Owners have filed 51 complaints
about the 2020 Volkswagen Atlas with NHTSA between 2021 and 2026.
The largest single group is the electrical system.
Across this model's run it ranks 8 of 9 worst.
The letter says how bad. This says what kind — whether this year drew
an unusual number of complaints, unusually dangerous
ones, or failures that arrived unusually early.
The dashed ring is 50 — the national norm. Further out is worse.
Complaint volume — 8
Against the median year of the Volkswagen Atlas. 50 means typical for this
model; 100 means roughly double.
Severity — 0
0% of these complaints
involved a crash, fire, injury or death, against a national rate of
9.7%.
Early failure — 24
14% of failures with a mileage on record happened under
36,000 miles, against a national rate of
29%.
How 2020 compares with every other Volkswagen Atlas
Odometer readings owners gave when they filed. About half of all
complaints include one.
10,000 – 24,999 miles
114.3%
50,000 – 74,999 miles
228.6%
75,000 – 99,999 miles
114.3%
100,000 – 149,999 miles
342.9%
When owners complained
A spike years after the car went on sale usually means a part wearing
out on schedule across the whole fleet — the kind of pattern no single
owner can see from inside their own car.
Apr 2021peak 11Jul 2026
NHTSA investigations into the 2020 Volkswagen Atlas
An investigation is the step before a recall: the agency has seen enough
complaints to look into a pattern itself. An open one means it thinks
something may be wrong and nothing has been fixed yet.
On September 28, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE23017) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Front Assist automatic emergency braking (AEB) system in model year (MY) 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles.The reports alleged that activation of the AEB system occurred while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Volkswagen indicated that it is aware of a total of 292 reports that may relate to the alleged defect in MY 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles.Volkswagen...
PE21008Opened 29 Mar 2021Closed 3 Oct 2022FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM:INJECTORS
Fuel Injector Leak
On March 29, 2021, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened PE21-008 to investigate instances of fuel injectors leaking in the engine compartment in model year (MY) 2018 through 2020 Volkswagen Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport SUVs. These vehicles are equipped with either a 3.6 or 2.0 liter engine. The subject investigation concerns vehicles equipped with 3.6L engines. Prior to opening the investigation, ODI also observed that warranty data for the fuel system from TREAD reporting was an outlier for the MY 2018 Atlas.The allegation involved fuel injectors leaking fuel near engine compartme...
Recalls on the 2020 Volkswagen Atlas
A complaint is one owner's allegation. A recall is the point at which
the manufacturer or a regulator agreed the defect is real and dangerous
enough to fix for free — however old the car is.
United States — NHTSA
23V215000
AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may experience a fault in the wiring and deactivate the front passenger air bag when the seat is occupied.
Risk: A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
22V815000
TIRES:PRESSURE MONITORING AND REGULATING SYSTEMS
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan LWB, Golf Sportswagen A7, Golf Alltrack, Golf R GP, Audi Q3, Audi A3 Cabriolet, 2019-2020 Jetta NF, Jetta GLI, Golf GTI, Atlas, Golf A7, Audi A3, 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021 Atlas FL vehicles. The tire pressure monitoring system may not detect an air pressure loss in adequate time when deflating occurs among all four tires simultaneously. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."
Risk: An undetected sudden loss of pressure in all four tires increases the risk of a crash.
22V152000
AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Atlas, 2020-2023 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021-2023 Atlas FL vehicles. The door wiring harness electrical contacts may corrode, disrupting the electrical connection and delaying the deployment of the driver or passenger front side air bag during a side impact crash.
Risk: A delayed air bag deployment can increase the risk of injury.
22V086000
EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles equipped with accessory side steps. The reduced Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) label, reflecting the additional weight of the side steps, was not installed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Risk: Without the reduced GVWR label, the vehicle could be overloaded, leading to a loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash.
In the owners' own words, exactly as filed with NHTSA.
