NHTSA Complaint #11696592 — 2024 VOLKSWAGEN ATLAS

October 27th- As my husband was parking at work, the vehicle suddenly refused to shift into any gear—Park, Reverse, or Drive—and defaulted to Neutral. The dashboard displayed a warning message: “Risk of Rolling! P not possible. Please apply parking brake.” Despite multiple attempts, the Atlas could not be shifted or safely parked. After several failed tow attempts, VW Roadside Assistance successfully towed it to Ourisman Volkswagen of Laurel. As parents of young children (ages [XXX] , [XXX] , [XXX] , and [XXX] ), this experience was nothing short of terrifying. We drive this vehicle for school drop-offs and daily errands—had this malfunction occurred in traffic or at highway speeds, the outcome could have been catastrophic. We are grateful that no one was harmed, but this incident has left us traumatized and unwilling to transport our children in this vehicle again. This is not merely a mechanical inconvenience—it is a critical safety and reliability failure. A nearly new vehicle should never exhibit such dangerous behavior. For this reason, we are respectfully requesting that Volkswagen initiate a buyback of this 2024 Atlas and allow us to part ways with a vehicle we no longer feel safe operating. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)