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No stalling after fueling since. Still have issues with the transmission.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Fixed it for you.
Krzys
I currently own a 2005 Passat. VW is currently offering $1,500 loyalty cash to current Passat owners towards the purchase/lease of a new Passat... which has me giving the matter some thought.
What exactly is different in the 2007 model vs the earlier generation? I see it has more power... how about the handling?
Would love to hear from people who have owned both generations of Passats.
Krzys
After being without the car for 2 weeks, we picked it up, drove it out of the dealership and the tire pressure low warning light came on. We went back in and they said they put the car through a thorough check and that couldn't have happened. Now we have to put the car back in for a day. They say it takes 3 hours to fix the electronics. The tires aren't low, it's a glitch.
It seems this car is too electronically sophisticated to maintain in the US.
What does that mean? If one can't maintain electronics in the most technologically advanced country, then when it could be? To be honest, I'm tired of those excuses, like "because it's so advanced, it is likely to fail". If they can't make it failure free, they should not put the stuff at all.
My deep suspicion is that those failures have nothing to do with sophistication, more with cheapened designs/executions. Electronics and electric systems are the easiest places one can "cheat" the quality without appearance of doing so in the showroom - and that's exactly what they do. Poor quality plastic is visible on dashboard, rough engine can be easily spotted, but relays. switches and sensors can be done so they work first couple of months and then just die.
2018 430i Gran Coupe
We also own a 2007 VW Passat Wagon 2.0T and absolutely love it! We haven't had any problems whatsoever with it and just took it in for the recall on the brake vaccuum line.
Unfortunately, we will be moving overseas very shortly and have to sell our car. We are located in Maryland so let me know if you would be interested in purchasing it. We will let it go for $23k and it currently has 15k miles on it. In new condition! Just email me if you would be interested.
Ummm, three actually. ;-)
All seriousness aside, regarding your post; for starters, and as Forrest Gump (almost) said, "Stuff happens". A broken gear in an oil pump will almost certainly cause an engine to fail with literally no warning. One moment you're tooling down the road, then next minute, your car is hanging from a hook or up on a flat bed. FWIW, over the years I've "heard" of a few such incidents happening to new cars, and pretty much to every manufacturer out there. That said, the problem usually rears its ugly head well before 30,000 miles.
Regarding your "factory rebuilt" engine. Hmmm, usually those two words don't go together. Either it's a "Rebuilt" engine or it is a "Factory Remanufactured" engine. The difference is that a rebuilt motor has the parts that are out of spec replaced before the mill is summarily slapped back together. To that I will add the proviso "usually" as there are some VERY high quality rebuilts out there.
On the other hand, a "Factory Remanufactured" engine is literally taken down to its component parts so that each and every one can be checked against NEW part specs. If any part(s) aren't to factory new, then they are either chucked or they are set aside for use in rebuilt motors (assuming they are still within operational specs). This is most likely what your dealership put into your car. It is, for all intents and purposes, a "New" engine.
As for your feeling of being less than whole, I wouldn't worry too much about that or the post-mortem of your old mill. That said, with the clock effectively reset to zero on your new engine, you get the chance to make sure that the care and feeding of that unit is tip-top. For your oil changes I would recommend either you buy your own oil (more on that later) and have them put it in at oil service time, or insist that they use the same oil that they are supposed to use in the rare W8 and W12 engines.
Engine Oil:
502.00: This oil spec was originally developed for the regular version of the old 1.8T (i.e. the 180 hp version of the 1.8T, versions that put out 200 hp or more need a different oil). It is a relatively antiquated oil spec, however, VW maintains that it is sufficiently robust to protect the new over 200 hp 2.0T engine. Personally, I'm unconvinced. Oils: There are many Group III and Group IV oils on the market today that meet this specification, however, if you want the best for your engine, I'd give each and every one of them a pass, unless the next oil spec is on the bottle as well.
503.01: This oil spec was developed for the high output (i.e. over 180 hp) versions of the 1.8T as well as the W8 and W12 engines. It is VERY robust stuff that will most likely be in pretty good shape and ready for more miles when your next oil change is due. Kind of nice to have a comfortable margin of error. ;-) Oils: To the best of my knowledge, there are only two generally available oils on the market in North America that are certified to meet this spec, namely Mobil 1 0W-40 and German made (says "Made in Germany" on the label) Castrol Syntec 0W-30. FWIW #1, I believe that the oil your dealership uses on the W8 and W12 engines is the Castrol Syntec with a VW label pasted on the bottle. FWIW #2, by definition, ALL 503.01 oils meet the earlier 502.00 oil spec as well. Said another way, these are the oils you should be putting in your engine if you want the absolute best for it.
