[Kamron]

Announced at the 2019 Chicago Auto Show, the Atlas was named the Best Large Utility Vehicle for MotorWeeks Drivers' Choice Awards. This marks its second year in a row that it has managed to take top honors in its class. According to MotorWeek creator and host the Atlas remains an outlier in the see of new three row utility vehicles.

"no one matches the Volkswagen Atlas when it comes to family-pleasing roominess, practical luxury, user friendly technologies, advanced safety, and driving manners."

 

[Titanus]

VW has hit the mark in terms of offering a vehicle that checks all the boxes for American families. It doesn't take much searching around on here however to find many build quality issues and oversights on brand new models. I know this can be the case with any mass market vehicle, but these kinds of factors should be taken into consideration when giving out awards like these.

 

[Simeon]

Every new vehicle is prone to having issues, but its really how the dealership decides to handle them that makes all the difference. A competent shop should know the best steps to take to have things resolved as quickly as possible. Being stuck in a loaner for weeks is a sure way to cause disinterest in your new car.

 

[Titanus]

A lot of people fail to realize that automakers outsource a lot of parts on new vehicles and thats often where the issues arise. When things are built in mass volume it becomes difficult to do quality control on every single component thats being used.

 

[northstar]

A lot of people fail to realize that automakers outsource a lot of parts on new vehicles and thats often where the issues arise. When things are built in mass volume it becomes difficult to do quality control on every single component thats being used.

Can't confirm just yet but from what I heard Toyota outsources the least of all automakers which might speak for their reliability being so high and staying that way.

 

[hfqkhal]

Can't confirm just yet but from what I heard Toyota outsources the least of all automakers which might speak for their reliability being so high and staying that way.

The Japanese Auto makers including Toyota out source a lot and this why they can say they don't lay off workers when the auto market takes a hit. Basically the sourcing companies are the ones that end up hurt as they don't have enough sales so they lay off workers and who most of them are not full time employees.

By the way the trany in the Atlas is made by a company that is 1/3rd owned by Toyota

 

[Kamron]

Outsourcing parts does not always mean they will be lower quality and sometimes there are just bad batches. Every automaker is guilty of relying on third-party companies for components, and it's on them to ensure they are up to par.

 

[hfqkhal]

Outsourcing parts does not always mean they will be lower quality and sometimes there are just bad batches. Every automaker is guilty of relying on third-party companies for components, and it's on them to ensure they are up to par.

Correct but when you have parts come in in large numbers not every part can be tested before being installed. Auto manufacturers usually do spot checks once in a while and if they are to do constant then no auto manufacturer can make enough cars and over 50% of the workforce will be doing nothing. Example, The batteries originally made for the Atlas ended having bad cells which only showed after prolonged use (not a day or a week only) as the case with Atlas owners having problems much later. Cats have also been found to be bad in some and the way it was appearing was more after the software on the car was updated which means to me that VW has instituted a more rigorous electronic checks. With those checks in place I actually feel better with owning an Atlas as the manufacturer will be fixing and I will end up with trouble free long term ownership and for now it will be some pain to put up with but for better peace of mind in the future.