2021 Volkswagen Atlas Driver assistance Problems

I own a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas with approximately 61,000 miles. After a software update prompted by the vehicle, saying it will be done in 3 parts.the infotainment screen began malfunctioning the following day. Initially, the screen would repeatedly go black, restart, work for a short period of time, and then go black again. This issue continued for almost three weeks. The screen is now completely black and no longer turns on. I contacted a Volkswagen dealership about the issue and was informed that I would be charged approximately $220 for diagnostic work before determining the cause of the problem.i haven't brought it in yet as I'm waiting to be paid as I'm sure they would need payment The problem began shortly after the vehicle's software update, and I am concerned that the update may have caused or contributed to the infotainment system failure. I am reporting this issue because I believe other 2021 Volkswagen Atlas owners may be experiencing similar infotainment system failures. I would like NHTSA to investigate whether this is a widespread defect and whether a safety-related recall or other corrective action is necessary. As it's safely concern I cannot see back up camera or any safety features.

NHTSA ID

11752448

Incident

Jul 8, 2026

The electric board goes black frequently. Also, my backup camera and assistive device for backup doesn’t work. It starts and stops after a second. Posing a big problem with backing up because I have neck injury and can’t adequately see.

NHTSA ID

11746984

Incident

Jun 1, 2024

The right driver side daylight light is out, the SOS response system warning light is on, tire pressure loss detected light is but tires are fine and no loss in pressure, cruise control doesn’t always work and deactivates.

NHTSA ID

11740726

Incident

Mar 6, 2026

The car began revving at lights when I was in drive and stopped at red lights. The normal at rest rev is 0.75 however I have seen it as high as 1.5 and had to put the car into park to reset the acceleration. This had been consistently happening over the past month. The first visit to the dealer, I needed a new battery... that didn't fix the issue. The tech said that after the battery was replaced that the scan showed no error codes. The only codes before the battery replacement were low voltage indicators throughout the car. The next day the same issue happened again. The second scam showed no faults however I asked them to clean the throttle body (which they never suggested) and they did. They said that they recalibrated the new clean throttle body measurement to the computer. For the following 10 days, when I stopped at a light, the tachometer was perfectly stable at 0.75 and there was no "jumping" around like before. Until this day, the acceleration happened at a "stop". However on day 11 after the throttle cleaning, I was SLOWING DOWN to approach a red light and the tachometer revved to 3.0 and I needed to stop immediately and throw it into park. This is so dangerous. I may cause an accident by either lurching forward or needing to hit the breaks to stop the acceleration. There are no error or warning lights that show on the dashboard!!! After the battery was changed, the dealership said they had someone drive it for 10 miles to recreate the issue but found none yet it started up the next day. GROK has been helpful. It suggested first the throttle cleaning which did help, and three other repairs. I'm planning to pay a shop that deals with German cars specifically to scan and evaluate. The car has 43,000 miles on it. This is a testament to German engineering? No longer. I have never seen this in any other of my vehicles. All three uploads failed even though I got them to the most minimum of info.

NHTSA ID

11688381

Incident

Jul 1, 2025

Due to a faulty door wiring harness (a VW recall) the car has multiple electrical issues. The car shuts itself down, loss of blinkers, speedometer, brake lights, parking brake engagement and ALL electrical functions, every alarm goes off in the car, windows roll up and down, doors will lock and unlock while driving. Which is terrifying/life threatening while driving 65 MPH on a highway with kids. We have this on video. Most recently, it shut down and would not start again. The dealership has now attempted to fix this problem 5 times and cannot get the alarm lights to turn off so now the car is not even drivable. We have tried to work with VW for a buyback twice and started this process (16 months into owning the car) when the car was under full warranty. They continued to deem the car safe and fixed and the same issues would sporadically happen. After these two cases for VW to buyback the car and them rejecting it, we are now out of warranty and they will not work with us. We bought the car brand new.

