Volkswagen Atlas Pros and Cons: What To Know When Weighing Your Decision
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The Volkswagen Atlas is a unique three-row SUV selection, offering a transportation method for large families filled with adults and children. There are some incredible aspects to the VW Atlas - but it’s also not a flawless selection. If you’re thinking about the Atlas as your next vehicle, it’s helpful to consider the Volkswagen Atlas pros and cons before buying.
It’s helpful to have a complete picture of a car before investing, as no car is a cheap matter. Why not know what you’re getting into before spending thousands of dollars on a massive family vehicle? The Volkswagen Atlas excels in areas like its warranty and towing capacity but falls flat with items like its refinement.
What We Love: Volkswagen Atlas Pros
Features like incredible interior space and solid towing capacity make the Atlas an excellent choice. Let’s dive into some of the best aspects of the Volkswagen Atlas pros and cons.
Incredible Interior Space
The interior of the Volkswagen Atlas is very family-friendly, offering plenty of room for kids and adults to sit comfortably. It’s practical, offering an abundance of legroom and plenty of cupholders to store all the drinks in the world. The third-row seats are so large they can easily fit fully-grown adults without any issues.
There are also helpful side pockets throughout the Volkswagen Atlas for any additional storage needs, making it perfect for families that need to add things to the cabin on the go. It isn’t fancy, but it’s enough for any suburban family and all their needs. You’ll be shocked by how much you can fit inside the Volkswagen Atlas.
The interior space also extends to the cargo hold. You can easily fit four massive carry-on suitcases with the rear seats folded up, and almost eight times that if you decide to fold all the seats down.
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Fabulous Warranty
Next up is the incredible warranty that comes with the Volkswagen Atlas. Volkswagen provides an above-average warranty on its vehicles, so you will experience that benefit with the Atlas. Unfortunately, the powertrain warranty isn’t great - but the warranty makes up for it in other areas.
Here’s what you’ll get in the warranty:
- Limited warranty that covers four years or 50,000 miles
- Powertrain warranty that covers four years or 50,000 miles
- Complimentary maintenance covered for two years or 20,000 miles
VW brings some solid coverage to the table for its investors who are concerned about the longevity of their vehicle.
The complimentary scheduled maintenance available for VW Atlas investors makes up for a powertrain warranty that falls slightly behind other competitors on the market. Either way, you get decent coverage in several areas.
Solid Towing Capacity
The Volkswagen Atlas also has a solid towing capacity, which might be a surprise for some. According to caranddriver.com, the VW Atlas can handle up to 5,000 pounds - it can take your tent trailer or RV for your next camping trip. This number matches up with that of the more powerful Toyota 4Runner and the Subaru Ascent.
The towing capacity adds another ability to this family car that many other vehicles don’t have. They’re great for an adventure with the entire family, carrying everything and everyone with ease and pulling whatever you need right behind.
HOW LONG DO VOLKSWAGEN ATLASES LAST?
It comes in four trim levels and pulls style and practicality into one excellent machine. If you’re interested in the Atlas for yourself, you might wonder - how long do Volkswagen Atlases last?
What We Dislike: Volkswagen Atlas Cons
There are also some items we aren’t huge fans of in the Volkswagen Atlas, from the corporate-feeling interior to the various touchscreen aspects. Let’s go over the negatives of the Volkswagen Atlas pros and cons.
Corporate-Feeling Interior
Unfortunately, some might find the interior of the Volkswagen Atlas to be a little too straightforward - to some, it can come off as feeling a bit corporate in design and bland. Those looking for intricate details and bold color palettes won’t find it in the Volkswagen Atlas’s design.
Of course, some will find an appeal to this layout - for a family vehicle, having a straightforward and no-fuss design can be a benefit to contrast with all the craziness of driving your entire family around. For others, it might seem like laziness on behalf of the Volkswagen design team.
Lack of Polished Refinement
In terms of performance, there is a lack of polished refinement with the Volkswagen Atlas. It’s not the most fun to drive, although adding the 269-horsepower turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine puts a little more kick in the Atlas’s motion. However, it isn’t something you get behind the wheel of and expect to race down the highway in.
The performance, interior, and other aspects of the Volkswagen Atlas simply point to a lack of refinement in the design. As of right now, it has a way to go to become a cohesive masterpiece.
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Too Many Touchscreen Aspects
Every trim of the Volkswagen Atlas comes with a 12-inch infotainment touchscreen, which is good and bad. The good news is that it’s updated with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability, making it easy to navigate and listen to your favorite music on the go. Unfortunately, there are some areas where this makes it weak.
With the touchscreen, there is no physical volume or tuning knob in the physical sense. Instead, users must use the touchscreen to adjust the volume and the radio. This lack of physical knobs makes it much harder for drivers to make the adjustments they need on the fly.
Final Thoughts
There are many Volkswagen Atlas pros and cons to consider when investing in the car. It comes with incredible interior space, a fabulous warranty, and an incredible towing capacity. However, it also has a corporate-feeling interior, lack of polished refinement, and far too many touchscreen aspects for the average person to enjoy.
No matter what car you invest in, there will be benefits and disadvantages to consider. Someone might not invest in the Atlas thanks to its touchscreen aspects, while another might buy it thanks to its incredible towing capacity. Ultimately, it’s up to you to determine whether or not a vehicle is worth your time.
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