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How specific brands ranked in J.D. Power and Associates' annual vehicle dependability survey released Tuesday. The study is based on responses from more than 55,000 original owners of 2000 model-year cars and light trucks. The figures represent the number of problems per 100 vehicles.
Brand ......Problems/100vehicles
Lexus 163
Infiniti 174
Buick 179
Porsche 193
Acura 196
Toyota 201
Cadillac 209
Lincoln 212
Honda 218
Mercury 240
Jaguar 247
Saab 255
BMW 262
Subaru 266
Nissan 267
GMC 269
Chevrolet 272
Saturn 273
INDUSTRY AVG. 273
Oldsmobile 283
Mazda 288
Pontiac 293
Chrysler 295
Ford 295
Plymouth 302
Dodge 312
Audi 318
Mercedes-Benz 318
Jeep 321
Volvo 330
Mitsubishi 339
Hyundai 342
Isuzu 368
Volkswagen 391
Suzuki 403
Daewoo 421
Land Rover 441
Kia 509
I have a 2001.5 Pasat Tip. 4 Cylinder and have had no major problems....just the trim falling down over the passenger side door and brake lights burning out after 8 months. I believe the brand suffers from the Mexico, Brazil manufacturing facilities. However, the company should be ashamed of itself for this showing. They need to get their act together!
As I said in post #105, I have only some nagging minor problems. (The door trim above the front passenger side is starting to come loose again). However, I have very low mileage. Just passed 18,900! VW sent out a recall a few weeks ago to replace something in the right rear wheel well. Says it will take less then an hour. I am bringing the car into the VW dealer tomorrow. I'll get an oil change as well. Unfortunately, they are very SLOW. Bet I'll be there 2 1/2 to 3 hours. That's really unacceptable, but it's all part of the VW experience I guess. Oh yes, the build quality of the Passat did undergo a major overhaul for the 2001.5/2002 model. I still love the car nevertheless.
Security light stop blinks and stay on all the time. This is when I realized: VW teck's is a same teck's who works on 1955 dodge.
They have a car for 10 days only to recomend replace all wiring in it. It took me 30 min.
to fix with help of transistor from old Tv set.
Oil change at dilership faster the 2 hours?
this is a joke. This is why I am staing with
Volvoline it take a 15 min top.
Overal I love the car, no complaints.
VW wiil cover any recals even after accident.
My only wish is a more smarter teck's but this will hapen in my next life.
1999 - bought new with a 2 yr BTB warranty and 10 yr Powertrain warranty. Everything went smooth for about one year and then:
1. boots cracked - fixed under warranty. Also the cupholders in the back are falling apart and VW makes an attempt to patch them back together.
2. 2 yr warranty up
3. lights in dash behind temperature control go out - never did fix that
4. rear passanger window drops (!) scaring the sh-t out of my 3 year old sitting in her car seat there, VW fixes and charges us $200
5. Cupholders in the back fall apart
6. 38K (3yr old) the brakes need to be done...and you have to do the rotors too maam...and by the way it'll cost you about $900 when its all said and done. We ordered the brakes thru a friend and had them put on at a local repair shop. Didn't do the rotors and the car brakes fine.
7. Oil begins to leak onto the plastic piece underneath the engine. I only notice it because when the heat is on there's a big stink in the passenger cabin. Fixed by VW under the powertrain warranty
8. Boots cracked again. VW covers it under the powertain warranty and fixes not only the boot but some other piece that is causing the boots to crack in the first place. Husband knows the details.
9. Rear window brakes again. Fixed by VW no charge.
10. Original carpet padding worn out. i bought the monster mats - the black rubber ones form VW and they are fantastic.
11. Rear window breaks again. Fixed by VW - no charge.
12. Went for an oil change today at the local guy. he makes a note on my bill THAT THE BOOT ON THE RIGHT FRONT SIDE IS CRACKED!!!!!
I can't take it any more!!!!!!!! I love the way the car drives but this is really it. I'm DONE! I think I'll cut my losses now (the car still has a nice book value - thanks to all the nuts that are praising this piece of crap) and get my dream car!
I use the tiptronic to downshift to brake alot - I'm not that hard on the brakes - -
This is crazy - right?
Anyone know of reasonable VW repair place in monmouth county NJ?