For a complete listing of VW oil specifications (current as of about a year ago), you can check out the following link:
shipo, "Volkswagen Passat Oil Changes & Issues" #8, 10 Mar 2006 8:48 pm
I hope this helps put your mind at ease. ;-)
Best Regards,
Shipo
I am just wondering whether there is any reason why I cannot use snow chains on my 07 Passat Wagon with the 17 inch tires?
The owner's manual (book 3.2 / page 81) says "snow chains may be fitted only to the front wheels, and only to certain tire sizes". But it does not say WHICH sizes!
And here on
http://media.vw.com/press_files/text/2007passatwagon_standard.pdf
It says
215/55 R16 H, all-season tire with full size spare -- snow chain compatible
235/45 R17 H, all season tires with full size spare
Note 17-inch does not say "snow chain compatible".
Does this mean I cannot use snow chains on my car? What are my options, then?
Any help is of course much appreciated!!
Best Regards,
Shipo
FWIW, even with winter tires I don't believe they'll let you up 395 past Bishop if you don't also have chains if there is some weather abouts.
Best Regards,
Shipo
Sorry for all the details, Im still venting.
I was told that the engine parts were all new except for the block.(?) And 2.5 weeks later when i went to get my car, VW wanted to charge me for a $150 for a 30k mile maintenance! I am a woman, but Im not ignorant, and this did not add up to me. I still never got an explanation on that one. What are your thoughts/ideas?
Anyhow, as far as service goes, I was told to bring it in at 35k for an oil change, and then resume my normal maintenance so the next major one would be 40k. I still dont get it, if it is essentially new engine, why am i NOT starting my maintenance over?
One last Q: with the amount of miles Im putting on Azul (500 a week) should i be adding oil in between service? Shouldn't the VW service dept advised me of this knowing how many miles i put on the car weekly?
Thank you in advance for your time,
-No faith in VW service
No manufacturer will willingly do that.
Please refer to your owners manual for guidelines regarding checking fluid levels.
I don't believe any manufacturer on Earth would do anything different, so this isn't really a knock against VW.
"I was told that the engine parts were all new except for the block.(?) And 2.5 weeks later when i went to get my car, VW wanted to charge me for a $150 for a 30k mile maintenance! "
Yeah, that's considered a "Factory Remanufactured" engine, basically as good as new as it is extremely rare for the block itself to be damaged by an engine failure (if it was you'd know it because typically there'd be a big hole in the side of the block). Once again, this isn't a bad thing as you effectively have a brand new engine. Personally I prefer a used block as new blocks have a tendency to "adjust" in ever so slightly, typically leaving the cylinder bores ever so slightly out of round. A cleaned up used block rarely if ever suffers from that kind of issue.
Being asked to pay for the maintenance "fair", however, I'm very surprised they didn't throw it in for free, you know, as a good will gesture. Mark one against your dealership for that one.
"Anyhow, as far as service goes, I was told to bring it in at 35k for an oil change, and then resume my normal maintenance so the next major one would be 40k. I still dont get it, if it is essentially new engine, why am i NOT starting my maintenance over?"
The 5K first oil change is as it should be by the book, however, IIRC, the next maintenance for your car should be at the 45,000 mile mark. I could be wrong here so you should check your manual and query your service department.
"One last Q: with the amount of miles Im putting on Azul (500 a week) should i be adding oil in between service? Shouldn't the VW service dept advised me of this knowing how many miles i put on the car weekly?"
Should you be adding oil between service calls? It depends. I believe you will find in your manual somewhere recommendations on checking your oil level and what oil to use when the time comes to fill it up. Five hundred miles per week is a fair amount (I do that too), but not over the top. Having a polite conversation with your service manager will probably yield similar advice as to what is in your manual.
I hope this helps.
Best Regards,
Shipo
By 04/19/06, I was getting a message of "disc incompatible with system" ( the Navi DVD ) and I was told that a new DVD was being ordered. That took to 05/02/06 to arrive. Meanwhile, I was advised that the DVD actually was sent back to the "vendor" which was running diagnostics on it to try determine if the disc was the problem. On 05/03/06, the new DVD was installed. By 05/04/06, same problem, "incompatible".
Back in for service 05/09/06 and 05/17/06, at that point, the dealer contacted VW Technical Assistance which recommended replacement of the entire Navi system. The parts were "special ordered" ( ie, Germany ). Parts in 05/25/06, installed, no problems since then - Until yesterday ( 02/23/06 ).
New problem - Everything works except the Navi screen does not show the map, only the "hourglass" waiting symbol. Drove it right back to the dealer, left running and showed to service adviser, left the car with them to diagnose today.
