2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport Owner Complaints

The car will stop suddenly at a red light or when slowing in traffic without warning. I have to stop the car, put in park, and restart the engine often when the light turns green and I'm not moving The ACC eco-feature is typically off/disabled, so it isn't the issue. A few scary times being in traffic at a red light and then the car stops working. Not an engine problem. Earlier versions have had a recall, but not my year. May need to consider extending the recall and fix.

9/24/2023

The components that failed or malfunctioned was the fuel pump & fuel system components. During the 1st incident, while driving at approx. 50 mph, I quickly lost acceleration, which caused me to slow down very quickly until I had no acceleration power - this took a matter of 10 seconds or less. After losing power, the smell of gas consumed the cabin, & the engine was unable to start, resulting in the vehicle having to be towed. This incident happened at 1,005 miles on a brand new car. I had only owned it about 2 1/2 weeks. This happened 2 more times over the course of the next several weeks, but this time on a busy California freeway. I again had to be towed twice. The 3rd incident had an incredibly strong smell of gasoline vapors that consumed the inside AND outside of the cabin. In total, the vehicle (at 3 months old) had been towed 3 times, had 5 fuel pump replacements; and replacement of the fuel rails, fuel injectors, intake manifold gasket, and more. The Carfax report does not show all repairs performed. My life as well as the lives of my husband & children were put at risk when we nearly stalled out on the CA freeway while beginning our family vacation. I believe the most dangerous part was the gasoline vapors that consumed the inside & immediate vicinity of the vehicle. The dealerships code reader confirmed the issues with the fuel pump. The vehicle was inspected by the dealership. The warning lights that illuminated during the incidents were the EPC & check engine light. They illuminated at the immediate onset of the vehicle losing acceleration. I would like to note that this vehicle was eventually repurchased from VW under lemon law. I had to ask for reconsideration after the first request was denied. However, VW eventually made a horrible situation right and we are relieved this vehicle is off our hands. I do feel like I have an obligation, however, to notify NHTSA of these incidents as it could have had a much more devastating outcome.

9/27/2023

The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V464000 (Air Bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. The local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted.

8/21/2024

The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V464000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

8/26/2024

Multiple issues since purchasing the vehicle in 01/2023. - First evening in the driveway all of the windows went down. The vehicle was not running. This has happened two other times. - I went out to me vehicle one day and the back tailgate had opened on its own. - One day I went out to the vehicle to put something in the back. Opened the hatch and the vehicle started "bucking" and would not stop. This lasted approximately 5 minutes. - Multiple times the vehicle will make a loud POP sound (sounds like a gunshot) and then I lose all media volume. Sometimes it will come back on if I park the car and restart it, but not always. - There was an incident when the car sounded like someone was changing radio stations. It was very loud and continued even when I turned the radio off. The dealership was able to duplicate this and found an electrical connection that was not secure. - There was another incident when all of the dash lights began to flicker and it sounded as if there was a jackhammer in the car. This continued after I parked the car, turned it off, exited and locked the vehicle (I was able to capture this on video). - Navigation will get lost / stuck. It doesn't matter if I'm using vehicle navigation or an app (GoogleMaps, Apple Maps). Once it is stuck, no system will triangulate, so I'm driving blind. - Even though the vehicle has been at the dealership twice (last time for a month) the issue with the POP and no volume and the Navigation getting lost have been recurrent. - Sometimes Apple Car Play will not connect to the car at all.

3/31/2023

While driving on the freeway, the panoramic sunroof exploded. This time, the vehicle has not been repaired and is available for inspection. The explosion could have been caused by the excessive heat. The sunroof cover was closed at the time, but if it was open, the glass from the sunroof exploding could have injured my daughter who was sitting in the back seat. The glass could have flown and injured other drivers as well. The vehicle has not been expected, but when this issue was researched online, it appears that it has happened on other Volkswagen vehicles, and the dealership service center acknowledged that this has happened to others before. The vehicle is scheduled to be repaired at the Volkswagen dealership. No warning lights or prior messages appeared prior to the sunroof exploding.