This dealer is killing me!
thanks,
steve
On topic: I hope VW gets there act together for the new Passat and Jetta remodels.....
We've had problems with boots and the costly brakes, too. Recently had to replace the front axle, struts, and bushings, and a few other little parts -- which came to around $2000 total! However, the engine and tranny sound good. Drives perfectly, with excellent handling. No leaks. Hardware is holding up. Paint (white) looks great. Black leather has worn well. The wood is still gorgeous.
When we bought the car in late '98, the new body style was so cool, and it still is. We hope to get another 50K miles out of this car (yes, that is asking much from a VW) and we will be satisfied. Cars are never going to be trouble-free. But, given the good safety features, high resale and that the car is still fun to drive -- we are very thankful.
Now, would we buy another one? No.
Look on line for parts. Set of OEM rear pads run around $35. Set of rear discs $70. You have the following options in my opinion in order of increasing expense:
Buy the parts and install yourself (or friend)
Buy the parts and have an independent install
Buy the parts and have the dealer install (if they allow customer parts)
Just make sure you order the right things. Do you have wear sensors in your front pads? Are they round or square?
Good luck!!
The air flow sensor problem seems more than coincidental to me. I only began having a problem after they performed the 40K service and replacing the vac. hose and valve. I'm convinced that if I had simply opted to get an oil change and not the 40K service I wouldn't be having this problem.
I have read posts on this board that indicate VW has replaced secondary air pumps under the emissions warranty. Why not now? Has anyone else had an air flow sensor fail? Could any of the work the dealer performed have caused the air flow sensor to fail?
When I bought my 2000 Passat (as new, Made in Germany) 3 years ago, I was influenced by good ratings at Consumer Reports. However, after 3 years of ownership, I truly understand why JD Power survey gave VW such poor ratings. There are just too many annoying problems, and it is costly to fix them! In addition, VW is really sleazy in denying warranty services.
So far, my car is only 23k miles, but I have experienced a number of repairs. To make it even worse, their warranty document is very misleading, and dealership would try all the tricks to deny warranty claims. VW Cutomer Realtion offers very poor service, and just echos whatever dealership says. The repairs I had include,
- Engine malfunction light was on, and the dashboard console pointed to emissions problem
- Loose/broken housing for both mirrors
- After they fixed mirror housing, one of the mirror does not defrost, and VW simply threw burden of proof to me, and denied any possible link to their repair. What a coincidence!
- Annoying rattling noises due to loose parts under seats
- Squeaky noise between steering wheel pole and surrounding plastics
- Blown engine pipe gasket
People may have different opinions based on individual experience, and I understand the temptation of the "cool" look and feel when the car is in the shown room. However, unless you have a lot of time in your hands, and money to throw away, why would you put down $25k for more hassles down the road?
Damax07
The fact is, I prefer the Passat - Acura has a reputation for bulletproof Japanese reliability, and the TSX is nice and fun to drive in a sort of sterile way, but the Passat is more fun and has much more character in my opinion.
But I'm terrified by some of the things I'm reading on VW reliability and customer service. I take it as a given that people who run into problems tend to be much more vocal than people who have a great experience with a vehicle, but I've seen enough disgruntled VW owners to scare me.
Add to this the fact that a Google Groups search on my closest VW dealer (Charles Maund in Austin Texas) brings up a litany of complaints and problems, and I'm thinking the bland Japanese reliability might be the way to go. Anyone willing to argue for the Passat?
However, compared to other cars (Camry, Accord, Maxima, Subaru Outback, etc) that my friends and I bought around the same time, there is simply much more hassle and money to spend on a Passat. I reluctantly experienced a transition from denial to acceptance of this reality.
Again, let yourself be objective. If reliability is not your top concern, you may look at Passat from a different angle. But still be prepared with the unexpected. If you are concerned with time and extra money to spend down the road, you need to think twice.
Don't get fooled by the propaganda in VW show rooms that how they care about quality. They may be good in some aspects, but quality is certainly not of them in my opinion.
