VW Passat Troubles (B5 platform, nee Audi)

bnormann

This is a continuation of this topic:

Problems with 99 VW Passat GLS

which is now over 500 posts and was too specific
anyways.

Please use this topic to discuss all maintenance
and repair issues related to the "new" Passat
platform (which was derived from the Audi A4). I
will create another topic for the older (pure VW)
platforms.

Confusingly enough, this platform has the VW
internal designation "B5"...and of course the new
Beetle, Golf and Jetta ride on the "A4" platform
which was first seen in Europe as the Audi A3...
Got that...?!?

Thanks.

Your host, Bruce.

ricearoni

To all those with repeated problems, you might be driving a lemon. In California, there are strict criteria to declare a car a lemon. However, if you think your car is more of a headache than its worth, particularly paying over 30,000 for it, then it is time to consider legal options. I suggest you go to the webpage of the Department of Motor Vehicles (I dont' know it offhand), and get objective information from them about your rights as a car consumer with respect to the lemon law.

Good luck and I hope you'll get what you deserve as a paying customer.

jmahoney3

I have a 98 VW Passat 1.8t with a manual transmission. I've already had a cv joint replaced and they now say I have a failed bearing. The car only has 48,000 miles. I can't imagine that these sorts of failures aren't a design flaw that should be covered by VW.

The guy at the dealership said they've had a number of failed bearings on cars with around 45000 miles.

Any chance VW will cover it?

Thanks,

John

longrider

I read a number of people writing about oil leaks in their Passat. I leased a '98 1.8t that also had an oil leak at about 20k. The dealer changed the valve cover gasket and the head gasket to no avail. Finally, they diagnosed the problem as a leak from the turbo. It took a week to order and change. But, I haven't seen a single drip of oil since. The work didn't cost me anything but frustration and being without a car for several weeks. I think part of the frustration most of us experience with problems on the Passat stem from poor (and sometimes, inconsiderate) service from the dealers. Generally, I am very happy with my Passat and intend to either purchase it or a new Passat at the end of my lease.

jagat1

I just purchased my B5 Wagon GLS 5 weeks ago. Through the weeks of getting familiarized with this fabulous car, the more quirks I discover and wonder if these are "normal" or common among other B5 owners.

First I noticed was the way this car steers in low speed. It tends to "hesitate" when turning to either left or right. I feel the tires seem to resist changing direction. My tire pressure seems right for a FWD car though (34f/32r). Is it just a psi issue or worse an alignment(toe-in/out)problem?

Another quirk I noticed is that sometimes this car hesitates to start while the brake pedal is depressed. When this thing occurs, I noticed the brake pedal is lower than usual(no brake vacuum/pressure??). Is this normal? Now I had the habit to pump the brake once or twice just to make sure the engine starts.

Lastly, does everyone have some
"pitting/chipping" on their paintjob? The liftback door of my wagon has some minute pits/chips near the taillight I discovered during it's first wax. I also noticed near the lower left panel some sort of particulate underneath the paint itself. Am thinking if I should bring this thing up with the dealer. Will this pitting cause problems in the future? Will a few dabs of the touch-up paint fix this permanently??...or a paint redo is in order(Hope warranty will cover...will it?)?? Your comments/help will be greatly appreciated.

ms9628

I am about to buy a 98 Ford Windstar Gl and wanted to know if the head gasket and the trans problems that they had in 95 & 96 were fixed in the 98s? Also do you know of any other issues they might have with the 98s?

longrider

You're kidding, right? What does that question have to do with this topic?

kramer16

I purchased a leftover 99 Passat in March 2000. Since purchase, the seal around my sunroof was buckled, the directionals would stick, the ignition had to be replaced. Also, the lighter was nonfunctional and the trunk would not open with a key. The major problem is the airbag light. The light came on the first time and I was told by the dealer the sensor was bad...it was replaced. The second time I was told they had a bad batch of sensors and again it was replaced....this time with a "good batch"....it went off again. The third time ...obviously they are not sure what's wrong...they replaced the "main computer"???? Now I'm looking for the dealer to replace this car with a new one, at no extra cost to me. It's been a nightmare, the car is at the dealership more than I have it. Certainly not what you would expect from a new car!!!

justin

My 99 Jetta VR6 GLS had the tires replaced under warranty after the 10k service. They were 15" Goodyear Eagle LS I believe. They wore prematurely - VW replaces - gets reimbursed my Goodyear. Kind of a silent recall.

