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2022 Volkswagen Atlas

Gas Compact SUV

2027202620252024202320222021202020192018
Specs & fuel economyRecallsComplaintsCrash ratings
F
Safety Signal
35 / 100
FSafety Signal · 35 / 100
7Recalls · 2 critical
249Complaints · owner reports
5★Crash rating · NHTSA overall
23 mpgFuel economy · best combined

The 2022 Volkswagen Atlas is sold in the U.S. as a gas compact SUV with 8 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Atlas, is EPA-rated at 23 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 7 recall campaigns for this model year, 2 rated critical, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of F. Owners have filed 249 complaints, most often about service brakes. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall.

Specs & fuel economy (EPA)

ConfigurationPowertrainDriveEngine / motorCityHwyCombAnnual fuel*
AtlasGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo212523$2,700
Atlas Cross SportGasFWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo212523$2,700
Atlas 4motionGasAWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo202422$2,850
Atlas Cross Sport 4motionGasAWD2.0L 4-cyl turbo202422$2,850
AtlasGasFWD3.6L 6-cyl182420$3,100
Atlas Cross SportGasFWD3.6L 6-cyl182420$3,100
Atlas Cross Sport 4motionGasAWD3.6L 6-cyl182420$3,100
Atlas 4motionGasAWD3.6L 6-cyl172319$3,300

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year and EPA reference fuel/electricity prices. Source: fueleconomy.gov vehicle records.

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Recalls (7)

Air Bags

high
271,330 vehicles

Problem: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2024 Atlas and 2020-2024 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.

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

Fix: Dealers will replace the PODS sensor mat and wiring harness, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 30, 2024. Owner notification letters will be mailed in phases, on October 18, 2024, December 10, 2024, December 20, 2024, and January 17, 2025. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 69PZ.

NHTSA campaign 24V464000 · reported Jun 20, 2024 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Suspension

high
33 vehicles

Problem: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2022 Volkswagen Atlas FL and 2022-2023 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The driver-side rear trailing arm bolts may not have been tightened properly, allowing them to loosen and fall out.

Risk: Unsecured bolts may cause the trailing arm to fracture, resulting in a sudden loss of vehicle control and increasing the risk of a crash.

Fix: Dealers will replace the driver side rear trailing arm bolts, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed December 25, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 42M2.

NHTSA campaign 22V807000 · reported Oct 26, 2022 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Engine And Engine Cooling

critical
76,515 vehicles

Problem: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2023 Audi Q5 Sportback, Q5, 2022-2023 Volkswagen Atlas FL, and Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The engine connecting rod bearings may become damaged, which can result in engine failure.

Risk: A damaged engine can result in engine failure and a stall, increasing the risk of a crash. If the engine failure causes an oil leak, it can increase the risk of a fire.

Fix: Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace an affected engine, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed December 6, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298 and Audi's customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's numbers for this recall are 13i4 (VW) and 13i5 (Audi).

NHTSA campaign 22V753000 · reported Oct 7, 2022 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Trailer Hitches

high
3,184 vehicles

Problem: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2022 Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The trailer hitch bolts may have been insufficiently tightened.

Risk: Loose bolts may fall out, causing the remaining bolts to break, which could lead to separation of the trailer hitch and trailer, increasing the risk of a crash.

Fix: Dealers will tighten the trailer hitch bolts, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed October 28, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 66N8.

NHTSA campaign 22V657000 · reported Aug 31, 2022 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Back Over Prevention

minor
43,091 vehicles

Problem: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 Golf GTI, Jetta GLI, Jetta NF, Arteon FL, Tiguan LWB, 2022 Taos, Jetta PA, Tiguan PA, 2021-2022 Atlas Cross Sport, and Atlas FL vehicles. The manufacturing process of the eMMC memory module in the infotainment system may cause the rearview camera image not to display. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Risk: A rearview camera that does not display an image reduces the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.

Fix: Dealers will update the infotainment software, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed September 16, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 91DV.

NHTSA campaign 22V514000 · reported Jul 20, 2022 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Fuel System, Gasoline

critical
1,382 vehicles

Problem: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021-2022 Atlas FL and Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The long fuel injectors may have been assembled without filters.

Risk: Long fuel injectors with missing filters may leak fuel, increasing the risk of a fire.

Fix: Dealers will replace the long fuel injectors, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 20, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 24iD.

NHTSA campaign 22V245000 · reported Apr 13, 2022 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

Air Bags

high
222,892 vehicles

Problem: 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.

Risk: A delayed air bag deployment can increase the risk of injury.

Fix: 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 campaign 22V152000 · reported Mar 28, 2022 · Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

NHTSA investigations

Forward Collision Avoidance — Inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking (closed)

On September 28, 2023, the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened a Preliminary Evaluation (PE23017) to assess reports of inadvertent activation of the Front Assist automatic emergency braking (AEB) system in model year (MY) 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles.The reports alleged that activation of the AEB system occurred while driving with no apparent obstruction in the vehicle's forward path, resulting in sudden vehicle deceleration. Volkswagen indicated that it is aware of a total of 292 reports that may relate to the alleged defect in MY 2018-2019 Volkswagen Atlas vehicles.Volkswagen stated that some customers possibly had an inadequate understanding of Front Assist and its limitat

Opened Sep 28, 2023 · closed Dec 18, 2024 · action PE23017

Owner complaints

249 complaints filed

4 involved a crash, 3 a fire, 2 injuries, 0 deaths reported by owners.

Filed by year — 2021: 1 · 2022: 37 · 2023: 46 · 2024: 66 · 2025: 57 · 2026: 42

Most-cited components

  • Service Brakes — 68
  • Engine — 68
  • Electrical System — 62
  • Air Bags — 40
  • Forward Collision Avoidance — 37
“We are having the same issue that others have noted where the engine shuts off while driving. This has happened 2 times now. The vehicle is only 1 month old with right at 1,000 miles. When the engine shuts off, a message comes on the display to put the vehicle in park and start the engine manually. This is not part of …”Aug 11, 2022 · Engine · NHTSA owner report
“While driving on the highway, going approximately 70 mph, a red Steering Malfunction light lit up on the dash and beeped loudly. The steering wheel almost immediately locked up and would not turn left or right. It took pulling hard in one direction to get in over three lanes and onto the shoulder. After attempting to t…”Jun 9, 2022 · Steering · NHTSA owner report
“The contact owns a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V152000 (Air Bags) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made a…”Jun 9, 2022 · Air Bags · NHTSA owner report

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Crash ratings

ConfigurationOverallFrontalSideRolloverRollover risk
SUV AWD★★★★★★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆16%
SUV AWD★★★★★★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆15%
SUV FWD★★★★★★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆14%
SUV FWD★★★★★★★★★☆★★★★★★★★★☆17%

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program. Standard driver-assist: forward collision warning.

Other Atlas model years

A

2027 Atlas

0 recalls · 0 complaints

B

2026 Atlas

2 recalls · 8 complaints

D

2025 Atlas

5 recalls · 63 complaints

F

2024 Atlas

8 recalls · 259 complaints

F

2023 Atlas

6 recalls · 148 complaints

F

2021 Atlas

17 recalls · 631 complaints

F

2020 Atlas

11 recalls · 132 complaints

F

2019 Atlas

11 recalls · 473 complaints

F

2018 Atlas

16 recalls · 462 complaints

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). Floor 35. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Complaint counts and NHTSA crash ratings are shown separately and are not blended into the grade.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records (ids 44196, 44197, 44200, 44201, 44219, 44198, 44202, 44203). Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed weekly.

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