What is everyone's thoughts on the Atlas? Need a bigger vehicle as my wife is having our 3rd in July. She is not wanting a minivan.

Someone is going to do it so I may as well be the first one.

Buy a minivan!

We liked our '18 until it started having battery/electrical and A/C issues. Bought Dec '17.

Steering wheel was smooth and easy, almost like driving at the arcade. Roomier (for passengers) than the Pilot we had, but not as much traditional storage space. We had 3 in car seats at the time with two in the back row and one in the 2nd row captain.

I thought it handled well, had a little burst to it. Didn't like that we had to take it to the dealer for virtually every service.

It was the first run of the model, and I know better to stay away, but my wife fell in love with it. It was issue free until early in 2021. Traded it in for a '22 Palisade in August of 2021.

Lots of stories like these led us to strike it from out list before we started seriously looking.

Mr Mojo Risin said:

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We liked our '18 until it started having battery/electrical and A/C issues. Bought Dec '17.

Steering wheel was smooth and easy, almost like driving at the arcade. Roomier (for passengers) than the Pilot we had, but not as much traditional storage space. We had 3 in car seats at the time with two in the back row and one in the 2nd row captain.

I thought it handled well, had a little burst to it. Didn't like that we had to take it to the dealer for virtually every service.

It was the first run of the model, and I know better to stay away, but my wife fell in love with it. It was issue free until early in 2021. Traded it in for a '22 Palisade in August of 2021.

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My son has had the same issues with his Atlas….

They tend to become rattle traps once they get to be a few years old, and it's very noticeable. You'll find great prices on them on the used lots and after driving one you'll know why.

Palisade and Telluride should be at the top of your list if you're looking for a three-row crossover. Or wait for the second model year of the Mazda CX-90.

We briefly looked at Atlas but that was knocked out of contention after looking at telluride and honda pilot. We went with 2023 Honda Pilot Touring. If we had a third kid we'd get the Sienna XSE 2023

VW (lack of) quality is well known, buyer beware.

We have a 2020 Atlas Cross Sport and we absolutely love it. We've put 30k flawless miles on it - it's our 4th VW SUV in a row. We have had Tiguans before this - but wanted something bigger. We have the VR6 4motion - literally 0 complaints. It is amazing to drive, the 4motion AWD system is the best in the business, and we do quite a bit of gravel roads / offroading in ours and it has managed to not get near the dash rattles and interior noises that my RAM truck has gotten in similar miles. People say VW quality is bad, and I would agree in the past (like early 2000s) that was a thing. The MK4s weren't exactly reliable. But now days VW is making an excellent vehicle - and their interiors will blow anything in that price point away.

There was a recall for the door wiring harness that led to a lot of the wonky electrical issues people were having. We had the recall done, though we had no issues. New vehicles don't have those issues.

Also note that for the 24 model year it's getting a nice redesign

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a42792882/2024-volkswagen-atlas-revealed/

We have '21 Tiguan and have had minimal issues. Will most likely get wife the '24 Crossport.

As mentioned above, interior is far better for the price than anything else. It is not $20-30k cheaper feeling inside.

I had heard the first year or two had some issues but did they get them worked out in the newer models. The interior is definitely better than what you get in most at this price point.

We are going to look at the Pallisade this week.

We had a 2021 and got rid of it after a year and a half. We had all kinds of issues with the vehicle randomly shutting off. It usually happened at stop signs or pausing at roundabouts where it would force my wife to put it in park and restart. It also happened one time when she was driving 25mph through the neighborhood.

We took it in to the dealership over and over again. No codes were ever stored and they couldn't recreate it. We even opened a ticket with VW corporate and that got us nowhere. I was just about to push for a lemon/repurchase when we ran across a 23 Pilot on the lot and jumped on it. We lost some money on the Atlas, obviously, but I was so happy to get rid of it.

Maybe we got a lemon. Who knows. That was my first and last VW though.

That sounds like it could be related to the harness recall. IT could trigger the car to thing the door is opening while driving - would do things like engage that parking brake - among other things. Windows opening, Issue was moisture would get into the harness. It's supposedly been resolved - but I've read reports of all sorts of wonky electrical issues as a result of this particular harness

Main symptoms:

• An ever-present airbag warning light that never turns off
• Power windows that can unexpectedly roll down on their own
• The parking brake could engage suddenly at low speeds of 3 km/h or lower
• Warnings about a faulty door sensor

But I've read some other issues as well including those like you describe. People seem to report the issues resolved after the recall

My wife drives a 2018 Atlas that we bought at the end of 2020 as a certified pre-owned. I had some hesitations going to VW as I had heard about various issues from family members that had VW's (Tiguans). The 2018's had a 5-year 60k mile warranty + adding on the certified pre-owned gave me enough peace of mind that I would have 4-5 years of "protection".

So far the only issues we have had is a hairline crack in the thermostat housing that caused a VERY slow leak of coolant and just last week the side mirror adjustments do not seem to be working. On the coolant leak, the 1st dealer we took it to claimed the coolant had evaporated, which was garbage. Took it to a dealer that our local mechanic recommended and they found the problem and fixed it same day.

We will probably get rid of it once warranty expires, but we like the roominess and the way it drives. It is one of the few mid-size SUV's that you can get 3-across car seats and it has the car seat tilt function on the seats for access to the 3rd row.

cryption said:

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We have a 2020 Atlas Cross Sport and we absolutely love it. We've put 30k flawless miles on it - it's our 4th VW SUV in a row. We have had Tiguans before this - but wanted something bigger. We have the VR6 4motion - literally 0 complaints. It is amazing to drive, the 4motion AWD system is the best in the business, and we do quite a bit of gravel roads / offroading in ours and it has managed to not get near the dash rattles and interior noises that my RAM truck has gotten in similar miles. People say VW quality is bad, and I would agree in the past (like early 2000s) that was a thing. The MK4s weren't exactly reliable. But now days VW is making an excellent vehicle - and their interiors will blow anything in that price point away.

There was a recall for the door wiring harness that led to a lot of the wonky electrical issues people were having. We had the recall done, though we had no issues. New vehicles don't have those issues.

Also note that for the 24 model year it's getting a nice redesign

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Your points of reference are older VWs and a RAM? I'd be thrilled with an Atlas too.

I mean dude the first gen Tiguan was incredible - it was basically a lifted GTI. It was the quickest in it's class with the best interior. They sold quite a few of them so people must agree.

I'll also say the 5th gen RAM is an incredible truck too - based off sales numbers and all the awards it's getting a lot of people also agree with me on that. I've had a lot of trucks in my life and the 5th gen RAM is the best one out of all of them.

So yeah, the bar is relatively high - and the Atlas clears it. Truly a fantastic vehicle - and more fun to drive then any other SUV under 50k new.

Okay, now your just ****ing with us.

Yeah, we had the harness replaced. We also had the fuel pump replaced. Neither of those solved our problem.

Think what you will dude - it's 2023 not 2003. RAM and VW are building world class vehicles finally.

Dang dude that's rough luck indeed