2018 Volkswagen Atlas driver assistance & safety tech problems

Related recalls

No recalls on file.

What owners say

1. Filed Aug 5, 2026INCrashDriver Assistance & Safety TechElectrical System

   EPC light Tire light My cold air doesn't work, cruise control, heating on driver side mirror. Not sure what else. I made my first car payment in June 2026. Looks like I got a lemon vehicle.

   NHTSA complaint #11755138 · source
2. Filed Jul 31, 2026WADriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   When attempting to drive out of a steep driveway to turn onto a main arterial, the car interpreted the hill as a potential collision and turned on the emergency braking. This left me half-way in the lane, at a complete stop, unable to accelerate and continue driving, with on-coming traffic at over 40mph heading toward me in what would be a T-bone collision. Traffic stopped giving me time to reverse back up the driveway. I further backed up to come down the driveway at a…

   NHTSA complaint #11753906 · source
3. Filed May 4, 2026WY1 injuredDriver Assistance & Safety TechOther / Unknown

   I was driving on 2nd Street and realized I wasn’t going to make it through the light, so I stopped. I noticed that I had stopped in the crosswalk, so I decided to back up. Before backing up, I checked everything—I looked in my left mirror, my right mirror, behind me, and also at the rearview camera. There were no cars in sight behind me. As I started backing up, I heard a beeping sound indicating there might be a car behind me. I checked my mirrors again and looked at the…

   NHTSA complaint #11735700 · source
4. Filed Jan 27, 2025NVDriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   My wife was driving to the store on surface streets at about 9am on a clear morning. At a stop light, waiting for the green. After light turned green she accelerated at a normal rate. Midway through the intersection (at about 10 mph) the vehicles emergency braking system engaged for no reason slamming her to an immediate stop. There were no obstructions in front or to either side of the vehicle. There was another car behind her that almost rear-ended her. My wife's safety…

   NHTSA complaint #11638964 · source
5. Filed Jan 14, 2025MIDriver Assistance & Safety TechElectrical SystemOther / Unknown

   When the outdoor temperature gets low, below 20 degrees fahrenheit, the vehicle thinks the driver-side front door is open, when it is closed. Because of this, the vehicle does not want to allow itself to be driven and will put on the electric parking brake. Even if released, the parking brake will automatically re-engage any time the vehicle speed drops below a couple of miles-per-hour. In addition, other errors persist with the electrical system, including error messages…

   NHTSA complaint #11635820 · source
6. Filed Dec 12, 2024GABrakesDriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   Driving on a single lane road with no other cars on road (in front or behind) and car suddenly brakes to a complete stop and the crash warning sound become audible inside the car. This happened 1 other time about 1 month prior but car did not come to a complete stop that time. That incident there were other vehicles on the road but were at a fair distance away from the car and those vehicles were not braking or slowing down.

   NHTSA complaint #11630348 · source
7. Filed Nov 21, 202461,000 miILDriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact engaged the cruise control function, and the brakes would inadvertently engage. The contact was not able to verify the warning light that was illuminated during the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 61,000.

   NHTSA complaint #11626655 · source
8. Filed May 9, 2024PADriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   While driving about 30mph the automatic forward collision braking gave a malfunction light and screen. The car had NOTHING in front of it to cause the breaking to happen and forced my car to intermittently hard break as I tried to bring it to a car safely. If I had had a car behind me I surely would have been rear ended. I with all three child under 4 years old. I brought my car to a parking lot. Turned it off then on and turned off the forward collision brakes from the car…

   NHTSA complaint #11587831 · source
9. Filed Apr 24, 2024CADriver Assistance & Safety Tech

   There are issues with the emergency break system while driving. It is usually okay for the car to stop when reversing. Yesterday while driving with my children, I crossed some train track at a speed of about 30-35 miles per hour as the green light was on. As soon as I reached 75% in the tracks, all of a sudden the emergency brakes turned on, the car stopped in traffic and was about to be hit. As scary and dangerous as this was, thankfully the car in the back was able to stop…

   NHTSA complaint #11584983 · source
10. Filed Apr 1, 2024CADriver Assistance & Safety Tech

    Automatic Emergency Breaking initiated on its own, slamming the car breaks as I was turning left out of a parking lot onto a busy 4 lane street. This stopped the car as we were crossing the first lane of traffic. We were stuck in the lane perpendicular to oncoming traffic as we were turning left. Thank goodness there were no cars close by when I started to turn. This could have ended horrifically. We were sitting ducks and could’ve been t-boned. I had my kids in the car.…

    NHTSA complaint #11580540 · source
11. Filed Feb 5, 2024NCBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety Tech

    I have experienced an alert/alarm for a "Faulty Break Booster", "Break System Failure", as well as other Break related alarms go off while driving. Multiple times I have been going over 40 mph and the vehicle has instantly breaked and came to a stop on it's own. I have taken my vehicle to the dealer and was advised there is no issue. This issue seems to happen randomly as I have been unable to recognize any similarities between conditions and frequency.

    NHTSA complaint #11570008 · source
12. Filed Jul 7, 2023HIBrakesDriver Assistance & Safety TechEngine

    Our 2018 VW Atlas will randomly shut the engine off even with auto start/shut off disabled. This has happened 5 times in 3 months. It has done so on the highway and on main streets putting our family of 6 at risk of being in an auto crash every time. The brakes have automatically came on 2 times. Forward collision sensors come on with nothing in front of us which also puts the breaks on and makes a distracting loud beep which has made me jump out of surprise while driving.…

    NHTSA complaint #11530992 · source

Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Office of Defects Investigation public data. Complaints are submitted by owners and are not verified by NHTSA or by us; a complaint does not prove a defect exists. View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov Methodology