Volkswagen Atlas seat belt problems

SEAT BELTS

Vehicle safety components bypassed

NHTSA complaint #11743338 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

I am writing to formally escalate a serious safety concern regarding my 2025 Volkswagen Atlas, purchased in March 2025 from Prestige Volkswagen in Turnersville, NJ. The middle row left seatbelt has demonstrated an intermittent failure on multiple occasions over the past month. Specifically: At times, the seatbelt will not latch At other times, it appears to click, but can then be pulled out without pressing the release button This issue has been personally experienced by myself, my husband, and my mother, on separate occasions. Because the failure is intermittent, it does not occur every time the seatbelt is used — which is exactly what makes this defect concerning. I brought the vehicle to Prestige Volkswagen Turnersville, where the service department and service manager stated they cannot replace the seatbelt unless they can duplicate the problem. Their assessment consisted of manually tugging on the buckle until it appeared to function properly. I explained that testing a stationary seatbelt in a service bay is not equivalent to real-world forces during a motor vehicle collision, and that an intermittent failure of a federally required safety restraint presents a significant risk of injury should the buckle disengage during an accident. Despite this, the dealership has refused to replace the seatbelt assembly. I also opened a Volkswagen Customer Care case, which was escalated to a manager Aaron. I was informed that after speaking with the dealership, Volkswagen would not authorize replacement because the issue could not be duplicated. I am requesting Volkswagen of America’s direct assistance in resolving this safety concern. A seatbelt that fails intermittently is not operating as designed, regardless of whether the defect can be reproduced on demand. I respectfully request authorization to replace the affected seatbelt assembly under warranty to ensure the safety of all passengers.

NHTSA complaint #11707868 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

The seat belt receptacle on the rear passenger side seat has failed. The vehicle is barely 4 years old. The dealership offered to replace it at a cost of $808.00. There was no warning that it would fail, it simply quit working. There has not been any foreign substance spilled on the receptacle. There were no injuries, but the seat belt is a critical safety feature and should last longer than 4 years from new.

NHTSA complaint #11699959 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

The second row captains chair seat belt latch on the passenger side does not latch fully. It latches and can be pulled out by hand. If a wreck were to happen, the passenger would not be truly restrained causing bodily harm or death. The problem has been reproduced at a service center. It has not been inspected by police, insurance or representative. No warning lights or messages for the seat belt. The car will randomly stall while rpms are low, liking making a turn, pulling into a parking spot or stopped at a traffic light (while auto start/stop is turned off). It makes me put the vehicle in park and restart the engine. This can cause wrecks that could cause bodily harm or injury. It has been reviewed by a auto mechanic. The engine light and evap system light will randomly come on and go off.

NHTSA complaint #11698880 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

Seatbelt buckle unbuckles randomly while driving.

NHTSA complaint #11672437 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

Seatbelt sensor will not go off even when seal belt is fastened.

NHTSA complaint #11652680 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

Back seat belt won’t un latch buckled in behind diver seat daughter is skinny enough to squeeze her way out safety issue. Just stopped working and now is stuck.

NHTSA complaint #11650448 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

Seatbelt light stays on and dings at me while driving, even though I am buckled. I’ve tried turning the car on and off to reset the seatbelt sensor and it doesn’t work.

NHTSA complaint #11648414 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

With the past year, have had 2 dangerous safety issues pop up. 1. April 2024, seat belt malfunctioned causing an error message. From what the VW dealer told me, the seat belt would not lock, therefore requiring a replacement of the entire assembly Had to drive home several hours with this error message. Should a 5 year old car have such issues? 2. January 2025, steering began to feel very sloppy. Was informed Steering rack assembly had excessive play inside the steering gear. Presume losing steering at highway speeds would be quite dangerous. Replacing seat belt assembly cost $1261.25, the steering rack assembly replacement will cost $1988.75. Both should be recall items and covered by VW.

NHTSA complaint #11637158 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

I own a 2019 VW Atlas SE, purchased it new. The car has never been in an accident of any sort. While away from town this weekend, on Saturday an "airbag error" popped up on the car when starting the car Saturday morning. Had no idea, texted my VW dealership and brought the car in Monday morning. Note: I had to drive home ~80 miles on Sunday. Apparently the drivers side from seat belt assembly has to be replaced. The front seat belt tension igniter N153 resistance malfunctioned, causing the "Airbag error." First, in hindsight, I presume this means that if I got in an accident while driving home on the highway yesterday, I could have died due to this error. Second, I am a very cautious driver, if there is a way to check on the car, would clearly see that there have been VERY VERY FEW hard braking situations so I'm not sure why this would happen. Very dangerous and should not fail in a 5 year period and cost nearly $750 out of pocket to repair. The code the the seat belt assembly 3CN-857-705-E-RAA, costing $286.15, and another $379.90 for labor.

