2021 Volkswagen Atlas Body & Structure Problems

ON DIFFERENT OCCASION THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR HINGE WILL LOCK AND NOT ALLOW THE DOOR TO CLOSE COMPLETELY. I HAVE BEEN DRIVING AND THE DOOR WILL OPEN AND I HAVE TO HOLD IT "CLOSED" WHILE DRIVING. CURRENTLY MY DRIVERS SIDE DOOR WILL NOT OPEN WHEN I UNLOCK THE DOORS I HAVE TO CLIMB THROUGH THE PASSENGERS SIDE OR THE BACK SEAT IN ORDER TO OPEN MY DRIVERS SIDE DOOR. THIS HAS HAPPENED ON THREE SEPARATE OCCASIONS- MY DOOR NOT CLOSING ALL THE WAY. IT IS A HAZARD WHEN DRIVING AND SUDDENLY MY VEHICLE DOES A DRASTIC STOP ASKING I PUT THE VEHICLE IN PARK BECAUSE IT ASSUMES I OPENED THE DOOR MANUALLY.

The hood release broke, and we can no longer open the hood of the vehicle. There is no tension in the release mechanism, and it appears the release cable has broken/become loose. Without the ability to open the hood, I can’t check my oil, refill engine coolant, refill wiper fluid, etc., let alone investigate an issue. Generally unsafe to drive. There were no warnings on the dash (the lever was simply dangling). We took the car to the dealer, and they confirmed the hood release was broken, and likely a bad cable (as anticipated). Online research confirmed this is a common issue among VWs, especially the Atlas.

Peeling clear coat at 47,000 miles. Dealership said paint warranty ended at 36,000 miles.

I opened my hood while parked in my driveway to use the fuse puller tool in the engine fuse compartment as my infotainment screen was out and i wanted to check the fuse under the dash. There is a slight incline in my driveway but not much. I left my hood up while i used the tool and switched a fuse under the dash to check my infotainment screen. When i went back to put the fuse tool in the engine compartment and closed my hood i heard a low clang. I didn't think much of it and went back to close the fuse box under the dash. Then i noticed the hood release latch was not sitting flush to the vehicle and was pointing at a 90 angle up. I tried to push back into position but there is no hold and now my hood is locked. There is no way to open the hood with the under dash latch broken. My car has about 56,000 miles on it and I am scared to drive my vehicle not knowing if the hood will fly up at any moment. I called the dealer and because my car is out of warranty at 50k miles they refuse to fix the hood latching mechanism unless i pay out of pocket. I am scared to drive my 2 yr old vehicle because of all the little issues coming up right outside my warranty. No warnings or messages came up before the issue happened and I am not sure what will happen if I need to get into my engine compartment. This seems like a big safety issue and i am going to be left with correcting on my own before driving the vehicle again.

The viechle appears to be having a very common issue of the Hood Latch being broken or snapping. I was left stranded with my car with a dead battery unable to access the battery to jump it.

Battery died, needed to jump battery. Hood latch cable snapped when pulling hood lever.

I was driving my car and the moonroof exploded and shattered. Nothing his my car there were no cars in front of me, side of me, or behind me. There is no debris or any type of object. It is all over the internet about sunroofs and moonroofs exploding. The incident happened 09/16/2022.

The contact owns a 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormally loud grinding and squeaking sound coming from the vehicle. There was an abnormal sound of rushing water underneath the floorboard. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was unknown.

The sunroof exploded while driving with no external object impacts. The retracted roof exploded sounded like a gunshot. I was driving about 75mph on Hwy 70 from Colorado to Utah. There were no vehicles around us.

The plastic trim on the doors failed and became lodged between the seam of the fender and the front doors. The adhesive on the trim/badges failed and allowed it to partly peel off the door. I became trapped in the vehicle and was unable to open either door because pieces were jammed in the doors range of motion. I had to physically slam my body against the door from the inside of the car to break the jammed piece and open the door. My safety was at risk as I was not able to get out of my car and it was urgent. I would not have been able to get out of my car in the case of an accident or if my car became submerged in water such as a flood. I frequently transport my 70 year old father to medical appointments and I was unable to open the door to get him out of the car due to this issue. I reported this problem in April when I first noticed the trim badges coming loose, but VW failed to fix it properly. They took a metal putty knife and attempted to bend the fender and trim back into place in the parking lot. They did not take this issue seriously and pushed off repairs for months until I finally had this event and demanded they make this car safe. This car would not have passed the State Inspection and should have never left the dealers lot. I had another mechanic assess my car and he confirmed that this was extremely unsafe and the delay in repair could have been catastrophic. I have several pictures from April until present that show how severe the defect is on my car. There are several other reports of this problem in the VW forums where the badges on the doors have become jammed in the fender seam and prevented range of motion of the front doors.