Nothing wrong with suspension in my case....

Just FYI

pat455

Why don't you use the Topic Search feature on the left side of this page for Windstar - look for a current topic on this vehicle in our Vans conference and check through the posts there to see if your question has been discussed.

If not, feel free to repost there.

Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference

writer2

Here's one for the record books -- a busted light switch on my 2000 Passat wagon (6400 miles on the odometer) shut down the engine and left us stranded for two days. Last weekend during a 500-mile drive from Yellow Springs, Ohio to my home in Virginia, my wife noticed that all of a sudden the windows and moon roof would no longer open or close. I pulled off at a rest stop in Jackson County, left the engine running because I was afraid that it wouldn't re-start, and called the dealer in Virginia on my cell phone. It was 3:00 Saturday afternoon and service was closed, but a salesman told me I might have a stuck relay. He told me to turn off the engine and turn it on again to reset the relay. I thought this was a very bad idea but I figured he knew what he was talking about. I'm sure you already know the rest--I turned off the engine and it wouldn't restart--no response, dead. We were stuck in the middle of nowhere. It took VW Roadside Assistance four hours to arrange a tow (not their fault--we were way out in the country on a weekend) and another two and a half hours to get towed to a dealer in West Virginia, who would not be open till Monday morning. Wife suffering from a back injury. Two nights in a motel by a highway. No car rental places open. Monday's business appointments up in smoke.
The service man ("Rocky") at Moses VW in Barboursville (a very nice guy and a very courteous staff) got to work on the car first thing in the morning but he was puzzled by the problem. Rocky was able to diagnose the problem when I told him that three days earlier the sliding switch broke on the front interior light behind the rear view mirror. The slider is held in place by a small spring, which apparently popped loose when I moved the switch. Rocky took the light unit off and found that the little spring had rattled around in the light unit until we were driving home, when it rolled onto the contact plate for the light, shorted it out, and blew the fuse. Here's the fun part -- the fuse for the damned little light cuts out vehicle's central control module. As long as I kept the engine running I could have kept driving; the blown fuse would not have shut down the engine, but I could not have closed the windows if we ran into a storm. (Did you know that you can hand crank the moon roof shut when you lose power?) I could have driven part of the way home but not the whole way because that light fuse also controls the fuel tank flap! I could have refueled only by prying the flap loose with a screwdriver--there's no manual release for the fuel flap if the fuse blows.
The dealer did not have a new light unit in stock, so they just disconnected the old one, and I was able to drive home without trouble. Now I have two days of motel and restaurant expenses to present to VW for reimbursement.
Random observations --
VW Roadside Assistance answered repeated calls immediately--a couple of times I was on hold for a minute or two. They were courteous, concerned, and helpful. They initially thought the alarm system needed to be reset and talked me through the process (including cranking the moon roof shut); but that didn't work. VW provides towing through AAA, and AAA had a hard time finding a truck available that could make a haul over 100 miles.
I got an Ohio dealer on the phone who said that Passats have had problems with the power supply relay going out prematurely.
On older VWs, there has been a problem with the power deduction relay, which causes electrical accessories to remain shut down after the engine starts. You CAN reset this relay by turning off the engine and restarting.
Do not ever leave your power mirror control knob (the "joystick") in the central position. This leaves the mirror heater on continuously and will burn it out.
Moral of the story -- Passat owners should be aware that, because of the wacky design of the Passat electrical system, the SMALLEST electrical problem needs IMMEDIATE service.

buyapassat1

I am close to buying a 2001 passat. It will be 5 speed but am undecided about 4cyl with turbo or 6cyl. Any recommendations?

remotesensing

I am also looking at buying a 2001 Passat. I am going with the 4cyl. The biggest problem I have heard about here with the four is the turbo lag. I test drove one and learned how to drive it in 2 miles. This is a small engine with big power. Like all 4s it needs a few RPM before pulling out from a stop. 2000 rpm and you are off. If you like to DRIVE a car buy the 1.8T. If you want an easy, relaxed car get the six. They both can fly down the road, but think about your driving style.

The manual is best with the 4 cylinder. Those that want an automatic buy the six.

pat455

The best place to look for advice about that is in our Sedans conference. You can use the Topic Search feature on the left side of this page for Passat and then join one of the existing discussions taking place in Sedans.

Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference

omnipotent

Hello all,

I've had my 1.8t GLS for 2 years now. As most love the car...handling, acceleration, style..all great, but my biggest problem I can tell is that I bought the car about a month after the new style was released....never do that again. Anyway I was wondering if any of you have seen or heard of the following problems:

1)Dash lights flicker on and off - this was really annoying not to mention a little scary. All inside lights go out whenever I drive over bumps or rough roads..exterior light never blink only internal...replaced all contacts, dash, fuses...everything...finally seemed to stop about 8 months ago, but now it's back..no where as often but occasionaly...and now of course I've blown past the 2/24 warranty. I do have the extended 5/75 but feel that damn thing is worthless...more on that later.

2)Thermostat show overheating - This one was fun...only went the outside temp dropped below 32 deg did the warning light come on. As soon as car warms up to 190 deg. it goes out. No noticable problems other than it being a nuesence (sp?) of course dealer couldn't reproduce because they are idiot's, but that's another story.

3)Rotors shot - This one really ticked me off....I have 49,000 miles almost all highway..and have a 5 speed, so when I went to get the brakes done and they told me I needed rotors, I almost hit the guy...so I took it to my local mechanic and he confirmed that they were out of spec. Come to find out that this isn't considered a desing flaw and that VW rotors are known to need replacing just about every time you change your pads...insane

4)Moonroof - windows - Another electrical bonus...the moonroof and windows have a mind of their own....I push up and the window goes down...I shut the moonroof and it decides to re-open. The moonroof seems to be fixed..sensor was too sensitive...but the windows (all of them) still have this phantom problem...

5)Rattling after letting off of Gas - Not during acceleration only after releasing...I've scoped it as well as VW..it's definitely in that area Catalytic Converter, but of course VW disagrees...they have no idea but it can't be the Cat...why can't it? Because then they have to replace it free under the Clean air act...so this is a work in progress...all I've gotten so far is we don't know but the computer shows no problem..thanks and that will be $100....did I say they were idiots...anyhow I'll keep you updated on this one...

That's about all I can think of right now....if any of you have had any of the smae problems I'd love to hear them...ecspeially if you got them fixed....

Thanks

Omni

rdfww

I've had my passat GLX for six months. Love it...except that the "oil pressure stop engine" warning light and alarm has come on every day that I have owned it, usually repeatedly. It occurs after I have driven at highway speeds and then am driving below 40 MPH. Several dealers have looked at it. One replaced the instrument cluster (no success). All tell me that there is no oil pressure problem. Probably a bad sensor. None have replaced it???? Overall VW's service network is courteous, but apparently too overworked to spend any time looking into problems. Has anyone else experienced the oil pressure warning problem? If so, how was it corrected.

Thanks

outofmind

Hi,
I just bought a new 2000 Passat GLS - just 2 weeks back. There was a minor problem, the brake lights were not working, so had to turn it in to the dealership. I also noticed that, when I set the cruise control "on", as per the owner's manual, a cruise control light should come up in the left panel (one which shows RPM ). This was not coming up in my car, although i was able to actually do a cruise.
When I mentioned this to the dealership, the head guy told me, that none of the Passat's in US has this thing working. He said, only the cars in Germany, have this cruise thing working. For US cars, they have dummy lights for cruise control signal, and those dummy lights dont work.
Is anybody aware of this ? Or, does this cruise control light work propely on your cars ?
Thanks for your time,
outofmind

dgrillo

The cruise light definitely does not work in US Passats ( although we all know this should in a $21000 car).In fact the oweners manual doesen't even mention a light.My 2000 Passat GLS has had one problem that only happened once. The passenger side power window and door lock just stopped one day and then started working again about two hours later. Anyone out there have this happen yet? Other than this everything else has been OK.

Sporin

I have just over 29k miles on my '99 GLS Turbo, manual tranny Passat... trouble free! :-)

The only things that have broken on the car, I personally broke myself. I drive a mix of highway and city and certainly don't "baby" the car, nor do I "beat on" it. I have averaged around 28-29 mpg with lows of 25mpg and highs of 32 mpg.

At 23k miles, I switched to Mobil 1 Synthetic oil. I have 2.5 years left on my lease and thouroughly enjoy the car. The service at my dealership has been very good, but others have not been so lucky.

