The 2025 Volkswagen Atlas is one of the roomiest mainstream midsize SUVs, with handsome looks, an upscale cabin, and a pleasantly purring turbocharged 4-cylinder engine.
If you’re a Volkswagen veteran, you can likely predict its pros and its cons. It has a fantastic engine but middling handling (as I’d expect in a 3-row SUV), a sharp-looking cabin but a few frustrating usability quirks, and a great deal of similarity to Toyota and Honda SUVs with better resale values.
Driving one for a week around suburban Washington, D.C., I walked away convinced the Atlas is a solid choice, and a bit more distinctive than another Highlander, but not obviously better. That’s a plus, to me — I like a car that stands out, and maybe you should, too.
Which Trim Level
Volkswagen builds it in five trim levels. I spent a week with the SE with Technology, the second rung on a 5-rung ladder.
It’s essentially the base model with larger wheels and a few technologies that make it easier to live with day to day, like a hands-free liftgate and parking sensors. You’d have to step up to a more expensive trim level for luxuries like real leather upholstery and heated seats. My tester retailed for $45,020, including a $1,425 destination charge at the time it was delivered.
New 2025 Volkswagen Atlas Prices
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Retail Price
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Fair Purchase Price (92620)
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$39,625
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TBD
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$41,525
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TBD
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$43,730
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TBD
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$45,630
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TBD
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$48,080
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TBD
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$49,625
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TBD
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$54,630
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TBD
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Favorite Feature
Few buyers likely choose a 3-row family SUV for the engine. But Volkswagen hit a sweet spot with the 269-horsepower, turbocharged 4-cylinder engine under the long, handsome hood of the Atlas. It’s more fuel-efficient than the V6 engines some rivals use, and tows a respectable 5,000 pounds. Yet power delivery is smooth and confident.
A great engine is about aural quality as much as performance, and this one makes a pleasant turbo buzz. Is it a sports car? No. It’s a reasonable alternative to a minivan. But it sounds like it knows how to race. That’s fun in a family car. Yes, my favorite feature was the noise it makes. How many family SUVs have ever inspired that sentence?
What It’s Like to Drive
Apart from its pleasing buzz, the turbocharged engine produces steady power that makes highway passing easy. Braking is unexceptional, and in simulated panic stops, the Atlas kept its composure.
Handling is predictable, but crisp for a 3-row vehicle. When it comes time to park, you’ll feel all of the Atlas’s size (it’s longer than a Ford Explorer, almost verging on full-size SUV territory).
Interior Comfort and Technology
Volkswagen sometimes positions itself as a near-luxury automaker, and the Atlas makes a decent argument for that idea. The Atlas SE with Technology Package has perforated V-Tex leatherette upholstery, which feels convincingly like leather.
This one is on the low end of the Atlas trim ladder, but it comes with heated seats and a heated steering wheel. My tester had an interior design scheme Volkswagen calls Shetland Beige. It combined cream-colored V-Tex with light ash wood trim, which lends the car a spacious feel and probably wears better than black over time.
Passenger space is where the Atlas truly excels. I was comfortable even in the third row (though anyone over 6 feet tall would not be). Oddly, the third row has two USB-C chargers on the left-hand side and none on the right.
Limitations
Volkswagen has taken some heat in recent years for its devotion to capacitive touch sliders instead of buttons. The company promised to bring back buttons in future designs, but the sliders are still here in the Atlas for temperature and volume control.
They’re not lit, so they’re hard to use accurately at night. You can control temperature through the touchscreen, but not volume. After a few weeks in a car, you can probably adjust nearly everything without looking at the controls. However, owners have complained about these sliders for years, and this is one of the last VWs likely to have them.
Key Considerations
Volkswagen provides a basic warranty and a powertrain warranty, both covering four years or 50,000 miles. That’s a longer basic warranty but a shorter powertrain warranty than many competitors. If you plan to keep your next car for a long time, alternatives with longer powertrain warranties might be worth a look.