9/7/2023

Multiple issues since purchasing the vehicle in 01/2023. - First evening in the driveway all of the windows went down. The vehicle was not running. This has happened two other times. - I went out to me vehicle one day and the back tailgate had opened on its own. - One day I went out to the vehicle to put something in the back. Opened the hatch and the vehicle started "bucking" and would not stop. This lasted approximately 5 minutes. - Multiple times the vehicle will make a loud POP sound (sounds like a gunshot) and then I lose all media volume. Sometimes it will come back on if I park the car and restart it, but not always. - There was an incident when the car sounded like someone was changing radio stations. It was very loud and continued even when I turned the radio off. The dealership was able to duplicate this and found an electrical connection that was not secure. - There was another incident when all of the dash lights began to flicker and it sounded as if there was a jackhammer in the car. This continued after I parked the car, turned it off, exited and locked the vehicle (I was able to capture this on video). - Navigation will get lost / stuck. It doesn't matter if I'm using vehicle navigation or an app (GoogleMaps, Apple Maps). Once it is stuck, no system will triangulate, so I'm driving blind. - Even though the vehicle has been at the dealership twice (last time for a month) the issue with the POP and no volume and the Navigation getting lost have been recurrent. - Sometimes Apple Car Play will not connect to the car at all.

3/31/2023

The vehicle simply shuts off with no warning or reason. I should NOT have to explain to anybody how this is a safety hazard to the driver and others around the vehicle. It shuts down while in a car wash and the vehicle is in Neutral. Thus, I have to brake, place the trans in Park then manually restart. The same happens at Stop Lights. All the time this is happening, the vehicle's "Auto On/Auto Off" mode has been manually disabled. VW KNOWS about this issue, although the dealerships like to play dumb, as it has been going on for several years now with still no solution in sight! Had I known about this issue before purchasing the vehicle I would never have purchased it! I would LOVE it if VW would buy back the vehicle and allow me to look for another SUV from an American car manufacturer.

2/18/2024

UNKOWN Brakes on brand new vehicle are exhibiting behavior that is not normal for a car of this size and relatively young age (miles). Measurably loud brake noise based on manufactures choice of materials in components leave concern on overall safety of brake system based on generally considered (except by dealer / manufacturer of course) unexpected behavior of vehicle braking system.

1/2/2024

MY CAR SHUTS OFF WHILE DRIVING. ALSO I HAVE HAD BRAKE ISSUES. GRINDING NOISE AND LOUD NOISE. THEY RELACED THE BRAKE PADS THAT I HAD TO PAY FOR BECAUSE MANUFACTUR PADS WOULD HAVE CAUSE THE SAME ISSUE. NOW MY CAR IS SHAKING WHILE I BRAKE. THEY SAID I NEED NEW ROTORS. WITH THE CAR SHUTTING OFF WHILE DRIVING IS MY MAIN CONCERN. IT HAS SHUT OFF A TOTAL OF 8 TIME SINCE I HAVE OWNED IT. SHUT OFF RADOMLY ON STREET, PARKING LOTS AND FREEWAY GOING 65MPH. I HAVE MY GRAND CHILDREN IN MY CAR A LOT. SO THERFORE, THIS IS A HIGH RISK SAFETY CONCERN OF MINE.

5/22/2024

The components that failed or malfunctioned was the fuel pump & fuel system components. During the 1st incident, while driving at approx. 50 mph, I quickly lost acceleration, which caused me to slow down very quickly until I had no acceleration power - this took a matter of 10 seconds or less. After losing power, the smell of gas consumed the cabin, & the engine was unable to start, resulting in the vehicle having to be towed. This incident happened at 1,005 miles on a brand new car. I had only owned it about 2 1/2 weeks. This happened 2 more times over the course of the next several weeks, but this time on a busy California freeway. I again had to be towed twice. The 3rd incident had an incredibly strong smell of gasoline vapors that consumed the inside AND outside of the cabin. In total, the vehicle (at 3 months old) had been towed 3 times, had 5 fuel pump replacements; and replacement of the fuel rails, fuel injectors, intake manifold gasket, and more. The Carfax report does not show all repairs performed. My life as well as the lives of my husband & children were put at risk when we nearly stalled out on the CA freeway while beginning our family vacation. I believe the most dangerous part was the gasoline vapors that consumed the inside & immediate vicinity of the vehicle. The dealerships code reader confirmed the issues with the fuel pump. The vehicle was inspected by the dealership. The warning lights that illuminated during the incidents were the EPC & check engine light. They illuminated at the immediate onset of the vehicle losing acceleration. I would like to note that this vehicle was eventually repurchased from VW under lemon law. I had to ask for reconsideration after the first request was denied. However, VW eventually made a horrible situation right and we are relieved this vehicle is off our hands. I do feel like I have an obligation, however, to notify NHTSA of these incidents as it could have had a much more devastating outcome.