My best advise is to find a dealer who does good work and that you can trust. Mine is a VW/AUDI only dealer and I travel 50 minutes each way to get there... it's worth it for the great service I get. A bad dealer can make any little problem into a huge headache.

thicks23

A friend of mine has a '00 Passat GLS w/5000k
miles in Black Magic and I noticed a disturbing
blemish in his paint. It is an actual hole in his
clear coat! It is only about as big as an eraser
head on a pencil but it looks like moisture is
getting under the clear coat and could cause
problems. It is on the trunk lid and I haven't
told him about it yet. He's getting ready to take
it for the first oil change soon. If the dealer
is shown the problem will they repaint the trunk lid under warranty or will he be responsible for it?

automophile

rdfww
This is either a bad sensor, sending bad data to the computer, or some bad programming in the computer. AFter your long drive, the oil is hot and thin, and it is natural for the oil pressure to drop. The problem is that your computer thinks it is dropping too much, and turns on the light.

It COULD be that there is some serious problem with the engine oil pressure, but I think you would have found that out by now (with a loud noise). Keep on them, and good luck!

socata

My wife is the primary driver of our 1999 Passat GLS Turbo, and she constantly complains about squeeky brakes. The service techs blame it on harder-than-normal brake pads due to the decrease in asbestos use, and that all cars will have the same problems. Personally I think it's a bunch of crap. I just sold a 1997 Integra that had perfect brakes for 50k and now drive a new Pathfinder that of course is perfect as well.

Has anyone had the same problems and found a dealer that will address it?

Sporin

My Passat's brakes squeak occasionally too, so do my Volvo's new front brakes.

It seems to have a lot to do with not only they brand of brake used, but also temperatures, humidity, pedal pressure, etc.

I know there is a spray that the techs can put on your pads to quiet this... I think it's called "Brake Dressing" or "Brake Quiet."

If your brakes are in good shape though, you might just have to get used to it.

Brakes that tend to squeak are harder and cause less dirty brake dust on your wheels. Softer brakes are quieter, but tend to leave your wheels black. It's a trade off.

kirsh

I took a bus today 150 miles from the mountains of Flagstaff, AZ to the Phoenix desert to pick up a new GLX with auto trans.

After a great indoctrination session with the fleet manager and a test drive, our business was complete. We were sitting in the car saying goodbye and I was preparing to drive home when we heard what sounded like a vibration under the hood.

I suggested that it might be an intermittent rattle, so we left the engine running (there were no warning lights on) while the manager went to get a mechanic. When they arrived back in two minutes, the sound was gone and the battery light was on.

Turns out the AC compressor had self-destructed and taken out the fan belt which also turns the alternator.

The dealer was great. They took me out to lunch while searching in vain for a replacement car in the area or a new compressor. Finally they put me in a free rental car to return home, having ordered the part overnight from LA, with a promise to fixt it Monday. The fleet manager himself will drive it up to Flagstaff Tuesday or Wednesday and take the rental back to Phoenix.

I couldn't ask more of a dealer. However, I keep thinking about what would have happened had the failure occurred when I was fifty miles out in the desert in the blazing sun with no AS and no phone.

I'd like some opinions, please. Is this a random failure that can happen on any new car or a portent of unreliability in the future?

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

mikerobrew

I've been having clutch problems with my 2000 Passat GLS V6. It only seems to happen after the car has been running for awhile in warmer temps. As I release the clutch and press down on the accelerator, I get some sort of "squealing" noise. It only happens in first and second gear, but does not happen in reverse. I've been getting the runaround from my dealer. Now they've had it for about ten days and don't seem too sure if they've fixed the problem. Has anyone had this problem with their car?

yanhao

Hi,

I posted the problem before and didn't get any answers. Now I am posting again.

I have a 2000 Passat GLS auto for about two months. I mostly drive on local roads and spent half of the communting time in my company's parking garage. The problem manifests when I drive slowly to find a parking space. There is a skip in the low gear. Whenever the speed reaches 10mph, the car would skip -- feel like jumping forward. I took the car to the dealer for inspection, but after a test drive, they told me it's normal. But since the skip is so obvious that makes me very uncomfortable, I doubt it. Is it normal to have an obvious skip in the passat's 5-speed auto transmissio

pat455

I'm sorry you didn't get an answer the first time, perhaps this time someone with some thoughts about this will see your post and respond.

