2019 VW Atlas 4MOTION Review - It's Huge 

Atlas. Big. Discuss. Also thanks to our early video access Patreon supporters Michael H, Somark L, Sean R, Oliver U, Arthur E, David C, Israel C, Luke M, De Kun L, James M, Paul B, Julian M, Graeme P, Ethan L, Charles E, Pavo B, LeaseCosts Canada, Stephen Y, Edgarson R, Ryan J, Curtis K, Kevin D, Robert P, Ben M, Allen G, Andrew R, Nick L, Joe, Waleed M, Hyogo M, Omar, J, Paul B, Matt W, Bill B, Kelvin K, Carlos L, Forrest W, Carlos S, Kevin S, Brad M, 10ShapedFist, Phuong N, Santhosh B, Peter S, MK, Andy B, Casey A, Rob J, Andrew L, Jayjay S, Christopher K, Alex S, Artur N, Alexander M, Edward A, Carlin M, Pablo O, Kevin J, Jim G, Kirk H, Brylon E, Matt P, Johnson L, Glenn K, James S, Rohit S, Grant H, Jim W, Henry K, Sean F, Kim H, Joel P, larusso, Dallon H, Nealon Y, Giliar D, Matthew G, Paul F, Jesse Y, John D, Devin B, Eric W, Brian H, Fei D, Chad S, Cameron P, Nelson C, Eric Z, Griffin O, Daniel R, James B, Doanh L, Aaron B, Christopher S, Jayjay S, Armel M, Jordan R, David, Maciej S, Nihilia, Dante A, Geoffrey G, Jeff M, Christopher B, David G, Ryan D, Peter L, Mark R, Thomas B, Diondi T, Brendan T, RG, Owen Q, jj, Andersen G, Aaron A, Idean N, Jason S, Wesley M, Noe T, Jin L, Blair S! Check out the cool rewards at www.patreon.com/thestraightpipes

“Not with each other” (1:52) Not sure why but I haven’t laughed at something so hard in a while 🤣

Part of what makes you guys such good reviewers is that you make reviews for cars like this almost as fun to watch as your expensive/super car reviews

Yuri was a bit negative in this video? Then I found out he drives an Element. 😂

Out of the 50 or so channels I sub to nothing gets me more pumped than a new STRAIGHT PIPES video! On a sinking ship? CLICK! Riding a horse? CLICK! In WWII trenches getting shot at?! CLICK!

"Once we have kids..." fast forward to 2023, look at all of your progress. Congrats guys. Thanks for all of the entertaining content over the years.

I went from a Tahoe to an Atlas and have no regrets. The Atlas is awesome.

I drive an Atlas and I love it. The 3rd row and backseat are so roomy.

Yuri be hitting us with those prequel memes

I just bought a 2019 Atlas from CarMax three days ago. We traded in a 2012 Tahoe for it. We needed a third row since we have three kids and a mother in law. I love the Atlas so far! I’m catching up on old reviews to learn more about the vehicle, and I loved your video!

I bought my Atlas SEL R-Line about 3 months ago. Agree with all the points you guys bring up. I have 2 kids and this is my daily driver. I wouldnt trade it for any other comparable 3-row out there. And I test drove them all. Love this car!!!

Yuri, my man.... Where's the energy?! Somebody get this man a shot of adrenaline!

As a loser, I love to see reviews of ‘normal’ cars. It’s valuable consumer information, y’all! I appreciate Jakub’s optimism in the review.

We have two babies under two. I traded in my Golf R for this. Looking at its competition, I ignored the Pilot and Highlander. There are too many of them on the road, and I don’t like the interior and exterior designs of these crossovers. I love the Atlas’ “rugged” exterior as well as intuitive and functional interior design. But more importantly, this offered a ton of cargo space which was a big priority for us. All in all, very happy with our big SUV

