Volkswagen Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport Wire Harness Class Action

This class action concerns certain Volkswagen Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport vehicles and “malfunction [that] have plagued the Vehicles since their launch.” The complaint alleges that the vehicles have a defect that causes failures in their wire harnesses, which leads to windows randomly opening and closing, error messages and warning noises, and even the brakes engaging on their own, posing a danger to the vehicle occupants and others on the road.

Two classes have been proposed for this action:

• The Nationwide Class is all persons and entities nationwide who bought or leased one of the class vehicles.
• The Massachusetts Class is all persons and entities who bought or leased a class vehicle in Massachusetts.

The class vehicles are the following:

• 2019-2023 Volkswagen Atlas
• 2020-2023 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport

The complaint tells the story of a man who began having problems with his 2020 Atlas Cross Sport shortly after leasing it: “The parking brake would engage on its own at stop lights while [he was] driving and he would have to manually unlock it before moving forward. Also, an alert/beeping noise would intermittently chime and the Vehicle’s windows would randomly go up and down on their own…”

It took his dealership over three months to get a new wire harness, the complaint claims, and “when the Vehicle was finally ‘repaired’…, the Vehicle continued to malfunction.” For example, after a stop at a light, as he began to accelerate again, “the brakes suddenly engaged for no apparent reason. At the time, the lessee was taking a sip from an aluminum water bottle when the sudden braking caused him to lurch forward, cutting his lip and chipping two teeth on the bottle…”

Similarly, the plaintiff in this case, Price McMahon, began having problems with her Volkswagen Atlas “shortly after leasing the vehicle. The parking brake would randomly engage while [she was] driving and warning messages would sporadically appear.” Her dealership also took around three months to make repairs.

The complaint alleges that Volkswagen knew or should have known about the problem long ago, from numerous sources, including pre-release testing, consumer complaints, reports to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), data from dealers, and so on. However, it says, the company has not warned prospective customers or the general public.

It can take the company months to provide a new wire harness, the complaint claims, and Volkswagen often does not provide loaner vehicles during this period, leaving owners and lessees have the choice of either driving the dangerously malfunctioning vehicle or finding some other means of transportation.

Worse, the company has not found a real fix for the problem. When owners or lessees present a vehicle with a defective wire harness for repairs, it is fitted with what the complaint calls “equally defective parts, thereby leaving consumers caught in a cycle of use, malfunction, and replacement.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Automobile
Tags: Defective Automobile, Wire Harness