Meanwhile, if you haven't already, you might also want to ask your question in our Passat topic over in the Sedans conference. You should find lots of owners of this model year. Here is a link:

VW Passat Part VII (Topic #3208)

If you get some assistance over there, come back here and fill us in, okay?

Good luck.

Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference

automophile

Thank your lucky stars for the timing and a great dealer.

The A/C unit probably made by an OEM supplier to VW as well as other makers. I don't think it relates to the overall reliability of the car. A tranny on the other hand....

Drive carefully, break it in properly and keep us posted!

cheewy75

I have a 99 Passat GLS 4 cylinder. Please anyone help if you have had anything like this. The car when stopped has at times felt like it nudged forward even with the break on. Well the other day it shot forward like a bullet. I slammed on the breaks but NOTHING stopped the car until it hit a tree. A few years ago the Audi had a similar problem when the RPM's jumped and the cars hit all kinds of things. This is really DANGEROUS and I am concerned about anyone driving a Passat right now with not knowing if the problem is there but no one is talking. Another member of our family has the exact same car and I am concerned for his safety. Also, how do I find out if there is a problem? Will a VW rep. be honest? Would I be allowed to bring an independent mechanic to check the car? Please respond ASAP.

Sporin

First I've heard of that happening.

The Audi "sudden acceleration" issue was found to be purely driver error by multiple invesstigations and courts. Audi was not at fault for anything at all... the people it happened too were pushing the gas instead of the brake. Silly stuff, I know, but that's what happened.

cheewy75

Sporin, thanks for the response so quickly. If you read yanhao's question it does appear similar to what I experienced. If that car is moving forward alittle (as I thought mine was doing before while I was stopped) there may be a real problem. The car will not go out of gear unless the break is released. So with at the most 2 ft. to finish parking I put my foot on the brake take it from park to drive and zoom it jumps over the curb and into the trees. One mechanic friend said it sounded like something stuck and the car went to higher RPM's right away or the computer in the car read things wrong. I am concerned for yanhao because that car may jump in traffic etc. How would I get this checked out other than with a dealer. The car is still under warranty. Can a mechanic with a computer that checks these things check them either in our presence or the VW dealers presence. And in case anyone is wondering the carpet was not under the gas peddle. The car accelerated on its own and that is my concern. Thanks for all the input can you give me more.

cheewy75

Yanhao
Read my Passat racing forward and see if that answers your question. I am real concerned and I think we both had similar problems but mine excellerated to a bigger problem of hitting a tree and so many possible injuries I can see with this problem. Let me know.
Cheewy75

yanhao

Thanks for all that respond to my post. I took my car to another dealer for a road test today. They give me the same answer: it's normal. So, I guess I will just believe them and blame myself for not choosing the right car.

automophile

One of the facts that proved that there was no problem with the Audis is that NO CAR ENGINE can overpower the brakes of the car! Try it! Push the brake pedal hard with left foot, and floor it with your right. CAR WON'T MOVE! Even stopping tests from 60 with the gas floored only took an additional 10 feet! The car simply cannot run away with your foot on the brakes.

They found it was a problem with new owners and secondary drivers pressing the gas by mistake. The pedals in the Audi (and perhaps the Passat as well) are a little further over to the left than some cars, so the gas may be close to where the brakes were before. In the panic of the moment, the new driver pressed even harder, totally convinced that they were pressing the brake.

In addition, the "problem" NEVER happened in all of Europe, where there are many more Audis than in the USA.

Let's not start new rumors - the news media over-hyped this so bad that they almost put Audi USA out of business.

Sporin

I am desperately trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, but since you are posting this in every Passat related forum, and I have had to read it over and over again, I must go on record with these four points...

1) I have never heard the slightest mention of this happening to anyone here, on the Vortex, or on Club B5.

2) Truthfully, it sounds to me like you had your foot firmly planted on the gas and dropped the car into gear. It's unfortunate, but that would constitute drivor error, you thought you were pressing the brake, but you weren't.

3) This is exactly what the "Audi Sudden Acceleration" folks said happened to them. It turned out to be precicely what I described in (2), but the damage was done and Audi nearly went out of the market, purely because some people were flooring the gas and thinking it was the brake. Again, drivor error.

4) No car, no matter how powerful, can overpower it's own brakes. Tests have proved this again and again.

Agan, I apoligise in advance, because I seriously want to believe that you are not slandering VW for any evil reason, but I believe you made a drivor error, pure and simple.