We shopped both the Tiguan and the Atlas. With it's 5+2 configuration, the Tiguan was handy. It's essentially a Passat in SUV form. The must have for me was LED headlights. That meant, the very top package. Full stop. It put the price at $41k US dollars. It's a nice looking SUV, though underpowered and not as roomy with 3 kids. At that point we started looking more at the Atlas. It checked all the boxes, including the LED headlights, full 7 seater, towing capacity, more cargo space, and the meatier 3.6L engine. For $2k more than the Tiguan, we settled on the Atlas SE w/tech, R Line, 4 motion. The Tiguan 2L engine made it a dog. I can't imagine fully loaded, with all 5 of us, plus gear. No serious tuning options as of yet. They haven't cracked the computer last I checked. The Atlas had plenty of passing power, and all of the essentials. We pick it up next week, and my wife gets her first Brand new car since we've been married. We always bought used to save the initial depreciation hit, but with the 6 year bumper to bumper warranty, it clinched it for her, and by default me. Happy wife, happy life, right? This will be our 4th VW, and we've owned 3 Audis. Living that check engine light life.

I own an atlas and I chose it with the VR6. from all the research I’ve done the VR6 is made to go well passed 250k miles it has more then enough power for a family hauler and the transmission is pretty smooth as well. Not the best on mpg’s but getting a vehicle of this size with a 5,000+ tow rating I wasn’t to worried about that.

You two sound so enthusiastic about this one, almost fall asleep watching the vid. Something that's never happened before - Roger roger!

I just drove this car and really liked it. I thought I was dead set on a pilot, but drove that one yesterday and it felt small in comparison. They are all similar on paper but the big moonroof, 3rd row access with Car seat still in and overall cabin room/cargo room make it a surprisingly tough car to beat in this class.

Y: ...Once we have kids J: Yeah Y: Not with each other 😂😂😂😂

Have one in my garage guys. Trust me, once you have kids you will understand how amazing this thing is. Excellent review. Agree on the 360 camera

8:33 peasant blockers...BABYSHADES!!! rofl See it's your guys sense of humor that makes these great! Keep it up, you're doing great.

We bought a 2018 Tiguan SE AWD last October... Reason is that my head will hit the door frame for MOST cars. The 2018 Tiguan SE AWD allows me avoid head damage! The Atlas 2018-2019 have even MORE head room on the door frame!!! We may also get one too.

Great review. Went with the Atlas. Why? Traded by 2015 GTI that I bought new and put 141.000 miles on it with only oil changes and 2 sets of tires...oh yea, and a battery. THE most dependable care I've ever owned ( out of 32). Impressed with the V6 and the ride comfort especially since it is over 2 tons. It is actually for my wife to drive, I"m taking the i3 as my principle driver for a while. Thanks again.

Atlas is such a cool name for a vehicle "What do you drive?" "I drive a *grunt* Atlas *grunt* manly stuff"

I've been waiting for this review for some time now, since it is on the list for my next choice. You hit all the points I wanted to hear and said exactly what I have already thought about the Atlas. I think VW nailed it with this vehicle. Looks good, practical and it has a lot of room. Great review again guys!

As usual awesome review guy's!!! We went the Atlas over the Tiguan because my wife told me that size does in fact matter

My wife and I just bought a 19' Atlas, because of the room, and actually chose it over the explorer! I'm 6'7" and fit in it perfectly, I had an F150, I feel as though I didn't lose any room in the cabin.

I've had one since May. Traded in a Q5 because we needed more cargo/baby space for long road trips. Zero complaints. Thus far, one of the better cars I've owned. CX-9 was the nearest competition but the space in the VW won out. Virginia, USA.

I sat in one in the dealer lot, holy hell it's huge, it's as if the Atlas is a squarer minivan.

Yuri sounds the most unexcited ever xD

You were great in Schitts Creek and mr Corbin you're consistent, I love these celebrity drive alongs

The best thing about VWs is the little smart things all over the cars, just like those velcro strap and car seats. My Golfs Lowering and raising trunk floor, the telescoping/variable height centre arm rest, and the huge door storage spaces with fabric so loose items don't roll all over the place. Small things that really add up.

This reminds me of a ford explorer just with a vw twist exterior. VW always does great features that increase the ease of the livability with the vehicle.

