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Comments
When I was changing my oil last weekend, I noticed that the boots on both the left and the right sides had torn. These were fine when I last did an oil change (Feb 03).
I've already contacted my mechanic, and he has ordered replacement parts and will replace both shafts this weekend. He said that although they do sell a boot repair kit, he recommends replacing the whole shaft. He said that the joints inside are "not serviceable," and there's no guarantee that dirt and grit hasn't gotten inside and could cause the joint to fail. Besides, he said labor charge was about the same for replacing the boots or replacing the shaft.
He's never steered me wrong, so I trust his judgment. We're looking at about $950 to install new drive shafts. I'm cool with that (especially when I found out that the same job at VW would be $1500 - 1700). As much as it hurts, we do have a contingency fund set up for these types of repairs.
ANYWAY....on to my question. Is the failure of these boots "normal"? The car in question is a 1999 Passat V6 with 64,000 miles. My last car, a Saturn, had 80,000 miles on it and was five years old when I sold it. No boot problems whatsoever. The only other car I've had where the boots have failed was a much abused 6 year old 1990 Mazda MX-6. So, was it just "bad luck" for the Passat's boots to fail? I did a search on the discussion boards and didn't really find any other situations where this had happened. My wife generally drives the car, and although she sometimes has a lead foot on the open road, she is usually conservative.
So, I guess I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this. If so, at what mileage/age? And, any tips to keep the boots in tip top shape for the future? Thanks one and all for your comments.
$950 seems a little high. It shouldn't take more than an hour or two of labor. How much are the parts? The Dealer is certainly a major rip off.
There's an online source for CV joints (raxles.com) that's supposed to be pretty good. I haven't used them, but at least they could give you an idea of cost.
I think it really depends on how quickly you've discovered the tear, how big the tear is, what the road and weather conditions have been. If it's really tiny, and just starting to leak/seep, maybe I'd take a chance. Ah, no I wouldn't!
-Craig
I had discussed replacing the boots, but mechanic's experience had been similar to altair4's - things more often than not just failed in the end, and the person had to then shell out more $$$ to get it fixed. I also neglected to mention that in addition to doing the axle job, my mechanic is flushing my brake fluid (it's been two years since the last one). I backed off the total price he was charging just a tad to accommodate that. The total bill is $1030 and includes the brake flush if that helps.
Regarding the warranty that outrun mentioned - that sounds like a REALLY good deal if it covers the boots too! I looked at Warranty Direct (and had I gotten an extended warranty, I would have gone through them), but I took consumer report's advice and passed. It was about $1000 for the extended warranty for 7 years 100,000 miles (the details are fuzzy as it's been a few years). Of course, I now see that it would have paid off.
I did ask my mechanic about maintaining these boots, and he said there is a solution that can be applied to them to keep them soft and supple. He's going to take care of that for me from now on. But he also added that in Atlanta with the odd weather extremes we can get, it's not surprising that they failed. But he feels that with proper maintenance, the new ones might just be the last ones I buy (provided we keep the car six more years per our plan).
Again, thanks all for the feedback, advice, and commiseration. I am just glad that we set up a contingency fund just for these things. Take care!
Have you actually read their contract? I got a sample contract them from a few months ago, and the exclusions are worded so they could basically not pay for ANY repair if they didn't want to. Such as:
1. Any failure resulting from collision, fire, theift, vandalism, riot, explosion, lightning, earthquake, freezing, rust, corrosion, windstorm, hair, water, flood, acts of God, salt, environmental damage, contamination or loss of fluids, fuels, coolants, or lubricants.
Using this, they don't have to cover any electrical problem that VW's are famous for if the damage is caused by water leakage (which it usually is).
2. Any failure caused by misuse, abuse, negligence, lack of normal maintenance required by the manufacturer, improper servicing, sludge buildup, not maintaining proper levels of lubricants and/or coolants, not protecting the vehicle from further damage when a failure has occured.
Who's defining "abuse"? They are.
3. Any failure caused by alterations made, including custom or add-on part, any frame or suspension modifications, oversized/undersized tires or wheels, modifications to the engine, emissions, or exhaust systems.
Read: No mods at all.
And most important:
4. Any non-covered component that is caused by the failure of a covered component.
That one just plain sucks.
These rules are numbered A through O, so there's plenty more that I don't feel like typing in.
It pretty much scared me off from them.
-Craig
Guess I'd better check their website.
Warranty Direct is in the neighborhood of $1300 for a 5/100. But that's 5 years from the WD contract purchase date, not 5 years since I purchased the car. That's one of the differences between the VW Masterguard (which is actually Ryan Warranty Services) and a 3rd party. Honda sells something called "The Mechanic" warranty which is also administered by Ryan Warranty Services. I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing - just interesting info that I found while doing research.