Douglassville, PA
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
The car will shut down/stall while sitting at a red light. The START/Stop function is turned off, I turn it off while driving. So I am stalled at a red light and then have to place the car back into park and restart it. There are no messages or warning lights that appear on the dashboard. This is a risk because we are sitting in traffic with a stalled car that quickly needs to be restarted. This has happened several times.
NHTSA complaint #11752297 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Lee’s Summit, MO
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
I received alerts while I’m driving to tell me that the fuel pressure was low and to turn off the engine immediately… and then it would go away. there were several different times about 5 total separate incidents on separate days that my car would not move forward and lurch forward from a parked position and then died with a quick alert on the dash. Thankfully, I was in parking lots and neighborhood streets when this happened.
NHTSA complaint #11749105 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Lima, OH
AIR BAGS
The airbag occupancy detectors on the passenger side are faulty. I noticed that other similar models of the VW Atlas are having this issue and it has an active recall, but my particular model has not.
NHTSA complaint #11719140 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Dalton, GA
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Two main issues... The automatic breaking will break in the most random spots. There is no car around but it reacts to certain ways the lines are painted on the road is my guess. It will do it to some cross walks as well as some round abouts. I've had to just turn it off so it doesn't kill me. Also, another issue is the battery. I just had the battery checked and it is good but when the the fuel gets below quarter taken the car will not crank. This has happened 3 times now.
NHTSA complaint #11680489 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Dalton, GA
SERVICE BRAKES
Two main issues... The automatic breaking will break in the most random spots. There is no car around but it reacts to certain ways the lines are painted on the road is my guess. It will do it to some cross walks as well as some round abouts. I've had to just turn it off so it doesn't kill me. Also, another issue is the battery. I just had the battery checked and it is good but when the the fuel gets below quarter taken the car will not crank. This has happened 3 times now.
NHTSA complaint #11680489 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Two main issues... The automatic breaking will break in the most random spots. There is no car around but it reacts to certain ways the lines are painted on the road is my guess. It will do it to some cross walks as well as some round abouts. I've had to just turn it off so it doesn't kill me. Also, another issue is the battery. I just had the battery checked and it is good but when the the fuel gets below quarter taken the car will not crank. This has happened 3 times now.
NHTSA complaint #11680489 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
North Port, FL
ENGINE
Hello. I have a 2020 Vw Atlas V6 SE R-Line. The truck shots off when idleling, on speeds of 5 mph to 10 mph and even on the highway. This is a serious problem and extremely dangerous to my family and myself as well as other owners that have the same issue wile driving on highways. It can easily cause a serious accident. This has happened multiple times and I even took it to the dealership to get it diagnosed and repair. They replaced the vapor charcoal canister and the issue was gone for about a year and it came right back. This does not bring any codes on the vehicle so it's very had do diagnosed. But it does gives you an error malfunction warning after it shots off when doing highway speeds. I did some research and found the multiple people have the same exact issue with this vehicles.
NHTSA complaint #11660065 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
North Port, FL
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Hello. I have a 2020 Vw Atlas V6 SE R-Line. The truck shots off when idleling, on speeds of 5 mph to 10 mph and even on the highway. This is a serious problem and extremely dangerous to my family and myself as well as other owners that have the same issue wile driving on highways. It can easily cause a serious accident. This has happened multiple times and I even took it to the dealership to get it diagnosed and repair. They replaced the vapor charcoal canister and the issue was gone for about a year and it came right back. This does not bring any codes on the vehicle so it's very had do diagnosed. But it does gives you an error malfunction warning after it shots off when doing highway speeds. I did some research and found the multiple people have the same exact issue with this vehicles.
NHTSA complaint #11660065 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
at 116,000 milesPort Saint Lucie, FL
POWER TRAIN
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted with the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) and Electronic Power Control (EPC) warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 116,000.
NHTSA complaint #11644988 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
at 116,000 milesPort Saint Lucie, FL
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted with the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) and Electronic Power Control (EPC) warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 116,000.