Probably something to pay attention to next time reviewing another VW, I noticed my GTI's blind spot checker is not a passive, unlike the ones on Mercedes that lights up even when you creep by a news stand, mine does not trigger for these scenarios - low speed creeping, like in parking lot - power take someone slow on highway another cool thing I noticed, it is speed sensitive, like in these scenarios - if I am sitting still in traffic, the lane beside me is clear, a car comes by real fast, the checker light comes on way quicker, like 3-4 car distances before the other car arrive my blind spot - if I have similar speed with the other car, checker light only come on when the other car is precisely in my blind spot area nice little touch by the software team...

I am 5’ 7” and I am very comfortable while driving mine. I have driven it 1600 miles 1 way - no issues at all. You just feel like complaining.

VW fan here. So when my wife and I were shopping for an SUV for our family (two adults, 14 y/o daughter, big dog) earlier this year we looked seriously at both the Atlas and the Tiguan. The SUV is my wife's daily driver (I have a GTI) and the family's road trip vehicle so she had 3 votes to my two. (The kid got one vote and the dog got a half vote.) As much as I wanted to like it, none of us was impressed with the Tiguan. Third row seating isn't a huge priority for us but it's very convenient occasionally when chauffeuring a gaggle of teenagers or going out with another family taking a single vehicle rather than two. The Tiguan's 3rd row option is a joke and not a very good joke. Further, the 2.0L turbo 4 banger in the Tiguan seemed sluggish when not driven in "sport" mode. (The AllTrack 1.8 liter mill felt "peppier.) All in all, the new Tiguan is a far more functional, less cramped, but less fun to drive vehicle than the previous version but it didn't thrill anyone (except the dog but he likes any vehicle as long as he gets to go.) The Atlas certainly isn't "cramped." And if one needs comfortable seating for five or more adults on a regular basis, it's the best in class. A smooth naturally aspirated V6 with a good eight speed transmission that's well suited to the mission of this kind of vehicle. When we were shopping, though, the 2018 Atlas trim levels limited features such as leather seating and integrated navigation to the top trim SEL Premium. That pushed the MSRP to over $50,000 (USD). VW has apparently seen the error of their ways; the 2019 trim levels have been adjusted somewhat to provide a better value. In our case, the Atlas was just too damn big. My wife complained that she felt like she was driving a bus. Ultimately, the KIA Sorento was a better fit for us, especially with the $8000 discount off MSRP we received.

Can't stop laughing "Not with each other!" Regardless, a thoroughly covered review. Thanks.

Me: *hopes on to the third row and pulls up the head thingy* The head thingy: General Kenobi!!!

I fully agree with you about the fake exhaust outlets. NO to fake exhausts and vents!!

It's true that not many folks feel the need to drive all sporty in their three-row family hauler, but that makes it so much more impressive that vehicles like the Mazda CX-9 can put a little zoom-zoom into their grocery runs. Of course Jakub can't fit comfortably in the third row of a CX-9, so there's your trade-off.

6:12 guess Yuri and Jakub aren't going to be too enthusiastic about practically any German car from now on

Very thorough review, fellas. I like that you mentioned the Fender audio system, too. It's a huge vehicle and I'm thinking the yearly Canadian taxes must cost a pretty penny. Thumb's up as always.

