2022 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport Engine Problems

I am filing a safety complaint regarding my 2022 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport, VIN: [XXX] The vehicle was purchased new in October 2021. Volkswagen issued Recall 13i4 / NHTSA Campaign 22V-753 for certain Atlas Cross Sport vehicles due to an engine connecting rod/connecting rod bearing manufacturing defect that can cause engine failure, loss of motive power while driving, and potential safety risks. My vehicle was inspected by an authorized Volkswagen dealer under Recall 13i4 in 2023. I was told the recall condition was not present and the recall was marked completed. On or about [XXX], the vehicle developed the exact issue covered by Recall 13i4. I brought it to an authorized Volkswagen dealer, and the dealer confirmed that the failure is the same engine connecting rod/connecting rod bearing issue identified in the recall. The required repair is engine replacement. Volkswagen is refusing to reopen or reauthorize the recall repair because the recall was previously marked completed after the 2023 inspection and because the factory warranty expired in October 2025. I am now being told I may be responsible for the engine replacement cost, even though the dealer has confirmed this is the exact safety defect covered by the recall. I believe this is a failed or inadequate recall remedy. The 2023 inspection did not permanently remedy the defect and appears to have missed a latent manufacturing issue that has now manifested. This is not a normal out-of-warranty mechanical failure. It is the specific safety-related defect Volkswagen reported to NHTSA. I am asking NHTSA to review whether Volkswagen’s Recall 13i4 remedy process is inadequate, especially for vehicles that passed the initial inspection but later develop the same covered engine defect. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11734024

Incident

Apr 23, 2026

Description of Fault This vehicle exhibits a recurring, intermittent failure of the electronic throttle control system. Three distinct symptom patterns have been observed: 1.Throttle non-responsive at stop-start (approx. monthly/bi-monthly): After coming to a complete stop (e.g. at a traffic light), pressing the accelerator pedal produces no engine response. The vehicle will not move. Switching the ignition fully off and performing a cold restart resolves the issue immediately. 2.Throttle failure while vehicle was in motion (Wednesday, March 4, 2026): While my wife was driving the vehicle, the throttle stopped responding entirely mid-journey. The accelerator pedal produced no engine response while the vehicle was moving at speed. This is a direct and serious safety hazard. As with other incidents, switching the ignition fully off and performing a cold restart resolved the issue. 3.Erratic/hypersensitive throttle response on inclines: On slight uphill gradients, a light press of the accelerator pedal produces a disproportionately strong acceleration response, suggesting inconsistent signal output from the accelerator pedal position sensor (APPS). Safety Concern The occurrence of complete throttle loss while the vehicle was in motion — experienced by my wife on March 4, 2026 — is a serious safety defect. A driver who loses throttle response at highway speed, on a merge, or when crossing an intersection is at significant risk of collision. I am formally documenting this concern so that it is part of the vehicle's permanent service record.

NHTSA ID

11722691

Incident

Mar 4, 2026

Got the PCV valve repaired on February 13th and on February 18th the EPC light came on. The 2022 Volkswagen Atlas was taken to dealership and said the charge air inlet and the diverter valve leaking oil. Recommended to replace the turbo diverter valve and the charge air inlet seal at this time and re-testing the turbo. My car is shutting off when sitting at a light and car only has 52, 294 mileage

NHTSA ID

11720257

Incident

Feb 13, 2026

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop at 10 MPH, the vehicle stalled and became inoperable. The contact was unable to pull over to the side of the road. The contact was able to restart the vehicle. Several unknown messages were displayed. The contact stated that the failure recurred 10 minutes later while driving in a parking lot. The dealer was contacted, and an appointment was scheduled for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 25,000.

NHTSA ID

11673762

Incident

Jul 12, 2025

Mileage

25,000 mi

The car’s engine start/stop feature has failed multiple times while at an incomplete stop. This failure endangers the driver because the car will not drive, forcing the driver to put the car in park & manually restart the car. This failure has occurred at least 6 times, reported as the original owner of the car for 3+ years. Recently, as a potential result(?), the car’s check engine light has appeared (@52k miles). The dealership suggested replacement of the N80 purge valve,~$400 repair at VW dealership, to fix the tandem start/stop error & check engine light issue.

NHTSA ID

11655588

Incident

Mar 17, 2025

This vehicle has an issue where the engine stalls when operating a slow speeds/a stop. When the engine stalls, a message appears on the dashboard stating that you must put the car in park, turn off the ignition, restart the car, and then put it back into drive. This has posed as a significant risk to myself, my wife, and our [XXX] daughter. Additionally, my wife is currently [XXX]. The engine has stalled on us in the middle of an 8 lane intersection when attempting to turn left, when merging onto a highway, and numerous other very dangerous situations. This issue begin about 1 year after purchasing the car (brand new) from Volkswagen. Since then, we have brought the car back to the dealership where we purchased it (Heritage Volkswagen Parkville) over 5 times to have them look into this issue. They have attempted to replace the gas tank (claimed it had shrunk) and reset the computer system, yet neither of these things have worked. Neither myself or the dealership can "make" the car stall as it happens very randomly (which increases the risk that this issue poses) and now we are stuck - where Volkswagen has won't continue to research the issue/attempt to fix it yet my family is still left at risk with a car we purchased brand new off of their lot. The vehicle has not been inspected by the police, insurance, or any other people outside of Volkswagen and the vehicle has no warning signals that there is an issue and no code that they have been able to pull at the dealership. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11636011

Incident

Dec 2, 2024

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the crankcase ventilation valve had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 51,346.

