New guy here, picking up our Atlas SEL Premium up tomorrow. We also were highly considering the Ascent, before test driving the Atlas and that sealed the deal. I was looking at top trims from both manufacturers, also for 6 passenger seating (captains chairs), and it came down to:
- Getting a better deal on the VW, as it was the last 2018 the dealership had
- The third row is so much larger
- The tilt (car seat friendly) second row for third row entrance was a huge plus for us
- The truck like seating, yet handling was so much better... drives very small
- Plenty of top trim features not available on the Ascent
- Dealership experience was stellar (coming from a Lexus guy), to compare Subaru was terrible
Good luck on those trying to decide which suits them better!