My car is just below 6k. Mostly parked at my house since I have been working from home since March. Bought it at the beginning of April. Took it to southern utah and Vegas in July. Regular driving no issue. About few weeks ago I started noticing when driving around 50-60 mph and applying breaks, stirring wheel would vibrate. Not shake but definitely vibration. Finally took it to the dealer and service confirmed that my rotors and breaks are the issue ((duh). They said that my rotors have been heated and they proceeded to tell me that the service guy looked at my address and I apparently live on the hill so the service rep says that to me and to my confused look she asks if I live on a hill. I proceed to tell her no I don’t live on a hill and don’t have any hills anywhere around me nor i remember driving on hills recently. She said the rotors have been heated as in warped due to applying to much of brakes going down the hill constantly. She saw my puzzled look and said it s really not uncommon to have to replace rotors and brakes so early on. I asked “under 6k”? I was short to ask her what kind of shitty rotors and brakes are on the bran new atlas that they are already failing without any excessive driving in general let alone on hills? Anyway, she was trying to tell me they are replacing it under warranty b it normally they wouldn’t -“ whaaaat”? So they are being so nice to replace the rotors and breaks under warranty or trying to hide shitty parts?
Rotors and brakes
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Czekchik
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Hi All,
I have a 2019 Atlas SE with 4Motion and at 23,xxx miles it is looking like (or sounding and feeling like) it is time for new front pads and rotors.
This is my first VW after owning about 6 Toyotas. My last two sienna mini vans chewed through breaks and tires within 15,000 to 30,000 miles.
I had a 2016 Sienna that the dealer replaced the break pads and rotors at 15,000 miles and "under warranty". Toyota has an issue with too heavy a car with too small/cheap breaks.
Anyways, I digress.
Wanted to see what milage others are replacing breaks and rotors at?
At 23,000 miles on my Atlas, my tires are still looking really good, I would guess barely 50% of wear.
I was hoping to get at least 30,000 miles on it before I have to do the breaks.
Thank you Tc1uscg for your comment, that is in part why I left Toyota - they are just turning out crap... I love my atlas, however I am thinking next car might be a Hyundai or Ford
I have a 2019 Atlas SE with 4Motion and at 23,xxx miles it is looking like (or sounding and feeling like) it is time for new front pads and rotors.
This is my first VW after owning about 6 Toyotas. My last two sienna mini vans chewed through breaks and tires within 15,000 to 30,000 miles.
I had a 2016 Sienna that the dealer replaced the break pads and rotors at 15,000 miles and "under warranty". Toyota has an issue with too heavy a car with too small/cheap breaks.
Anyways, I digress.
Wanted to see what milage others are replacing breaks and rotors at?
At 23,000 miles on my Atlas, my tires are still looking really good, I would guess barely 50% of wear.
I was hoping to get at least 30,000 miles on it before I have to do the breaks.
Thank you Tc1uscg for your comment, that is in part why I left Toyota - they are just turning out crap... I love my atlas, however I am thinking next car might be a Hyundai or Ford
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I ALSO LIVE IN UTAH AND THE EXACT SAME THING IS HAPPENING TO ME. I'm fighting them to replace under warranty. Majorly disappointed. Bought the car in December 2020 from Ken Garff VW in Orem - here we are in August, just 8 months later, and mine are out. I've driven 8k miles. Ridiculous and so disappointing
Mine was done at 25k..
2018 Atlas. At annual state inspection at a tire dealer (59,000 mi), they claim REAR brake pads are 95% gone. When I asked about the front pads, they said they are at 50%. All are original. Makes no sense to me that the rear pads would wear so much more quickly than the front pads. Anyone have thoughts on this? I'm not able to check them myself. Thanks.
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I have a 2019 Atlas, my brakes started pulsating at 6-7k. I took it to the dealer at around 10k miles and asked to have the brakes replaced. They offered resurfacing the rotors and i told them then I believe it was a short term solution and they say we'll discuss replacing brakes if the problem happens again. 7k miles later the car started vibrating again, I ended up taking it to the dealer at 28k miles total and they won't do anything about the brakes even though the issue was there from the beginning and was documented. They told me it's a user problem. 90% of my driving is highway so it's hard to imagine for me that I'm abusing the brakes. However, i'm almost always using lane assist which I believe uses brakes to center the car and I'm wondering if that's causing the issue.
I'm trying to find Akebonos pads for the front and I don't think they exist. What the next best recommendation for front brakes on the atlas? Thanks.
I'm trying to find Akebonos pads for the front and I don't think they exist. What the next best recommendation for front brakes on the atlas? Thanks.
I live in Utah too, and up a bit of a hill (foothills near a mountain), and I didn't have to change the front brakes on my 2019 Atlas SEL Premium until I reached 57,377 miles (I just checked the service order to verify the exact number—also serviced by Ken Garff VW in Orem), and that was after I definitely got them too warm coming down I-70 towards Utah from Denver. I was letting the adaptive cruise control keep the distance between me and the cars in front for too long, and I could tell the brakes faded at that point (it was fully loaded with 6 passengers, a full rooftop Thule cargo carrier, and a loaded hitch cargo platform). When I came back from my cross-country trip (hence the I-70 trip) and had everything looked over, they said it was barely starting to squeal from metal contact. The dealer's service department also said there is plenty of wear remaining on the rear brakes to go for a while longer.
