NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2022 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
I purchased my car in July 2022 and started having issues with it within 3 months. I’ve have my car at the dealer 4 times for them to look at… 1 - the brakes (grinding, scraping noise, squeaking that can be fetl in the pedal). I was told each time that the rotors and brake pads aren’t compatible. VW knows about the problem but doesn’t have a fix for it. They say they clean the pads and that the car is safe to drive (really?). 2 - the infotainment system. On several occasions I cannot switch from one media system (Sirius XM, FM, AM, blue tooth, etc…), when I turn my car on, the screen shows “initializing” but nothing happens. It just sits there. Today was a first; the whole system shut off and the screen was blank. No radio, no phone, nothing. I’ve made several videos to show the dealer what the system is doing and they tell me it just needs an update, yet I still have the problem. 3 - the front assist light comes on but doesn’t engage or when I am stopping it will engage so hard that it nearly stops my car on a dime (if I wasn’t wearing my seatbelt, I would have been on the floorboard). 4 - the remote start doesn’t work, from my fob or the app on my phone. The dealer was able to make it work once and said it was fixed. Hasn’t worked since. I only have 7,900 miles on my car and I just want it permanently fixed.
Purchased April 2022, and once the weather got cooler, brakes make a horrendous grinding, squeaky noise, sounds like metal on metal. Have brought into dealership multiple times to no avail until a few months ago, confirmed that it is a known issue, but nothing they can do about it. Said there is a build up of some kind on the brakes that has to warm up before it will go away, which is why it is prominent when weather is cooler. My concern is that typically, grinding, squeaking are usually signs that the brakes make have issues. Dealer is saying brakes or fine, so do I have to wait for brakes to go out, run into something or someone before they can validate that brakes are not safe and are defective?
While driving the Pre-collision system will alert when there is nothing in front of vehicle. I’ve had to bring the car into the service department on 3 separate occasions due to this system problem. The pre-collision system has triggered the brakes on 2 occasions for no reason at all. The wireless charging pad does not function properly. The service department claims the vehicle is working as it’s suppose to even with documented proof of the pre-collision system triggering with nothing in front of the car. I was able to duplicate the wireless charging pad at the service center and the technician still claimed the vehicle is working as normal.
Connecting rod bearing caused the engine fail. The Vehicle is currently in the Dealer's service shop. I was driving in a very busy highway with my wife when suddenly a lot of smog start coming out of under the hood and the vehicle suddenly stopped in the middle of the highway. Had to stop traffic to be able to pull over. Another vehicle stopped to help us and handed a fire extinguisher because she though it caught on fire. The problem has been confirmed by the dealer. The vehicle has been inspected by the manufacturer. No warning lamps or messages, but the vehicle began to jerk a few seconds before it totally failed.
We are having the same issue that others have noted where the engine shuts off while driving. This has happened 2 times now. The vehicle is only 1 month old with right at 1,000 miles. When the engine shuts off, a message comes on the display to put the vehicle in park and start the engine manually. This is not part of the start stop system as it happens while the vehicle is moving. Since you have to put it in park in order to restart it, this is a huge safety issue as you have to stop in the middle of the road or highway when it dies. We have an appointment at the dealer, but the earliest date they had available for drop off is about a month away. There are no current recalls for my VIN.
While driving on the highway, going approximately 70 mph, a red Steering Malfunction light lit up on the dash and beeped loudly. The steering wheel almost immediately locked up and would not turn left or right. It took pulling hard in one direction to get in over three lanes and onto the shoulder. After attempting to turn off and turn the vehicle back on, the light remained and the beeping would occur a few times before stopping. The vehicle had to be towed from its location. The light remained on and steering wheel continued to be locked up the following day when service at VW turned on the vehicle.
I leased a 2022 VW Atlas Cross Sport last month and currently has less than 600 miles on it and the issue's happened 4 separate times. Today it happened twice. I am in line to drop my son off at school with many cars in front of me and behind me so it's a stop and go kind of situation; I let go of my brakes and about to step on the pedal when the engine shuts off entirely. I had to put the car in park and start the engine again when it happened again! I just feel unsafe now driving that car. Bringing it to the shop Monday morning (Friday today). The previous two occurrences took place while stopped at a traffic light. While the engine is off a message is displayed ""Start Engine Manually". I feel this is a safety hazard because I don't know if this car's engine will shut off while I am actually driving since it did shut down while I was in "Drive" mode plus it's happened to others while driving on highway. The next time it happens I will need to film it.
While driving less than 30 mph in slow traffic the automatic braking system engaged itself which caused me to almost get hit. Another time, I was in slow traffic less than 20mph both sides of the street were filled with cars driving and my automatic brake began to light up and the brake was engaging but I was still able to keep driving the car despite what was happening with the automatic brakes. In normal driving conditions whenever I press on the brakes the vehicle does not stop right away. It take a lot of effort for the vehicle to stop almost as if, the car is too heavy for the braking equipment installed on the vehicle. There have been maybe one to three times where I slammed on the brakes and the vehicle did not fully stop which now has caused increased anxiety. Another issue I am having not related to the braking mechanism. Electrical on the infotainment system. The screen has gone out a few times and the syncing system from cell phone via Bluetooth does not always seamlessly happen. I have taken my car to be checked out regarding my concerns. I was advised the car checked out.
