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2018 VW Atlas "Shif...
 
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2018 VW Atlas "Shifty" transmission

  

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2018 VW Atlas, 50k miles, automatic trans and (of course) no codes on the scanner! ...well, my budget $150 scanner.

Sorry in advance for the long post!

When I hit 45k miles, a few oddball things went wrong with my car. wheel bearings, A/C just blowing hot, backup camera spazzing occasionally, parking sensors are a lot less sensitive than they used to be, (a very strange) gas tank 'outgasses' through the gas cap pipe and doesn't allow fuel to be added and (2) bigger issues, which are 1) weird stalling (low RPMS) when I'm either @ very low speeds (parking lot or at a red light) and 2 the BIGGEST problem I have, which is the AT shifting issues. Both of these is when the car has been warmed up.

Majority of these are odd issues and fall mostly under "annoying" but not critical. The A/C corrected itself apparently. Parking sensors could either be a computer sensitivity setting or I need to clean them. Backup camera is likely the elements getting into the connection somewhere. When the gas tank doesn't let me add gas, I just try the next day and that usually works.

1) the stalling issue... I was teaching my oldest how to drive, so we did a lot of parking lot maneuvering. We would not exceed 15-20mph and I started noticing when coming to a stop that the car would try and stall on me. Once or twice it actually did stall, then I would have to turn the car off, put it in park and press the start button again to get it to fire back up. I figured it had something to do with the start/stop system in the car, but it's done it whether it's been deactivated or not. Dealer couldn't replicate the problem, of course. On the third? visit to the dealer, they told me that they noticed my valve cover seal was leaking and it needed to be replaced. They replaced that under warranty and oddly enough, since they've done that, the stalling problem has been much better (not fixed, but much better). It's also helped the low speed shifting out as well. Again, not fixed, but much better.

2) Once my car warms up, my AT starts shifting poorly at lower speeds (residential driving) ...as if it can't tell what gear it's supposed to be in and it changes it's mind, sort of stuttering at times at the lower shift points. I figure this is likely a sensor that needs replacing as I've had similar problems in other cars that I've owned. Researching online, it seems this is a know, common issue w/VWs and could possibly be related to clutch packs? I don't know much about automatic transmissions.

 

THE REAL PROBLEM is that my warranty is going to expire in 6/2024 and the dealership can't replicate the issue(s), so they're not planning on fixing it under warranty. There are no codes showing u on my scanner and apparently there are no codes on their scanner either. Although they (try to) charge me for the diagnostics, they inevitably say "we can't duplicate the issue", "didn't find anything wrong" or "That's "normal" for the car". That last one was funny... I told them that when I was a kid, my friend owned a Yugo who's transmission fell out while he was driving it. That's "normal" for a Yugo, but I'd argue that it wasn't what the manufacturer had planned. 

Anyway, I'm stuck between, should I keep the car, argue with the dealership some more and MAYBE get an extended warranty of some sort OR... should I just get rid of it and get something else. The cheaper option here is probably to hang onto my VW. I really DO like the car overall, it's just the chronic issues that need to be addressed ...hopefully under warranty before it expires.

 

Anyway, thanks for ANY help or advice you can give me? Hopefully someone has dealt with these seemingly common VW issues before and can guide me as what to do next.

 

Thanks everyone!


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I'd get rid of the stupid thing. It's only going to get worse.


Honestly, that's what my gut is telling me to do. I just need to find a good deal on something else. Prices are coming back down slowly... but they're still inflated. I wanted to hold out longer, because I can't see paying $40k for something that used to be sub-$30k a few years ago, but I also don't see prices going back to those levels. It seems every company on earth took advantage of the pandemic and "supply chain issues" to jack prices.

TY for the suggestion!


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