2022 Volkswagen Atlas Driver assistance Problems

Software update for the vehicle. Since we have completed the update we have had issues with the Radio unit flashing in and out intermittenly and finally the unit went black and will not work at all. This is now showing multiple fault codes including. Engine control module 1 (U105400), Brakes 1(C102D00), Adaptive Cruise Control (U112100), Dash Board (U111000), Gateway (U105400), Telematics Communication Unit (B104914, U112100,B1916f4), Light Control Left 2 (U140700,C123AFA) Light Control Right 2 (C123AFA). None of these codes started till the System update happened.

NHTSA ID

11756322

Incident

Jul 31, 2026

i was exiting HWY 45 at highway speed. the car began to stutter, i lost control of the propulsion of the vehicle, the breaks did not seem to work, the EPC light came on after rolling to a stop. i had to put the car in park and upon turning the car off and back on the cars EPC light went off and i was able to drive it home. it now sits in my driveway and has not been moved since.

NHTSA ID

11755826

Incident

Aug 8, 2026

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while at a stoplight with vehicles in the front and rear, the vehicle suddenly accelerated, lunged forward, and crashed into a Chevrolet pickup truck. The brake pedal was applied but failed to respond. There were no warning lights illuminated. There were reported injuries, a police report, airbag deployment, or a fire. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who was unable to service the vehicle due to parts. The vehicle was towed to an auto body shop. Then towed back to the same local dealer, where an unknown diagnosis and repair were completed. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The manufacturer reported that the vehicle was not the cause of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ID

11679379

Incident

Jun 3, 2025

Mileage

30,000 mi

My atlas forward collision system malfunctioned causing the automatic emergency braking to turn on when there was no one and nothing in front of me. I was then rear ended. Which ultimately totaled my vehicle. My car said airbag error as well. I called Volkswagen Perrysburg Ohio, to report the incident, was sent to the managers voicemail 7/16/2025. The manager never called me back.

NHTSA ID

11675853

Incident

Jul 15, 2025

Frontal detection sensors randomly go off usually while sitting stationary at traffic lights or stop signs, when there are no cars around the vicinity of my vehicle. Screen displays false detections and alerts with annoying beeps making you think something is going to collide with you. Dealership says there's an internal TSB on this problem, but they don't know how to fix it.

NHTSA ID

11626910

Incident

Nov 1, 2024

My vehicle warning sensors continue to fail despite having them replaced and now their is an unrepairable recall that my cause my passenger airbag to not deploy during head on collision. I feel these are critical safety features are main reasons for purchasing my vehicle. I do not feel safe driving my vehicle with failing and/or potentially failing safety features. I was widowed 18 months ago. If my vehicle causes me to inadvertently harm my passenger due to a safety feature failure I will not be able to live with that. I am very disappointed in VW for the suggestion to turn off the warning features as a solution and the fact that they have yet to come up with a fix for the recall. My vehicle is only 2 years old and I do not feel safe in it. In addition, I am having to have a second fuel injector replaced due to it failing. I believe I was sold a lemon.

NHTSA ID

11616498

Incident

Jan 11, 2024

While operating the vehicle at about 50 to 60 mph the automatic emergency breaking system activated without warning and with no vehicles in front, and violently slammed on the breaks causing the vehicle to go into emergency stop in the middle of the highway. This then caused numerous vehicles following to take measures to avoid crashing into the rear of our vehicle. Numerous lights and warning lights started flashing on and off and parts of the screens went black and turned off and on. The car then kept the breaks locked down and we had to limp the car along the shoulder of the road to the dealership to have them look at it. This incident jeopardized the Safety of my family and other drivers and passengers around them. The dealership has not been able to replicate this issue so far. Prior to this incident the technology portion of the vehicle stopped responding, and we were unable to link devices to the vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11593643

Incident

Jun 8, 2024

Using adaptive cruise control with lane departure. Driving on a straight stretch of interstate in rain with audio (music) at high level. Car suddenly braked risking a crash. Vehicle does not do well on straight stretches of road. Thinks driver is not steering, and will populate a msg on dash, followed by a red light and a signal tone. These aren't easily noticed when head is up and eyes on road with audio level high. VW should change this to remove braking and instead it deactivates cruise and/or wheel vibrate only.

NHTSA ID

11591018

Incident

Apr 29, 2024

Using adaptive cruise control with lane departure. Driving on a straight stretch of interstate with audio (music) at high level. Car suddenly braked and jerked wheel right risking a crash. Vehicle does not do well on straight stretches of road. Thinks driver is not steering, and will populate a msg on dash, followed by a red light and a signal tone. These aren't easily noticed when head is up and eyes on road with audio level high. VW should change this to remove braking and instead it deactivates cruise and/or wheel vibrate only.