NHTSA ID

11675930

Incident

May 25, 2023

When I went to start my vehicle on 6/26/25, I noticed that the instrument cluster was stating an error: "COMPASS IS NOT AVAILABLE". The vehicle continues to go through an entire list of items not available. including the radio and infotainment system, navigation. I should also mention that the dash also was showing that the outside camera was not available to me. I live in a small town and shopping is very limited and I drive 32 miles for decent groceries and clothes for my family, and I rely on that radio for company, sometimes, and for weather and traffic so if I don't have these items I could get stranded in the middle of the desert. No one has looked at the car yet for this problem. I have no clue how this happened.

NHTSA ID

11669836

Incident

Jun 26, 2025

Upon starting car All ADAS functions did not work. Warning lights came on. Did not work for several days. Took to dealership and they found a sensor in tire to be faulty

NHTSA ID

11654604

Incident

Nov 4, 2024

Upon starting the car All of the above warning lights came on the dashboard and did not function. Power steering,l and all adas did not function. Took to dealer and sensor was replaced.

NHTSA ID

11654600

Incident

Mar 11, 2025

For steering: There is a grinding noise that happens each time I turn my wheel when turning into a parking spot or making a non wide turn. It happens every single time that I do it. For Automatic Emergency Braking: It turns on while I am in the middle of driving constantly.

NHTSA ID

11640792

Incident

Feb 5, 2025

after heavy rain, the forward looking radar will start stop working with no warning, cause AEB and forward warning not functioning, greatly increase risk of collision. the problem is consistent with heavy rain, but dealer refuse to do any repair because it didn't happen normally. the problem appeared on 03/31/2024, 06/30/2024, 08/18/2024 every time there is a heavy rain, with picture as proof.

NHTSA ID

11614576

Incident

Mar 31, 2024

The car stalls and turns off when operating at a slow speed, both in forward or reverse. This is a serious and potentially deadly problem. With my two young children in the car, I was turning left across three lanes of oncoming traffic. When I began to accelerate, my car stalled in the middle of the first lane. I had to figure out what happened, put it in park, restart the car and finish my turn before being hit by oncoming traffic. This has happened 2-3 times each day since this started last week. This has nothing to do with Eco mode or automatic start/stop feature. I am familiar with both of those and disengage them when I start the car. The car has approx 28k miles and is well maintained. It is still well within warranty. The check engine light came on and the code it throws is P0496 for a bad EVAP system. I took it to VW dealer and they re-created and diagnosed the problem. Essentially, the EVAP system has faulty parts and it is causing the gas tank to collapse. The EVAP canister, the purge valve and the gas tank all need to be replaced. The problem is they do not have the parts to replace the gas tank. And they have no idea when they are going to get them. Literally, no time horizon. The VW service advisor admitted that they’ve seen ‘some frequency’ with this problem lately, mainly on 2019-2023 models. It’s a parts issue, not a wear & tear nor maintenance issue. If you look this up online, you’ll see hundreds of posts about this issue with similar scary situations like mine. Couple this with the active recall already in place (passenger airbag may not deploy in an accident) and there’s no solution for that recall, either. My family feels in jeopardy every time we drive our family car. Why is there not a recall for the gas tank collapse? How can we compel VW to produce a remedy in a timely manner? This is going to be a fatal issue for some family. Please help. I am happy to document and share photos/ videos of the situation.

NHTSA ID

11613279

Incident

Sep 1, 2024

On [XXX] my 2021 Volkswagen Atlas cut off on [XXX] at the red light and I was almost rear ended multiple times until a kind gentleman moved my car out of the intersection. It has been parked in my driveway since because the battery won't hold a charge. I had the battery tested but the machine read that something is draining the battery even without keys being in the car ignition switch. The windows goes up and down by themselves without the power being engaged. The car is surging and all of these things are included on a recall list for Volkswagen which I will include in this complaint but Volkswagen specifically Kurt O from VW Social Media said that won't do anything to help. I truly believe they are picking and choosing whose VIN number to repair and the rest are left to their own vices. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11605970

Incident

Jul 25, 2024

My vehicle while driving on the highway at 65-70mph had the automatic emergency brake system engage. We came to a complete stop and if the highway was not empty could have resulted in a traumatic incident for my family and I. I called Volkswagen and they do not have a fix for this issue. This is our only vehicle and we are not comfortable driving it. It could happen again and could be worse than the first time.

