RoadVitals

2018 Volkswagen Atlas Suspension Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the suspension system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Suspension reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
9
Latest Nov 13, 2023
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
2%
of 460 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
0
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
0

What this page shows

Reports naming suspension components — springs, struts, shocks, control arms and related hardware. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 9 reports on file name it.

Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.

Owner reports naming suspension

Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed

Suspension
Filed Nov 13, 2023

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 10 MPH, the contact heard an abnormal noise and the rear of the vehicle jumped. The contact exited the vehicle and became aware that the rear coil spring had fractured. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and determined that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V904000 (Suspension). The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.

NHTSA ID
11554934
Incident
Nov 11, 2023
Mileage
74,000 mi
Suspension
Filed Jun 10, 2020

THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE DROPPED 5" TO 6" AFTER DRIVING APPROX. 400MILES. THE DRIVER SIDE WHEEL WELL IS 1.5" FROM THE TIRE & THE PASSENGER SIDE IS 2" AWAY. THE WHEEL WELL HAS A "WARPED" WHEEL WELL. THE SPRINGS SEEMS TO BE LOCKED OR DROPPED. LOOKING AT THE ATLAS IN PROFILE THE REAR IS LOWER THAN THE FRONT. BEFORE THE TRIP I WAS ABLE TO WALK UNDER THE TAILGATE WHEN OPEN WITHOUT HITTING MY HEAD & NOW THE REAR OF THE VEHICLE IS LOW, I HAVE TO BEND OVER TO PREVENT HITTING MY HEAD. PLEASE NOTE, I AM NOT A TRAINED SERVICE TECH. I AM AN OWNER; I AM DOING A PROCESS OF ELIMINATION FOR WHY THE REAR IS LOWER. I SEARCHED GOOGLE & FOUND THAT IN FEBRUARY VOLKSWAGEN RECALLS 6,322 VEHICLES TO REPAIR FAULTY REAR SPRINGS. BUT MY VEHICLE WAS NOT LISTED ON THE RECALL. I AM OUT OF STATE FROM MY PURCHASED DEALER & THE LOCAL DEALER DOES NOT HAVE A RECALL LISTED AS "FAULTY REAR SPRINGS" FOR MY VIN. WE HAVE 20' BLACK RIMS / WHEELS ON THE VEHICLE. THE PHOTO SHOWS THE FACTORY INSTALLED TRAILER HITCH RECEIVER AT 13" & ACCORDING TO VW WEBSITE IT SHOULD 19". (FEB. 18, 2019 - VOLKSWAGEN HAS RECALLED 6,000 VEHICLES TO REPAIR POSSIBLE FAULTY REAR SPRINGS. ACCORDING TO THE AUTOMAKER, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT A REAR COIL SPRING MIGHT SHATTER CAUSING HANDLING PROBLEMS AND THE POSSIBILITY FOR AN ACCIDENT.) *TR

NHTSA ID
11328100
Incident
Jun 8, 2020
Mileage
13,000 mi
Suspension
Filed Sep 24, 2019

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 VOLKSWAGEN ATLAS. THE CONTACT RECEIVED NOTIFICATION OF NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V904000 (SUSPENSION). THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE MANUFACTURER EXCEEDED A REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE. VOLKSWAGEN OF ASHEVILLE (621 BREVARD RD, ASHEVILLE, NC 28806, (828) 232-4000) WAS CONTACTED AND CONFIRMED THAT PARTS WERE NOT AVAILABLE. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT MADE AWARE OF THE ISSUE. THE CONTACT HAD NOT EXPERIENCED A FAILURE. PARTS DISTRIBUTION DISCONNECT.*PM CONSUMER STATES THAT DEALER INFORMED THEM THAT PARTS WERE AVAILABLE. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN IN AND SUSPENSION WAS REPLACED. *DL

NHTSA ID
11257737
Incident
Jan 1, 2019
Suspension
Filed Jun 11, 2019

PURCHASED THE ATLAS BRAND NEW. 2000 MILES IN STARTED TO HEAR LOUD RATTLING NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT OF THE CAR LIKE THE STRUTS WERE GOING BAD, TOOK TO DEALERSHIP THEY STATED MY DUST BOOT COVER WAS STUCK AND JUST NEEDED TO BE GREASED. 1000-2000 MORE MILES LATER SAME NOISE CAME BACK TOOK IT TO THE DEALERSHIP THEY COULDN'T DUPLICATE THE NOISE IT IS ESPECIALLY LOUD WHEN GOING OVER BUMPS. I MADE SHOP MANAGER RIDE WITH ME AND HE HEARD THE NOISE. HE REPLACED A STRUT MOUNT AND DUST COVER. 2500 MORE MILES LATER AND THE NOISE IS BACK. BOOT COVER IS STUCK AGAIN. DEALERSHIP FIXED IT AGAIN CAR IS BACK IN THE SHOP FOR THE NOISE AGAIN. PROBLEM HAS BEEN REPORTED TO VW NO RESPONSE YET. THIS IS THE 4TH RENTAL CAR I HAVE HAD DUE TO THIS PROBLEM. ON THE THIRD GO AROUND THEY TOLD ME THEY FIXED THE PROBLEM AND I DIDN'T EVEN GET OUT OF THE PARKING LOT AND HEARD THE NOISE. TURNED RIGHT AROUND AND TOOK IT BACK. THEY GAVE MY RENTAL CAR BACK AND HAD MY CAR FOR A WEEK.

