2018 VW Atlas 3.6 4 Motion Reliability?

[wag123]

Originally Posted by madRiver
Originally Posted by macarose
Look at other Volkswagens

http://www.dashboard-light.com/reports/Volkswagen.html


The site data collection method is quite interesting, AUCTIONS? interesting read http://www.dashboard-light.com/click-here-first/
Auto auctions are an excellent place to collect data on vehicle defects. On vehicles that are out of warranty, a fairly large percentage of people will trade-off a vehicle if they have a problem (or problems) with it. When the dealer who took the vehicle in on trade uncovers the problem (or problems), some dealers will fix the problem, some will take the vehicle to auction, and some unscrupulous dealers will go ahead and retail the vehicle as-is. Now that the auto auctions are auctioning such a high percentage of their vehicles on the Internet, someone has to evaluate the vehicle for the auction listing before it is put up for auction. If there are undisclosed problems with a vehicle, the auction of that vehicle can/will be voided. The biggest reasons for why this is such a good indicator of long-term quality is because of the reliability of the data, the huge amount of it, the lack of bias (they don't care who built the vehicle), and the checks and balances built into the auction system rules.

 

[PWMDMD]

I know two people with this vehicle.

Person #1 has had the car stop working (once in the middle of Boston with her twins in the car in the middle of rush hour) where all the lights on the dash come on, the car then shuts off and everything electrical goes dead - no lights, locks don't work, engine won't turnover. This has happened three times and it requires the battery terminal to be removed for a few mins and upon reconnecting it everything works fine for a few months until is happens again. The dealership the first time said, "It was manufactured with the wrong type of battery that was meant for warm weather." Of course when it happened two more times they just say they can not find any problems. She is afraid to take the car out of town.

Person #2 - Transmission was replaced at 5500 miles. Otherwise, he has been happy although car only has 15K on it.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by Bjornviken
Originally Posted by dishdude
Originally Posted by Bjornviken
Originally Posted by KrisZ
If it doesn't have a Toyota or Honda badge, it can safely be deemed unreliable. Every internet expert knows this.


Why even post this?


Because it's pretty spot on.


Why?

Because, sadly, this is what many BITOGers seem to believe.

"Anyone considering purchasing a VW should have their head examined" is the common attitude around here.

 

[PWMDMD]

Originally Posted by KrisZ
If it doesn't have a Toyota or Honda badge, it can safely be deemed unreliable. Every internet expert knows this.



Meh....Honda is not what they used to be....

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted by PWMDMD
I know two people with this vehicle.

Person #1 has had the car stop working (once in the middle of Boston with her twins in the car in the middle of rush hour) where all the lights on the dash come on, the car then shuts off and everything electrical goes dead - no lights, locks don't work, engine won't turnover. This has happened three times and it requires the battery terminal to be removed for a few mins and upon reconnecting it everything works fine for a few months until is happens again. The dealership the first time said, "It was manufactured with the wrong type of battery that was meant for warm weather." Of course when it happened two more times they just say they can not find any problems. She is afraid to take the car out of town.

Person #2 - Transmission was replaced at 5500 miles. Otherwise, he has been happy although car only has 15K on it.

Merely teething issues.
As anyone knows, the first year or two should be avoided of almost any car.

After that, it's as reliably unreliable as any other VW

 

[GZRider]

I agree with the "don't buy the first model year" rule, and have said as much to said buddy but his budget won't allow for a 19. VW quality varies, an auto transmission Mexico built economy model is a bad idea where I'd worry about major QC issues, VW's built in Canada or Germany tend to be much better put together in the past. With that said I'd still rather see him in a 1 owner 13-15 Lexus GX460 with 35k-40k miles, as I'm virtually certain he'd have no headaches with that rig.

 

[GZRider]

I don't subscribe to the "all German cars are junk" sentiment. I do think many of the models teamcraft in the US and Mexico and Asia are below avg reliability wise, pretty much on par with Nissan, GM and FCA economy team-craft vehicles. Most of the Canadian and German built VW's (and cars in general) I've seen were pretty well put together.

 

[dishdude]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete

Because, sadly, this is what many BITOGers seem to believe.

"Anyone considering purchasing a VW should have their head examined" is the common attitude around here.


I'm pretty sure Kris was being sarcastic.

 

[GZRider]

That's not super comforting. The person 1 story concerns me more then a transmission going out before 6k. That was likely a manufacturing defect, AISIN's are good but all AT's are insanely complicated and early life failures can happen with any manufacturer.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by dishdude
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete

Because, sadly, this is what many BITOGers seem to believe.

"Anyone considering purchasing a VW should have their head examined" is the common attitude around here.


I'm pretty sure Kris was being sarcastic.

Yup, and there was a valid reason behind his sarcasm, I'd say.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted by GZRider
That's not super comforting. The person 1 story concerns me more then a transmission going out before 6k. That was likely a manufacturing defect, AISIN's are good but all AT's are insanely complicated and early life failures can happen with any manufacturer.




This is a perfect example of how the internet makes a mountain out of a molehill.

I know someone who had a Ford that caught fire and blew up.

I also know someone who had a GM vehicle ( Pontiac) that the engine blew a rod.

I also know people who own both of those makes and nothing has happened.

