[dirkdirk]

Short of it --

My 2018 Atlas SEL Premium pulls to the right. Drive straight in the middle of the lane on the freeway at 65 mph, let go of the wheel, 4 seconds later I'm on the right lane line.

Had the car aligned, still pulls. Test drove a 2019 Atlas (no 2018 available), it does the exact same thing.

Try it next time you're on the freeway. Does your's do it too?

Long of it --

Bought a 2018 Atlas SEL Premium demo model (the GM of the dealership drove it for 8 months putting 6k miles on it).

I live in Vegas, bought the car at Capitol VW in San Jose, CA for $39,500. Smokin deal, right? Or was it? The entire drive from SJ to Vegas I had to keep pressure on the wheel to keep it in the lane.

Called Capitol VW, they sent me to my local dealership to get it aligned. They where surprised the alignment was out to begin with got got it in spec. But it didn't solve the problem at all. Took it back, they aligned it again cuz it was out again, test drove it, and it was out again. They then loosened everything underneath down to the subframe, realigned it again and test drove it. They claimed it now only pulls right due to road crown. I asked what could possibly be the cause and they said if a vehicle is tied down too tight on a transport truck it can pull parts out of alignment and that's why loosening everything down to the subframe fixed it. While it is better, it definitely still pulls right.

I drive straight in the middle of a lane on the freeway at 65 mph, let go of the wheel and 4 seconds (literally) I'm on the right lane line. My friend drove it and he said it definitely pulls right and it's not normal.

Took a road trip (that I was going on anyway) back to SJ. Took it back to Capitol VW. I test drove a 2019 Atlas and it behaved exactly the same way. They inspected the alignment and said it's in spec.

Only thing I can think is that VW considers this a safety feature: if you fall asleep the car will veer right and not left into oncoming traffic. But really? So now under normal driving I have to steer left all the time to stay in the lane? (I asked the tech at Capitol if the electronic steering can be set to drive to the left by half a degree and he said that would cause all kinds of errors and the computer would freak out.)

Yes, I took road crown into account. Only if the road is sloped to the left at just the right angle will it stay straight. Even on a slightly left sloped road will it pull right.

Yes, I turned lane assist on and off. Makes no difference.

Next time you're on the freeway, go straight on a straight section of road, let go of the wheel, how long does it take to reach either lane line?

 

[hfqkhal]

Mine does not pull at all. my recommendation is also check the tire pressure on all tires. In another car a 2 psi difference caused his to happen so when ever I felt a pull it was always corrected with equal tire pressure.

 

[Kamron]

Tire pressure, uneven tread wear, warped rotors and sticky calipers can all cause a vehicle to pull to one side. If you've already had your Atlas aligned several times id confirm that everything is set right with your brakes and possibly even the suspension.

 

[rcworship]

I have a similar situation to yours. It’s pulled to the right since the beginning. I took it in around 4,000 miles and they aligned it. No difference. I took it back for another alignment at the dealer and there is no improvement. I’ve got just over 31,000 miles on it now, and I notice a minor difference in side to side rear on the tires-the right side is a little different than the left. I’m hoping it’ll improve when it’s time for tires, but for now, it’s a bit frustrating.

 

[dirkdirk]

Put left side tires at 36 psi and the rights at 38 psi. Still pulls right.

Figured out it pulls much worse under acceleration.

Went to the dealership and test drove another 2019 Atlas and it steers completely differently than mine. Nice and straight and well mannered. Not all twitchy and right pulling like mine.

Dropping the car off tomorrow night at the dealership shop for more work.

 

[dirkdirk]

I have a similar situation to yours. It’s pulled to the right since the beginning. I took it in around 4,000 miles and they aligned it. No difference. I took it back for another alignment at the dealer and there is no improvement. I’ve got just over 31,000 miles on it now, and I notice a minor difference in side to side rear on the tires-the right side is a little different than the left. I’m hoping it’ll improve when it’s time for tires, but for now, it’s a bit frustrating.

Interesting. It's more than frustrating for me ... my left thumb get sore from fighting the electronic steering.

It's not right and should be fixed. I'm just gonna keep sending it back to their shop till it's fixed or until it's spent 30 days there, then invoke the Lemon Law and go from there.

Does your's pull harder to the right under semi-hard acceleration?

 

[WestB87]

Ours does the same exact thing... but it didn't until some dumb b!tch on her cell phone merged into our passenger side from an on ramp at 70mph. Rear door skin had to be replaced (fyi, all replacement door skins do NOT have the factory sound damping on the skin... seriously sucks), front door had to have a bunch of work done. All lower plastic had to be replaced on the passenger side doors and wheel wells.

Since then it pulls right. 3 alignments at the VW dealership in Fort Walton Beach, FL haven't fixed the pull AND I notice a steering wheel wobble under acceleration.

My hunch is, bent control arm, damaged CV joint, bent tie rods. Either one or a combination of them.

