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That said, my suspicion is that anyone who finds that Lexus dealers are not living up to their personal standards in terms of service will really be disapointed with VW's service.
I have heard that it will happen in 2003.
Any truth to this?
I have owned a 2002 Passat 1.8T with Tip for about 3 months and 4000 miles. Four times during this period I have experienced a completely unresponsive throttle for a period of about 3-4 seconds each time. This is not turbo lag which I find to be very minor and I am used to. On the four occasions that the problem has happened I have tried to move away from a stop and when I pushed down on the accelerator nothing was there. The engine stays at idle for about 3-4 seconds then finally kicks in and off we go - fortunately before what is bering down on me catches up.Trust me - this is a scary problem. My service manager believes it is related to the drive by wire system but it is so intermittent is ulikely that a mechanic will duplicate it. Several other people have had the same problem but it seems that at this point it is not enough to get it up on anyone's radar screen. Would appeciate any feed back from those who have or have heard of the problem so I can get it fixed before it gets me fixed - for good.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
I have a 2001.5 Passat 1.8T with Tip going on 7500 miles and have experienced the same hesitation about 6 times. Usually, in the situation you mention. I mentioned it to the service manager when I brought the car in for the first 5000 mile check up and he knew nothing about it. I told him several Passat owners have had the problem but he said there was no alert or mention of it from VW. It is a scary thing and unfortunately someone may have a bad accident (hopefully neither you or me) at some point. There seems to be little concern from VW about it. Maybe vwguild can comment.
If the answer is yes -- then I think it is a transmission "feature" -- my 2001 Audi A6 4.2 can be "made" to hesitate from a full stop AFTER a round or two of spirited driving -- which engages a program change in the transmission.
When I press the accelerator though what I seem to get is a hesitation followed by a RUSHHHHH of acceleration as the car holds first gear much longer.
Never heard of such a problem in the manual versions of cars with the 1.8T engine. In fact it is noted for very very very minimal turbo lag -- since full torque comes on south of 1900 RMPs.
It is flat out no response from accelerator. I intend to get it to NHTSA - I doubt that enough people have the problem to get it on their agenda. My thought is that it is a programming problem either in the Drive by wire accelerator or the Tiptronic transmission. I know that if any of you out there ever experience it you will never forget it - especially if you are pulling
out in front of a truck.
Just asking all of you to keep the forum posted if you hear anything about it. Problem is it keeps getting confused with turbo lag.
With that said, what is the typical policy for dealerships on loaner cars. Some dealers have specific policies. Some are if the service takes more than 2 hours, some is if it will take all day. What do you do when they aren't open on weekends, they won't give you a loaner & you have to travel from work to home. Is this an issue for anyone? Just curious concerns from someone that doesn't get any paid time off.
So the last order date of May for an '02 seems like it would ring true. If you order a car in May, you might be able to specify an '02 or an '03 -- the dealer usually has order guides available before the public knows the specifics. The order guides usually have such things as packages, colors and the codes that will be used to order the various combinations and permutations of the upcoming models.
Speaking of that -- anyone know if Sat Nav, 6spd manual and sport package will be available on the upcoming W8??
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
How would you folks feel about combining a Golf Owners Club with yours? They want one also, but there are not very many of them.
This was just a thought - what do you folks think?
Pat
Host
Sedans Message Board
There was a problem with the turbos for the early '98 models, but I believe a heat shield was installed under a recall which fixed that. And I suppose it would be expensive to replace any transmission or turbo, but I'm not aware of this being inordinately required for any VW/Audi model.
Just use Mobil 1 (or any other similar synthetic) and don't turn off your engine immediately after coming off the highway (let it idle for 30 seconds) and the car should be fine.
Having another car bear down on you is indeed scary (as well as I suspect for the other driver - at least the sane ones), but I still won't call this rare condition a result of a defect. Let's face it. A 4 cylinder won't offer the same linear response as a 6 cylinder. Add a auto transmission and the occasional confusing driver input to the mix, and you get less than satisfying results when one at times stomps on the gas. I suppose the tranny or ECU software could be re-programmed to fix the "problem", but that could come at the expense of some other desirable feature (e.g. fuel mileage).
I say this after dealing for four years with an auto transmission that abruptly shifted with a great thud nearly every morning I backed out of my space only to be told that it was simply a "characteristic" by the manufacturer. The manufacturer was Acura.
Maybe a 2002.5 version??
To those who ordered from factory: Is the estimate
of 8 to 12 weeks accurate?
Also, I had chosen indigo blue, but after seeing black at another dealer (auto trans.), I was sold on black. Never looked closely, but I've heard the black is metallic....yes or no?
Please drop by and introduce yourself in Meet the Members.
Thanks!
KarenS
Host
Owner's Clubs
I also have a question...are floormats included? I don't recall seeing that anywhere.
I like the roominess of the Passat, also slightly
more affordable.
The A-4 styling is slick plus quattro is nice to have when you chip the engine.
I live in a non-snow area, but don't like the torque steer of fwd.
Any compelling reasons to buy one or the other?
Choice of powerplant is the 1.8t.
Thanks, Ron
Also, re: floormats, etc. (pkradd)...I assume that if we want to get the rubber floormats or whatever from that VW catalog/magazine, they can be purchased at the dealer? If we KNOW we want something like that when we order, do we need to specify it at the time we place our order?
Has anyone had problems with the Check Engine light? I've paid to have it checked out 3 times (about $50 a pop) because it keeps randomly coming on. They always just reset the computer because nothing is wrong. I've almost decided that its just their way of generating more income.
For the Check-Engine light I had that problem with my A6. It turns out that my wife never turned the gas cap till it clicked 3 times. She just turned it until she thought it was tight (no clicks). I told this to the dealer, but they replaced the O2 sensor anyway (warranty work). No further problems.
The mechanic told me the emissions on the car were very tight, and almost anything can cause the light to turn on such as small hole in exhaust etc.