2020 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport

Typical pattern

7.3% of complaints about the 2020 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport came in the first year, which is unremarkable for a 2020 vehicle — around the middle of the 178 model-years on record. The median complaint arrives at 2.9 yr in service. The most-reported system is electrical system (33 complaints), typically at 2.5 yr or about 16,843 miles.

Complaints: 165
Median age at failure: 2.9 yr
Median mileage: 7,000 n=32
Crash / fire / tow: 2.4% of reports
Safety recalls: 10 1 do not drive

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

20V712000 2020-11-17 Do not drive

Steering

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 Atlas and 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. One or both steering knuckles may have been damaged during production.

A damaged steering knuckle can fail, causing a loss of steering, thereby increasing the risk of a crash.

24V464000 2024-06-20

Air bags:sensor:occupant classification:front passenger

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.

A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.

23V215000 2023-03-29

Air bags:sensor:occupant classification:front passenger

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020 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.

A deactivated passenger air bag increases the risk of injury during a crash.

22V815000 2022-10-31

Tires:pressure monitoring and regulating systems

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2019 Volkswagen Tiguan LWB, Golf Sportswagen A7, Golf Alltrack, Golf R GP, Audi Q3, Audi A3 Cabriolet, 2019-2020 Jetta NF, Jetta GLI, Golf GTI, Atlas, Golf A7, Audi A3, 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021 Atlas FL vehicles. The tire pressure monitoring system may not detect an air pressure loss in adequate time when deflating occurs among all four tires simultaneously. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 138, "Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems."

An undetected sudden loss of pressure in all four tires increases the risk of a crash.

22V152000 2022-03-28

Air bags:side/window

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.

A delayed air bag deployment can increase the risk of injury.

22V086000 2022-02-16

Equipment:other:labels

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2018-2021 Atlas and 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles equipped with accessory side steps. The reduced Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) label, reflecting the additional weight of the side steps, was not installed. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 110, "Tire Selection and Rims."

Without the reduced GVWR label, the vehicle could be overloaded, leading to a loss of control and increasing the risk of a crash.

21V892000 2021-11-17

Visibility:defroster/defogger/hvac system

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 Atlas and 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The air conditioning system drain tube could be blocked, causing water to leak inside the vehicle near the air bag control module.

A water leak may damage the air bag control module, causing an inadvertent air bag deployment and increasing the risk of injury or a crash.

21V026000 2021-01-27

Steering

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2021 Atlas and 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport vehicles. The front steering knuckle may fracture in the area of the strut mounting.

A fractured steering knuckle can cause a loss of vehicle control, increasing the risk of a crash.

20V702000 2020-11-13

Tires:sidewall

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Atlas Cross Sport and 2021 Atlas vehicles equipped with Continental Cross Contact LX Sport tires, size 255/50 R 20 105 T. The tires may have been over cured.

Over cured tires can result in a sidewall break causing a sudden loss of air pressure or the tread separating from the tire. Both conditions increase the risk of a crash.

20V504000 2020-08-26

Exterior lighting:headlights

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (Volkswagen) is recalling certain 2020 Atlas Cross Sports and 2021 Atlas vehicles. The driver's side headlight may have been aimed too low during production. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."

A headlight aimed incorrectly aimed reduces the driver's visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.

In owners’ own words

Other 2,600 mi 11 mo in service

ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL (ACC) WILL NOT WORK IF YOU REMOTE STARTED THE VEHICLE. TO GET IT NORMALLY WORK, YOU HAVE TO FULLY SWITCH OFF THE CAR AND THEN PUSH START IT. HAD THE VEHICLE CHECKED BY VW DEALER AND THEY FOUND NOTHING, THEN I NOTICED THAT REMOTE START WAS THE PROBLEM. SEEM TO ME THERE SHOULD BE SOME SORT OF A SOFTWARE UPDATE FIX AS IT LOOKS LIKE THERE ARE NO ELECTRIC/ELECTRONIC ISSUES.

Other 2,000 mi 1.0 yr in service

STEERING MAKES CREAKING AND NOISE WHEN TURNING EVEN WHEN STOPPED. DEALER REPLACED SWAY BAR LINKS TODAY VIA TSB. PROBLEM NOT FIXED, DEALER TEST DROVE AFTER FIX AND DETERMINED IT COULD POSSIBLY BE CLOCKSPRING. OTHERS ONLINE HAVE SIMILAR ISSUES, SOME SAY REPLACEMENT OF ENTIRE RACK IS REQUIRED, I HOPE NOT.

Other 200 mi 10 mo in service

FROM PICKING UP THE VEHICLE THERE WAS A NOISE ONLY ON THE DRIVERS SIDE WINDSHIELD, THE SOUND I THOUGHT WAS INITIALLY ROAD NOISE AT HIGHER SPEED BUT IT WAS AT ANY SPEED. IT BECAME CLEAR THAT THE NOISE WAS AIR ENTERING THE VEHICLE THROUGH THE WINDSHIELD. THE WINDSHIELD WAS FOUND TO BE DEFECTIVE AND HAD TO BE REPLACED

Service brakes 250 mi 11 mo in service

OUR ATLAS WILL RANDOMLY SLAM ON ITS BRAKES AS IF AVOIDING A COLLISION ON AN EMPTY ROAD. THE LANE ASSIST WILL ALSO STEER YOU TOWARDS OBSTACLES (LIKE CONSTRUCTION BARRELS) AND FIGHT AS YOUR TRY TO CORRECT ITS ERROR. ISSUES HAVE ALL OCCURRED WHILE IN MOTION TRAVELING DOWN A 2 OR 4 LANE ROAD.

Other Atlas Cross Sport model years

How to read this

This is what owners reported, not a reliability rating. People file with NHTSA about alarming failures, not routine ones, and complaint volume tracks how many cars were sold.
Failure ages come from the incident date on each complaint, populated on about 83% of records. Mileage is shown where reported — NHTSA’s 2021 system change cut mileage capture to roughly 15%, so it thins out sharply after MY2020.
Every rank compares this vehicle only against others of the same model year. A 2025 car has not had time to accumulate five-year failures, so comparing early-failure share across years is meaningless.
Fourteen make-months distorted by media storms and mass recalls — Toyota in February 2010 ran 11× normal volume across 33 models — are excluded.
Recalls are manufacturer actions and authoritative; complaints are not. A recall listed here may already have been performed on any individual car. Check a specific VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

2020 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport

When each system is reported — middle 50% of complaints

Safety recalls — NHTSA campaigns

In owners’ own words

Other Atlas Cross Sport model years

How to read this