2021 Volkswagen Atlas Forward Collision Avoidance Problems
Owners have filed 68 complaints with NHTSA about forward collision avoidance problems on the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas, 14% of all complaints for this model year. Half of the reports with a mileage happened before 11,300 miles. The words owners use most often: “parking brake” (21% of reports).
- 68forward collision avoidance complaints
- 11,300median miles at failure
- 3mention a crash
- 1mention an injury
- 0related recalls
- 28%of reports with a speed happened at 50+ mph
What owners describe
Phrases that appear unusually often in these complaints compared with complaints about other cars.
- Parking brake: mentioned in 14 of 68 complaints (21%)
- Windows roll: mentioned in 8 of 68 complaints (12%)
- Door harness: mentioned in 7 of 68 complaints (10%)
- Fault electronic: mentioned in 5 of 68 complaints (7%)
At what mileage do forward collision avoidance problems happen?
Based on 5 complaints that reported the odometer reading.
How serious are the reports?
Of 68 complaints, 3 mention a crash, 1 an injury.
Volkswagen Atlas forward collision avoidance complaints by model year
| Model year | Forward Collision Avoidance complaints | Share of that year | Median miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Atlas | 1 | 9% | — |
| 2025 Atlas | 6 | 12% | — |
| 2024 Atlas | 27 | 16% | — |
| 2023 Atlas | 9 | 7% | — |
| 2022 Atlas | 20 | 11% | 16,800 |
| 2021 Atlas | 68 | 14% | 11,300 |
| 2020 Atlas | 7 | 26% | — |
| 2019 Atlas | 72 | 15% | 13,000 |
| 2018 Atlas | 31 | 7% | 57,500 |
When owners reported it
Related recalls (0)
No safety recall lists forward collision avoidance for the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. A pattern of complaints does not always lead to a recall.
What owners report
Short excerpts of recent complaints, with personal details removed. Full reports are on NHTSA.gov.
The electric board goes black frequently. Also, my backup camera and assistive device for backup doesnât work. It starts and stops after a second. Posing a big problem with backing up because I have neck injury and canât adequately see.
The right driver side daylight light is out, the SOS response system warning light is on, tire pressure loss detected light is but tires are fine and no loss in pressure, cruise control doesnât always work and deactivates.
When I went to start my vehicle on 6/26/25, I noticed that the instrument cluster was stating an error: "COMPASS IS NOT AVAILABLE". The vehicle continues to go through an entire list of items not available. including the radio and infotainment system, navigation. I should also mention that the dash…
Frequently asked questions
Do all 2021 Volkswagen Atlass have forward collision avoidance problems?
No. NHTSA has 68 owner complaints about forward collision avoidance for the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas (14% of the 478 complaints for this model year). Complaint data shows that the problem is reported, not how many of all cars sold are affected.
Was there a recall on the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas forward collision avoidance?
No recall currently lists forward collision avoidance for this vehicle.
At what mileage do forward collision avoidance problems start?
The median reported mileage is 11,300 miles: half of the reports with a mileage came before that.
What do owners say about forward collision avoidance problems on the 2021 Volkswagen Atlas?
The most frequent phrase is “parking brake”, in 14 of 68 complaints, followed by “windows roll” (8).
Other 2021 Volkswagen Atlas problems
See all 2021 Volkswagen Atlas problems or forward collision avoidance problems across all Atlas years.