I do not know what to tell you, or to what this could be attributed in your case. I am the original owner of this vehicle, and all but a few hundred test driving miles accrued at the dealership before I purchased the vehicle (at Strong VW in SLC) are mine. I just crossed the 60K mile marker yesterday, and have nearly 12K miles left from the original 72K mile warranty.
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I had a 2019 atlas and went through 2 sets of rotors and pads within 12,000 miles. On the 2019 they admitted there’s a design flaw and changed them. Now my 2021 atlas just had to have new rotors with 8,000 miles but they went from acknowledging the problem to blaming our driving. After much battle they finally agreed to replace them. My other two cars (BMW’s) have had the same brakes through all three atlas changes so we know it’s the car and not the drivers. This is my last VW
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"mine are out" means I had to have them replaced. And 6k miles after I wrote that last post they are warped AGAIN
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I'm having mine serviced AGAIN (2nd time in 6 months). In August they replaced the brakes and rotars after telling me they were out and it must be driver error. 6k miles later the rotars are warped again and they're saying it's because I take it to the car wash when the car is hot. Not the case....I'm thinking this is another design flaw.
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They say warranty is only for defects, they then blame the driver and refuse to pay. You would think after getting penalized for misrepresenting MPG ratings and then the the CEO’s analogy to Auschwitz they would treat whatever customers are left better. Well as I said I’ll never buy another VW again.
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Like everyone else in this forum. My VW Atlas front rotors got warped after the 3rd time that has happened, we decided to buy some "Slotted, cross drilled rotors" (race type) for the front only. Believe it or not, it has done the trick! We did give it the "test", the test is a mountain that goes from Los Angeles into Central California via the 5 freeway. My rotors always get warped on the way down that mountain. We have driven through there 4 times already and we've had 0 issues with the new rotors. I highly recommend you trying this yourself as, you will not regret it, the slots and the holes from the cross drill, prevent heating up, like the normal VW Atlas rotors you get from the dealer. We did buy them online, and had our local mechanic install them. I do not work for summit nor the brake company. I could not post a link, therefor here is what I bought:
Power Stop Z23 Evolution Sport Brake Upgrade Kits K8117
through Summitracing.com
![Image]()
Trust me you will not regret putting these rotors on, the only draw back is that when it is time to do a brake job, you cannot turn slotted cross drilled brakes like the normal ones. But, the benefit is that you not only upgrade your brakes, but you stop having that easy warp your rotors issue.
Power Stop Z23 Evolution Sport Brake Upgrade Kits K8117
through Summitracing.com
Trust me you will not regret putting these rotors on, the only draw back is that when it is time to do a brake job, you cannot turn slotted cross drilled brakes like the normal ones. But, the benefit is that you not only upgrade your brakes, but you stop having that easy warp your rotors issue.
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So I can tell you I've been having the same exact issues on a 2020 I bought, and had to replace pads and rotors every 7k miles. The dealership gave me the same BS answers....1.) I must live on a hill (what a joke that they said they Googled you) and 2.) I took it to a car wash too much when the car was hot and it was warping the metal rotors (he literally said, "Let me give you a physics lesson...." Hard to keep a straight face with that one.) And 3.) I needed to have the show me how to brake properly. I must be riding them. "Do you use both feet? Do you brake with your left and accelerate with your right?" With that comment, I almost lost it. After the 4th time replacing them I went to the GM and let loose on him. He FINALLY admitted this is a known VW issue and VW Corp gave them those lame answers to use. Call any dealership and they will tell you the same thing--car washes and riding the brakes. In 2020, VW took the copper out of the rotors and made them smaller. They also aren't slotted so they overheat and deposits build up causing the warping. My dealership gave me a HUGE discount on a 2023 model and I dumped my 2020 and bought a 2023 after they told me all this. 2020,2021 and 2022 have the same issues, the 2023 model fixed it. Also, they will tell you the rotors aren't covered under warranty, but blow a gasket on them like I did about the 6-7K mile issue and it should get you what you need: New ones at no cost. Final warning....the warping ruined my tires. At 25K miles I had to replace two of them...one completely blew out. So watch your tire treds. And make sure you are truly rotating every 3k miles.
I put drilled and slotted rotors and ceramic pads on my 2019 one month after i brought it home. Virtually no rotor groving and the pads are 2 thirds good with 22000 miles on them. Smart move.
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Not getting into the slotted/cross-drilled debate but stumbled across this on my search for the right part number to fit my Atlas. Two cars with high-carbon front rotors and ceramic pads. One vehicle has made abrupt decel from some pretty high speeds (120+). So far, no vibration on even while slowing down on the autobahn.
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