I would hate to see VW get raked through the mud like Audi did. I also hope you find some closure on this issue. I will probably cross post this in the other Passat forums as well.

turbo924

Does anyone else notice that their automatic transmission will not allow them to smoothly accelerate? I own a 1999 Wagon with the 1.8 turbo and automatic trans. When aceelerating the car feels like it is having engine difficulties. After three trips to the service department it was discoved that the lock up torque converter is turning on and off, on and off, on and off as you accelerate. What was VWs response to this? "This is normal for this car.... get used to it" I tried another passat wagon with 10k miles on it and it had a similar condition.... where the engine does not smoothly progress up the rev range. VW said it would do nothing to improve this unless more people complain about it. They say that all of these cars will do the same thing. If they do why do I not see more complaints about it. There are some similar complaints, but not exactly what I describe here. How about it people. Try accelerating in your automatic cars as I describe here. Get up to speed so that you are in on of the two top gears. Then as you start to climb a gradual incline roll on the throttle. Not enough to make the car down shift, but engough to accelerate quickly. Now what do you feel? Is it smooth acceleration or does the car tend to skip it way up the rev range? I have had many people try my car and they all feel the problem. I have never had this in any of numerous cars that I have owned and driven. By the way my car does not smoothly accelerate in any gear except 1st and will do it at any time. I just described the easiest way to see the condition if it is universal.
Anyone who wants to e-mail me and discuss it .....Elynch@ckcorp.com

Oh also had other issues.
1. Squeaking drivers seat.... two visits to figure out there no grease on the fittings
2. Loud Rattle from sun roof. Found but not repaired
3. Valve cover gasket leaking... going in next month

Would not recomend VW to anyone at this time. Due to poor response to concerns with the engine and transmission.

turbo924

Does anyone else notice that their automatic transmission will not allow them to smoothly accelerate? I own a 1999 Wagon with the 1.8 turbo and automatic trans. When aceelerating the car feels like it is having engine difficulties. After three trips to the service department it was discoved that the lock up torque converter is turning on and off, on and off, on and off as you accelerate. What was VWs response to this? "This is normal for this car.... get used to it" I tried another passat wagon with 10k miles on it and it had a similar condition.... where the engine does not smoothly progress up the rev range. VW said it would do nothing to improve this unless more people complain about it. They say that all of these cars will do the same thing. If they do why do I not see more complaints about it. There are some similar complaints, but not exactly what I describe here. How about it people. Try accelerating in your automatic cars as I describe here. Get up to speed so that you are in on of the two top gears. Then as you start to climb a gradual incline roll on the throttle. Not enough to make the car down shift, but engough to accelerate quickly. Now what do you feel? Is it smooth acceleration or does the car tend to skip it way up the rev range? I have had many people try my car and they all feel the problem. I have never had this in any of numerous cars that I have owned and driven. By the way my car does not smoothly accelerate in any gear except 1st and will do it at any time. I just described the easiest way to see the condition if it is universal.
Anyone who wants to e-mail me and discuss it .....Elynch@ckcorp.com

Oh also had other issues.
1. Squeaking drivers seat.... two visits to figure out there no grease on the fittings
2. Loud Rattle from sun roof. Found but not repaired
3. Valve cover gasket leaking... going in next month

Would not recomend VW to anyone at this time. Due to poor response to concerns with the engine and transmission.

turbo924

Sorry for double post.

Sporin

My best advise is to go to another dealer right away. That sounds like a bad tranny and your current dealer is either horribly incompetant or just plain horrible.

Keep your documentation on everything and get everything in writing. You may qualify for a lemon law eventually.

No car is perfect, mine has been great since new with over 29k miles on it. I have a manual tranny tough, so I can't comment on your specific issue.

VW's biggest problem IMO is thier terrible service network, your issue is the perfect example.

Good luck getting it fixed, be firm and persistant, something is definately wrong and you deserve a fix.

turbo924

Thanks for the advice. We have switched dealers since the first one was filled with..... rude.... fools to say it lightly.

I am glad that you agree that this is not normal, but I had the "regional tech" come and look at the car. He did not completely understand or agree with what I was saying about the torque converter. He did not feel it going on and off all the time and told me he was sorry "that the car did not drive the way I wanted it to, but it was normal" Got to love that response. Anyway the dealer that I am using now is much more friendly and will be performing the repair on the valve cover. At that time I will have them check out the transmission and see what they have to say. If they can not fix it I am considering two things. Replace the computer with an aftermarket on. Discussing the issue with the aftermarket chip supplier to see what they can do. Or.... purchasing the new subaru legacy wagon with the flat six engine.

