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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2023 Volkswagen Atlas — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 136 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

136
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
4
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
0
Involved Fire
owner-reported
6
Injuries
across all reports
Years to Avoid

Volkswagen Atlas — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

0 complaints

0 complaints

465 complaints

482 complaints

27 complaints

476 complaints

184 complaints

136 complaints

174 complaints

49 complaints

0 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Engine 35 reports
Electrical System 33 reports
Unknown Or Other 24 reports
Air Bags 22 reports
Fuel/propulsion System 18 reports
Exterior Lighting 15 reports
Service Brakes 15 reports
Forward Collision Avoidance 9 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Engine ODI 11632426 12/26/2024

Vehicle engine shuts off automatically when in ideal or in parking mode.

Air Bags ODI 11631725 12/20/2024

The contact owns a 2023 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V464000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The…

Air Bags ODI 11631593 12/19/2024

The contact owned a 2023 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at 35 MPH, a vehicle was coming towards her in the opposite direction making a left turn, and she collided with another vehicle on its front passenger side. No air bags were deployed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was then towed by her insurance company. The vehicle was deem…

Unknown Or Other ODI 11560874 12/19/2023

The radio will occasionally blast this really loud sound that sounds similar to a helicopter. The only way that I have found to stop it is to pull-over, turn-off the car, and wait for the radio to timeout (the radio will stay on for a period after the ignition is turned-off). From my online research (there are others with this same issue, and it appears to be related to the Fe…

Service Brakes ODI 11560294 12/15/2023

The vehicle only has 15K miles and the breaks are already producing a grinding sound. Brought it back to the dealership and they said that the pads and rotors are measuring correct and that it was the humidity. No vehicle that we have ever experiences has had grinding, so new and blamed weather. They are stating that the pads and rotors are made up of higher iron and corros…

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2023 Volkswagen Atlas, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2023 Volkswagen Atlas reliable?
Owners have filed 136 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2023 Volkswagen Atlas, most often about engine. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Volkswagen Atlas years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.