Affected Years: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 Volkswagen Atlas. Our law firm is also investigating 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026 Volkswagen Atlas for the same issues.
These issues seem to arise from defects in the Door Lock Actuators.
Cars first came with push button door locks as an option in the late 1950s. They became more mainstream in the 1980s, with the evolution of remote entry and key fob electric/electronic door locks in the late 1990s becoming standard equipment for most makes and models. The technology is one of the more reliable features, largely based on how long it has been around. This doesn’t mean that they don’t fail at times. With the dependency on 3rd party manufacturing and the fact that software controls so many different functions today, issues arise, and dealerships are having to fix things with what seems like a higher frequency than normal.
If you own a Volkswagen Atlas and have called a dealership to fix this issue, you will find out that other people are experiencing random failures on the door lock mechanisms, too. From a security and safety standpoint, this issue definitely needs to be repaired immediately. After several trips to the service bay at your local VW dealer, the problem remains or appears to be fixed, but happens again. You begin to think that this issue might be a Lemon Law defect.
Your next step is to start looking for a Volkswagen Atlas lemon law attorney, and your search leads you to Guardian Lemon Law. Please contact us as soon as you can. We are ready to help you when you have this kind of thing happening. We will perform a case review and discuss your details and claim with you. If our review does confirm that your issue qualifies as a Lemon Law eligible claim, Guardian Lemon Law can help you get started, and if it comes to it, we will file a Volkswagen Atlas defective door lock actuators lemon lawsuit for you. The goal will be to get your Volkswagen replaced with a like for like model, or have the price you paid for your Atlas refunded as part of a vehicle buy back by Volkswagen.
How Does A Vehicle Qualify For A Lemon Law Claim In California?
California Lemon Law sets parameters for qualification and, by extension, protection under the law. There are two sets of qualifications that need to be met. The first set listed below is for your vehicle. These qualifications all need to be met.
- The vehicle cannot be misused or treated in a manner that caused or contributed to the issue.
- The vehicle is under the manufacturer’s original warranty from the first failure, and remains under the factory warranty during all repair efforts
- The second set of qualifications pertains to the defect and repair efforts. Only one of these qualifications needs to be met for eligibility, though the more of them that are met, the better the claim will look.
- The manufacturer must be given the opportunity to make what the law calls a reasonable attempt at repair, with reasonable being defined as at least 2 separate efforts for any problem related to the safety of the vehicle, and 4 tries for non-safety related items
- Your vehicle is in the shop for longer than an aggregate of 30 days during the repair efforts
- The subject issue that will be claimed in the Lemon Law claim does impact the safety, the use or the value of your vehicle
Guardian Lemon Law will also be ready to give you a lawyer experienced in Volkswagen door lock malfunction lemon law cases if you decide to file legal action beyond the Lemon Law claim. One additional item needs to be confirmed before filing a Lemon Law claim or lawsuit, and that deals with the time limits set by the California Statute of Limitations.
The Time Limits To File A Lemon Law Claim or Lawsuit
The Statute of Limitations has two different time limits detailed, and the one which will apply to your claim is the earlier of the two restrictions. The law states that your claim or lawsuit must be filed within one year of the expiration of your original factory warranty, or filed no later than 6 years from the date you took delivery of the vehicle. Guardian Lemon Law will verify which time limit applies as part of your case evaluation so that your claim or lawsuit is not prevented by the Statute of Limitations expiration for Lemon Law.
California Lemon Law And The Remedies It Provides
Lemon Law in California protects consumers and provides financial compensation when manufacturers are unable to meet the terms of the express warranty offered on items like homes, vehicles, appliances and electronics. In March of 1971, the Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act went into effect as a state law, and it has remained the foundation for California Lemon Law since then. To successfully win a Lemon Law claim, the manufacturer must be shown to have been unable to repair an issue covered under their express warranty.
Resolution of claims centers around three different options. Volkswagen can buy the vehicle back with a full refund, less a deduction for mileage on your Atlas car before they began repair efforts. The second option available to you is to get a replacement vehicle of the same make and model if available, or a comparable make and model if it is not. The final option is a cash settlement, the details of which will vary and are negotiable, but typically involves you keeping the vehicle and surrendering your right to further legal action.
Guardian Lemon Law can provide you with a Volkswagen Atlas defective door lock malfunction lemon lawyer to help you with the process. If Volkswagen isn’t responsive, Guardian Lemon Law can contact them and prepare to file a Volkswagen Atlas door lock malfunction lemon law lawsuit on your behalf.
The 2018-2021 Volkswagen Atlas Defective Door Latch Mechanism Symptoms And Resolutions
The reported symptoms by consumers are a repeated failure to consistently perform the locking and unlocking of the vehicle doors. It will correspondingly allow the door to open when it should be locked, and vice versa.
The symptoms in cases such as this are, in fact, the issue itself. The door lock actuator and assembly aren’t working. Repairs like this have a tendency to keep being inconsistent, and it is not that it didn’t get fixed so much as the service department cannot get it to occur enough to troubleshoot it. This happens more often than not, in part because a defect might be one of design versus product failure. When you consider that software will affect the mechanical operation of all kinds of parts on a vehicle, it introduces a different set of problems and testing.
The causes that have been reported indicate there can be several different issues causing this to happen, and it often continues to happen.
- Issues with the electrical wiring between the switch and the lock mechanism actuator
- The door lock actuator mechanical assembly
- The key fob is malfunctioning or is being interfered with from a signal perspective
- Fuses that are used in the path of the electrical system, providing power to the locking system, are failing
- The door latch may be in disrepair or may simply be stuck
Guardian Lemon Law is ready to provide you with a lemon lawyer to sue Volkswagen for a door lock malfunction when Volkswagen has been unable to fix the issue, and you are ready to stop spending time at the dealership.
Our Zero-Fee Guarantee
In what has likely been a frustrating experience with missed time at work and with your family and friends, Guardian Lemon Law has some news we think you will appreciate, even though it still deals with Lemon Law and your vehicle. It is about our Zero-Fee guarantee.
When it comes to fees, this is our promise to every one of our clients. There will never be any upfront costs to hire Guardian Lemon Law, and no obligation to hire our firm after the initial meeting. That meeting is free of charge, as is any second opinion on an existing case.
Where the guarantee shines is that if we do not win your case, the litigation will be free. We are confident in our ability to evaluate your claim and win it in court. Lemon law assigns the cost of your legal fees to the manufacturer after we win your claim. Please contact Guardian Lemon Law if you have a lemon vehicle. We can sue Volkswagen for selling you a defective, lemon Volkswagen Atlas.