NHTSA ID

11603547

Incident

Jun 6, 2024

I was driving on surface streets at approximately 25mi/hr when the car suddenly breaked on its own all lights in the dash turned red and the car made an alarm sound. This lasted a few seconds but the cars behind me had to break in order not to rear end me. The sudden break felt like I got hit by another car

NHTSA ID

11586989

Incident

Apr 3, 2024

The forward collision warning activated out of the blue and the automatic emergency braking was applied for no reason. Was driving to go pick up daughter from school on March 11, 2024 at approximately 11:50 AM. Driving on neighborhood road with speed limit of 40 mph. Driving at 40 mph with no other vehicles anywhere near me in front, behind, or in opposing lane. All of a sudden the front collision warning light on dash popped up and the emergency brakes applied for no reason! This caused the vehicle to seize up and come to a screeching halt. Luckily there were no vehicles behind me that could have rear-ended me, and there were no other vehicles coming from opposing direction that I would might have slid into. There was NO reason why this should have happened. There were NO vehicles anywhere in the vicinity. No leaves falling, no debris in the roadway, nothing. No inclement weather, it was sunny and dry but cold approximatley 40 F. Inspected front of vehicle afterwards and there was nothing obstructing the sensors or cameras on front end.

NHTSA ID

11576616

Incident

Mar 11, 2024

I recently purchased a certified pre-owned 2021 VW Atlas R-line SUV. It came with a warranty of up to 50,000 miles or through 2027. Shortly after I purchased the car (a few weeks in) the side passenger collision sensor would alert me from time to time (not consistently). I brought it in and the VW dealer shared that due to the Minnesota winters and road salt, keeping a clean exterior of the car would help with the sensor issue. I have been washing my car weekly to avoid the noise and frustration of the false alert. It DID NOT resolve the problem. Now (3 months since purchase) the front AND side collision sensors are falsely detecting and alerting that something is present. When brought back to my local certified VW dealer, they "claim" it is due to a rock or "external influence" hitting and damaging the sensors. First, tell me how a side sensor gets hit by a rock. Second, the sensors should not have been made if small debris from regular road travel will cause damage within three years. Third, I only travel on highways. I do not need to take gravel/dirt roads, etc. for my personal and professional travel needs. I am the sole driver of the vehicle. I searched online and found several VW forums indicating the same issue on models since 2018 and for several different models within the VW make (including video evidence which I also have but cannot upload to this form submission). Here is one forum with similar video footage: [XXX] Please review and investigate as a third party. VW and dealers are outrageously charging over $1,000 for a sensor that should not have been approved in the build of the model if failing this quickly. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11574192

Incident

Feb 26, 2024

Component Malfunction: Emergency Braking system (EBS) engaged without warning systems alerting inside the car cockpit at a speed of 50 MPH on a high speed 4’ lane street. The car would not move forward and disengage the EBS until the ignition was turned off and appeared to reset the car. The driver was able to drive to the next driveway and inspect the car and review the site on the street where the car suddenly engaged the EBS. There was no visible evidence of debris or obstacles in the path of travel. Safety: The sudden stop physically jolted the driver, causing muscle soreness for several days. There were no cars in the area at the time, if there had been, the car would have created a major accident due sudden stop in traffic and potential physical damage to the driver. The sudden stop did impact the drivers shoulders and back muscles for several days of soreness. Dealership confirmation / Inspection: The issue was reported to the dealership and the next day was driven to the dealership (at the request of the dealership service team). The dealership is currently inspecting the vehicle. No other inspections occurred outside the owners visual inspection of the wheel wheels and brakes immediately after the EBS incident Prior warning lights / related incidents: There was warning lamps that lasted for about a mile of driving approximately a week before this incident and the car sensors have suddenly gone off in the past without any cars in the vicinity. The car has also been having wire harness issues in the drivers door that result in unresponsive or opposite operation of the window switch on the drivers side door.

