# New Atlas SEL premium owner



## ajax0117 (Jun 15, 2017)

Loving the new Atlas - came from a 2016 Pilot and have been a die hard Honda fan for a long time but so far I am really impressed with the Atlas. 

I did have to take it to the shop this morning because the ambient interior light on the passenger front door that runs along the door below the door handle was not working. Low and behold the wiring harness for that door is the incorrect harness. The harness does not even have the correct plugs and the service tech said the harness was for the model without the interior ambient lighting. No big deal but just wandering if any other SEL premium owner have noticed this issue.


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## GTi_4_Life (Dec 24, 2004)

Curious did you lease or buy? I've been going back and forth with the dealer for a few weeks now and they finally started to budge on the SEL Premium. Hoping to get a deal soon.


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## Don® (Oct 11, 2011)

Seems like the plant is trying to push these trucks out the door as fast as they can.
Goes to show the level of QA inspections once the truck is fully assembled.


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## DrivinginNY (Jun 6, 2017)

GTi_4_Life said:


> Curious did you lease or buy? I've been going back and forth with the dealer for a few weeks now and they finally started to budge on the SEL Premium. Hoping to get a deal soon.


I bet some deals on the SEL and SEL Premium will be available sooner than later. When I tell people that I am in the market for a VW Atlas, I get two responses. The first one is "Really, a Volkswagen? They have terrible reliability" and when I tell them about the 6 yr warranty, they're not as impressed as you'd think (a lot of trips back to the dealer is still a nuisance). The next thing they say is "what's an Atlas." With the new Honda Pilot coming out in 2016 and many people in this market already owning fairly new Ford Explorers and Toyota Highlanders, the market is a bit saturated with newer 3 row SUV's. I think VW corporate will need to start offering incentives earlier than they think, because once the people that have been eagerly awaiting it's release have purchased, they are going to need to work harder to get them on the road and increase the vehicles popularity.


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## joemarcum (Jun 2, 2017)

*Curious on reliability*

While the warranty is nice ... as you state, many trips to dealer are annoying. So, what is the overall thoughts from VW owners on reliability. I'm a Lexus/Toyota guy ... but toyota is very behind on autonomous driving features ... so much so that the head of Toyota earlier this week announced that they would be open to mergers etc. because they see autonomous cars coming and know they are behind and may need strategic mergers to survive .... thats really showing your hand considering Toyota is a darling of auto. 

So ... thoughts on if these things will be in and out of the shop? I would suspect them to want to keep build quality high ... but have seen two "complaints" on these boards alone regarding new Atlas issues.


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## CiDirkona (May 1, 2007)

From what I've seen from owning water cooled VWs for the past 10 years -- the motor internals are nearly bulletproof, and is why the turbo motors can make considerably more reliable power with a simple ECU tune.

Electronics since MKV have been pretty good as well, mk4 and earlier had some fusebox fire issues, B5s had ABS and ICM issues but I haven't seen many ECU/ABS in a long time.

The main long-term warranty'd problems I have seen are things like the bad A cams in MKV FSI motors, which were covered under warranty as long as you weren't tuned, water pumps and intake manifolds in the MK6s, also covered under warranty and had extended warranties out to 100k miles, even if you were tuned.

The other maintenance item that I expect to have is intake valve coking -- since the FSI motors inject fuel directly into the combustion chamber, the backs of the intake valves don't get 'washed' by the fuel spray, but the PCV mist and gasses do get sucked in from the intake tract, and build up on the backs of the intake valves. Around 70k miles it could start misfiring due to inconsistent airflow, you have to pull the intake manifold off and blast/scrape away the crud off the back of the valves. I also don't know if this applies to the 3.6 VR6 FSI or not yet -- it's my first VR6.

Also, if you haven't looked up the block/head design on the VR6 yet, check it out. It's a really neat engine design.


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## ajax0117 (Jun 15, 2017)

GTi_4_Life said:


> Curious did you lease or buy? I've been going back and forth with the dealer for a few weeks now and they finally started to budge on the SEL Premium. Hoping to get a deal soon.


I bought - lease rates are way too high right now on he Atlas. I was able to work what I felt was a good deal on the SEL premium - MSRP was $49965 and I was able to negotiate $3700 off MSRP.


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## joemarcum (Jun 2, 2017)

*Reliable?*

SO what does all that mean? Are the cars reliable or not? While the engine might be "bullet proof", what about all the other components around it, plus all the electronics in the car? Nit picky things can drive you off a cliff.


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## jkueter (Feb 12, 2008)

joemarcum said:


> SO what does all that mean? Are the cars reliable or not? While the engine might be "bullet proof", what about all the other components around it, plus all the electronics in the car? Nit picky things can drive you off a cliff.


It's a little early to make that call either way, no? Lets give it a year or so.


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## GjR32 (Dec 22, 2010)

ajax0117 said:


> Loving the new Atlas - came from a 2016 Pilot and have been a die hard Honda fan for a long time but so far I am really impressed with the Atlas.
> 
> I did have to take it to the shop this morning because the ambient interior light on the passenger front door that runs along the door below the door handle was not working. Low and behold the wiring harness for that door is the incorrect harness. The harness does not even have the correct plugs and the service tech said the harness was for the model without the interior ambient lighting. No big deal but just wandering if any other SEL premium owner have noticed this issue.


