2023 Volkswagen Atlas
This year drew an ordinary 123 complaints for a Volkswagen Atlas — the model's median is 162. What they were about is the unusual part: 11.4% of them mention panel, against 3.1% across the other years of this generation.
Last year of its generation. This Volkswagen Atlas ran from 2018 to 2023, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 123 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 162 |
| Involving a crash | 4 |
| Recalls | 5 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 5/5 |
| EPA combined | 21 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- panel — 11.4% of this year's complaints, against 3.1% across the other years of this generation (3.6×). Owners wrote it as: panel, radio, black, instrument panel.
- codes — 8.9% of this year's complaints, against 2% across the other years of this generation (4.4×). Owners wrote it as: codes, documentation, parking spot, fault codes.
- someone — 9.8% of this year's complaints, against 3.6% across the other years of this generation (2.7×). Owners wrote it as: someone, kind, deactivate.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
while driving 35 MPH, the instrument panel went black. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the radio/Navigation system head unit needed to be replaced. The radio/Navigation…
Lost complete control of both the brake and the throttle while attempting to pull into a parking spot at low speed. Car started to roll backwards down a hill and I was unable to stop it. Had to cycle the car off and back on to fix it. Took it to a VW dealershi…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 22V152000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 22V718000 SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC Fixed free of charge.
- 22V753000 ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING Fixed free of charge.
- 24V464000 AIR BAGS Fixed free of charge.
- 25V434000 SERVICE BRAKES Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Volkswagen Atlas was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2023 Volkswagen Atlas? What happened to yours?
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