Our '99 Passat has been superb (not 100% perfect but no car is!). We have 112k miles on the car. Never had a breakdown. There is one flaky recurrent problem that we have had. The left headlight likes to burn out! We are on our 4th headlight (the original + 3 purchases). Haven't replaced the right headlight at all. My sister-in-law & her hubby have also experienced a higher than normal replacement rate (also a Passat). From prior experience with other cars, I have only RARELY replaced a headlight (once or twice in 200k miles). This is kind of odd.
Overall, I'm tickled pink with the car. When the engine eventually goes (depending on the condition of the car overall), I may have a rebuilt engine dropped in. I like keeping cars 'til they won't drive anymore. My prior experience w. VWs is good (87 GTI w/ 213k miles, engine did go, 86 Golf w/ 195k miles, sold when we had a third child & needed more space).
BTW, one of the keys to long engine life is frequent oil changes. With my earlier VWs, I used conventional motor oils, Fram filters, replaced every 3k miles. With Volvo wagon & Passat, it's synthetic oils, roughly 5k miles (OK, sometimes 6k miles...).
with current mileage of nearly 20,000. Only one
problem: replace a headlight. Our dealer volunteered to replace all the coils even tho we
have had no problems. I disagree with the writer
who said that VW is not interested in quality. This wagon is beautifully assembled with outstanding paint quality and interior fittings
and very decent leather. I have owned 5 Accords
in the 1980's and 1990's and none of them seemed
to be as well assembled. Besides the Passat is a
lot more fun to drive.
It started the day I drove the car home. I opened the trunk that night and realized the trunk light was flickering out. I took it in the next day and that was that. But the check engine light came on a couple thousand miles later and that was to become a recurring problem for me. Various warranty repairs took care of that.
But the charges after my 20,000 mile mark passed were the beginning of the real trouble. The check engine services started costing me money. One tire rotation revealed a bent tie rod, which was hard to explain since I had never had an accident at that point with the car. The 30,000 mile maintanance was pricey, needing a new O2 sensor and some various other engine problems. It ran over $1,000.00.
The 40,000 mile job was the kicker, though. My usual dealer wanted $2,300.00 to fix a whole array of problems (check engine was on again). The brake wear meant not just pads but new rotors - I was told they could not be surfaced - and a secondary air pump needed to be replaced, the O2 sensor was bad again, etc. I thought I was being ripped off and went to another dealer. This one wanted less, partly because they were saying they could surface the rotors (later turned out to be a big mistake).
At the 50,000 mile mark someone backed into the hood of my car and it went to the body shop. The guy there explained that my brakes looked like crap and had been butchered. He told me that the European cars usually have thin, dense rotors not suitable for surfacing. As a result, my rotors were pitted and uneven. The car didn't stop well.
The last visit to the dealer came when the car wouldn't start one morning. It was towed and the resulting repairs cost me $1,200.00. I wrote the check in disgust and sat waiting for the car to be pulled around for me to leave. Well, the mechanic couldn't start the car. I waited for an hour for them to try and rediagnose the problem, but it couldn't be fixed without more time. I left without my car, already $1,200.00 poorer with the chance of more expense to come. Nice, huh?
Two days later the mechanic tells me he replaced the main control unit and every other part he could think of and finally nailed the problem. The part had to be shipped and that finally fixed it. It still ran poorly and I could smell gasoline inside the car at a stand still. He had mercy on me and only charged an additional couple hundred dollars, sensing the abomination that was taking place. He charged it off to VW even though the work wasn't under warranty.
I asked the mechanic if he thought the repairs I was having done so frequently made sense. I didn't drive the car very hard, and it seemed like expenses that someone who owned an $80,000.00 car might be prepared for, but not a guy on a tight budget like me. He asked if I wanted to hear the "real answer," and I said yes. He told me that it happened all the time, and that although my car was a good performing car that was well conceived with great technology, there were all kinds of electrical and mechanical failures that would creep up way sooner than they should have.
I wish I could say that I chanced out another VW, but I recently leased an Acura and have had no problems but will withhold judgment until I've had the car a little longer. The bottom line is that after owning the Passat and a '96 Jetta before it, and having lots of problems with both, I was gun shy from buying another VW. I wanted to because I loved the car in theory, but the reality of the costs were too much to risk another bad experience for me.
Just one experience, I know. But for myself, the decision was easy. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I sure hope those of you with Passats don't have experiences like me and that mine was an exception.