Thanks

ak11

I have a 98 Passat with over 38,000 miles on the original pads. I agree that they squeal (and that it's probably normal), but I suspect that I'll get about 50,000 miles on them before I have to replace them. For me it's an acceptable trade-off.

stanrad

I read your post describing to cheewy75 how no car no matter how powerful can overcome the brakes? Have you ever tried this yourself? I have on several cars ranging from Chevy Cavalier (which I DO NOT consider a "powerful" car) to Nissan Maximas and Ford Vans. Actually, on EVERY car I have tried this on, the GAS PEDAL WINS. So your comment on how NO CAR, no matter how powerful can overcome the brakes... is wrong. Did you try it before posting your reply to cheewy75, or did you just read it somewhere? You might be right about the Passat, as I have never attempted it in a Passat.

FYI, I am currently shopping for a new car and was considering a Passat among my choices.

stanrad

Sporin

Perhaps I exagerated a bit, but yes, I have tried this before, though not with my Passat(it's a standard and frankly, I don't want to abuse it).

Did your cars shoot forward? Did they fly out of control? Or did they creep, slowly, fighting for traction and against your brakes the whole way? Were your brakes in good shape? Were they front-wheel drive cars or rear-wheel drive? Did you have your brake pedal pressed to the floor the whole time? And above all... why the heck have you done this with every car you've owned? ;-)

How do you think race cars do burn outs? What cheewy is describing, well... I just don't think it can happen like that.

Look, I'm not trying to start a fight, and I took extra care to present my point as non-confrontationally as I could. I just think he fell victim to the same thing that the "Audi Sudden-Accelleration" folks did... DRIVER ERROR. It happens, it doesn't make him a bad person, and I don't think less of him or anything, it was a mistake.

Plus, it's just my opinion. I will try and find some sort of data to prove my point, but in my experience, if he had his foot planted firmly on his brake pedel, his car could not have shot forward into a tree. Even if the tranny popped into gear and the throttle stuck full open at the same time, chances are the engine would just race itself to redline while you stood on the brake. Either way, and again, IN MY OPINION if he had been standing on the brakes, his 150hp car could not have shot forward into a tree.

However, if he only thought he had his foot on the brake, but actually was flooring his accelerator at precisely the moment he popped it into gear, he would have shot forward like a rocket. AND since he thought he was pressing the brake, he never would have moved his foot. That's what happened with the Audis and IN MY OPINION that's what happened to cheewy.

automophile

sporin - SECOND the opinion. I had 4 - 80's models Audis, (all were fabuluous and trouble free)and I was very aware of the issue at the time and followed it closely in the news and car magazines.
I don't know what kind of cars stanrad has been driving, but mine doesn't move with the brakes full on. Also - in the Car & Driver test of the Audis, they were able to STOP the car from 60 with the throttle floored in only a few feet more than normal. Either stanrad has some whopper engines or some poor brakes.

stanrad

Sporin, Automophile,

Actually I said the gas pedal defeated the brakes on every car I tried this on - NOT - every car I have owned (I am not crazy). Here are my personal stories... As far as the rear wheel drive Ford van, that was an accident the gas pedal got stuck down and the brakes were pretty much useless as my friends and I jumped a curb, ran over a small tree, went between a few trees, over a fence, and stopped just before a frozen lake because a log got wedged under the van. The wheels were still spinning when we came to a stop and one of us had to crouch down and yank the frozen gas pedal off of the floor. As far as the cavalier - front wheel drive, late 80's model (this was back in the 80's so it was new back then), maybe with 100hp - that was a rental car and it was done to settle a bet with a friend of mine. With the brake down and the gas pedal floored, the car just accelerated as if I had the gas pedal halfway down without any brakes. As far as the Maxima, it is a front wheel drive 1990 model. It was done with a mechanic in the car to let him hear some rattling from the motor with the engine under some load (provided by the brakes), the car started to creep forward at about 3000rpm before I stopped. Of course if I floored the gas pedal to 6000 rpm, I am not so sure it would have only crept forward at that point. See, I'm not some crazy nut trying to ruin all of my cars. Except for the rental car thing (I was in college at the time).

