2018 Volkswagen Atlas Engine Problems

Our 2018 VW, when extremely hot temperatures would make a very loud grinding/squealing sound. Then the AC would intermittently work, sometimes it would blow cold, and sometimes it would not. Eventually, the AC stopped working altogether.

Our 2018 V6 SEL Volkswagen Atlas is the recipient of a defective fuel injection system. Through discussion with VW service and maintenance staff, as well as research in online VW specific forums, there is defective fuel injectors found in various VW Atlas year and differing engine vehicles.

At approximately 91,500 miles, the "coolant low" warning came on. I pulled over, filled the coolant reservoir (it was only just barely too low). (I keep coolant in the trunk because at 75,000 miles the same thing had happened, with no incident other than needing to be refilled).

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that after turning the ignition to the off position, the engine remained running but then turned off after a short while. The check engine and several unknown warning lights were illuminated.

On 2020, the engine was stopped while I was driving, and the engine no longer work. I couldn’t start my car. The mechanic engineer said that I needed to replace the engine.

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at low speeds downhill, the vehicle stalled. Additionally, the vehicle stalled randomly while near objects in the road when the collision avoidance feature engaged without warning.

Your car is showing repeated low coolant warning lights. The dealership inspected it three times while under warranty but only refilled the coolant and claimed no leaks were found. An independent mechanic later discovered two failed water pumps that the dealership missed. Your car now has the check engine light on, and you're concerned the repeated low coolant may have caused overheating damage. The dealership is refusing to cover the repair costs, claiming your vehicle isn't part of a known water pump issue affecting other 2018 Atlas models. Fixing this will involve replacing the water pumps and potentially addressing any engine damage caused by overheating.

The car started to feel like it had the shivers. Could feel some kind of vibrations of sorts. Some time prior to this the car would stall when it would switch with the engine start stop function.

My vehicle alerted me that I needed to start my vehicle, while I was driving. I had accelerated to a speed of about 25mph, when I got this alert. My vehicle stalled and I pulled over to restart, but my vehicle would not restart again.

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to stop and shift to park (P) and restart the vehicle.

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH with her children in the rear seats, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. There were no warning lights illuminated.

My car displayed a warning that my engine was overheating and to pull over immediately. My temperature gauge was at max HIGH and check engine light came on. Towed to dealer.

2018 atlas I bought less than a year ago I was on the freeway when the car completely stalled I pulled over to try and restart the car but the car never restarted it was towed to Vw Thousand Oaks to find out that the engine went out I wasn’t under warranty because The warranty was up by miles I reached out to Vw corporate to see if they were willing to fix the car because the car wasn’t that many miles over and the engine went out in three years the corporate did not agree to help with the repairs the engine failure happened at 77,000 miles….

3 weeks after we bought a pre-owned atlas from a vw dealer, the battery died without any warning. We checked-we did not leave anything on in the car. We tried to jump start it for an hour with no luck, so I googled it.

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 volkswagen atlas. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled and all the warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle did not restart.

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 volkswagen atlas. While driving 15 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact stated that there was an abnormal sweet and musty odor emerging from the vehicle.

Twice the engine shut off while waiting at a red light. Had to put car in park and restart. Both times it was in the morning during rush hour on a city street with infant in the car, very scary and stressful!

Connecting rod bearing failure. New vehicle, 17 days since delivery, 704 miles at time of incident driving vehicle at 30mph on surface street epc light illuminated on dash. This was accompanied by a metal knocking sound that was in time with engine speed.

Dealer maintained with oil changes per the schedule. Cylinder head issue requiring engine replacement at 104,xxx miles. This is unacceptable.

My 2018 Volkswagen Atlas V6 experienced a catastrophic engine failure at approximately 116,000 miles. The vehicle has been at a Volkswagen dealership for approximately six months (since July 2025) while repeated diagnostic attempts and repairs were made. I was ultimately informed that the engine requires full replacement.

Low engine coolant light came on and began overheating all within a short period of time. Mechanic stated is has a blown/defective head gasket. It is currently being repaired by a mechanic as we need the car to drive our young children.

I have had this vehicle since 2020. Two months after I bought it, the vehicle would turn off at random. I took it to VW and they change the carbon air canister.

I was driving on the highway with my family in stop and go traffic when my car turned off on its own while still in Drive. The car has an "Auto On/Off" feature that we had disabled so it should not have, for any reason, done this. We had a semi-truck behind us that nearly rearended us.

A dangerous cam shaft failure LED to sensors near the cam shaft and a piece of the metal housing being broken off due to the cam shaft failure. The cam shaft failed at normal highway speeds and stopped the engine on the highway. Vehicle is still undergoing repairs at “Automotive Tech, Inc.”

