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2018 Volkswagen Atlas

Verified July 23, 2026Sources: NHTSA · EPA · vPIC

Compare
Safety
5
of 5 stars
Recalls
16
on record
MPG
20
combined

Do not drive until repaired

1 active "park it" recall — NHTSA advises against driving this vehicle until the remedy is complete.

Recalls16
Complaints455
Safety
Fuel

Vehicle Summary

2018 Volkswagen Atlas

16 recalls
455 complaints
20 MPG combined
5/5 safety rating

Before You Buy

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Safety record at a glance

Recall campaigns
16
Owner complaints
455
Complaints citing a crash
6

These are raw counts from NHTSA records. They are not normalised by how many of these vehicles are on the road, so a model that sold in large numbers will tend to show more of everything. We do not publish a composite safety or reliability score.

16 Recalls on Record

1 of these is high-severity. Some may require you to stop driving the vehicle until repaired.

Enter your VIN to check if specific recalls apply to your vehicle.

Safety recalls

16 NHTSA campaigns affecting this model year.

  • 18V536000high

    Brake system issue

    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.

  • 20V057000high

    Airbag system issue

    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.

  • 18V904000high

    Suspension issue

    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.

  • 18V375000high

    Airbag system issue

    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.

  • 18V369000critical Do not drive

    Brake system issue

    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 reducing the brake performance.

  • 19V389000high

    Lighting issue

    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 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

  • 18V284000high

    Fuel system issue

    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 (FMVSS) number 301, "Fuel System Integrity."

  • 18V824000high

    Electrical issue

    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 the ignition when the door is open. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 114, "Theft Protection."

  • 21V142000high

    Tire/wheel issue

    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.

  • 20V561000high

    Miscellaneous issue

    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 requirements and may have been modified prior to sale. As such, these vehicles may fail to comply with the requirements of various Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

  • 21V321000high

    Miscellaneous issue

    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 applicable regulatory requirements and may have been modified prior to sale. As such, these vehicles may fail to comply with the requirements of various Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

  • 18V380000high

    Safety restraint issue

    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 position. As a result, the center and adjacent outboard seat belt buckles on the second row can become damaged it a child seat base is installed that is wider than 12.6 inches.

  • 18V537000high

    Airbag system issue

    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.

  • 17V766000high

    Fuel system issue

    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 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 301, "Fuel System Integrity."

  • 22V086000high

    Incorrect or missing label

    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."

  • 23V215000high

    Airbag system issue

    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.

Consumer complaints

455 owner reports filed with NHTSA.

455
Total
6
Crashes
0
Fires
17
Injuries

Most reported components

  • AIR BAGS100
  • ENGINE98
  • BRAKES74
  • ELECTRICAL57
  • OTHER48

Notable Issues

455 consumer complaints filed with NHTSA. 17 reports involve injuries. 6 reports involve a crash.

Most reported problems

airbag concerns (warning light, deployment issues)100
engine problems (stalling, power loss, warning lights)98
brake problems (soft pedal, noise, failure)74

Specifications & ratings

Specifications

Body class
Small Sport Utility Vehicle 2WD
Drive type
Front-Wheel Drive
Engine
3.6L 6-cyl
Fuel type
Unknown
Transmission
Automatic (S8)
Seats
0

Fuel economy

18

City

25

Hwy

20

Comb

Annual cost
$3,000
Fuel
Regular Gasoline

NHTSA crash ratings

Overall
Frontal
Side
Rollover

Data sources

Explore related

Adjacent model years

All Volkswagen Atlas years

Common problems

Volkswagen Atlas problems

1,875 owner complaints analysed

Compare with

Systems recalled

Safety timeline

Full timeline
  1. Investigation closed

    NHTSA closed investigation PE23017

    Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking

  2. Investigation opened

    NHTSA opened investigation PE23017

    Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking

  3. Recall

    Recall 23V215000

    A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.

  4. Investigation closed

    NHTSA closed investigation PE21008

    Fuel Injector Leak

  5. Recall

    Recall 22V086000

    Without the reduced GVWR label, the vehicle could be overloaded, leading to a loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash.