Is this just how recent cars are or just my car

[kerry1379]

I have a 2019 Volkswagon Atlas. Generally speaking, I like my car. But one thing in particular frustrates me to no end. When something goes wrong, it just suddenly goes wrong with little to no warning. Today I was driving down the road and my car is suddenly losing power. I look down and the EPC light is on, meaning something is wrong with the electrical system. (And it wasn't on the minute before.) I could barely get it over to the side of the busy 5 lane road I was on. And last year, I was on a road trip and had driven 200 miles with no indication anything was wrong. I was on a highway that went through small, one light towns. I had to stop at a red light. My car has that stop-start feature to prevents idling/wasting gas/helps with pollution. So at the red light the engine stopped (like it is programmed to). When it went to start, all the dash lights start flashing and the car wouldn't start. Long story short, it was simply the battery. No sluggish starts like I have had with cars past to indicate a coming problem. Just-WHAM!-big sudden problem. I had to get help to push my car out of the highway lane, which could have been super dangerous.

So my question is this: is this just how the somewhat newer/newer cars are or is this something specific to my car? I find it so frustrating and nerve wracking!

 

[sam_gordon]

I have a 2019 Volkswagon Atlas. Generally speaking, I like my car. But one thing in particular frustrates me to no end. When something goes wrong, it just suddenly goes wrong with little to no warning. Today I was driving down the road and my car is suddenly losing power. I look down and the EPC light is on, meaning something is wrong with the electrical system. (And it wasn't on the minute before.) I could barely get it over to the side of the busy 5 lane road I was on. And last year, I was on a road trip and had driven 200 miles with no indication anything was wrong. I was on a highway that went through small, one light towns. I had to stop at a red light. My car has that stop-start feature to prevents idling/wasting gas/helps with pollution. So at the red light the engine stopped (like it is programmed to). When it went to start, all the dash lights start flashing and the car wouldn't start. Long story short, it was simply the battery. No sluggish starts like I have had with cars past to indicate a coming problem. Just-WHAM!-big sudden problem. I had to get help to push my car out of the highway lane, which could have been super dangerous.

So my question is this: is this just how the somewhat newer/newer cars are or is this something specific to my car? I find it so frustrating and nerve wracking!

I'm not a mechanic, don't play one on TV, and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so this opinion is worth what you've paid for it...

New cars are more computer based than in the past. In the past, with all of the mechanical parts, barring something all of a sudden detaching, you can hear & feel things start to wear out. Now, computer based, meaning more electronics, if what fails is "mission critical", bam, you're done. So it doesn't surprise me that things would fail catastrophically.

Four years out of a battery seems low to me (new in 2019, replaced in 2023), but maybe they used a cheap one? It's a stretch, but I wonder if you've got some kind of phantom power draw. That's what killed the battery last year, and had the loss of power today. Just a thought.

 

[LuvOrlando]

So scary that happened to you in both a desolate place and on a big highway, glad you are ok.

My car battery has done the same exact thing, last time was about 2 months ago and everything went haywire. I agree, a little advance warning would be better, I mean if my phone can warn me about my battery maybe a car can too.

 

[cvjw]

Yes to the car battery. That is how you know you need a battery now. My sons Mazda did that multiple times and needed multiple new batteries.

 

[Stratman50th]

Not a fan of the stop-start function on some of the new cars. I'm not a mechanic and I don't play one on TV either, but I always thought they were hard on starters and batteries. I have had a battery fail on me. You didn't say where you live but extreme cold can shorten battery life. Extreme heat like we have in Florida is even worse. Nothing worse than a component (in your case the battery) failing and letting you down. Just me, but I always buy a high quality battery.

 

[Dan Murphy]

My battery likewise. 2019 car. Last year, 2023. I was picking my grandson up at high school. Turned the car off in the parking lot. When he came out, went to start the car. Deader than a door nail. Not a hint of issue before turning it off. Would not even take a jump from my portable battery jumper. Called AAA, came out in 30 minutes. He tried to jump, nothing, not even a click. He put in new battery. He said he does 10 calls a day exactly the same.

 

[tvguy]

I don't know. I was taught that a car will often give you warning signs before a problem, if you listen. My 2018 Ford, I could hear the starter was turning over slower so I stopped by and had the battery tests. It was on it's last legs so I was able to replace it before it stranded me. It has never been in the shop for repairs or recalls, I hope I am not jinxing it. Just a battery, tires and oil changes. Our 2020 Toyota has only had oil changes, no repairs or recalls there either.
My perception of modern cars is they are MUCH more reliable and better built. The good thing about cars having so many electronics in them is, electronics either work, or they don't. Not many intermittent problems crop up. I expect any car built in the last 20 years to go 10 years or 100,000 miles without any repairs. And that has been my experience.

 

[sam_gordon]

The good thing about cars having so many electronics in them is, electronics either work, or they don't.

The bad thing about cars having so many electronics in them is, electronics either work, or they don't.

Aircraft (I know small ones do, I'm guessing the larger ones also) will have a gage showing whether the electric system is charging or draining. A cars electrical system should be charging when it's running (OK, maybe not an EV). With all the electronics available, and knowing the technology has been around for decades, surely automakers could put a similar gage in the vehicles.

 

[Stratman50th]

The bad thing about cars having so many electronics in them is, electronics either work, or they don't.

Aircraft (I know small ones do, I'm guessing the larger ones also) will have a gage showing whether the electric system is charging or draining. A cars electrical system should be charging when it's running (OK, maybe not an EV). With all the electronics available, and knowing the technology has been around for decades, surely automakers could put a similar gage in the vehicles.

Agreed! All cars should have an actual gauge rather than just an idiot light. In fact, a gauge for charging and one that shows real time battery life. I actually said current before I changed it to real time. There was a pretty good joke in there someplace.

 

[kdonnel]

The bad thing about cars having so many electronics in them is, electronics either work, or they don't.

Aircraft (I know small ones do, I'm guessing the larger ones also) will have a gage showing whether the electric system is charging or draining. A cars electrical system should be charging when it's running (OK, maybe not an EV). With all the electronics available, and knowing the technology has been around for decades, surely automakers could put a similar gage in the vehicles.

12v charging is a problem with EV as well, maybe even more so since the auto manufactures put the smallest 12V possible and then expect the 12V to power all the electronics in the car during over the air updates.

Ford had issues with the logic that keeps the 12V charged for the first year the Mach e.

Hyundai and KIA are having big problems with 12V charging and their EVs.

Many people have taken matters into their own hands and bought an OBDII device and use an app on their phone like Car Scanner to monitor their 12V charge.

Issues with the 12V battery are just as problematic for an EV as and ICE. Your traction battery could be charged to 100% and have 100kW of stored energy but you can't start the car because the 12V is dead.

 

[kdonnel]

My perception of modern cars is they are MUCH more reliable and better built.

Your perception is correct.

A car built today should last more than twice as long as a car built 50 years ago.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michae...ast-longer-than-they-used-to/?sh=34b7766c76ed

 

[kerry1379]

Agreed about a gauge and a warning for the battery! My car will begin giving me warnings everytime I start it for needing an oil change 2000 miles before due. Surely it can give me something about the battery since it has the power to strand me.

I am also not a fan of the stop start mechanism. Especially since my car doesn't do it well. So many times it will idle for the entire two minutes at a red light then stop right as the light turns green, or stop start when I come to a 4 way stop with no one there so what should be a stop and go ends up being stop/engine cuts out/hesitates/then restarts/then go. That doesn't seem to save me money on gas or help the environment-it just causes wear and tear on my car.

Diagnostics run today say the EPC light was triggered by a faulty fuel pressure regulator sensor. I am not a mechanic either but I struggle to see how that necessitates a "must kill power now" response in the car. Not a cheap fix either. But it does seem to be fairly clear cut as the technician says everything else looks great. Fingers crossed. Frustrating though as the car has less than 100,000 miles but more than 72,000 so not under warranty.

 

[Dan Murphy]

My perception of modern cars is they are MUCH more reliable and better built.

Your perception is correct.

A car built today should last more than twice as long as a car built 50 years ago.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michae...ast-longer-than-they-used-to/?sh=34b7766c76ed

I fully agree. New cars are much better than older cars of the past.

 

[Donalddidwhat…?!]

@kerry1379 …
Most of the cars I’ve owned in my 61+ years (and it’s been quite a few ) have had a battery gauge with numbers. The battery I had in my last car took 3 mos. to completely croak after I first noticed it was having problems. Wasn’t the first time for me that one dramatically dragged out its death scene. And, I’ve had them go suddenly, as well.
Water pumps are an example too. I’ve had them go out in an instant, and I’ve had them start slowly leaking, and drag their demise out for months.
Bottom line, for me anyway, I haven’t really ever noticed a marked difference over the years from older to newer cars, regarding parts/system failures and their pattern of such.
My first car was a 1971 Olds Cutlass, and I’m currently driving a 2010 Toyota Camry.
Also, another member mentioned listening. When I get in my car I roll my windows down (weather permitting), have the radio and A/C off, and listen for a bit.
A few weekends ago, I noticed my DWifeys SUV had a distinct noise coming from under the hood, that sounded like a water pump on its last leg to me. I popped the hood, and sure enough, the main pulley was wobbling ever so slightly. It wasn’t leaking yet, but the noise and wobbling was telltale.
The dealership tried to charge us $200+ for a diagnostic, even after I told them what the issue was…I told them no, no, no…and they dropped the charge…!!!!!