NHTSA ID

11591013

Incident

May 24, 2024

The atlas has shit off mid drive twice so far. Once with the auto shut off button turned off and once not turned off. It cause the vehicle to suddenly brake and nearly get my family rear ended. Many times it detects objects not there and tries braking in the middle of intersections, while making turns nearly causing us to be tboned. It is not worth my families life so it is currently sitting at the dealership No lights are on the dashboard at this time

NHTSA ID

11574309

Incident

Feb 27, 2024

The collision alert system is activated when we brake and a terrible grinding noise occurs. It seems that the brake issues makes the collision system think the car is not being stopped by the brakes. The dealer refuses to do anything about the issues because there is no nhtsa recall. They claim the issue is humidity.

NHTSA ID

11572829

Incident

Feb 19, 2024

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 75 MPH, the vehicle shut off inadvertently. The contact stated that while in the process of veering to the side of the road, the vehicle restarted independently. The contact continued driving; however, the Lane Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Braking assist, Driving Assist, ESC system, TPMS warning lights, and other unknown warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the ACC mode exceeded the set speed while driving. The contact stated that she deactivated the ACC mode; however, while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle abruptly decelerated to 20 MPH upon releasing the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The contact was awaiting a call back. The failure mileage was approximately 16,800.

NHTSA ID

11554182

Incident

Nov 7, 2023

Mileage

16,800 mi

Automatic braking happened when crossing an intersection. I pressed the gas to go and went a couple of feet before the automatic braking kicked in. I had to put the car in park and restart the car. Luckily I was at the front of the traffic line so I was not going at a high speed because if I had been on the freeway, etc. this would have been so dangerous . This car has 15K miles and things like this should not be happening. I have 5 kids and this would cause detrimental damage at high speeds. I started having brake issues (grinding noises, brake slippage etc.) only a couple months after getting the vehicle and have been to dealer several times to resolve the issues but no fix has lasted more than a couple months. I have an appointment to go in again next week to check automatic braking as well as the grinding noises again as they also happening again. Apparently faulty brakes are a known issue that VW will not fix. It was one thing to have to go into the dealership every quarter to get them replaced, but now this added issue of the automatic brake turning off makes me feel very unsafe to drive it. VW needs to do something to resolve the brake issues on the Atlas.

NHTSA ID

11553593

Incident

Oct 26, 2023

Door wire harness failed. This was post correction of all previous recalls, which included replacement if door wiring harness. The failure caused a stall and initiation of emergency brake. This occurred at a stop light with a teen driver. Driver restarted automobile and proceeded.

NHTSA ID

11543269

Incident

Sep 2, 2023

My sensors continue to beep when there is no obstruction around the vehicle. At times, this will also cause the brakes to grind. When I take it in for inspection, they are unable to find any malfunction because this happens inconsistently. This puts myself and others at risk because it is very distracting to the driver. The vehicle has been inspected by the service dealer, but they have not been able to reproduce the problem. Other lights have also popped up randomly... the driver seat belt sign, when I did have my seat belt on and the EPC sign while I drove down my street.

NHTSA ID

11541560

Incident

Aug 29, 2023

Began getting front end collision alerts and unexpected automatic emergency braking shortly after purchase. Unexpected braking, slowing/stopping of the vehicle is a safety hazard. Returned car to VW dealer in Irvine, CA in Feb 2023 and July 2023. Explained this was safety issue concern. The dealer claimed the issue was from damaged front bumper sensors from debris or other impacts, though the car is only operated normally on So. Cal. roads and freeways. Dealer also claimed that small windshield chips were causing the sensors and front collision system to malfunction. We stated that these safety related components should withstand more than a few months of normal driving and the warnings/unintended braking presented a safety hazard to us and other drivers. I told the dealer the issue is not the sensors, but likely a bigger underlying problem with the system’s programing or software. The dealer insisted the sensors and windshield were the issue. Knowing it was unlikely the sensors, I requested the dealer provide me with the original sensors for future inspection. Both dealer and VW initially refused to cover any “repairs.” Once mentioned contacting DOT ODI, VW offered to pay for labor of the sensors if we purchased the 3 required ($661.48). Dealer said we would need to pay for the windshield ($789.89) and installation ($250.00)and they would cover cost of calibrating the windshield sensors. Total out of pocked $1,701.37. Told them I wanted just to do the sensors first to see if that alone would solve the problem. They said if we did not purchase the windshield at that time, if we needed it afterwards, they would charge an additional $450 for calibration. Once the work was complete we picked up the car on [XXX]. On [XXX] the car again started to experience the same false front collision warnings. The dealer only advised to return car for a third time for the same issue. This serious issue needs to be corrected in the interest of driver safety. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOI

NHTSA ID

11536589

Incident

Dec 7, 2022

Vehicle 2 hrs after purchased start/stop failure notice came on. Vehicle died without emergency brakes or any brake system at all take place in middle of the road. Took to the dealer where it was purchased from immediately-4 days later “repaired” replaced a valve stating a flap wasn’t closing correctly. 3 weeks later out of state same thing happened 3 different times traveling 70 mph on the way back to our home, only this time we had cars swerving behind us to avoid hitting us as we were in middle lane, immediately I threw on the flashers while driver was attempting to place it in park when the gear shift stuck same error all 3 times start/stop fail only this time the check engine light came on as well as the start stop error light on the dash and permanently stayed on until we could get to the dealership where we purchased it- vehicle stalled again the same way only this time attempting to park vehicle to check in for inspection

NHTSA ID

11528590

Incident

Jun 22, 2023

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that the Forward Collision Avoidance system was malfunctioning. The contact stated while driving 30-45 MPH, the Forward Collision Avoidance warning light illuminated while there were no vehicles or objects nearby. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the Forward Collision Avoidance system could have been triggered by significantly small objects and was operating as designed. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring. Additionally, the contact stated that while reversing, the rearview camera image displayed, then disappeared. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostic tests; however, the dealer failed to update the contact for two weeks. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The manufacturer informed the contact that they were waiting for an engineer to provide the next steps going forward. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ID

11516011

Incident

Apr 7, 2021

Emergency braking system was activated on 15 FWY, traveling north just south of Magnolia (33.8652148,-117.5413564) No vehicle or objects were in front of me. I was in the far left lane traveling at freeway speeds for over 2 miles before the emergency braking system was activated. The vehicle traveling behind me was able to maneuver into the other lane to avoid hitting me. I took the vehicle to the dealership and the indicate the logs only shows the warning was activated, but do not show the vehicle applied the brakes. This is the 3rd instance of this happening. I also have had 2 legit instance where someone cut me off and the emergency braking system activated as design to avoid the collision. VW states these entries are not in the logs. This indicates there has to be an issue with the software. I am also experiencing false positives on the other sensors in the system, the system indicate a vehicle or object is on the side of the vehicle, I have videos showing the sensors are falsely altering.

NHTSA ID

11503699

Incident

Jan 17, 2023

Was driving under 10mph and the brakes suddenly locked despite nothing being in way that would trigger ABS system. Brakes have also been grinding and feel off going down steep inclines, and sounds like water is moving around when i press them, even lightly. This is not safe and VW refuses to acknowledge an issue!

NHTSA ID

11496294

Incident

Nov 16, 2022

The automatic emergency braking is engaged when when it should not. This happens while traveling at highway speeds, I have been lucky the 4x it is has happened that no one was behind and I was able to override and safely continue on my way. I took the vehicle to the dealership and they stated that there are no entries in the system log indicating any automatic emergency braking. This is very concerning, since I have had 2 incidents where the emergency braking was activated when it was supposed to. These are not in the logs either. I am also experiencing issues with the blind spot warning sensors too. I have video proof of a false alarm. The dealer said VW will not allow them to fix a vehicle with video proof. There appears to be an issue with the sensor system in the vehicle since the blind spot sensors is falsely alerting and the forward collision sensors are initiating the automatic emergency braking system. Volkswagen Customer CARE # 05487060

NHTSA ID

11494916

Incident

Nov 21, 2022

The vehicles parking brake came on and the car shut off by itself in the middle of the road.

NHTSA ID

11468919

Incident

Jun 10, 2022

I received crash warnings while driving 60mph but no car was near to trigger the warning. Vehicle rear passenger side window rolled down on its own about 5 inches. Same trip, the rear driver side window rolled down about 5 inches.

NHTSA ID

11464912

Incident

May 16, 2022

Two separate instances. The first: emergency break engaged for no reason while in driveway at a low speed. It jolted the car back and I had to put car in Park and then drive again. If this happened while anywhere else, it could cause an accident by being rear ended or a tail spin. Second incident: driving on interstate the forward collision warning symbol came on in red in addition to a red exclamation point. We were driving around 65mph with cars around us. The warning came on seemingly out of nowhere and then was gone several minutes later. There was no reason for this to occur. These issues are a major safety concern and we do not feel safe driving our brand new Atlas at this time.

NHTSA ID

11461519

Incident

Mar 25, 2022

After an automatic software update, the navigation screen and all systems that are accessed through that screen no longer work. This includes the back-up cameras for the vehicle. The vehicle was returned to the dealer who was unable to fix it citing they do not have the necessary "computer chip" and did not know when they would be able to get them. The vehicle was returned to me. There is limited visibility through the rear window of this vehicle and the absence of a back-up camera is problematic.

NHTSA ID

11453891

Incident

Feb 14, 2022