2018 Volkswagen Atlas: owner complaints and recalls
Analysis of 455 owner complaints filed with NHTSA and 16 recall campaigns. Updated 2026-07-25.
455
Complaints
16
Recalls
6
Crash reports
0
Fire reports
17
Injuries
35.2
Severity index
Severity index 35.2 - Medium. This weights crashes, fires, injuries and fatalities per 100 complaints; see methodology.
Among the 121 2018 vehicles we track with at least 40 complaints on file, the 2018 Volkswagen Atlas ranks 84 of 121 by severity, where 1 is the worst. Its severity is higher than 31% of its model-year peers. See the full 2018 ranking.
What actually fails
| Component | Complaints | Share of complaints citing it |
|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | 109 | 24.0% |
| AIR BAGS | 100 | 22.0% |
| ENGINE | 97 | 21.3% |
| SERVICE BRAKES | 75 | 16.5% |
| UNKNOWN OR OTHER | 72 | 15.8% |
| FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | 30 | 6.6% |
| FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | 29 | 6.4% |
| STEERING | 23 | 5.1% |
The single most-reported system is ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, cited in 109 of 455 complaints (24.0%). One complaint can name several systems, so these shares overlap and do not total 100%.
Complaints filed per year
| Year | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 74 |
| 2019 | 93 |
| 2020 | 28 |
| 2021 | 34 |
| 2022 | 30 |
| 2023 | 81 |
| 2024 | 64 |
| 2025 | 31 |
| 2026 (year to date) | 17 |
Complaint volume is rising - the last three years carry 1.9x the filings of the three before them, which usually signals a wear-related defect surfacing with age.
Recall campaigns
| Campaign | Reported | Component | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18V536000 | 15/08/2018 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPER | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Atlas and 2017-2018 Volkswagen Passat vehicles. The brake caliper bracket mounting bolts on these vehicles may not have been tightened sufficiently. |
| 20V057000 | 31/01/2020 | AIR BAGS | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Atlas vehicles. The vehicles may be equipped with an incorrectly manufactured air bag sensor, which can delay or disable air bag deployment when necessary. |
| 18V904000 | 19/12/2018 | SUSPENSION:REAR:SPRINGS:COIL SPRINGS | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas, 2015 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen, and 2019 Volkswagen Jetta vehicles. The rear coil springs may prematurely fracture. |
| 18V375000 | 06/06/2018 | AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Atlas and Tiguan vehicles. In the event of a crash, the passenger frontal air bag may tear or not properly unfold during deployment. |
| 18V369000 | 01/06/2018 | SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC:FOUNDATION COMPONENTS:DISC:CALIPER | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Atlas, Passat, Beetle, Beetle Convertible, Golf, Golf SportWagen and GTI and Audi Q5 and SQ5 vehicles. The brake caliper pistons on these vehicles may have insufficient coating, potentially reduc |
| 19V389000 | 22/05/2019 | EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2012-2020 Volkswagen Passat and 2018-2019 Atlas vehicles. The blocking cap disabling the adjustment of the headlight's horizontal aim may not have been installed. As such, these vehicles fail to conform to Fede |
| 18V284000 | 02/05/2018 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:TANK ASSEMBLY | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain Volkswagen Atlas vehicles. The fuel tank on these vehicles may leak fuel due to a manufacturing error. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVS |
| 18V824000 | 26/11/2018 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas and Tiguan and 2019 Volkswagen Jetta vehicles that do not have keyless entry. The instrument cluster may not provide an audible warning to let the driver know that the key is still in |
| 21V142000 | 05/03/2021 | TIRES:SIDEWALL | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Atlas vehicles equipped with Continental tires. On the affected vehicles, it is possible that one or more tires were cured for too long during tire production. |
| 20V561000 | 16/09/2020 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Golf R and Atlas, 2017 Golf Alltrack and E-Golf and 2016-2018 Passat vehicles. These internal use vehicles were sold without confirmation that they were built to all applicable regulatory require |
| 21V321000 | 05/05/2021 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2017 Touareg GP, Tiguan, Golf A6, E-Golf GP, CCF, 2016-2017 Passat GP, 2018-2019 Golf R GP, and 2018 Atlas vehicles. These internal-use vehicles were sold without confirmation that they were built to all applica |
| 18V380000 | 07/06/2018 | SEAT BELTS: REAR/OTHER:BUCKLE ASSEMBLY | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswaen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles. The owner's manuals provided with the affected vehicles do not inform the customers about the child restraint size limitation/restrictions for the second row center seating positio |
| 18V537000 | 20/08/2018 | AIR BAGS: AIR BAG/RESTRAINT CONTROL MODULE | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles. During production, the air conditioning system drain tube may have been twisted, causing water to drain into the air bag control module. |
| 17V766000 | 29/11/2017 | FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018 Atlas vehicles. The fuel tank may have been manufactured with insufficient wall thickness, potentially resulting in the tank leaking fuel. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Fe |
| 22V086000 | 16/02/2022 | EQUIPMENT:OTHER:LABELS | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles equipped with accessory side steps. The reduced Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) label, reflecting the additional weight of the side steps, was not inst |
| 23V215000 | 29/03/2023 | AIR BAGS:SENSOR:OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION:FRONT PASSENGER | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The passenger occupant detection system (PODS) may experience a fault in the wiring and deactivate the front passenger air bag when the seat is occupied. |
Source. US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration public complaint and recall APIs (api.nhtsa.gov), retrieved 2026-07-25. Complaints are unverified consumer reports; volume is influenced by how many units were sold and how long the vehicle has been on the road. Not affiliated with NHTSA or any manufacturer.