2024 Volkswagen Atlas Transmission Problems

Which parts fail

• Automatic transmission › Gear position indication (PRNDL)
  1

Components named in complaints (automatic and manual transmissions, CVT, axles, driveshaft, 4WD/AWD).

Mileage when the problem started

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2024 Volkswagen Atlas owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while at a stop sign and attempting to make a left turn, while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as needed; however, approximately five seconds later, the vehicle responded as intended. The contact stated that the transmission had shifted into neutral and then first gear after several minutes. The contact stated that a dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but offered no assistance. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 3,997.

The vehicle was driven into the garage, driver pressed park then engine stop. Driver and passenger exited vehicle, opened both rear doors and retrieved items from the rear seats. Closed rear doors. No warning sounds or lights came on when exiting the vehicle. When returning to the vehicle in about an hour it had rolled out of the garage and crashed into another garage. When the driver's door was opened the shift lever indicated PARK. The incident was reported to the dealer and taken in as soon as possible. The dealer has been unable to recreate the problem and is still researching. Very concerned about the possibility of the vehicle moving in PARK and hitting someone or something.

The contact owns a 2024 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine, exhaust system malfunction, and master warning lights were illuminated. The messages "Engine Control Malfunction" and "Transmission Overheated" were displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was pulled over to the side of the road. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 18,227.

On [redacted], I was driving that vehicle on [redacted] in the vicinity of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda, Florida, with three persons inside when the vehicle experienced substantial vibration, a loud knocking noise and major loss of power while in the high speed lane. This occurred somewhere around 8:45 AM. Traffic was heavy thereby increasing the risk of an accident resulting from the loss of power and vibration. I was able to keep the vehicle running and slowly make my way to a suitable place to safely park the car. When this occurred there were several warning lights that appeared. The vehicle has been serviced by a VW dealer in Port Charlotte, FL. VW subsequently replaced the "Longblock and Turbocharger", reassembled the Engine and Transmission assembly and reinstalled that into the vehicle. …

Brakes grind and vibrate and have for the past 7,000 miles, dealer continues to say this is normal for Volkswagen, this problem has been reported numerous times to VW and doing an internet search I am not the only one with this problem. Numerous other individuals with these vehicles also have this issue. The other issue is the transfer case continues to leak, this has been replaced once already, and now less than 4,000 miles later it is leaking again. VW continues to say everything is normal and it is normal to feel the vibration and grinding in the brake pedal and VW continues to say it is safe and normal for these sounds. However, this grinding feeling, not squeaking, but grinding and vibration in the brake pedal cannot be safe. This is a serious safety concern for myself and my family. They say brake pads are normal and not worn, so this isn't a brake pad issue, but a deeper issue. …

While going through an automated car wash, I experienced a critical malfunction at the end of the belt. When it came time to shift my vehicle from Neutral into Drive, the car would not respond. Every time I attempted to shift into Drive, the emergency brake would automatically engage, preventing the vehicle from moving forward. As a result, I was stuck at the end of the car wash belt. The car behind me, unable to stop due to the forward momentum of the belt, was pushed into my vehicle. Their vehicle sustained damage from hitting my trailer hitch, although my car did not appear to be physically damaged. This incident created a clear safety hazard, not only putting me at risk but also directly causing a rear-end collision. I believe the failure was related to either the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) system or the shifting mechanism. …

Repeated concerns involving the reliable response to pressing the gas pedal. Directly after purchase notified dealership the vehicle felt unsafe to drive. That pressing the gas pedal did not guarantee the vehicle would predictably move forward. Response ranges from high rpm with no forward propulsion, delayed response with eventual slow or regular movement, high rpm with no forward movement when taking tight turn, feeling of incorrect gear. Most important when passing and accelerating or moving into traffic from stop you do not know how the vehicle will respond. Two Volkswagen dealers have inspected and state there is nothing wrong. Vehicle has recently had vacuum seals replaced which gave a temporary improvement of response feel but has degraded and left vehicle with a rough idle at stopping. …

My wife was operating the vehicle when the check engine light suddenly came on and alerts on the dash stating that the car was overheating. She was unable to pull over as she was in the road, the car then flashed more alerts and limited her speed to under 20 mph only operating in first gear and limiting rpm to 4000. She was thankfully able to pull over as she was on a city road not a highway whilst driving with my [redacted] in the vehicle. The car was towed to a VW dealership where they stated it was a known software issue with the cooling system not operating properly. They referenced TSB [redacted] which was first posted in 2024. This information was not provided to the customers and only VW technicians through the TSB. If this were to happen at a high rate of speed there could have been a serious issue and my wife and daughter could not be with me today.

On occasion, maybe 20% of the time when slowing down at an intersection or leaving a stop sign the car will stay in 3rd gear, I have verfied it is in 3rd gear by putting the transmission into sport mode so it will display the gear indicator, when this happens the car is very slow to respond unexpecting this to happen we have to put the car to the floor but by the time the vehicle reacts 5 to 10 seconds have gone by and the car continues to stay in 3rd regardless of the amount of throttle applied most of the time.we have had 2 very close incidents where this has happened and if the other driver had not slowed down we would have been hit. We have taken the car to Volkswagen of Desmoines and attempted to have them fix it at 10,000 miles but they said they could not replicate the issue. We took a 5 hour trip a few days ago and had this happen to us about 8 times.

I was driving about 50-55 miles per hours. I had been driving for about 45 minutes when I heard a loud pop in the rear portion of the vehicle. Warning lights came on the dash at this time. The message said to "apply the park brake because of roll potential" and some other messages that I cannot remember. The vehicle stopped moving/pulling (the engine was still running) and the vehicle put itself in Neutral. The wheels locked up. A bystander tried to push it out of the lane of traffic, but it would not move, and the tow truck had to drag it on the flat bed. The dealership (Checkered Flag Volkswagen - Virginia Beach, Virginia) said there was a fault for the shifter mechanism. They replaced it. Safety - I was instantly stuck in the middle of traffic and could not even coast off to the shoulder to get out of the lane of traffic.

Transmission complaints in other Atlas years