9/27/2023

The vehicle simply shuts off with no warning or reason. I should NOT have to explain to anybody how this is a safety hazard to the driver and others around the vehicle. It shuts down while in a car wash and the vehicle is in Neutral. Thus, I have to brake, place the trans in Park then manually restart. The same happens at Stop Lights. All the time this is happening, the vehicle's "Auto On/Auto Off" mode has been manually disabled. VW KNOWS about this issue, although the dealerships like to play dumb, as it has been going on for several years now with still no solution in sight! Had I known about this issue before purchasing the vehicle I would never have purchased it! I would LOVE it if VW would buy back the vehicle and allow me to look for another SUV from an American car manufacturer.

2/18/2024

When car came to a stop at a red light I put my foot on the gas once the light turned green. When I tried to proceed through the light my car was at a complete stall. I had to then place the car in park, power the car off and then power the car back on. The other car behind me almost ran into the back of my car due to the light was green. When I contacted the dealership the service department they told me it was normal and don’t worry about it. If it happens again then to bring the vehicle in.

2/22/2024

Our VW Atlas Cross Sport 2023 was involved in an accident on August 3, 2025 where the Automatic Emergency Braking and Forward Collision Warning did not work. Firstly, we reported issues with our brakes several times and took the vehicle to Rick Case VW in Weston/Davie more than once to rectify this problem. However, the problem has never been fixed, and persisted up until the time of the accident. Secondly, the vehicle's navigation system stopped working during the week of July 28th, and this was reported to Rick Case VW on July 30th. Attempts to address the fact that the car's non-working features contributed to the accident remain unresolved with Rick Case VW (seller) and VW Corporate (manufacturer), as of September 17. We made several amicable and fair requests, up to and including: 1) giving us another/newer vehicle without any charges or fees whatsoever, or change to payment amount unless it is less, and/or 2) refunding all monies paid to date so we could find a new car on our own. To date, there has been very little communication from either party and no genuine care or effort to assist us with this case. The Rick Case Collision Center has been in possession of our vehicle for approximately 6 weeks to fix an array of damages. At this point, we do not feel the car is road-worthy or safe to drive and we have made this expressly clear in emails and voicemails to VW/Rick Case VW. The management of Rick Case VW has made no offer of a loaner nor have they acknowledged our request to exchange this vehicle. They are well aware that their faulty, non-functioning systems in our VW 2023 Atlas SE contributed to the accident in August. Their professionalism and respect for the customer would have gone a long way in resolving this in a timely and amicable manner. Now we may have no choice but to resort to taking this a step further, legally.

9/17/2025

Our VW Atlas Cross Sport 2023 was involved in an accident on August 3, 2025 where the Automatic Emergency Braking and Forward Collision Warning did not work. Firstly, we reported issues with our brakes several times and took the vehicle to Rick Case VW in Weston/Davie more than once to rectify this problem. However, the problem has never been fixed, and persisted up until the time of the accident. Secondly, the vehicle's navigation system stopped working during the week of July 28th, and this was reported to Rick Case VW on July 30th. Attempts to address the fact that the car's non-working features contributed to the accident remain unresolved with Rick Case VW (seller) and VW Corporate (manufacturer), as of September 17. We made several amicable and fair requests, up to and including: 1) giving us another/newer vehicle without any charges or fees whatsoever, or change to payment amount unless it is less, and/or 2) refunding all monies paid to date so we could find a new car on our own. To date, there has been very little communication from either party and no genuine care or effort to assist us with this case. The Rick Case Collision Center has been in possession of our vehicle for approximately 6 weeks to fix an array of damages. At this point, we do not feel the car is road-worthy or safe to drive and we have made this expressly clear in emails and voicemails to VW/Rick Case VW. The management of Rick Case VW has made no offer of a loaner nor have they acknowledged our request to exchange this vehicle. They are well aware that their faulty, non-functioning systems in our VW 2023 Atlas SE contributed to the accident in August. Their professionalism and respect for the customer would have gone a long way in resolving this in a timely and amicable manner. Now we may have no choice but to resort to taking this a step further, legally.

9/17/2025