BTW…
Our oldest DD and SonIL own an Atlas and have had no issues, but our youngest DD has a Tiguan and has had some issues.
And yes, that darn stop-start carp drives me nutso…!!!!!

 

[Skippy918]

I had a weird issue on my car where it started, but the systems didn’t initialize (all the dash lights were on) so I couldn’t use any of the electronic features like cruise control or lane keep assist. It went away after shutting off the car and then restarting it. The car drove fine and the brakes and power steering worked.

 

[sam_gordon]

I had a weird issue on my car where it started, but the systems didn’t initialize (all the dash lights were on) so I couldn’t use any of the electronic features like cruise control or lane keep assist. It went away after shutting off the car and then restarting it. The car drove fine and the brakes and power steering worked.

All the dash lights were on and you drove away, or all the dash lights came on while you were driving?

 

[_19disnA]

Check your owner's manual about the start/stop feature. On my car there is a button you can push to turn that feature off. I think it works fine and never had any issues with it, but on very cold days in the winter, I prefer to turn it 'off' to avoid the situation the OP described while driving.

I agree as others mentioned above, it you see/hear something that isn't normal for your car, better to have a technician take a look instead of hoping nothing is wrong until the car just dies somewhere.

 

[goofyernmost]

Not a fan of the stop-start function on some of the new cars. I'm not a mechanic and I don't play one on TV either, but I always thought they were hard on starters and batteries. I have had a battery fail on me. You didn't say where you live but extreme cold can shorten battery life. Extreme heat like we have in Florida is even worse. Nothing worse than a component (in your case the battery) failing and letting you down. Just me, but I always buy a high quality battery.

I hate the stop start thing. It really doesn't do much except add to the work of the battery and wear out the starter. In the summer if you have to wait at a length stop light (which many larger cities have) the interior of the car heats up quickly and then the AC has to recapture the lower temperature using more fuel than you saved.

Because sometimes the computer in the car takes awhile to diagnose a problem it will just take a while to see if it remains. Last week I was driving my Jetta from Charlotte to Raleigh. I was just leaving Charlotte when my "Check Engine Light" came on. That is one of the major warning things. I checked out every important thing but the engine was running smooth with no problems, everything was working properly so I decided to continue home. This was high speed interstate travel for over 100 miles. The only thing that the dash was telling me was that the start stop function wasn't working. That was fine with me because I don't use it anyway. When I got home I drove it for the next couple of days, short distances, but when I filled the tank the next day I discovered that possibly sometime in my overnight stay in Charlotte someone had tried to get to my gas supply and didn't put the cap on, just left it loose in the compartment. I know I didn't leave it off, because I drove to far after filling up to not have had the light go on. It is important to have that cap on and clicked shut because the fuel tank has a certain degree of pressure that must be maintained and without the cap, there is no pressure. So after about 5 shutoffs and startups the light went off and the start stop began working again.

I read up in the owners manual that the start stop will not work if any door is not closed properly. Not sure why, but it apparently is hard wired to recognize the gas cap as a door. What bothers me about that is that they constantly preach about how if that particular light comes on you are to take action immediately. Which also means lost time and lost money in the effort to find the problem. If I hadn't had a knowledge of what to look for and realize that the things I needed to be working were still working well, I would have been stuck in 85 degree heat and possible hundreds of dollars in evaluation costs. All I checked for was engine temperature, oil pressure, electrical system and the feel and sound of the engine and made the decision to continue on. I did wonder how come my gas consumption seemed to be much more than usual. I remember clearly putting that cap back on properly when I filled it up, which is why I never thought to check that. That should also be something to check first. I didn't because I knew for sure that I had put that on tight. Never occurred to me that someone had syphoned my gas tank.

 

[sam_gordon]

I hate the stop start thing. It really doesn't do much except add to the work of the battery and wear out the starter. In the summer if you have to wait at a length stop light (which many larger cities have) the interior of the car heats up quickly and then the AC has to recapture the lower temperature using more fuel than you saved.

Although my car doesn't have the stop/start thing, I've driven in a number of rentals that do. I haven't had the AC stop on me. And I can't imagine the interior of the car heats up that quick in only two minutes.

Even before cars started the auto off/on thing, there were people advocating that turning your car off at a light and turning it back on when it was time to do was better for gas mileage.

 

[_19disnA]

My car has logic built into start/stop that will restart the engine if the interior temp rises or the defroster is running and for several other reasons when stopped at a light. It is more sophisticated than just "stop engine while stopped and restart when you lift foot off the brake". I assume all cars with start/stop work similarly.