I never had this problem until that giant 400lb woman sideswiped us while texting. To make the story better, she gave false insurance! Karma came back around though, her old insurance ratted her out and gave us her new insurer and policy number. The NEW insurer hasn't been able to contact her (she would hang up on them) and hasn't responded to certified mail, so they dropped her, paid our claim, and are taking her to court.

We owned our Atlas for 6 months trouble free for 12,000 miles (HUGE family road trip across the US) until that horrible woman irreparably damaged it. We've now got a super loud rear passenger door, an acceleration wobble, and a steering wheel right pull...

Edit: Don't know if it's relevant, but mine has 4motion.

 

[Drizly]

We have the very same issue. We have to literally hold the steering wheel at a slight left angle to keep iy from veering to the right. We have experienced this since the car was delivered to us. We have been told by our dealer that is is within spec and is not something that can be corrected. We find this unacceptable, as you shouldn't have to fight the car from veering onto the right lane. Hearing from others that their Atlas doesn't do this only confirms that it is not "the norm" and something is wrong. How many others out there are still experiencing this same issue? We own a 2018 Atlas, Premium

 

[LL777]

mine started pulling it to the right after they replaced a windshield. I asked them to make sure to recalibrate the rear view mirrow camera and they didn’t do it but they said they did. I took it to the dealership again, they test drove it and now they are telling me it’s normal when I know that it’s not. I’m going back to the dealership today and I will drive with a technician so I can show to him that’s it’s pulling to the right side. Very frustrating

 

[phamby]

So I just test drove a 2019 Atlas SE yesterday and it pulled to the right. I told the guy I wouldn't buy it without an alignment being done first and another test drive, but it sounds like that might be an issue. Would you guys buy another if you knew they had an issue pulling to the right?

 

[Sugar]

How much did you all pay for the alignment? Dealer in Tucson wanted to charge me $500 for alignment!

 

[Bernardp]

My Daughter just leased a 2019 and it has the same issue pulling to the right on acceleration and the dealer keep telling me that is normal and it is the toque steering. There is nothing normal in having torque steering that is a defect and it should be corrected one way or another and if it is a factory defect VW should compensate us.
We all should get together and ask for it.

 

[Tim K]

Nope. Mine drives straight.

 

[Eddy B]

My Daughter just leased a 2019 and it has the same issue pulling to the right on acceleration and the dealer keep telling me that is normal and it is the toque steering. There is nothing normal in having torque steering that is a defect and it should be corrected one way or another and if it is a factory defect VW should compensate us.
We all should get together and ask for it.

Yes. I agree!!! How is it going? Did you fix the issue?

 

[Eddy B]

Yes. I own 2018 atlas SEL. I went to dealer shop many many times. So annoying.
Never buy VW in my life!

 

[2019RLine]

My Daughter just leased a 2019 and it has the same issue pulling to the right on acceleration and the dealer keep telling me that is normal and it is the toque steering. There is nothing normal in having torque steering that is a defect and it should be corrected one way or another and if it is a factory defect VW should compensate us.
We all should get together and ask for it.

be thankful that she leased it. these things are so problematic its infuriating! we had a 2019 and it was absolutely terrible and VW corp was worthless. they couldn't have cared less they sold us a lemon. with the negative equity we had, it cost me $14k to drive that POS for 14 months. Never again...

 

[Bcp]

Bought a new 2019 Atlas about 3 weeks ago and didn’t know if the lane assist was causing it to pull or front alignment. Turned off all lane assist and the car pulled to the right. I took it to the dealer and after 2 hours they tell me that the pulling is a safety feature put in by VW to keep you from falling a sleep and going int mo oncoming traffic. Have never heard of this until now and by the looks of this forum I’m not alone. I made them sign the paperwork stating this in case I start to wear tires unevenly. That way they are responsible for the tires not me. They didn’t like that but it was either that or take there car back.

 

[arthurhcp]

Same here, 2018 SE, changed struts, tires and everything else, none solved the problem.
I think this is a project failure...

 

[KarstGeo]

24K and tires are worn perfect/evenly - I've never noticed this on ours but will check it out next time I drive it.

 

[tc1uscg]

My 2019 only pulls to the right if the white line either disappears and the curb follows the turn lane or if the white line is smeared to the right or left. It's kinda like a hound dog. It follows the lines. I can let go of the steering and it pretty much stays in the between the lines but I don't trust it. The issue I had, which caused a return trip like 3 times was the front tires were out of balance. They are better but at 85, you can "feel" it. I just got my oil changed and tires rotated. Not had a chance to "test" it yet. But I did warn my dealer. If it's still out balance, I'll be back so have a set of wheels ready because the ones I paid extra for must be defective. They know me pretty well. They know I wasn't kidding. But FWIW, I have a 09 Jeep and 11 T&C minivan. The van pulls to the right. If you are really accelerating, it pulls really hard. Been doing that since day one. It's now got 110k miles. Still does it. Jeep, it only pulls to the right, or left if the road has "ruts".