So I'd be paying $1300 for an additional 2 years and 50,000 miles. But, I'm going to hit 50k miles well before the 4 years that VW includes, so personally, I'll be getting more than 2 years worth of service. I have 20k in about a 14 months, and 2 of those months I was unemployed and not driving. So in about 2.5 years, I'll be out of bumper to bumpber warranty coverage. Another 10k beyond that, and the powertrain is gone, too.
As for what it covers, you'll have to go to their site. I don't have a sample contract from them, so I'm not sure how much better (or worse) they are compared to Warranty Gold.
I'm sure both companies have horror stories and praises. They're in the business to make money. It's a gamble. Will my car have $1300 worth of repairs between 50k and 100k miles? If it was a Honda or Toyota, I'd say no. From what I've read so far, VW's tend to need things replaced around 70k-80k. Also factor in the "peace of mind" that an extended warranty gives. It's tough to put a price on that.
Oh, WD (and I'm sure WG) offer interest free financing of their plans for a year. So it might be something like $120/month for a year. Makes it a little more palatable.
-Craig
(1) FM reception is generally poor, with many stations breaking off and a background hissing sound. The dealer's service department admitted that this happens in other Passats as well, and pointed to the roof-mounted antenna as the main culprit (~ 45 degree angle mounting is good design, but bad for reception).
(2) CD play exhibits the above described hissing sound in a rather audible way.
It appears to me that there's a hard to fix problem, the antenna reception, and possibly a defective Monsoon system which could be replaced. Has anyone else had similar experiences?
Thanks,
Frank
The wipers (especially old ones - over a year old) will not "dry" the windshield when they wipe initially. Pollen and dust cause them to streak and leave a slight film of moisture. This film, when mixed with humid air (which we've had the past few days here in the NE), makes it tough to see out without running the wipers constantly.
After 5 or so minutes, the stuff evaporates and you can see fine.
This isn't a VW thing. It happens to all cars.
-Craig
From what you have described I think you have a bad unit and it should be replaced. As the hissing is both with CD's and the radio, the antenna has nothing to do with it. Insist on a complete stereo replacement !
Also, you might try stabilizing the AC's temp more with the hot/cold knob. I found that in my Jetta, when I run the AC and it's not that warm out, condensation will appear on the outside of the windshield.
can anyone recommend a webite, since I prefer buy things online?
thanks in advance!
Here are some sites you could call on:
http://www.drewparts.com/Products.asp?ParentID=250
http://www.ndimports.com/
http://drivergear.vw.com/
btw, I didn't know VW has an official site for selling gears and gadgets that are really cute
It sounds like the previous owner was hard on things. You are right on about the possibility of the car being in an accident. Still, don't despair - I personally know that the Passat can take an unbelievable amount of abuse and still carry on....
Gator
I can't see this option in the website. Since I plan to leae an after market option is not duable. Ideas...comments. I would also consider a Jetta...I love this cars!
Be wise, pationt and make the calls, letters etc if you do in fact have a problem. used cars need to be sold with several required manuals and documents...check it out. PROTECT YOURSELF!!!
I am strongly considering Passat Wagon for my family (in fact I’m in between Subaru and VW, know all there is to know about Subaru, but Passat is roomier and looks classy) I can handle any kind of ice/snow conditions with front wheel drive so awd is not necessary. We take frequent ski trips to VT from NYC, and this past winter I had a lot of fun driving in snow blizzards etc.
Therefore, question remains how prone VW underpinnings to the snow damage if you accidentally or purposely run over snow banks.
Anyone with the snow experience please share!
Thanks,
Serge
Or seen one in their dealerships???
what did y'all do?
It's not recommended to do it earlier (nor later).
After that, change it every 5,000.
Seems too simple to be true.
-Craig
There is not a factory navigation system for the Passat or Jetta (whoever asked). But aftermarket ones are available (Alpine comes to mind).
-Craig
Is this normal? I do about 90% highway driving, with a 40-mile round trip to/from work. I'm not particularly hard on the engine, especially as I'm still in the "break-in" period (although I understand that really just means don't go redlining the engine for the first few thousand miles ;D).
'03 Passat GLX, V6 automatic.
Gator
I have a 2003 VW Passat GLS 1.8T. My husband drove my car last week and commented that the engine seemed to really have to work to get the car up and running from a stop, especially on the highway. He feels I should have bought the V6 (too late!).
Has anyone else felt that the 1.8T was not a sufficient enough engine for the weight of the car? I personally do not feel any lagging or struggling when *I* drive so maybe it's just his driving style? His car is a 2002 Honda Accord EX-L V6 which does drive really well.
Also, when I bought the car the dealer swore that the 2003 I was buying was coil pack trouble free. Anyway to verify this?
Thanks,
Carrie