I remember seeing a video of the ambient lighting in various different colors but I've tried to achange mine and can only pick white. Can anyone advise?


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## jkopelc (Mar 1, 2017)

The videos were digitally edited - i saw them too. They were showing bright orange and blue colors in a thick line - where the lighting would approximately be, but it wasn't the true light.

The ambient lighting is more subtle and led white only


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## Robswagen (Aug 2, 2015)

VW Service Adviser here:

To give you some insight, The Atlas is running the Touareg 8 speed auto, which has been used for quite some time. Long power train warranty and RARELY in the shop besides maintenance.
Most common issues i've ever seen on those bad boys where sunroof drain related. The VR6 is a tank of an engine and for as long as the Touareg have used it it's been great.

Down here in central florida the most common issues we run into are batteries going bad almost every 2-3 years (Heat and humidity = no no), and *some* model (12-15) have had A/C compressor issues (All on most 2.5/1.8T Jettas and Passats, no other models show this issue). 

On to the Atlas: We've had 2 in so far for basic adjustments and what not, one had a funky radio software issue that was fixed quickly. It's running a Touareg Power train that again has been very sturdy for the past 8 years. Not to mention the killer warrannty.

Let me know if you guys have any other question.

Also: Stay the hell away from CCs below 2013. Total nightmares


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## GjR32 (Dec 22, 2010)

Are the 
P
R
N
D
Letters to the left of the gear selector meant to light up all the time, just at night or never?


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## jspirate (Jan 15, 2011)

Robswagen said:


> VW Service Adviser here:
> 
> 
> Also: Stay the hell away from CCs below 2013. Total nightmares


More info please! I have a 2011 CC that I K04'd . Its been rock solid, so I am curious as to what I should be looking for? Mine has been a joy to own, so "nightmare" is not at all something I can relate to.


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## edyvw (May 1, 2009)

jspirate said:


> More info please! I have a 2011 CC that I K04'd . Its been rock solid, so I am curious as to what I should be looking for? Mine has been a joy to own, so "nightmare" is not at all something I can relate to.


Had 2010 CC that I sold with 130K, never had single issue.


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## Fgv1it (May 23, 2017)

GjR32 said:


> Are the
> P
> R
> N
> ...


The letter for the position selected lights up day or night; however, the light is white and not very bright, so during the day it is often not visible at a glance. You need to check the center instrument cluster display (right top corner, non-premium models) to be sure of what gear you're in.


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## CedarburgTDI (Jul 14, 2014)

Robswagen said:


> VW Service Adviser here:
> 
> Also: Stay the hell away from CCs below 2013. Total nightmares


Assuming you are referring to defective timing chain tensioners that are known to take out the engine on a 2.0T CC.

It has been a joy to own my 2010 VR6 4Motion CC. Like you say. A tank of an engine.


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## Jscharff (Dec 14, 2014)

CedarburgTDI said:


> Assuming you are referring to defective timing chain tensioners that are known to take out the engine on a 2.0T CC.
> 
> It has been a joy to own my 2010 VR6 4Motion CC. Like you say. A tank of an engine.


I own a 2009 tsi CC and I had all the issues known with the engine and it's still a pleasure tbh. If I had known more getting into it I MAYBE only would have saved myself the rear main seal issue. Everything else was on its way when I got it second hand. I did the work and she's great to drive. Approaching 120k, 2.0tsi 6mt 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## jspirate (Jan 15, 2011)

CedarburgTDI said:


> Assuming you are referring to defective timing chain tensioners that are known to take out the engine on a 2.0T CC.
> 
> It has been a joy to own my 2010 VR6 4Motion CC. Like you say. A tank of an engine.


The original slam was on the CC. The timing tensioner applies to all VW 2.0 from 2008 - 2012 (or 2013, can't remember). So, thats an OK slam on the 2.0T, which comes in the CC, but to single out the CC seems a little irresponsible.


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## is95a (Jul 6, 2017)

*Trailer wiring harness?*

Ajax, sounds like you are enjoying your SEL Premium too. Quick question, can you look at your tow hitch and see if you have the wiring harness portion that you plug the trailer lights into? I have the SEL Premium too, but it appears the wiring harness is missing from mine? Thanks in advance


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## Shahryar (Aug 14, 2017)

ajax0117 said:


> I bought - lease rates are way too high right now on he Atlas. I was able to work what I felt was a good deal on the SEL premium - MSRP was $49965 and I was able to negotiate $3700 off MSRP.


Wow, that's the biggest discount I've seen. Most people I'm seeing are paying the MSRP. Some people I've seen go as high as $2k off MSRP.


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## dieselpwr (Mar 7, 2004)

is95a said:


> Ajax, sounds like you are enjoying your SEL Premium too. Quick question, can you look at your tow hitch and see if you have the wiring harness portion that you plug the trailer lights into? I have the SEL Premium too, but it appears the wiring harness is missing from mine? Thanks in advance


The harness us there behind that square plate on the left of the hitch.. You need to purchase the plug that replaces that small plate. It's all in this post. 

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?8727530-Tow-hitch-wiring-harness


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## joninotown (Aug 8, 2021)

dieselpwr said:


> The harness us there behind that square plate on the left of the hitch.. You need to purchase the plug that replaces that small plate. It's all in this post.
> 
> Tow hitch wiring harness???


The fem plug behind that cover go on Amazon and order store the same male plug for half the price s…


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