I bought a 2018 Atlas SE 4Motion with the Tech Package this year, after doing a thorough evaluation of a LOT of the competitors. As a dad with 2 kids, and another on the way, i needed to upgrade my people hauling but still want something that moves. It's colorado so 300+ days of sun and fun driving, the occasional mountain run needs to be possible, and some of those other days are going to be nasty, messy weather, and my car has to keep my family safe when I am doing that. As a dad, the second row tilt seat is a much more killer feature than you see in the video. Any dad can tell you, getting a carseat in and out is AWFUL. The one note here is that without captains chair option, the split of the 2nd row is 60-40, so be strategic about where you put the rear facing carseat if you have one. The tilt option isn't enough to deal with the bulk of rear facing car seats. The chevy traverse I think is one of the only other cars out there with this feature and the new one sucked buckets. It was a slug. No way I am driving that. Despite the lack of turbo (which I feel like is a REALLY stupid move on VW's behalf) the pickup and execution in sport is pretty decent. It will move. 9 seconds off the line to 60 is an eternity but in real life its enough to get me into traffic in almost any real situation that I should be rationally driving in. The only other real weakpoints here - reliability. I have already had 3 shop visits for a car with less than 6k miles on it! One was an inital quality issue with one of the door weather strippers coming from dealer ripped. One was a bunch of factory software updates. One was a post-delivery mechanical issue with the heater box. Which unfortunately had the ENTIRE FREAKIN' DASH ripped apart and me in loaners for more than a week. Highlander was a rough second row and the captains chair option was very expensive and felt chintzy. Also not much room behind the third row when it was up. Didnt pass the grocery test with my wife and I, despite stellar toyota resale and reliability. The ford explorer felt like the plastic and felt chintzy piece that it is. Love some of the engine options, but just couldn't leave with the resale cliff and poor third row ergonomics and accessibility. Test driving the CX-9 I could tell I would be happy with the pickup but unhappy with the car over the long haul. Quality issues were apparently pretty early. Talked to some local owners, only a couple would have bought again. I still feel like I made the right decision - even with the early quality issues. If those go away after this first set of cycles, this will be a great purchase for our family.

I watched an entire 2 minute commercial for the Bay of Fundy in the middle of this video. It was pretty rad. That’s about all I have to say about the VW Atlas.

Just an awesome car!!!! My wife and I love our Atlas.

VW lost its luster for me the day I turned in my Touareg TDI. The Atlas was awful to test drive & Yuri’s face showed exactly how I felt driving it.

I saw one today.... and fell absolutely in love with the exterior design lol

I bought one four days ago and I'm still learning about all the features. I've been driving Isuzu Troopers since 1991 to 2002 and this was a big "technological" upgrade for me. For the price and 6 yr. warranty, it's the by far the best full sized SUV I found.

“Not with each other” I spit out my ramen 😂

I'll keep my Touareg TDI (poor man's Cayenne). It's sportier, looks better, handling better, tows 7700lbs and I avg. 8.5L/100km in the city. Sad to see VW abandoned it in NA

best part of most of your videos are the rants about the smallest things

We got the 2018 tiguan r line sel. It has a lot of room for what we need. The third row is tight but it's there for kids. The interior is the same as the atlas but with the r line you get a black interior roof. Also saved about 7k from the atlas.

My Wife and I were trying to decide between an Atlas and an Ascent. We had an Ascent for a weekend while her Touareg was in the shop. We liked it but then we priced out and test drove an Ascent. Optioning them out feature for feature, the Ascent was a little cheaper and a better-looking vehicle. We ended up leasing the Ascent. My wife absolutely loves it.

This thing needs a diesel... oh wait...

Great video guys! I'm a year in with my Atlas and I love it.

I love how in every vid there's that one sweet spot that makes hit the like button. For this one, it was the high-shake!

1:52 When will we see a little Jacub and a little Yuri? C'mon guys, reproduce already. You two would be great dads and raise kids in a car culture environment.

I just don’t understand why the LWB Tiguan exists for America. The Tiguan and the Atlas are too similar in my opinion. The normal sized Tiguan not only looks better, but I think would give Volkswagen more variation in their lineup in America.

We own a 2018 Tiguan Highline. It's amazing how almost IDENTICAL they are inside and outside, even the rear-camera shenanigans are the same. Love the cockpit. Tiguan does the job honestly, from groceries to light trips, with alright fuel economy. Only issue is the engine sometimes lacks. But we have a Highlander to tow and for bigger roadtrips.

Thanks guys! Ended up buying one and loving it.

I don't even like this car. But I love the channel. So I watched it just for u guys LOLL

I wish they would offer the Atlas in Germany. We just have the Touareg, which is a nice SUV and all, but that big ass Atlas is amazing. C'mon Wolfsburg!