NHTSA ID
11219183
Incident
Nov 1, 2018
Mileage
3,000 mi
Suspension
Filed Jan 18, 2019

AT ROUGHLY 5000 MILES 2018 VOLKSWAGEN ATLAS SE 2.0T BEGAN HAVING A LOT OF NOISE COMING FROM THE FRONT SUSPENSION. NOISE HAPPENED MOSTLY AT LOWER SPEEDS AND WAS A RATTLE AS WELL AS A BOTTOMING OUT SOUND. VEHICLE WAS ALSO PULLING HARD TO THE RIGHT AND ALIGNMENT SEEMED TO BE OFF. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN INTO VW DEALERSHIP FOR REPAIRS. INITIAL REPORT WAS THAT THE FRONT BOOTS WERE LEAKING GREASE AND THOUGHT TO BE THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM, BOOTS WERE REPLACED AND TECHNICIANS STILL NOTED A SOUND COMING FROM THE SAME AREA. STEERING AND AXLE PARTS WERE OVERNIGHTED 4 TIMES, EACH PART NOT FIXING THE PROBLEM. VEHICLE IS STILL AT THE DEALERSHIP. AXLE AND ALIGNMENT PROBLEMS COULD POTENTIALLY LEAD TO THE VEHICLE BEING PULLED OUT OF THE LANE OF TRAVEL AND CAUSE A WRECK. DEALERSHIP REPORTS THAT THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ALIGNMENT OF THE VEHICLE.

NHTSA ID
11170792
Incident
Jan 14, 2019
Mileage
5,000 mi
Seat beltsSuspension
Filed Nov 8, 2018

TAKATA RECALL

NHTSA ID
11150213
Incident
Mar 2, 2018
Mileage
19,000 mi
Driver assistanceElectricalSuspension
Filed Jun 20, 2018

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 VOLKSWAGEN ATLAS. WITHIN WEEKS OF OWNING THE VEHICLE, THERE WAS A FAILURE WITH THE STRUT MOUNTED SYSTEM. FURTHERMORE, AN ABNORMAL RATTLING NOISE WAS HEARD ON BOTH SIDES OF THE FRONT END OF THE VEHICLE. IN ADDITION, THE FRONT ASSIST WITH AUTONOMOUS EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM ENGAGED SEVERAL TIMES WITHOUT WARNING. THE FAILURE CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO SEIZE WHILE IN MOTION WITH NO OTHER VEHICLE NEARBY. THE DEALER (DANBURY VOLKSWAGEN, 29 SUGAR HOLLOW RD, DANBURY, CT 06810, (203) 744-5201) HAD THE VEHICLE FOR OVER TWO MONTHS FOR SERVICING. THE CAUSE OF THE FAILURES WAS NOT DETERMINED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS NOT AVAILABLE.

NHTSA ID
11102848
Incident
Mar 1, 2018
Driver assistanceSteeringSuspension
Filed May 31, 2018

THE DRIVER SIDE, FRONT WHEEL SUSPENSION SYSTEM HAS BEEN REPLACED TWICE DUE LOUD VIBRATION NOISES, RATTLING NOISES, AND REPEATED STEERING ISSUES. THE STEERING WHEEL VIOLENTLY JERKS TO THE RIGHT OR LEFT AND PULLS THE CAR OUT OF THE DESIRED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL. THE VW ATLAS IS AT THE DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT FOR A THIRD TIME SINCE DATE OF PIRCHASE (FEB 2018) FOR THE SAME STEERING ISSUES AND NOISE ISSUES. THE 'AUTO-BRAKING' SYSTEM THAT'S DESIGNED TO PREVENT REAR END COLLISSIONS HAS MALFUNCTIONED ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS. BOTH MALFUNCTIONS WERE WHEN PULLING OUT OF A PARKING LOT WITH A DOWNGRADED SLOPE TOWARD THE STREET. ON BOTH OCCASIONS, AS I WAS PULLING OUT OF THE PARKING LOT TO MERGE INTO MOVING TRAFFIC, THE ELECTRONIC BRAKING SYSTEM ENGAGED AS THE CAR WAS MOVING DOWN THE SLOPED PARKING LOT EXIT LEAVING THE VW ATLAS FROZEN IN PLACE AS STREET TRAFFIC WAS RAPIDLY APPROACHING. I HAD TO PUT THE VW ATLAS IN 'PARK' AND BACK IN 'DRIVE' IN ORDER TO RELEASE THE ELECTRONIC BREAK SYSTEM. THIS AUTO-BREAKING FEATURE HAS CREATED TO SAFETY SITUATIONS WHERE MY VW ATLAS WAS COMPLETELY STOPPED WHILE ATTEMPTING TO MERGE WITH MOVING TRAFFIC, NEARLY CAUSING ACCIDENTS IN BOTH SITUATIONS.

NHTSA ID
11098970
Incident
May 24, 2018
Mileage
1,700 mi
Suspension
Filed Mar 13, 2018

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 VOLKSWAGEN ATLAS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE MADE A LOUD NOISE WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO BAYSIDE VOLKSWAGEN (31 WATERMILL LANE, GREAT NECK NY, 11021, 516-348-2500) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE SHOCKS WERE MADE WITH DEFECTIVE MATERIAL AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE SHOCKS WERE NOT REPLACED BECAUSE THE DEALER STATED THAT THE PARTS WERE UNAVAILABLE FOR THE REPAIR. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED AND PROVIDED CASE NUMBER: 180142985. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 800.

NHTSA ID
11078884
Incident
Feb 1, 2018
Mileage
800 mi

Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.

Other components reported on this vehicle

Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own

Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

Data on this page last refreshed .