Anyways, my wife used to have a 1996 Jetta GLS with automatic which was a very nice handling car except it would occasionally have one quirk. Sometimes on slow acceleration (with foot off of the gas pedal), the car would lurch forward with a thud during the shift from 1st to 2nd. The dealer told us there was nothing wrong, and it only needed a tranny oil change every 7500 miles. This is the same dealer that wanted to charge me $75 to change an air filter. Sounded like BS to me, but we no longer have the car. My wife talked to some of her friends who also had VW with automatic trannies, and a minority of them had similar problems with the car lurching forward. The passat looks very nice and has excellent reviews from magazines, JD powers, etc, but after reading the posting on this board, I am now leaning toward the Japanese sedans.

Sporin

"The passat looks very nice and has excellent reviews from magazines, JD powers, etc, but after reading the posting on this board, I am now leaning toward the Japanese sedans."

My Passat has been great, trouble-free for almost 30,000 miles. My only out-of-pocket expense has been one oil change, done myself. It's 10 year, 100,000 mile Powertrain Warranty covers everything from the water-pump to the turbo. If Hondas are so great, then why do they only cover their powertrains for 3/36?? Just kidding, I'm not trying to start a debate. :-)

You can find dirt on just about any car out there, do a search for Accords and Auto transmissions and you'll get an ear full. I will agree that the Japanese seem to have a higher level of overall reliability, but I don't think it's as night and day as they would like you to think.

Buy the car that's best for YOU, but try not to get sucked into "The Great Edmunds Complaining Machine."

melech

which was replaced by the Passat. Nothing dramatic,and the car did not get away from me, but potentially dangerous. After driving at high speeds, when I started going much slower (as in a mall parking lot) and then braked, the engine would race and the car would start to move forward, requiring me to brake much harder. The car was automatic and I was not shifting at the time.
This only occurred a few times, over a period of several years, and I never was able to determine what caused it. The dealer said he was not familiar with the problem, but I subsequently saw on the Web a reference to reports of this problem in VW's.

Perhaps the Audi problem was entirely caused by people hitting the gas rather than the brakes, but my own experience has always left a doubt in my mind: perhaps there was (is) a "racing accelerator" problem under special circumstances.

I should add that this has not kept me from getting (and enjoying) a '99 Jetta, which, as I've indicated elsewhere, performs perfectly. I just think we should be very cautious about attributing problems entirely to "pilot error" just because they seem otherwise unexplained. Manufacturers have a vested interest in not reporting events they are aware of, until forced to, by scandal, law suit or vigorous government action.


Melech

kc1122

HEEELLPPPP!! My Husband & I bought a VW Passat right when they were first re-released in October '97. We loved it!!!!! Up until this past year, we could find nothing bad to say about the car. In the last 7 months; however, the car has begun to make noises in the front passenger side of the car. At first, they were squeaking, creaking noises. We have had the Drive axle boot replaced, the trans mounts and motor mounts replaced, and all the sub-frame bolts tightened. Also, we had the sub-frame bushing replaced.
The noise is still there, but only sporadically. Also, in the last 2 months, the car has begun to take bumps in the road very stiffly: in a thumping, don't give an inch way. I really cannot tell how it takes one bump from another, but my husband hates it and does not want to drive the car any more.
Can someone please help??? Any ideas what might still be wrong with the car? Did the first problem cause the second? Are your '98 turbos taking bumps the same way?
We have recently moved and have the misfortune of only 2 dealerships to choose from. At this point, they say they can only help if they here the noises or feel the thumping. So, please, anyone with similar problems, let me know!!!

Sincerely, kc1122

kramer16

Just to let everyone know...after the numerous problems cited in #7 I was given a new Passat under the Lemon Law. The dealership gave me a 2000 (I had problems with the '99). They also upgraded to the Monsoon sound system. So far no problems with this car.

Sporin

kramer,

Good for you! :-) It's nice to see the Loemon Law do what it is supposed to do. Good luck with your '00.

zainab

Hi,

Just purchased a 2001 GLX AWD Sedan (1.5 days old!). Wondering if anyone has noticed reception problems on the radio? I seem to have static on stations that used to come in quite clearly in my Ford Escort. Please repond if you anything at all about how effective the antennas on the WV's are. I love the car but would like to be able to drive with good music.

Thanks,

Z