Toyota Highlander vs Volkswagen Atlas: which is more reliable?
The Toyota Highlander and the Volkswagen Atlas are level on the federal record — 65/100 against 64/100 across the years we score. Which one to buy is decided by the model year, not the badge.
The record, side by side
Toyota Highlander
- 11 model years scored
- 2,349 owner complaints on record
- about 27 complaints per year on the road
- 39 recall campaigns, 24 safety-critical
- best year 2016 (86/100) · worst 2020 (37/100)
Volkswagen Atlas
- 8 model years scored
- 1,939 owner complaints on record
- about 55 complaints per year on the road
- 64 recall campaigns, 30 safety-critical
- best year 2020 (87/100) · worst 2021 (42/100)
Mean score is the average across model years from 2013 on, where both records are comparable. How the score works.
Year by year: Highlander against Atlas
The comparison that decides the purchase. A nameplate is not one car — a redesign can move the record sixty points inside two years, and the two nameplates rarely move together.
What owners actually complain about
Toyota Highlander
- Power Train — 461 complaints
- Unknown Or Other — 363 complaints
- Electrical System — 306 complaints
Volkswagen Atlas
- Electrical System — 472 complaints
- Air Bags — 363 complaints
- Engine — 357 complaints
They do not fail the same way: the Highlander's complaints concentrate in Power Train, the Atlas's in Electrical System. That difference matters more to a buyer than the score gap, because it says which repair bill you are taking on.
Years to avoid on each
Toyota Highlander — avoid: 2018, 2019, 2020.
Volkswagen Atlas — avoid: 2021.
A year scores below 45 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns. Every car’s years to avoid.
What each costs today
A recent used Toyota Highlander prices at about $40,800 and a Volkswagen Atlas at about $44,100 — the Toyota Highlander is roughly $3,300 less, and they return 25.0 against 22.0 MPG combined.
Class-level estimates re-priced to your country, not a valuation of one car. Method.
FAQ
Is the Toyota Highlander or the Volkswagen Atlas more reliable?
On the NHTSA record the Toyota Highlander scores 65/100 against the Volkswagen Atlas's 64/100, averaged across every model year we hold. The gap is small enough that the model year matters more than the badge.
Which Toyota Highlander and Volkswagen Atlas years should I avoid?
Toyota Highlander: 2018, 2019, 2020. Volkswagen Atlas: 2021. Each of those scores under 45 out of 100 on complaints per year of exposure and recall campaigns.
What goes wrong on the Toyota Highlander and the Volkswagen Atlas?
The largest complaint group on the Toyota Highlander is Power Train (461 complaints); on the Volkswagen Atlas it is Electrical System (472).
Is the Toyota Highlander or the Volkswagen Atlas cheaper to own?
A recent used Toyota Highlander prices at about $40,800 and a Volkswagen Atlas at about $44,100, before insurance and the maintenance band. Both pages carry the five-year running-cost figure.