Volkswagen Group of America has issued a recall for more than 177,00 crossover SUVs sold in the United States over concerns related to a loose engine cover. The recall also pertains to an additional 20,925 vehicles sold in Canada, the automaker said.
The recall includes the following midsize SUVs: The Volkswagen Atlas and its sleeker sibling the Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport, both from model years 2024–2025.
The carmaker estimates the likelihood of the defect occurring around 1 percent. However, when the engine cover does come loose, it may melt when making contact with hot engine components, such as the exhaust turbo charger, which could lead to a fire in the engine compartment.
“If the cover has come loose, owners may notice a burning smell coming from the engine compartment or when opening the hood, or may recognize that the engine design cover has been moved out of its position,” the NHTSA recall notice said.
Customers with vehicle concerns should contact an authorized Volkswagen dealer.
A first potentially relevant complaint about a thermal issue in the engine compartment reached Volkswagen in October 2023, however, the carmaker was unable to determine a root cause at the time.
Five more complaints reached Volkswagen by August 2024. Two of the cases were determined to be the caused by engine covers that had been improperly installed after vehicle maintenance service.
Volkswagen’s engineers then analyzed factors that might contribute to the problem, including handling of the engine cover by service technicians, instruction manual for engine cover removal, the impact of driving behavior on the engine cover, and testing of internal parts.
“Based on the thermal events in the field, and because the risk of the engine cover coming loose after vehicle service could not be ruled out, a recall was decided to mitigate the potential safety risk,” Volkswagen said.
Dealers have already been notified.
Owners will be notified by mail by April 18, and instructed to take their vehicle to a Volkswagen dealer where the engine cover will be removed free of charge, which will mitigate the fire hazard.
Volkswagen said it will offer a reimbursement plan under this recall.
The recall has Volkswagen ID code 10X5.