Awesome review you guys the Atlas is a huge SUV with tons of space a comfortable interior, a nice design , decent power and towing numbers its a very good SUV

Yeah y’all got my sub. Needed car info but y’all breakdown / convo & chemistry was fire 🤌🏾

Fun fact: On the moon the “moon roof” is called an “earth roof”

Just went to a nearby Volkswagen Dealer and the price was a lot more than that. 3 packages down from executive was 46k so the atlas you were driving was probably more like 50k in USD.

I actually like the amount of regular (non-sports) cars that are getting the Straight Pipes treatment lately. Also Yuri's hair has seen a return to form (see most recent Android vs Apple) which is very important to me.

nice review as usual... perfect car for towing too!!

Yuri bruh maybe grab another cup of coffee, kinda phoning this one in.

Seriously the BEST car review guys I've ever listened to!!! Super informative, but more importantly, super entertaining!!!

WARNING: Okay, no one should buy this car. Here's my story about my 2019 VW Atlas: My husband and I bought our 2019 VW Atlas in June of 2019, brand new. It only had approximately 15 miles on it. We were enjoying our vehicle and thought it was awesome. Fast forward to late April 2020/early May 2020, I start the car to leave for work in the morning and a notification from the car says, "Transmission in emergency mode, drive with caution." Sooooo...what? I call VW when I get to work and make an appointment with my local VW dealer. After 2 days without my car (they provided me a loaner car), I received a call from them stating it was ready to be picked up. I picked it up and they relayed to me that the drive shaft HAD TO BE REPLACED. Y'all, this is a 2019 vehicle. It hadn't even been 12 months since we purchased it. It didn't even have 13,000 miles on it, at this point. ALSO, the mechanic's report was four pages long. The mechanic noticed other things what VW had not done correctly to the vehicle and he had to fix them. Example, the screws were stripped. IT CAME FROM THE FACTORY LIKE THIS. After returning home and showing my husband the report, he stated they did $10,000 worth of work to this vehicle. Grant you, it's under warranty until 72,000, butttttt this shouldn't happen in a BRAND NEW vehicle with less than 13,000 miles. This is a $40,000 car we are talking about. OH, BUT IT GETS BETTER. Fast forward to September 2020, my husband and I are leaving to drive about a hour away to my in-law's house when ANOTHER notification pops up stating, "Coolant level is low. Check owner's manual." WHAT? At this point, the car has about 13,500 miles on it....still nothing that would warrant this notification popping up. Sooooo...we call VW again and make another appointment. Now, VW tells us that VW doesn't know how to fix this issue (it was leaking coolant, but there was never a spot in our driveway so we had no clue) and that when it happens again (because it will happen again, it is a leak after all) to just bring it back and they will refill it. ALSOOOOO, the cruise control works when it wants to. My husband asked about this when he dropped it off (the second time in September 2020) and they, again, told us VW doesn't know how to fix this issue yet. YOU GUYS. We haven't even had the car for 18 months yet. It's been 15 months. The car doesn't even have 14,000 on it. It was a $40,000 vehicle. PLEASE. Don't buy this vehicle. This was my experience and my husband's experience. I've looked online, and others seem to complain too about their VW. I never write things like this, especially so drawn out, but I WISH I KNEW WHAT I KNOW NOW. Hindsight is 2020. 😭

adaptive cruise... amazing on the DVP :) adaptive cruise needs to be a standard feature.

Buy more boxes guys

My wife and I ended up buying a used 2020 Atlas CrossSport because we wanted the 5,000 pound towing capacity but didn't need the third row. Without the extra third row the thing is absurdly spacious. Probably the most legroom for backseat passengers I've seen on just about anything I've driven.

I don’t like big SUVs much but I really like the ATLAS. I have not driven it, but have spent time exploring them. The fit and finish and styling is a homerun IMO. It is high on my ‘if I got a bigger vehicle’ list.

I enjoy this channel you guys have a lot of humor

Can't believe it's been so long and you guys (and all the other automotive youtubers who've complained about this) haven't yet figured out the "fake exhaust" issue is about conforming to new environmental guidelines for vehicle design now make manufacturers point the exhaust at the ground to limit airborne pollen like spread of carcinogenic particles.

