Need help with a 2019 VW Atlas

**avbcon12** · 12-22-2021, 10:58 AM

It's my aunts vehicle and is displaying all sorts of odd issues. I could use some help, it was purchased off lease so it's not under any warranty to get it repaired for free.

Biggest issues:

Random parking brake engagement, everything from not moving or in gear to driving down the road and having the brakes engage.

Intermittent windows rolling down/trying to roll up even when all the way up

I spoke to a vw service department and they indicated it's the drivers door harness/switch BUT the parts are not available with no foreseeable eta. They also said to expect it to get worse and more issues to arise (battery drains etc).

So with zero help from VW, has anybody here run into this issue and have a temporary workaround (disabling the parking brake altogether)? The window issue sucks but wouldn't keep her from getting to work at 3am, the parking brake issue would.

**WhiteHawk** · 12-22-2021, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by avbcon12

It's my aunts vehicle and is displaying all sorts of odd issues. I could use some help, it was purchased off lease so it's not under any warranty to get it repaired for free.

Biggest issues:

Random parking brake engagement, everything from not moving or in gear to driving down the road and having the brakes engage.

Intermittent windows rolling down/trying to roll up even when all the way up

I spoke to a vw service department and they indicated it's the drivers door harness/switch BUT the parts are not available with no foreseeable eta. They also said to expect it to get worse and more issues to arise (battery drains etc).

So with zero help from VW, has anybody here run into this issue and have a temporary workaround (disabling the parking brake altogether)? The window issue sucks but wouldn't keep her from getting to work at 3am, the parking brake issue would.

Keep taking it in. I think after three times you can lemon law it. Ok nevermind, it's used. Edit again, I think you can lemon law if it is still under factory warranty.

Is it the harness or is there a module in the door? Might be able to get a boneyard part or something.

-Geoff

**derbydad276** · 12-22-2021, 12:44 PM

with major electrical issues on a 3 year old car ...
DUMP IT Cut your losses now

**1BADAIR** · 12-22-2021, 01:01 PM

Door harness . I would have someone check the wiring and repair it. Or find a junk yard one

**WhiteHawk** · 12-22-2021, 01:14 PM

I actually second selling it. I know this guy who was a regional service specialist for GM down in Southern Florida. He ends up working on all the buybacks, too. He had this Corvette that would just randomly throw a bunch of different codes all the time. The dealer kept replacing and repairing one of the harnesses under the hood. The problem never went away, though, and GM ended up buying the car back. He figure it out about a month later (don't ask me how, the guy is just flat out good) - there was a partially failed resistor in one of the 19 modules in the car, and was screwing up the CAN bus. He could actually get the car trouble free by putting a resistor across a couple pins in the ALDL plug. It was crazy.

It sounds like your VW has something like that.

-Geoff

**avbcon12** · 12-22-2021, 01:20 PM

I'd dump it if it was mine, believe me.

From the dealer, it sounds like it could be both the harness and module/switch. I asked about a junkyard one and he said it'll likely happen again with that one if it's not bad already. From the sound of it, the harness has a pinch-point where it thinks the door opens/is open and engages the parking brake and/or a bad solder joint in the module. Such a stupid design to engage the brake every damn time a door is open... it's downright dangerous when you're going 45mph and the brakes engage!

**sofa king** · 12-22-2021, 01:52 PM

It a VW...Thats all you have to say...

**1BADAIR** · 12-22-2021, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by avbcon12

I'd dump it if it was mine, believe me.

From the dealer, it sounds like it could be both the harness and module/switch. I asked about a junkyard one and he said it'll likely happen again with that one if it's not bad already. From the sound of it, the harness has a pinch-point where it thinks the door opens/is open and engages the parking brake and/or a bad solder joint in the module. Such a stupid design to engage the brake every damn time a door is open... it's downright dangerous when you're going 45mph and the brakes engage!

it appears to be fairly common. It seems like a Bus failure in which predetermined failsafwa are set . Common things are wipers on, defrost on and many others . Parking brakes in case of loss of trans range would also be one.. with 40-60 modules on the Bus we see stuff like this all the time.