I used to think VWs were the coolest cars on the road that I could afford. Finally, 3 years and 2 months and, surprise!, 15,500 miles later I'm looking to dump my jetta. My glx still looks new inside and out and is running great right now. I just don't have confidence in the car anymore.
It would be nice if we didn't have to take our vws in so much except for routine maintenance. My sister owns a 2000 Civic and only has the oil changed every 3k miles as well as other scheduled maintenance. She's gone over 100k miles with her Civic.
I've decided that I won't be buying a VW in the near future, not until I see at least five straight years of above-average reliability for all their cars and better reviews from real vw owners like you and me. Plus, I don't like buying cheaply-made products from Mexico.
It's funny that I'm always wondering if the other vw drivers I see on the road are experiencing similar problems as I have had with my jetta.
I hope someone from Corporate VW is reading this web-site and does something to improve their reliability.
Damax07
Damax07
Since it was my first NEW-car buying experience, I have learned that a prospective buyer should do a lot more research than just haggling for the best price. For example, this is an excellent web-site to find out what kinds of problems peeps have with their cars. There are lots of complaints about jettas, fewer about passats, and virtually none at all about Lexus and Acura. Consumer Reports is another excellent resource, especially the section on car repair history.
Your description about your new passat reminds me of my initial excitement over my jetta glx. I'm glad the new vws have 4 year warranties. If I ever buy another vw (passat), which IS a possibility, I'll make sure I also get an extended warranty, too. Corporate VW impressed me when they monitored and picked up the tab on the repairs of my car beyond its 2 year warranty. The problems were primarily with the malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) lighting up and buzzing for a stretch of 8 months. I know a lot of the readers out there know exactly what I'm talking about.
As for the person who commented about peeps dumping their complaints on this site, well, it's been therapeutic for me to vent here rather than at my local vw service writer. I've also learned a lot from the experiences and input from other vw drivers.
Keep in mind that I still think vws are the most luxurious, safe, fun-to-drive cars for their class--only if they aren't in the service bay too frequently for unscheduled service repairs. And I still stand behind my statement of "5 straight years of above-average reliability" to any prospective working-class car buyer like myself. Good luck with your passat glx. It's a nice-looking car. Hope you know they're due for a re-design and a hp upgrade in a year or two.
Here's a quote from a BBC article:
"Dominating the top reliability places for both manufacturers and individual car models were the Japanese and other Asian makers, with Honda, Hyundai, Lexus, Mazda, Nissan and Toyota all in the best category for maker-reliability."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3129581.stm
I have a 2002 GLS Passat wagon w/ 1.8T engine and 5 speed manual with 40K on it. It was bought on 7/01. I have been getting 30-34 mpg going to/from work everyday. The only real problem I had was with the head light. I had three (3) burn-out bulb so far. All changed under warranty. I did my regular oil change 1st in 3k interval now at 5k, change my brake fluid as perscribed in the maintaince manual. The two recalls (ignition pack and re-enforcing of wheel well) were performed during my regular maintance without any problem. In fact my car was made so earlier in the model year that it had the "G" series ignition pack, but they were all changed out during the recall anyway.
So far I am a happy owner.
(1) Consumer Reports 2003 Reliability report, looking at years 2001-02, lists Passat reliability as average. But in fact its score was about 12% above average. (Anything that's within 20% above or below average is considered "average'-- I hope that's statistical significance, but in any case, the Passat scored about the same as the Camry, which wa about 15% above average). The Jetta, btw, was 60% below average. Scores seem to reflect consumer feedback/complaints.
(2) MSN Carpoint keeps track of tech-service calls by mechanics. I don't know how valid it is. But their most recent score for the Passat is 1999, and it gets a perfect score of 5 stars out of 5.
(3) NHTSA has I think one recall of the 2003 (fuel cap filler), two defect investigations of the 2002 (one is with bad bolts on the airbag, which occurred on two cars, a particular 2000 that was in an accident and a particular 2002), and 51 complaints on the 2003. I haven't read these yet, and there were 60 for the Camry (but it has much more sales, so the numbers would need to be adjusted). I don't know how bad that is compared to a similar car.
Trying to tie that all together, I'd guess that the 2003 Passat does have okay reliability--neither great (like a Subaru) nor lousy (like a Jetta). But can anyone else add to this or help make sense of it? Thanks.