Sure glad I bought my Touareg TDI -- refined quality, lots of low end torque, and a real fuel sipper!

Howlin Wolf “Hidden Charms” popped into my head watching this for some reason…

The only car VW makes that isn't available in Germany. 😔 We get the Van (T6) for more space or the Tuareg. But both are so damn expensive..

It's a shame they dropped the Tourag aswell.. we only have Tiguan and Touraeg in norway.. not the atlas ofc.

I’ve just never understood people who buy a car with a pass through on the second row, and then do a chair test to see if they can get in the back by folding it forward. It just doesn’t make sense to me. The pass through is there so you can get in without having to move the seat. Some car reviewers take away points from their cars for it being difficult to move the seat and “hard to get in the back”. Well I’ll tell you this, I’m 6”5 and come from a family of tall, hockey built people and we always used the pass through in the Escalade without any problem.

I have a 2021 Volkswagen atlas. My wife had a deer in May 2023 seven months ago and the autobody shop has not been able to source a hood or bumper. Volkswagen cannot tell us when they will start to manufacture these parts, which leaves us with a car payment and insurance for a car that we cannot drive. Reached out to Volkswagen to see if they would buy it back, but they would not. I would not buy a Volkswagen atlas or any Volkswagen for that matter because they are not manufacturing parts to repair their cars.

As a "die hard" VW person I really like it. Although I am only 24 and don't have any kids nor dogs, I wouldn't mind driving this uuuuge SUV and using it as an Uber XL and Lyft Lux. Also, #MadeInAmerica 🇺🇸 😉

I've always thought that these looked like a Chinese knock-off Grand Cherokee -- just something about it -- but maybe that's just me.

Very glad you guys reviewed this car. I went with the Tiguan in the end because I didn't really need the third row seats, but the Tiguan still had crazy amount of leg room still for the back seats. I think the Tiguan also looks better imo

The VW minivan that isn't a minivan, but buyers want a minivan but don't want to admit to having a minivan. Tripped you out yet? That said it is an undeniably good car for a family of 6 or 7 - it is bigger than Highlander, Pilot, CX-9, Pathfinder and even the new Ascent, but it isn't as trucklike as the Durango. Upper trims have loads of features that nearly rivals a Q7 but it won't break the bank. Nothing is fun to drive or cool about it, but it literally is the family bus.

Notification squad no sleep for me it’s 3am here in Hawaii! Aloha!

I like the styling of the Atlas, the hard body line and thin panel gaps make it look upscale. But I don't like all the paint that you can see on the inside of the door window frames, that just looks cheap. VW needs to put some trim around the inside of those windows.

The moment he said the chewbacca thing something lighted up in my head. And right after I youtubed "VR6 sound".

I like how the front of this generation Atlas looks, the lights and grill are just right. Very nice that you can get this with a VR6.

Great review, but man am I glad that I don't have to see this thing on our German roads hahah

In case anyone cares. With obdeoeleven you can enable the feature "adaptive lane tracking". That way the car actually keeps itself in the center of the lane like the Tesla system. But doesn't work quite as good around corners. It seems like a factory option that vw just took out last minute. I did the change on my gti and now it's beautiful for long drives

I got the Tiguan because I hate SUVs, but my wife wanted one. I test drove a few and the Tiguan felt the most like a hatchback. Also, in Sport mode, it has enough kick to be a fun drive.

I always wait for you guys to come out with a review on a vehicle, your reviews are the most realistic and entertaining to watch. I actually just picked up an Atlas and it handles great and rides nice. Passing power is good on the highway, just wish it was a little bit faster, all in all I would definitely get the Atlas again.

I love you ur show. Love from Dubai

If for everything else, you guys in Canada use metric system, why do you guys refer to torque in lb. ft. And not NM

Excellent as per. Yuri has the same expression on his face as Jacob did during the BMW i3. I’m kinda dreading when you do the Jetta 😀

No word on this car being available to Australians. I have 2 kids and this car would be ideal. Easy drive and 7 seats that can suit adults.

In Germany we have besides the Tiguan the Touareg instead of the Atlas which is sizewise in the middle