not comfortable. I dropped at the dealer where it sat for THREE months before I finally had the door wire harness replaced.

NHTSA ID

11456937

Incident

Dec 1, 2021

Drivers door wiring harness and control module malfunction. When this happens multiple MIL on dash display, windows roll down and emergency braking system applies the brakes by itself under 15 mph resulting in drastic unexpected deceleration. Luckily the car behind me was able to stop in time. Dealership indicates vehicle is safe to drive, no loaners available and parts are at least 3 month out.

NHTSA ID

11456528

Incident

Mar 9, 2022

In may 2021 I had the drivers side wiring harness replaced due to being faulty which included windows unrolling on their own, cruise control not working, every time I stopped car using brakes emergency brake automatically came on and car would jerk forward, to name a few. After I hand it replaced it worked until November 2021 where once again the same problems occurred. I took it to dealership who stated wiring harness again needed to be replaced. Unfortunately part is in back order and continues to not be available. Both the dealership and VW Car Care would not authorized a loaner and I was told I would have to continue to drive the car. However, car is not safe as electronics go hay wire on it and when I stop car emergency brake goes on and jerks car and everyone in it forward. As of today my dealership states their VW representative states still on back order and have no idea how long I will have to continue to wait for part.

NHTSA ID

11455807

Incident

Nov 15, 2021

Door harness and module fault. Had emergency brake engage automatically while car was in gear, windows rolling up and down, key fob not working with the car while running and threatening shut down. Stabilizers needed replacing and alternator also low voltage while driving, stopped on the side of the road and would not engage into gear.

NHTSA ID

11451219

Incident

Sep 29, 2021

When turning the car on there are sometimes multiple errors: start-stop, driver door contact sensor, acc, and electronic brake. The car beeps very loudly telling me the engine is running (obviously). While driving, with or without current errors, the driver side windows will roll down, the doors will unlock and the car will apply emergency braking (out of no where) stoping the vehicle without warning. Supposedly this is an issue with the driver door wiring harness and apparently the part is almost impossible to get. The vehicle has been sitting at the dealership for two weeks with no ETA on parts.

NHTSA ID

11445922

Incident

Dec 19, 2021

WHEN USING VEHICLE REMOTE START THE VEHICLE MALFUNCTIONS WITH ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL ERROR NOT ALLOWING CRUISE CONTROL TO WORK OR DISABLES RANDOMLY WHILE USING CRUISE CONTROL. ALSO CAUSING FRONT ASSIST TO AVOID CRASH TO DISABLE.

NHTSA ID

11362301

Incident

Jun 26, 2020

Mileage

600 mi

OUR ATLAS WILL RANDOMLY SLAM ON ITS BRAKES AS IF AVOIDING A COLLISION ON AN EMPTY ROAD. THE LANE ASSIST WILL ALSO STEER YOU TOWARDS OBSTACLES (LIKE CONSTRUCTION BARRELS) AND FIGHT AS YOUR TRY TO CORRECT ITS ERROR. ISSUES HAVE ALL OCCURRED WHILE IN MOTION TRAVELING DOWN A 2 OR 4 LANE ROAD.

NHTSA ID

11352958

Incident

Aug 3, 2020

Mileage

250 mi