NHTSA complaint #11644988 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
at 116,000 milesPort Saint Lucie, FL
AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted with the Passenger Occupant Detection System (PODS) and Electronic Power Control (EPC) warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was restarted; however, the failure recurred. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 116,000.
NHTSA complaint #11644988 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
at 78,000 milesConroe, TX
STEERING
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was difficult to turn, and the hazard indicator warning light illuminated. In addition, the steering wheel seized. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with rack and pinion failure. The contact was informed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 78,000.
NHTSA complaint #11640877 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Maysville, KY
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I enrolled in the Volkswagen Car-Net Safe & Secure Trial for my 2020 VW Atlas, and shortly after, received a SOS error code disabling the Emergency Assistance available for the vehicle. I had no prior issues with the SOS error code/Emergency Assistance until I was enrolled in the trial. The dealership has confirmed that there is an internal failure with the Car-Net module in the vehicle.
NHTSA complaint #11637658 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Maysville, KY
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I enrolled in the Volkswagen Car-Net Safe & Secure Trial for my 2020 VW Atlas, and shortly after, received a SOS error code disabling the Emergency Assistance available for the vehicle. I had no prior issues with the SOS error code/Emergency Assistance until I was enrolled in the trial. The dealership has confirmed that there is an internal failure with the Car-Net module in the vehicle.
NHTSA complaint #11637658 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Marblehead, MA
STRUCTURE:BODY
The vehicle was giving a false alert about my driver's door being opened. The door was infact closed properly. During this time when i was driving when i came to a slowed or complete stop the car put the emgergency/parking brake on. This happened twice in seven days. I took the car to the dealership to look at it and it appears to be a known defect that the door latch can freeze and cause this malfunction. The car has not been in an accident and is less than 5 years old. The repair is $1000. This abrupt braking was hazardous as it cause the car to stop short, my family could have been rear-ended.
NHTSA complaint #11632608 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Marblehead, MA
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The vehicle was giving a false alert about my driver's door being opened. The door was infact closed properly. During this time when i was driving when i came to a slowed or complete stop the car put the emgergency/parking brake on. This happened twice in seven days. I took the car to the dealership to look at it and it appears to be a known defect that the door latch can freeze and cause this malfunction. The car has not been in an accident and is less than 5 years old. The repair is $1000. This abrupt braking was hazardous as it cause the car to stop short, my family could have been rear-ended.
NHTSA complaint #11632608 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Marblehead, MA
SERVICE BRAKES
The vehicle was giving a false alert about my driver's door being opened. The door was infact closed properly. During this time when i was driving when i came to a slowed or complete stop the car put the emgergency/parking brake on. This happened twice in seven days. I took the car to the dealership to look at it and it appears to be a known defect that the door latch can freeze and cause this malfunction. The car has not been in an accident and is less than 5 years old. The repair is $1000. This abrupt braking was hazardous as it cause the car to stop short, my family could have been rear-ended.
NHTSA complaint #11632608 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Kingsland, TX
AIR BAGS
I was driving today and an Airbag Error Message popped up with the Airbag Warning Lamp and will not turn off. I called the dealership I purchased it from and was told it is a faulty Airbag Sensor but my car is not part of the open recall Volkswagen has open. They set up an appointment for 8/20 to replace the sensor. I was told by the dealership that this issue could cause my airbag not to deploy if I were to get in a wreck. This information makes me very nervous to drive my vehicle but since this is my only vehicle I have no other choice.
NHTSA complaint #11606157 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
at 64,000 milesFranklin, TN
SEATS
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag sensor warning light illuminated and the seat warming function failed. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the wiring in the seat was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 64,000.
NHTSA complaint #11591739 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
at 64,000 milesFranklin, TN
AIR BAGS
The contact owns a 2020 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the air bag sensor warning light illuminated and the seat warming function failed. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the wiring in the seat was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 64,000.