NHTSA ID

11566739

Incident

Jan 18, 2024

MY BRAKE WARNING COMES ON FROM TIME TO TIME WHILE DRIVING, ADAPTIVE ACC WARNING LIGHT COMES ON FROM TIME TO TIME LETTING ME KNOW I NEED TO STOP USING IT, FRONT SENSORS COMES ON WHILE DRIVING LETTING ME KNOW I'M TO CLOSE TO AN OBJECT WHILE DRIVING AND THERE'S NO VEHICLE THERE OR CLOSE TO MY SUV. THIS HAS HAPPEN ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS AND BEEN TAKEN TO VW SERVICE DEPARTMENT, (VW OF OAKLAND), AND WAS TOLD THEY CAN'T RECREATE THE PROBLEM . LAST DATE THIS HAPPEN WAS 01/03/24, I HAVE VIDEO OF THE INCIDENT ON MY CELL PHONE.

NHTSA ID

11563449

Incident

Jan 3, 2024

The gps in the vehicle navigation shows an inaccurate location of the vehicle, which causes problems for adaptive cruise, and vehicle safety notifications on the dash. Incorrect speed limit indicators occur as a result, and vehicle navigation is rendered useless. It looks ridiculous to all passengers as the vehicle will show on GPS somewhere it isn’t, even driving through fields where there are now roads. Problem is intermittent and can last for days or minutes at a time. Known problem on the 2021 as well as more recent models of the vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11561118

Incident

Dec 20, 2023

I have several issues. My main concern is when turning on an incline (hill or mountain), my vehicles rpm's rev up and I am unable to stop it for several seconds. Sometimes, it will clunk and the rpms will go back to normal after sever seconds but most times the vehicle just jerks and the rpms come back down. I drive through a street with a 4 way stop very often and the issue happens every time. Secondly, i am not sure if its my steering or my brakes but when i come to a stop there is a clicking noise at my pedal and it makes it a little tougher to stop the vehicle. I can be at a full stop and if i push my brake pedal down more, it will click multiple times. I have also noticed this jerk/click when i make a sharp left turns such as in a parking lot. My vehicle jerks a bit while it clicks and i am concerned something will brake while i am turning or stopping and my wheels wont stop.

NHTSA ID

11536115

Incident

Aug 2, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance system erroneously activated causing the vehicle to suddenly stop in the middle of the road. The contact indicated that during the failure, no other vehicles or objects were nearby to cause the system to be activated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. After retrieving the vehicle, the failure occurred a second time. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 11,300. The dealer installed a new door ajar switch and safety harness service but not replaced.

NHTSA ID

11517619

Incident

Mar 26, 2023

Mileage

11,300 mi

I was hit from behind and slammed into the car in front of me while stopped at a light. The collision totaled my Atlas at 95% The air bags did not deploy nor did their give a warning for the collision. The damage was so severe that the inner frame of the vehicle is beyond repair. Recent warranty repairs were done to this vehicle prior to the accident one set to the dash electronics in the .ast 4 months. This car remains at the body shop awaiting INS settlement for the car

NHTSA ID

11509635

Incident

Feb 11, 2023

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormal sound while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, and it was confirmed that no cause of failure was found. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000.

NHTSA ID

11502145

Incident

Jan 8, 2023

Mileage

38,000 mi

As part of the existing recall on my vehicle, I am noticing serious mechanical issues ranging from the parking brake engaging when approaching a stop, the rear window rolling down (it's 0 degrees out), failure of Adaptive Cruise Control and a host of other electrical issues. The dealer is unable to see the car for 3 weeks and despite acknowledging my problems are consistent with the recall and have no loaner available for me in the meantime. VW Care informed me that my only recourse is to "call around" until I find one that can help me sooner. They will not offer to reimburse for a rental vehicle. This is unacceptable, the problem is not the dealer but a mechanical issue and VW needs to recognize that if their dealerships can't help because of workload then they need to support their customers.

NHTSA ID

11499127

Incident

Dec 25, 2022

While driving in a city, the emergency parking brake would switch on everytime i slowed down or came to a stop. Multiple other warnings happened such as lane assistance unavailable. And one of my windows would roll down part way.

NHTSA ID

11495172

Incident

Nov 27, 2022