It might explain some things.
Krzys
I own a 1999 Passat with the exact same fuel sending unit in the 2000 model (part #) as verified by VW. VW refuses to recall my car, even though my car suffered the exact problems under this recall, twice. They fixed it 2 years ago and paid 75 percent but now I find that Audi (also VW) has the same recall for 98 thru 01 A6's. Audi recall 01V157. They dropped the 002 at the end for Audi. Why hasn't VW recalled 98-01 Passat's since they used the exact same unit in the Audi A-6 as told to me by various dealers and mechanics? Could VW be trying to avoid a very costly recall and ignoring a tremendous safety hazard? My gut tells me yes, since the part numbers are the exact same between VW and Audi and from years 98-01.
My wife ran out of gas with the needle near half a few weeks ago. The fuel gauge stays on full for over 200 miles then bounces around. I'm told my sending unit is bad (which we knew from the same problem in 01) by my dealer but they want $500 to fix. I say phooey to that. If you have a 2000, make sure you had the recall done. It's concerning that 3 dealers knew nothing of this recall.
I've reported this to NHTSA for my model plus other years per the Audi recall. I have also reported this to the BBB. I have also written the CEO of VW America, awaiting his reply.
Anyone else going through this in models other than 2000? Many thanks in advance.
I was driving yesterday when smoke came out to the vents. I pulled the car over and to my horror smoke was pouring out of the hood. I immediately secured my valuables and called the fire dept. The smoke smelt of rubber burning. After repeated CO2 applciation, they resorted to suing the hose to end the smoke condition.
Today my dealer (Capital City Eurocars in Tallahassee -- that' another story) told me that the Alternator malfunctioned and sent too much power to the battery which created the smokey condition.
Has ANYONE ever had a problem like that with their Passat. VW's were always notorious in the 80's for electrical problems, I love the car, but after this I might head over to the Japanese market.
If the turbo engine is shut off immediately before it has a chance to idle, the oil flowing through the bearing gets so hot, it becomes caked (baked) on to the turbo's bearing - which results in excessive bearing wear and subsequent turbo failure after a short period of time.
Today, with the increased use (by VW and other manufacturers) of synthetic oils, and a lubrication system which cools and lubricates that critical turbo bearing area (even after you shut off your engine) - thus prolonging the life of the turbo.
In summary, as long as you have the engine oil changed during regular intervals, there's no reason that the turbo shouldn't last as long as the engine itself.
As a bonus, after driving (and maintaining) VW's for 25 years, VW is the only manufacturer I know that uses the stronger diesel engine block for both diesel and gasoline engines - They have been doing this since the first diesel rabbits in Germany. The story behind this was that since gas over in Europe averages $5.00/gallon and up, VW sold a higher percentage of diesel engines than gasoline engines, and determined that it was more cost effective to use the same diesel block for both gas and diesel engines rather than design and build separate engine blocks for each. The gasoline engines are designed to go at least 400,000 miles, while the diesel engines (with their stronger internal components) are designed to go at least 600,000 miles.
Hope that helps...
The dealership said the "window lift" needs replacing. The part costs $145.00 (Houston). Labor cost is $135.00. That's almost $300 total. I called VW Customer Service to see if they would bear some of the cost since there was a factory recall for similar window defects on the Jetta and Beetle. The snippy patronizing little "advocate" said there was nothing VW would do and refused to transfer me to a supervisor.
I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has had the same problem or knows how to get VW to ante up.
Jay R. / Houston / Platt4620@yahoo.com
We purchased new in October 2002. The car has been in the shop at least 8 times. During the first month, 4 times. Problems have been mainly electrical. The battery kept going dead the first month. After 3 new batteries, found a parasitic drain in the radio. After replacing, 2 other radios have failed. Now the radio will turn on without a key in the ignition. I also had problems with broken AC controls. I have got to say, this is the most I have ever had a car in the shop, outside of oil changes and tires, in all my cars put together. And this one is brand new!
I really like the Passat as far as ride, comfort, fit and finish, and engine and transmission. What I can't understand is that Consumer Reports still has this as a best pick. They removed my other car, 2002 BMW 330i, because of reliability and I have never had a problem with that car.
Just my thoughts.
Any Suggestions?