Replaced a failed water pump at 78,831 miles on 11/03/2022 and that replacement part failed again at 98,022 miles on 12/26/2023.The dealer would not cover either replacement. The first was outside vehicle warranty and the second was outside the 12k mile part warranty period. This model/trim was not covered under the class action lawsuit related to water pump failure.

2018 Atlas SEL Premium 3.6L V6. Currently at VW dealership for warranty work. Vehicle has had coolant leaks in the past where dealer replaced water pump.

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated while driving 65 MPH, the “Low Coolant” message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, no cause for the failure was found.

The contact owns a 2018 Volkswagen Atlas. The contact stated that while driving approximately 15-20 MPH and approaching a stop, while decelerating, the vehicle inadvertently shut off. The START/STOP feature became inoperable.

I noticed about 6 months ago on a couple of occasions, while walking in front of my running 2018 VW Atlas. The sweet smell of antifreeze. I looked under my Atlas and did not see anything on the ground ( water, antifreeze ) and this happened just a few times.

Water pump was replaced a few months ago after VW dealer discovering cracked pump housing during routine maintenance. A few days ago a "CHECK COOLANT LEVEL" message was displayed. Immediate check underneath vehicle found no evidence of external coolant leak.

Continually leaks coolant.

Volkswagen Dealership of Lake Charles, LA attempted to repair a safety recall on catalytic converter. When I picked my car up for the safety recall on the catalytic converter my car smelled like fuel and was leaking fuel and would not stay running and stopped running while driving in traffic and at stop lights and intersections.

I have taken my 18 atlas sel premium in at least 4 times to have the coolant checki have had the low coolant warning come on 3 times stating there is low coolant. There is a strong burning coolant smell radiating from my vehicle on many occasions. When taken to the dealer they have done overnight pressure tests and cannot find the leak.

Unexplainable loss of coolant. My car was 4 times at dealership and they never find any leaks but I'm loosing coolant and sometimes it can smell it evaporate when I park my car.

Needs new catalytic converter. Needs excessive gas. Told to just keep driving until back ordered catalytic converter comes in.

Battery has been dying and was dead this morning. 2 year old car in san diego temperate weather. From forums, it seems this car has faulty stock batteries that cannot sustain the start/stop strain on the batteries.

Fuel distribution rail pressure pipe leaking fuel. Smelled fuel when walking past vehicle on 8 may 2019 when stationary and not running. Fuel was visible on top of engine below pipe..

Tl* the contact owns a 2018 volkswagen atlas. The contact stated that the check coolant indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to legend volkswagen (side a, 158 merrick rd, amityville, ny 11701) where they replaced the radiator and added coolant.

The coolant warning light went on 3 days ago. When I first start the engine in the morning or after hours of parking, the coolant warning light went on. After the engine temperature goes up, I have to turn the engine off and on again to have the coolant warning light disappeared.

2nd attempt at repairing oil leak occurring from engine bay located around oil filter housing on left side of engine. Was not properly torqued from factory on first occurrence housing could be turned with a wrench. The second occurrence took 2 month after oil change to show same symptoms.

Excessive oil consumption. Used 1and 1/2 quarts of oil at 3250 miles(which was added by the dealer service dept. Today 1/2/18) was bought as a new vehicle 9/17 with only 12 miles on odometer.(12/25/17) first the check engine light lit, they said it was the gas cap.one week later the check oil level alarm lit .

ECP light came on and vehicle entered limp mode

Water pump failure of a 2018 VW Atlas with 69000 miles.

The vehicle randomly shuts down when slowing to a halt or after coming to a halt..a prompt to manually restart the vehicle then pops up on he dashboard screen. The most recent event occurred on date below

My car engine has cut off a few times all by itself while operating it.

Car turns off while in traffic and the auto start is turned off. Have to put it in park and click the start button. When it stars ABS, park assist, tire pressure and other dashboard lights turn on.

While driving down a canyon in heavy snow, the grill shutters iced shut. Once down, we drove about 20mins across town, then started a long climb up a freeway, about 20mins of constant uphill. On reaching the top I noticed that the engine oil temp, which is normally around 200deg, had reached 230deg, as the oil cooler is behind the grill shutters, and wasn't getting any air flow.

Vehicle hesitates excessively under acceleration at times, in both forward and reverse gears. won't back up a mild grade (like a driveway) without excessive acceleration, causing the vehicle to lurch. won't accelerate after slowing behind a turning vehicle without excessive acceleration, causing the vehicle to lurch.

Battery will not turn on, car is only 12 months old, there were no issues for the reasoning for the battery to not work.

I was stopped at a red light. When the light turned green the engine turned off and I had to manually turned the car on to proceed. Same thing happened when I was waiting to open my garage.

Auto stop sensor my atlas just have 1000 miles and it has started with problems