I am just sick at the continued failures of this equipment. I drive a lot ( just did 20M service ) and really use the Navi. I have a long trip planned starting 02/25/06....
I hope it does not take so much time this time to diagnose and repair the problem(s). Last time, it took almost seven weeks. The service advisor called me this AM and told me they have already called VW Technical Assistance. Results to hopefully follow later today.
Does anyone here have any similar experience, comments or suggestions regarding the Navi system?
Aside from the multiple Navi problems, I have also had a major problem with the driver's 12 way power seat which also took quite a while to get fixed. This kind of major systems failure and long time not in full service is getting old. Aside from the repeated aggravation, once the car is out of warranty, this kind of problem would be very expensive to take care of.
Once things are again settled and fixed, I plan to have a conversation with the VW "factory representative", express my concerns about the general quality of this car, and request VW at least provide extended warranty coverage beyond the normal factory 50M miles / 5 years at no additional charge. I am not in "lemon" mode, just quite frustrated that such a really nice car appears to be of such indifferent quality.
TIA for additional information, comments, and suggestions.
Saulster
On Friday, VW Tech Line told the dealer they want additional diagnostics, to be performed next Monday and probably Tuesday. They are starting with the Navi DVD again which is very annoying and frustrating. The most recent DVD worked fine for almost a year and DVDs do NOT change or corrupt, do they? It appears that someone is just reading off a list of SOP for "Navi, Broken" without any consideration for history or situation.
There is not much the dealership can do except follow VW Tech Line orders if they want to get paid for their warranty work. Today, the service adviser mentioned his shared frustration with the Navi breaking a second time. And, of course, despite this sillyness, VW will not provide a rental vehicle for my vacation ( one week starting Sunday ) to at least alleviate some of the pain and frustration their repeat offending vehicle is causing.
So, I will be off in my other car, no bluetooth connection for the cell phone, no HIDs, no automatic wipers, and the forecast is of course rain plus more of the same the net few days.
I'll update further next week when the dealer calls and lets me know what they are finding out about the broken Navi and what it will take to fix it.
Saulster
Today, the serviced manager advises they installed a new, updated version of the Navi system DVD and everything now works fine. Per VW Tech Line, the new version is supposed to have updated Navi software in addition to the latest updated maps. Since I am still in San Diego on vacation until Sunday, they will keep testing the car and Navi this week and I will pick it back up next Monday.
I have some doubts about this "solution". If the original DVD which they replaced last May has worked this long, why would it stop working now? A DVD should not "corrupt" either in software to operate the Navi or it's maps. So, what's really wrong?
Well, I will try this out and see what happens. Stay tuned for more "As the Navi Turns" if / when it fails again.
Saulster
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0aef02/0
http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0ac53c/0
Best Regards,
Shipo
I have owned 3 VW's in the past 10 years. My last two suffered from what seemed to be rattling doors. Turns out it's not the doors but the rubber seals on the doors that makes the noise. You would swear it sounds like something hard knocking against something else. For those of you who have rattling coming from what seems to be the B pillar or around the doors try the product below. Even if you think it cant possibly be the rubber seals making a clicking/ rattling noise. This has been a similar problem in BMW's over the years as well. In fact BMW made a tube of lubricant for exactly this problem that is no longer around. My latest VW(an 03') was doing this from the day I picked up the car. The dealer had no clue about this fix. You have to re apply about every 3 to 6 months. But I urge you to give this a try before having the dealer take your car apart. Plus it protects the door seals from freezing and drying out.
Please let us know if you have any success.
http://www.drivewerks.com/catalog/shopcart/CARE/POR_CARE_einszt_pg10.htm
Best Regards,
Shipo
Best Regards,
Shipo
Get your oil changed at the dealer or find a VW mechanic that is familiar with the latest VW specs.
If you decide to take your chances at Jiffy Lube, my parents have a saying:
"Those who won't hear, must feel"...
-L
I'll try to get some legal advice this week.
Take car to the dealer before taking manufacturer to court.
Krzys
There was NHTSA investigation for similar claim against Subaru Impreza. They did not find anything wrong but Subaru come up with software upgrade for customers who requested it.
Take car to the dealer and take them on the ride where you know the problem happens (like your favourite railroad crossing). If they claim it is normal you can file complaint on NHTSA site ( http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/ ). If there are enough complaits there will be investigation.
Krzys
PS I found reference to this at http://www.cars101.com/recalls.html , search for "delayed response"
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/biz/2007/03/677420/
Of course it is still German engineering and technology, it's just cheaper to assemble cars in Vietnam.
German cars, assembled in Vietnam, consumed in the US. Wow welcome to 21st century globalization.
Krzys