NHTSA ID

11618737

Incident

Oct 8, 2024

Mileage

51,346 mi

This vehicle is burning excessive engine oil. My vehicle required two quarts of oil before my oil change. This occurred at the 20,000-mile interval and again at 30,000 miles. This vehicle also had two coolant repairs before 30,000 miles. The car has not been in any accidents. The vehicle had no oil.

NHTSA ID

11614839

Incident

Sep 6, 2024

Slowing down as I pulled into a turning lane. The vehicle lost power and cut off with a warning light saying please restart engine manually. I did start engine manually to begin with. I had to throw my car in park in the middle of the road. And restart it. The vehicle restarted and I got out of the way with my kids in the car. And after continuing to drive the vehicle feels like it has no power. This is not the first incident my car has 53k miles on it. Has had 2 gear shifters, 2 auto stop start relays and gone through several batteries

NHTSA ID

11609294

Incident

Aug 19, 2024

While at a red light, stopped in traffic and at a stop sign the vehicle turns off and says to restart manually. Need to put in park and manually restart. Very dangerous when no one around me knows what I am doing. This occurred four (4) the times the last 4-YEARS. I will contact the dealer tomorrow as the latest random stop occurred today. A truly random occurrence with no warning.

NHTSA ID

11605533

Incident

Jul 30, 2024

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated that on several occasions while stopped at a light, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was restarted after one attempt on each occasion. The coolant system warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 15,969.

NHTSA ID

11591592

Incident

Feb 13, 2022

Mileage

15,969 mi

The engine has shut off on multiple occasions since we bought it in 2022. It appears to shut off at traffic lights and we are given the indicator message to start car manually. Typically when this happens we have to put the car in park and restart the engine. Just the other day 5/13/24 this happened again while I was sitting at a traffic light and I put the car in park and restarted the engine and as soon as I did it, the car shut off again, it did this 3 times in a row before I was able to get the car moving. We have taken it to the dealer and there are no error codes they can find and they cannot mimic what is happening either. This is a huge safety issue as I am highly afraid one of these times that I will be stopped at a light trying to get my car to start and will get rear-ended or worse.

NHTSA ID

11589258

Incident

May 13, 2024

The water pump on this vehicle required replacing, and the coolant light comes on for possible overheating. This vehicle has under 18,000 miles with this issue. The car has not been in any accidents. This is the second incident with the coolant system, but the first time its being reported to the dealer. This car purchased was brand new vehicle with 10 miles. The automatic start and stop system shuts off and on by itself and the warning light came on while driving the vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11538987

Incident

Aug 9, 2023

I was coming to a red light and my 2022 vehicle shut off. A message popped up on the screen and said “please restart car”. This is very dangerous as I had to put my car in park and restart the vehicle in moving traffic.

NHTSA ID

11519318

Incident

Apr 27, 2023

Connecting rod bearing caused the engine fail. The Vehicle is currently in the Dealer's service shop. I was driving in a very busy highway with my wife when suddenly a lot of smog start coming out of under the hood and the vehicle suddenly stopped in the middle of the highway. Had to stop traffic to be able to pull over. Another vehicle stopped to help us and handed a fire extinguisher because she though it caught on fire. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer. No warning lamps or messages, but the vehicle began to jerk a few seconds before it totally failed.

NHTSA ID

11494515

Incident

Sep 11, 2022

Engine randomly stops while vehicle is in motion. Even with the auto stop/start disengaged, engine will turn off while in motion and have to restart engine manually by shifting to park and turning the ignition on.

NHTSA ID

11493113

Incident

Nov 7, 2022

We are having the same issue that others have noted where the engine shuts off while driving. This has happened 2 times now. The vehicle is only 1 month old with right at 1,000 miles. When the engine shuts off, a message comes on the display to put the vehicle in park and start the engine manually. This is not part of the start stop system as it happens while the vehicle is moving. Since you have to put it in park in order to restart it, this is a huge safety issue as you have to stop in the middle of the road or highway when it dies. We have an appointment at the dealer, but the earliest date they had available for drop off is about a month away. There are no current recalls for my VIN.

NHTSA ID

11478902

Incident

Aug 10, 2022

5 days after purchasing the brand new vehicle I was driving on the highway and felt and heard a clunking sound. Shortly after the check engine light and EPC light came on. Then as I was driving (55mph) I lost all power. The dash was telling me to restart my engine manually as I was driving. I was able to get to the side of the road - in a very unsafe location and had to wait for a tow. When the vehicle got back to the dealership they said it looked like the engine had just exploded. In the oil pan was chunks of metal. The entire engine and turbo had to be replaced. The entire situation was extremely dangerous and no one has an explanation for why this happened.

NHTSA ID

11456816

Incident

Feb 27, 2022

Lease 10/29/2021. Remote start never worked. Diagnosed as faulty fuel pump. Replaced. Two days later remote start stopped working and check engine light came on. VW service advised vehicle safe to drive. Days later broke down due to no fuel. Fuel guage always says tank full. Last week park brake engaged while driving 60mph on a 4 lane highway.

NHTSA ID

11452125

Incident

Feb 9, 2022