The contact recently purchased a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated that days after purchasing the vehicle, she received a phone call from the dealer asking her to return the vehicle. Once at the dealer, she was informed that her vehicle was under recall NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V152000 (Air Bags) and that the parts for the recall repair were not yet available. The contact was provided a loaner vehicle and was instructed to speak with the sales department if the loaner vehicle would be needed for an extended period. The manufacturer had been notified of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
This vehicle DOES has a recall listed for the door harness. I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get a return call from my dealship since NOVEMBER. I literally leave a message (after physically talking to someone) and NO ONE calls me back. The passenger front door is misaligned and does not close properly, the electronics go crazy and sensors randomly go off. I took the vehicle in one week after purchase regarding the above and was told they needed to get approved to get my car in and get me a loaner. Service stated my car would need to be sent to their body shop for "several weeks," and couldn't provide a loaner at that time. Since then, I have called MULTIPLE times and nothing. With the issues with the electronics and now the wiring harness, this vehicle is definitely NOT SAFE TO DRIVE, though VW claims it is. How is it safe to drive when you are driving down the road and the emergency brake engages? Then you have a wreck and the airbags don't deploy correctly? I am a nurse and drive all over Texas for my job. Sometimes I may drive 3 hours just to get to one location, then drive 3 hours back. These issues do not leave me confident in driving my VW safely.
My windows keep rolling down, parking break engages when going slow and I’m being told that there is currently not a fix for this. Websites and recalls say this could effect air bags. I’m concerned that this will lead to an accident/cause a safety concern so would like this well documented that I reached out.
Just bought the vehicle within the first day the radio systems turned off and cannot turn on again after 8 turn on the vehicle it affects all the safety systems because it's all connected to the radio. Vehicle was taken back to dealership which was reprogrammed and given back after one day it began again and now it's back at the dealership. They are saying they're going to put a brand new video but it's back on it and that I could still use my vehicle even though radio is not working correctly connecting to all the safety components. I was told that it was safe to drive even though I feel like it's not safe to drive at all in that condition. Right now I have a loaner car but they want it back within 2 days and until I get the new radio and hopefully it will work correctly and turn on again all the bells ring after a while because it's connected to the radio system. Once I put the car in reverse push the gas in the car did not move. So far it's working fine
I had a bad fuel pump. Emergency brake engages on its own while in drive, engine light on, windows down by themselves, door beeping loudly
The brakes on this new car constantly grind and are extremely noisy. There have been a few occasions where they barely stopped the car before we hit another car. We have brought the car in for service several times and the dealer is unable to repair the vehicle. The service reps tell us this is a known problem with this car. Then they tell us they did not find any issues. they have claimed to have replaced the brakes but the issues still persist. Lots of owners of this vehicle have the same concerns or worse. This Atlas Cross Sport should not be allowed on California streets and highways. This really needs to be looked into
Since purchasing this car, i have had problems with the parking brake automatically turning on when driving and at every stop; the car doors in the front do not lock/unlock; causing a concern for emergency with two kids in the car. The sunroof malfunctions along with the windows working on their own, going up and down and the sunroof not closing. The electrical front panels malfunction and cause the break system to start on its own, the screens turn black and am unable to use the front power screen. The doors lock and unlock by themselves from the inside and outside, not able to use the buttons on the doors to lock/unlock. The windows constantly open and close by themselves, again causing safety harm for the children in the car. When the car comes to a stop sign and brakes, it will either shut off or the parking/emergency brake will engage automatically. I have called 2 branches of dealerships through vw and since its a recalled car with no remedy, they will not let me schedule appointments to fix as they have no loaners available long term. I am very scared driving this car with two small children and the airbags recalls, brake problems and electrical malfunctioning. The VW customer care did not help me at all with the claim, and more concerns are happening weekly. With no remedy for the recall, vw dealerships have given me no trade in options or ability to put into the service department; they took name and number and said they would call when remedy is available.
5 days after purchasing the brand new vehicle I was driving on the highway and felt and heard a clunking sound. Shortly after the check engine light and EPC light came on. Then as I was driving (55mph) I lost all power. The dash was telling me to restart my engine manually as I was driving. I was able to get to the side of the road - in a very unsafe location and had to wait for a tow. When the vehicle got back to the dealership they said it looked like the engine had just exploded. In the oil pan was chunks of metal. The entire engine and turbo had to be replaced. The entire situation was extremely dangerous and no one has an explanation for why this happened.
The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport. The contact stated that on several occasions while stopped at a light, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was restarted after one attempt on each occasion. The coolant system warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the water pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 15,969.
Lease 10/29/2021. Remote start never worked. Diagnosed as faulty fuel pump. Replaced. Two days later remote start stopped working and check engine light came on. VW service advised vehicle safe to drive. Days later broke down due to no fuel. Fuel guage always says tank full. Last week park brake engaged while driving 60mph on a 4 lane highway.
When parking the car it hit the other parking vehicle on the right side of it. The sensors didn't work at the time of the collision or after the collision. The vehicle is taking a force parking when the parking button is turned on.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026