2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (5) · Service Brakes (3) · Fuel/Propulsion System (2)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (6)
Service Brakes 2025-06-30 · campaign 25V434000 · 546 vehicles
Defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2023-2025 Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport and 2023-2024 ID.4 vehicles. Certain bolts on the chassis, brake system and/or suspension (such as bolts for certain cross member, engine mount, control arm, subframe, rear brake carrier, etc.) of affected vehicles may not have been correctly tightened during the manufacturing process.
Risk: A loss of vehicle control increases the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the bolts as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 25, 2025. Owners may contact Audi customer service at 1-800-253-2834. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 42HX.
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification:front Passenger 2024-06-20 · campaign 24V464000 · 271,330 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Suspension:critical Fasteners 2022-10-26 · campaign 22V807000 · 33 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Engine And Engine Cooling:engine:hard Parts Internal/Mechanical 2022-10-07 · campaign 22V753000 · 76,515 vehicles
Defect: 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).
Service Brakes, Hydraulic:foundation Components:hoses, Lines/Piping, And Fittings 2022-09-26 · campaign 22V718000 · 555 vehicles
Defect: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2023 model year Atlas FL and Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. Certain brake lines may leak at the threaded connections.
Risk: A brake fluid leak may increase the distance required to stop, increasing the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the affected brake lines, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on November 23, 2022. Owners may contact Volkswagen's customer service at 1-800-893-5298. Volkswagen's number for this recall is 47T2.
Air Bags:side/Window 2022-03-28 · campaign 22V152000 · 222,892 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Service bulletins (331)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Engine 2026-09-17 · V0116152014815_20 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
suggested fuel additive
Lane Departure: Assist 2026-09-17 · TT 96 26 01 · Other
heat sensative trouble shooting explanation.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-10 · TT 57 23 01 · Other
remove key fob battery for 20 seconds to restore proper operation.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-09 · SM 39-2026 · Other
this special notice is to inform dealers to return the parts listed if it meets the criteria provided.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-07 · Email 91OL · Over The Air
this ota update provides improvements to connectivity stability and ocu module diagnostics, which will reduce ocu module replacements due to false dtc detection. this software update is also a prerequisite for future updates.
Unknown Or Other 2026-09-03 · Dealer 91OL · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
this ota update provides improvements to connectivity stability and ocu module diagnostics, which will reduce ocu module replacements due to false dtc detection. this software update is also a prerequisite for future updates.
Showing the 6 most recent of 331 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-10-28 · Exterior Lighting“i have a 2023 volkswagon atlas cross sport. the vehicle day running light went out on both sides. on doing a little research, i came across that this is a common problem with this vehicle and the cost is 1800 per side. should there be a mass amount of customers reporting this same issue, this replacement should be replaced free of charge. please ad…”
2026-09-30 · Exterior Lighting“daytime running lights failure - 2023 model with 82,000 miles. found numerous instances in online forums and social media post about problem. daytime running light doesn't work which puts at risk yes, problem has been confirmed. no component has not been inspected. no warnings or messages. noticed daytime running light was not working.…”
2026-07-20 · Exterior Lighting:headlights:daytime Running Lights:bulbs · 18,000 mi“the contact owns a 2023 volkswagen atlas cross sport. the contact stated that while seated inside the parked vehicle, the contact became aware of a reflection and exited the vehicle and discovered that the daytime running lights were inoperable. no warning light was illuminated. a dealer was contacted. the vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diag…”
2026-07-20 · Engine“after noticing an oil leak and blue smoke in my 23 vw atlas, i took it to my local dealership in tupelo, ms. i realized there was an open recall for the pcv valve / oil separator under code 10lp. however, the bad pcv valve also caused the timing chain cover to go bad. the dealership called me back and said vw would not cover this issue. i then call…”
2025-09-17 · Service Brakes · 💥 crash“our vw atlas cross sport 2023 was involved in an accident on august 3, 2025 where the automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning did not work. firstly, we reported issues with our brakes several times and took the vehicle to rick case vw in weston/davie more than once to rectify this problem. however, the problem has never been fixed…”
2025-02-03 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2023 volkswagen atlas cross sport. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 24v464000 (air bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the local dealer was contacted. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufact…”
2024-12-16 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2023 volkswagen atlas cross sport. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 24v464000 (air bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. the local dealer was contacted. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufact…”
2024-09-16 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2023 volkswagen atlas cross sport. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 24v464000 (air bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue. the …”
2024-08-26 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2023 volkswagen atlas cross sport. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 24v464000 (air bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. the contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the dealer was contacted. the manufacturer was mad…”
2024-08-21 · Air Bags“the contact owns a 2023 volkswagen atlas cross sport. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 24v464000 (air bags) and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list. the local dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.