Your vehicle report
2020 Volkswagen Atlas
The problems owners report. The recalls to check. The evidence behind each.
Your vehicle at a glance
Complaint patterns and official recall records, kept distinct.
- Owner complaints
- 27
- Received Apr 2021 to Jul 2026
Owner reports
Most reported problems
- 1Rear door latch fails to open or close3 complaints · 11% of this vehicle’s complaints
Official NHTSA records
Recalls to check
- Recall #23V215000Volkswagen 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.
- Recall #22V815000Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan LWB, Golf Sportswagen A7, Golf Alltrack, Golf R GP, Audi Q3, Audi A3 Cabriolet, 2019-2020 Jetta NF, Jetta GLI, Golf GTI, Atlas, Golf A7, Audi A3, 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021 Atlas FL vehicles. The tire pressure monitoring system may not detect an air pressure loss in adequate time when deflating occurs among all four tires simultaneously. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."
BrakeNews signals
Flagged complaint patterns
Unusual complaint patterns with no matched recall yet. A flag does not mean a recall will happen.
No problems currently meet BrakeNews’s flagging criteria. This is not a safety rating.
How flags are identifiedComplaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA, not failure rates or a reliability ranking. Reported in these complaints: 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 people injured, 0 deaths.
Explore by system
Where do owners report problems?
Choose an area on the car or a system below to explore the reported problems.
Illustrative only; not this vehicle’s exact design. Areas represent complaint categories, not confirmed defective parts.
Showing all 1 listed problem by system.
Engine & powertrain
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Brakes
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Electrical & lights
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Airbags, belts & seats
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Steering, suspension & tires
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Body, doors & glass
Driver assistance
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Other
No problems in this category meet this page’s listing criteria. This does not establish that the system is free of problems.
Complaint history
When NHTSA received these reports. Changes in reporting alone do not establish a change in failure rates.
Show as a table
| Month | Complaints |
|---|---|
| April 2021 | 1 |
| May 2021 | 0 |
| June 2021 | 0 |
| July 2021 | 0 |
| August 2021 | 0 |
| September 2021 | 0 |
| October 2021 | 1 |
| November 2021 | 0 |
| December 2021 | 0 |
| January 2022 | 1 |
| February 2022 | 0 |
| March 2022 | 6 |
| April 2022 | 0 |
| May 2022 | 0 |
| June 2022 | 0 |
| July 2022 | 1 |
| August 2022 | 0 |
| September 2022 | 1 |
| October 2022 | 0 |
| November 2022 | 0 |
| December 2022 | 0 |
| January 2023 | 1 |
| February 2023 | 0 |
| March 2023 | 0 |
| April 2023 | 0 |
| May 2023 | 0 |
| June 2023 | 1 |
| July 2023 | 0 |
| August 2023 | 0 |
| September 2023 | 0 |
| October 2023 | 1 |
| November 2023 | 0 |
| December 2023 | 0 |
| January 2024 | 0 |
| February 2024 | 0 |
| March 2024 | 1 |
| April 2024 | 1 |
| May 2024 | 1 |
| June 2024 | 0 |
| July 2024 | 0 |
| August 2024 | 1 |
| September 2024 | 0 |
| October 2024 | 0 |
| November 2024 | 0 |
| December 2024 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 1 |
| February 2025 | 2 |
| March 2025 | 0 |
| April 2025 | 0 |
| May 2025 | 1 |
| June 2025 | 0 |
| July 2025 | 0 |
| August 2025 | 1 |
| September 2025 | 0 |
| October 2025 | 0 |
| November 2025 | 0 |
| December 2025 | 0 |
| January 2026 | 0 |
| February 2026 | 1 |
| March 2026 | 0 |
| April 2026 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 0 |
| June 2026 | 0 |
| July 2026 | 2 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 0 |
| October 2026 | 0 |
| Total | 27 |
Problems owners report
Listed groups have at least 3 complaints. The page includes the 20 largest groups plus any additional flagged groups; some complaints are not assigned to a group.
| Problem | Complaints | Share | Share ratio | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rear door latch fails to open or close | 3 | 11% | – |
AI groups complaints by meaning; the groups are approximate. Share ratio compares the problem’s share of this vehicle’s complaints with its share on other vehicles over the last 24 months (shown from 3 recent complaints). A 2× ratio means twice the complaint share, not twice the failure risk. Flags mark unusual shares or recent surges after an AI review of the complaint content. “First signal” does not mean the pattern has persisted continuously.How recall estimates are calculated.
Recalls
NHTSA recall #23V215000March 29, 2023143,053 vehicles affected
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.
A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the PODS sensor mat and wiring harness, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on March 22, 2024. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69FB.
NHTSA recall #22V815000October 31, 2022296,044 vehicles affected
tires: pressure monitoring and regulating systems
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan LWB, Golf Sportswagen A7, Golf Alltrack, Golf R GP, Audi Q3, Audi A3 Cabriolet, 2019-2020 Jetta NF, Jetta GLI, Golf GTI, Atlas, Golf A7, Audi A3, 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021 Atlas FL vehicles. The tire pressure monitoring system may not detect an air pressure loss in adequate time when deflating occurs among all four tires simultaneously. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."
An undetected sudden loss of pressure in all four tires increases the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will update the TPMS software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed November 18, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298 or Audi’s customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are (Audi) 45J7, and (VW) 45J6 and 45J8.
NHTSA recall #22V152000March 28, 2022222,892 vehicles affected
air bags: side/window
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2019-2020 Atlas, 2020-2023 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021-2023 Atlas FL vehicles. The door wiring harness electrical contacts may corrode, disrupting the electrical connection and delaying the deployment of the driver or passenger front side air bag during a side impact crash.
A delayed air bag deployment can increase the risk of injury.
Remedy
Dealers will secure and, as necessary, replace any the front door wiring harnesses showing a fault code, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 20, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 97GF.
NHTSA recall #22V086000February 16, 20223,648 vehicles affected
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 installed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."
Without the reduced GVWR label, the vehicle could be overloaded, leading to a loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will install the reduced GVWR label, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed March 31, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 09D9.
Other model years
About this data
NHTSA complaints and recalls through October 2026. Complaints are counted once each, however many components they name. Original complaints are on NHTSA's page for the 2020 Volkswagen Atlas.
Problem groups are formed by AI and may be approximate. BrakeNews flags unusual complaint patterns; they are not official defect findings. Investigation reports are written and checked by AI, with no human review. Owner reports do not establish that a defect exists.
Read the methodology and track record · Check current recalls by VIN