Photo: Volkswagen
Bashing the Volkswagen Group for the Dieselgate fiasco is one thing, but the Wolfsburg-based automaker isn’t even trying to make amends for its notoriously bad quality control. The latest nameplates affected by subpar quality control are the Chattanooga-built Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport mid-size utilities, which are called back to the tune of 222,892 vehicles.
Back in December 2020, the peeps at Volkswagen Group of America were bombarded with complaints alleging corroded electric contacts. Certain trim levels were originally believed to manifest this condition, but by December 2021, Volkswagen was presented with many more complaints.
Typical of Volkswagen’s laissez-faire attitude, the company waited until January 2022 to escalate this problem to the Product Safety Committee. Here’s a telltale statement extracted from a document posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website: “Analysis showed an increase in claims to include additional trims not previously identified.”
The federal watchdog requested a technical meeting to discuss the increasing number of complaints, and come March 2022, the Product Safety Committee was left with no choice but to call back the mid-size SUVs.
Volkswagen ultimately admitted to door wiring harnesses that feature shoddy electrical contacts. In the event of a side impact, the front side airbag may deploy later than designed as a result of premature corrosion. VW says that the corrosion is primarily caused by excessive micromovement.
The remedy is currently under development. However, it’s also worth mentioning that Volkswagen introduced an additional cable tie into production for select vehicles in November 2021, a cable tie that minimizes micromovement. Both the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport feature this update since February 2022. In other words, VW appears to be shuffling its feet.
Affected vehicles include the 2019 to 2020 pre-facelift Atlas, the 2020 to 2023 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021 to 2023 Atlas. Dealers will be notified of the recall on May 10th, the day owner notifications will be mailed as well.
Typical of Volkswagen’s laissez-faire attitude, the company waited until January 2022 to escalate this problem to the Product Safety Committee. Here’s a telltale statement extracted from a document posted on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website: “Analysis showed an increase in claims to include additional trims not previously identified.”
The federal watchdog requested a technical meeting to discuss the increasing number of complaints, and come March 2022, the Product Safety Committee was left with no choice but to call back the mid-size SUVs.
Volkswagen ultimately admitted to door wiring harnesses that feature shoddy electrical contacts. In the event of a side impact, the front side airbag may deploy later than designed as a result of premature corrosion. VW says that the corrosion is primarily caused by excessive micromovement.
The remedy is currently under development. However, it’s also worth mentioning that Volkswagen introduced an additional cable tie into production for select vehicles in November 2021, a cable tie that minimizes micromovement. Both the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport feature this update since February 2022. In other words, VW appears to be shuffling its feet.
Affected vehicles include the 2019 to 2020 pre-facelift Atlas, the 2020 to 2023 Atlas Cross Sport, and 2021 to 2023 Atlas. Dealers will be notified of the recall on May 10th, the day owner notifications will be mailed as well.
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