NHTSA complaint #11591739 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Santa Clarita, CA
STEERING
When turning my vehicle to the left or right at slow speeds, the steering wheel rattles and wants to auto correct to a straight position. This has caused my wife and I to almost collide with other parked vehicles. The GPS in my vehicle has recently started to go haywire and fail to give any correct guidance. I plugged in my iPhone to use my CarPlay Map and the issue transfers over to the gps on my phone as well. The moment I unplug the phone, the issue resolves on my phone but resumes on my vehicles gps. My heater won’t take affect until I reached approx 80 degrees. I begin to raise the temp and the rear vents begin to blow hot air at the high 70’s while the front of the vehicle remains at AC. Once i hit 80 degrees the heater turns on at the front of the vehicle. The issues all started when I had a module replaced in my vehicle. Approximately time issues began was first week of March 2024. I have videos showing the rattling steering, the haywire gps and the HVAC issues.
NHTSA complaint #11581839 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Santa Clarita, CA
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
When turning my vehicle to the left or right at slow speeds, the steering wheel rattles and wants to auto correct to a straight position. This has caused my wife and I to almost collide with other parked vehicles. The GPS in my vehicle has recently started to go haywire and fail to give any correct guidance. I plugged in my iPhone to use my CarPlay Map and the issue transfers over to the gps on my phone as well. The moment I unplug the phone, the issue resolves on my phone but resumes on my vehicles gps. My heater won’t take affect until I reached approx 80 degrees. I begin to raise the temp and the rear vents begin to blow hot air at the high 70’s while the front of the vehicle remains at AC. Once i hit 80 degrees the heater turns on at the front of the vehicle. The issues all started when I had a module replaced in my vehicle. Approximately time issues began was first week of March 2024. I have videos showing the rattling steering, the haywire gps and the HVAC issues.
NHTSA complaint #11581839 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Traverse City, MI
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Navigation system (GPS) does not show correct location and 'reroutes' off the correct path. This could lead to dangerous conditions if using in an unfamiliar location (which is the point of having a navigation system). Navigation system has suggested turning wrong direction onto one-way street, turning into rivers and lakes, making U-turn on expressway, and driving through private property.
NHTSA complaint #11577526 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Traverse City, MI
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
Navigation system (GPS) does not show correct location and 'reroutes' off the correct path. This could lead to dangerous conditions if using in an unfamiliar location (which is the point of having a navigation system). Navigation system has suggested turning wrong direction onto one-way street, turning into rivers and lakes, making U-turn on expressway, and driving through private property.
NHTSA complaint #11577526 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Glen Ellyn, IL
POWER TRAIN
Since I purchased this vehicle for my wife, she has repeatedly called me in tears regarding the vehicle turning itself off in school parking lots, stop lights, stopping at stop signs, and in drive through lanes. The car will show error messages such as "START ENGINE MANUALLY" or "AUTO START/STOP FAILURE." This has nearly caused a number of accidents when the car is turned off in the middle of the street. The only option to get the car restarted is to put it into park, then turn the car off and back on again - which at a busy intersection can put you into a panic. I have taken the car to the dealer a few times and told each time that they find nothing wrong since there are no error codes at the time. I spoke with the dealer on 10/10/23 since it was in the shop in early October - I was told that they are experiencing this issue with numerous VW Atlas, it is a known issue, however there is no fix. I was told to reach out to VW North America. I spoke with Nick from VW NA today who told me that my best option is to try a different VW dealer. This has been an ongoing issue with the vehicle since we purchased, but it is happening more frequently - upwards of numerous times per week. There are no signs that the car is going to turn itself off with issue - it has done it even when the AUTO START/STOP system is disabled (this needs to be manually disabled each time the car starts). My wife is at the point that she does not want to drive the vehicle anymore as she is afraid of the safety of the kids.
NHTSA complaint #11549247 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.