quick update from my end on this issue - hopefully it can help others.
my car was stalling constantly, always at low speeds (see my other post with videos). Took it to service dep yesterday and the rep seemed to know this was not a new issue by what he said when I dropped off the car. He said something about "emissions".
He calls me back same day and tells me they need to keep the car for a second day, as nothing showed up. Then today he calls me at 9am and says "come pick it up". I was puzzled.
Apparently the vapor canister (sometimes called charcoal canister) was either clogged or defective. This, according to him, lead to the stalling issue. I drove the car a total of 10 miles since I got it back so cannot say it's fixed until I drive it for a few more days, but so far, those 10 miles were fine.
After searching more about "vapor canister" I discovered that some Atlas owners had to change it multiple times. So, for me, the question is - is it the Atlas that somehow clogs this part quickly? what I discovered is that the canister should last on average 100k miles, in fact most people/cars will never even hear of this part because in many cases it lasts as long as the car itself.
But today I've read of Atlas owners changing it 3-4 times in 20k miles when driving an Atlas. Mine clogged at around 7-8k miles as that is when I started having issues (now the car has 10k miles)
My car is under warranty but if it weren't, the cost of changing this canister including the part would have been $740
Was it clogged or defective? Nobody knows. But if it was defective, why was the car OK for the first 7-8k miles? in my view it clogged, and clogged very quickly. for those that didn't read my other post, I had the same exact issue on my first Atlas, a 2018 model 3.6L. Back then, the stalling took much longer to appear, in fact until 20-25k miles the car was ok. I decided to trade in the 2018 as I thought the problem was only on my car (I was sure I had a lemon) and got myself a 2022 which turned out to have the same issue, with the difference it showed up after only 8k miles.
I think VW knows very well of this issue. Not only that, but my feeling (and this is just a feeling) is that their strategy is to just keep replacing the canister. In fact, when I digged deeper with the service rep and told him that there's a huge difference between the canister being defective Vs. clogged after only 10k miles... and so I asked - what if it clogs again in 8k miles...? - he basically said to come back and they'd replace it again. That's the strategy!
It's basically like having a car that instead of consuming tire thread after 25k miles, consumes it after 5k miles and you have to change tires every 5k miles. Basically to me that is what it sounds like. I could be wrong, but I just can't believe that in both my Atlases the canister was defective. very low probability. much higher probability of the canister clogging FAST! why it clogs fast? that I don't know, I'm not a mechanic, just a logical person.
that's my take. I just hope that people that have my same issue take it to the dealership quickly. It's something that could be dangerous. My car once stalled while crossing 3 lanes of traffic coming opposite direction, it was scary. If those cars didn't stop... so don't take it lightly, get it fixed.
Cheers
my car was stalling constantly, always at low speeds (see my other post with videos). Took it to service dep yesterday and the rep seemed to know this was not a new issue by what he said when I dropped off the car. He said something about "emissions".
He calls me back same day and tells me they need to keep the car for a second day, as nothing showed up. Then today he calls me at 9am and says "come pick it up". I was puzzled.
Apparently the vapor canister (sometimes called charcoal canister) was either clogged or defective. This, according to him, lead to the stalling issue. I drove the car a total of 10 miles since I got it back so cannot say it's fixed until I drive it for a few more days, but so far, those 10 miles were fine.
After searching more about "vapor canister" I discovered that some Atlas owners had to change it multiple times. So, for me, the question is - is it the Atlas that somehow clogs this part quickly? what I discovered is that the canister should last on average 100k miles, in fact most people/cars will never even hear of this part because in many cases it lasts as long as the car itself.
But today I've read of Atlas owners changing it 3-4 times in 20k miles when driving an Atlas. Mine clogged at around 7-8k miles as that is when I started having issues (now the car has 10k miles)
My car is under warranty but if it weren't, the cost of changing this canister including the part would have been $740
Was it clogged or defective? Nobody knows. But if it was defective, why was the car OK for the first 7-8k miles? in my view it clogged, and clogged very quickly. for those that didn't read my other post, I had the same exact issue on my first Atlas, a 2018 model 3.6L. Back then, the stalling took much longer to appear, in fact until 20-25k miles the car was ok. I decided to trade in the 2018 as I thought the problem was only on my car (I was sure I had a lemon) and got myself a 2022 which turned out to have the same issue, with the difference it showed up after only 8k miles.
I think VW knows very well of this issue. Not only that, but my feeling (and this is just a feeling) is that their strategy is to just keep replacing the canister. In fact, when I digged deeper with the service rep and told him that there's a huge difference between the canister being defective Vs. clogged after only 10k miles... and so I asked - what if it clogs again in 8k miles...? - he basically said to come back and they'd replace it again. That's the strategy!
It's basically like having a car that instead of consuming tire thread after 25k miles, consumes it after 5k miles and you have to change tires every 5k miles. Basically to me that is what it sounds like. I could be wrong, but I just can't believe that in both my Atlases the canister was defective. very low probability. much higher probability of the canister clogging FAST! why it clogs fast? that I don't know, I'm not a mechanic, just a logical person.
that's my take. I just hope that people that have my same issue take it to the dealership quickly. It's something that could be dangerous. My car once stalled while crossing 3 lanes of traffic coming opposite direction, it was scary. If those cars didn't stop... so don't take it lightly, get it fixed.
Cheers