NHTSA complaint #11622225 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

The rear driver side seat belt does not stay in place when the seat is lowered, therefore, leaving this seat without a seatbelt. The adaptive cruise control sometimes works and sometimes does not work. There is no specific reason for this. It works during the snow and does not work during the sunshine. When making a hard right or left turn, there is a grinding noise underneath, I am guessing it has something to do withthe wheels or what the wheels are attached to... I have brought each of these items up to the dealership service department and they look at me like I am crazy stating this is the way volkswagon works. I do not believe this is so.

NHTSA complaint #11619260 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while the twelve-year-old child was seated in the second-row passenger side captain's seat, the seat belt locking mechanism malfunctioned and the seat belt was unable to be unlatched, causing the child to become trapped in the seat. The contact stated that scissors were used to cut the seat belt strap to free the child. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the seat belt assembly. The contact stated that the failure reoccurred with the replacement seat belt, and again the seat belt strap was cut to free the child. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 44,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA complaint #11615928 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

Unknown- manufacturer still has not found a remedy for the seatbelt air bag issue and it’s been a year since they announced it

NHTSA complaint #11577754 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed with his sons in the rear seats, one of his sons informed him that his other son who was occupying the rear driver's side seat had playfully put the seat belt around his stomach and could no longer breathe. The contact stated that he pulled to the side of the road and immediately unbuckled the seat belt; however, the seat belt continued to retract and to tighten around the chest of his son. The contact stated that the seat belt did not loosen after been unbuckled. The contact was able to use an emergency device and cut the seat belt. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 8,000.

NHTSA complaint #11574011 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

1. The plastic piece attached to the outer section of the back passenger seats of the 2024 VW Atlas is designed where the seat belt gets easily tangled in the seat tract, allowing the seatbelt to get caught and rendering the seat inoperable. This component should be available for inspection upon request. 2. This design flaw poses a risk by potentially causing the seatbelt to get caught, rendering the seat inoperable. In the event of a crash or sudden stop, this issue could compromise the effectiveness of the seatbelt, jeopardizing the safety of the occupants. 3. I am unsure if any other VW customer have experienced this issue as the car is only two weeks old and I have encountered this issue and fear it will happen again with kids utilizing the backseats. In order for the seat to become functional again it required that it be removed by a technician and I was recommended to purchase seat belt covers. 4.Yes, I have taken the car to the dealership and they are going to engage their engineer for a potential solution to for this design issue. 5. No

NHTSA complaint #11562440 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

I have been waiting on VW to fix their PODS system recall for 6 months now. Our front passenger seat flips between not registering the airbags when a passenger is present, so thinking that there is a passenger seated when the seat is empty. They still tell me there is no fix for the issue and the only thing I can do is not utilize the front passenger seat. This is absolutely OBSURED that it is taking this long to rectify this situation. I have a seat is unsafe and it does not appear there is any urgency on VW's part. 6 months with no fix is entirely too long.

NHTSA complaint #11539742 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

The Passenger Air Bag light comes on at random times, even when sitting in seat. It says the airbag detection system may be faulty and the airbag may not deploy when needed. There is a recall for some Volkswagen's but not mine. This light has been coming on for 2 years and it sounds like the recall but since my VIN number is not in the recall, I cannot get it fixed. I believe this may be the same problem as can be life threatening in an accident or another time. I would like Volkswagen to check and fix this under the recall that was made in 4/2023. Please help if you can.

NHTSA complaint #11524647 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

Brake booster fault warning, brakes want to lock up. Rear seat belt buckles won’t allow belt buckle to insert. Have received brake booster fault several times recently. If I stop motor and restart warning goes away and brakes function correctly.

NHTSA complaint #11522358 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.

SEAT BELTS

Vehicle @ Danbury VW for repairs; per service advisor rear passenger seat belt was ripped/damaged; this seat belt is used on my child’s car seat and has not been involved in any incidents that would cause damage. The contact stated that the damage to the seatbelt in the second passenger seat row was repaired by the dealer. It was brought to their attention that the child car seat used in second row was the cause of the damage. However, upon trying to begin using the second row seating again, another fray in the seatbelt was found by the contact.

NHTSA complaint #11496864 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.