 

[CKN]

Originally Posted by Trav
You wont find many unbiased post on this site for anything VW. Mention Bosch and VW or MB in the same sentence if you want to see a thread turn into a real fiasco like the Arby commercial when the sprinklers went on.

I don't own an Atlas or have even driven one but VW cars in general are very good with good electrics and good rust protection, the V6 is a good engine.
I wouldn't worry a bit about buying one.




Yep-same with Hyundai...but hey those Crown Vics and Nissan Frontiers.......fantastic examples of personal transportation.

 

[wemay]

We love the Atlas' looks and size. Along with the Telluride, it's our top choice to replace the SFS in a couple years or so.

 

[PWMDMD]

Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by GZRider
That's not super comforting. The person 1 story concerns me more then a transmission going out before 6k. That was likely a manufacturing defect, AISIN's are good but all AT's are insanely complicated and early life failures can happen with any manufacturer.




This is a perfect example of how the internet makes a mountain out of a molehill.

I know someone who had a Ford that caught fire and blew up.

I also know someone who had a GM vehicle ( Pontiac) that the engine blew a rod.

I also know people who own both of those makes and nothing has happened.


Actually, I think GZrider's take on this was very neutral and reasonable. He didn't badmouth VW or Aisin - he pointed out this is out-of-character for Aisin and it can happen to any manufacture.
What I don't like is VWs are famous for electrical gremlins - and person #1 clearly has an electrical gremlin. Does that make the Atlas unreliable? Nope, but does it make me want to buy an Atlas when VW has a reputation and I have first hand knowledge of someone who has that problem? Nope....it's not that the Atlas is bad or unreliable...there are just so many other choices the with this knowledge I'd be hard pressed to commit to an Atlas.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by dishdude
Originally Posted by Quattro Pete

Because, sadly, this is what many BITOGers seem to believe.

"Anyone considering purchasing a VW should have their head examined" is the common attitude around here.


I'm pretty sure Kris was being sarcastic.

Yup, and there was a valid reason behind his sarcasm, I'd say.

Yes there is

VW of course has its share of problem models, but it has good ones as well. Like Jetta and Passat, although they became much duller. You win some, you lose some I guess.

Also, first year models, even refreshes can be, and often are more problematic. For this very reason I would pass on Atlas for now.

 

[atikovi]

I see a dozen 2018s and three 19s at auctions within 500 miles of me so they shouldn't be too hard to find.

 

[edyvw]

VR6 is bulletproof. Only issue that engine had was in 2007 with timing chain tensioner. That was resolved after first year. It has amazing sound, besides Alfa Romeo, probably best sounding V(R)6 on the market. Unlike V6 you will not spend 4hrs to change spark plugs or something else since it is one head not two.
Downside is that it is known as thirsty engine. 4Motion is one of the best part time AWD systems, and only problem can come from Aisin transmission as it is known for issues. So far it seems VW is not that affected by those issues as Toyota is.
It is much better executed than Highlander or Pilot. It is classical German box, no nonsense and second row folding system is absolutely marvelous. Anyone who has kids and has to deal with removing seats etc. will appreciate this.
I personally found minivan more appealing for what I wanted. So I passed on it. I was also a bit disappointed with the way engine is working with transmission. Numbers are good on paper, but at least here on high altitude I was not impressed by power. Actually I found 2GR-FE in Toyota to mover better in Sienna, though on paper they have same acceleration. So it could be just butt dyno as Toyota engine is very lazy on low rpm's unlike VR6 in Atlas, but does jump suddenly into life around 4k, and has pretty peppy range until some 5,300rpms. This could be just impression, as I found Atlas behind wheel feeling more powerful than Honda Pilot, but Pilot is like 1.4sec faster to 60mph.
But that on a side, it drives much better than usual suspects in this field. Steering wheel unlike Toyota or Honda actually provides pretty good feedback , and brakes are much better. There is absolutely no any indication of fading after multiple hard stops.

 

[PWMDMD]

Originally Posted by edyvw
....only problem can come from Aisin transmission as it is known for issues. So far it seems VW is not that affected by those issues as Toyota is.
It is much better executed than Highlander or Pilot.



For the record, the Pilot has either a Honda 6-speed or ZF 9-speed.

 

[supton]

VR6 is bulletproof? I have to question that--last I knew, they were known for timing chain problems--and being on the backside of the engine, reason enough to ditch the car before the 150k mark when that problem came around.

I thoroughly enjoyed my VW, and when I bought it I knew I would have to drive a bit in order to get competent work done on it by a good mechanic. I'd drive 2-3 hours to him to get it repaired. But eventually I got tired of that, found a local mechanic--but when he closed shop I got tired of it all together. I guess that is true of all other brands, heck for all I know they are all hard to debug today, and good mechanics are probably still hard to find. But I got tired of it and went for dull & boring route as I figure it has to be easier to repair. At some point it gets easy enough for even me to work on.

But my VW experience was back when people were like "gas powered VW? why bother?"

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted by supton
VR6 is bulletproof? I have to question that--last I knew, they were known for timing chain problems--and being on the backside of the engine, reason enough to ditch the car before the 150k mark when that problem came around...


The early 12V, took about 9 hours in my garage to change it and all the guides. Not a bad job, and certainly not worth "ditching" the car over, that is just crazy talk.