Volkswagen Passat: Buyer Beware!
Used Passat, Buyer Beware!
I wanted to buy a used car. Not just any used car, but one that had a reputation: safe, quality construction, reliable, and a blast to drive.
I learned a few things I want to share about one particular car maker that I had always assumed their automobiles fit that criteria: the German automobile company, Volkswagen. VW’s SUV, the Touareg, the zippy Passat and the cute little New Beetle were VW products I’d considered–until I learned of the grief consumers have had to deal with, the shoddy mechanics and the dealers who treat their customers as annoyances.
Because of my own experiences in test driving a Toureg and Passat, as well as reading customer reviews, I won’t be buying a Volkswagen, either new or used. Reading other Volkswagen owners’ consumer reviews reveals a different Volkswagen than the one I grew up with: a company that doesn’t care if their Passat’s engine fails due to a cheap timing belt before 60,000 miles; or, that their $50,000 luxury Touareg is apt to spend more time on the back of flatbed tow truck than on the road; plus, dealers who treat their customers with contempt while their products are fraught with numerous problems.
How many of these flawed, used Volkswagen cars are out there on the market? How many are waiting for some unsuspecting buyer, unaware that the sleek looking German engineered Passat sitting on the used car lot may have a ticking time belt ready to implode–leading to engine failure. Maybe that cute little New Beetle is plagued with shoddy workmanship, as many have complained.
A couple of years ago, I decided to take a look at Volkswagen’s SUV, the 4 wheel drive Touareg. A beautiful car, driving the V-8 Touareg has been compared to the Porsche Cayenne. I went to the nearest Volkswagen dealer, a three-hour round trip over a mountain pass, in order to take both the V-6 and V-8 for a test spin.
The test drives were truly fun, the all-wheel-drive SUV was super responsive and the ride smooth. I checked out the specs, comparing the Touareg to my Toyota Landcruiser.
The Touareg was a lot zippier and had a smoother ride, in all, a very fun vehicle to drive. I took it for a brief off-road spin to check out the 4 Wheel drive in Low. I fell in love with Touareg, but wasn’t ready to commit. I hadn’t had a chance to read the reviews from the most knowledgeable source: consumers who had owned one. The salesman told me Volkswagen was known for its high quality, well-built automobiles, and reliability. He also told me that in order for me to keep the Touareg under warranty, I had to return for scheduled maintenance. I remember thinking to myself, “This is crazy. There’s no way I wanted to a 3 hours round-trip over a mountain pass for a mandated oil change. It was then that I realized: the dealer was the closest Volkswagen repair shop, in case I had to have it repaired.
Reliability is the most important thing that I consider. After all, what good is forking out $30-40,000 for a car, if it’s going to be sitting back at the dealer with a mechanical problem? I feel the same applies to any car–no matter how much I spend. I’m not a mechanic, so I want the car to run a while before anything has to be fixed.
My wife and I recently purchased a Toureg. What they failed to mention was that getting an appointment with service would take a month and a half. I tried to schedule an appointment today 6/20/06 for an oil change and was told the first available appointment was not until Aug 1st. Source – Edmunds
I looked up the consumer reviews for the Touareg. When I’m considering purchasing an automobile consumer reviews are the only the way to go. It’s the owners with their own experiences which I take under consideration, not someone who takes the car for test drive and a quick review. The consumer reviews were a surprise, while people loved the engineering of the car, the ride, etc., reliability was an issue, there seemed to be several problems which owners complained they didn’t expect these types of problems in such an expensive vehicle.
My 2004 Volkswagen Toaureg has a severe accleration problem after braking. I have taken it the dealer numerous times and been told nothing is wrong with it that Volkswagen builds a 1 to 5 second delay into all their models.
I know this is wrong because I have talked with several VW owners who do not experience this problem.
Touareg owners wrote how they’d had the car towed into the nearest dealer after unexpected mechanical failures. This was not a good sign: I lived a couple of hours from the “nearest” dealer. In fact, I lived a mountain pass away from the nearest dealer. The salesman told me that in order for the warranty to stay in place, I’d also have to return to the dealer in order to have scheduled maintenance done. I ended up saying goodbye to the Touareg, which was sad because I’d fallen in love with it. Even now, whenever I see one out on the road–which is very rarely–I get nostalgic, remembering the magical afternoons I’d spent test-driving them.
I happened to be out looking for a used BMW, when I recently looked at a used Passat. The asking price was $5000 for a 1999 with only 111,000 miles. The car looked to be in “excellent condition”, not a scratch, well-maintained, and drove like a charm. Over the phone the dealer neglected to tell me that the 1998 325i had a “little problem” and he wouldn’t let me test drive it. I spied the Passat, in what looked like excellent condition, and decided to take it for a spin. It had a reputation as being fun to drive, so I decided to compare it to the BMW.
I took the Passat out for a test drive, all the while fuming at the used car dealer. I would have never come to his lot if he would have told me there was something wrong with the BMW–especially after he had listed it in “excellent condition”.
The Passat was fun to drive, quiet and responsive: not bad for a used car nine-years-old. Just a little wind noise from the driver-side window was the only thing I noticed. I thought for the price, this would be a great little used car; fun to drive, not bad on the gas. I gave the dealer back his keys, then went home to look up the consumer reviews on the Passat.
There are several sources you can use to check consumer reviews for both new and used autos. Edmunds, Kelley Blue Book, and Consumer Affairs are good sources. Over at Edmunds, the ratings for the ’99 Passat were quite a surprise. The problems Touareq had were minor compared to those for the Passat.
At that point, I still believed Volkswagen made good cars. I considered a mitigating factor for the Touareg: the car was just out on the market; perhaps it still needed tweaking. It was the sheer volume of complaints from the Passat owners that forced me to my new opinion: the Passat was essentially a lemon and many VW dealers were unsympathetic to the owner’s plight.
People wrote, “hands down the worst car I’ve ever owned”, “VW doesn’t recommend the timing belt being changed until 105,000, the engine went at 85,000 because the belt broke”.
The engine went at 84,000 miles because the timing belt snapped. Needless to say, I was glad to sell this to a scrap yard and walk away with $1000 cash. I practically kissed the ground the day I parted ways with this junker. Never will I consider any VW product again. Source – Edmunds
Timing belts and electrical problems were reoccurring.
Absolutely the worst car I’ve ever owned. Purchased brand new. Have been back to dealer multiple times with electrical problems. (It would just go dead while driving). Constant problems with brakes, and cosmetic plastic items literally falling off the car. It finally cost me $3800 just to get all the engine leaks found and repaired so that I could trade the thing off. Source – Edmunds
While categories such as Performance rated well, in a range of 1 – 1o, Passat owners consistently ranked the car, 7-9. Reliability was a different matter, with a high percentage rating their Passats from 0 – 3. While the majority of consumers reported problems, in their midst were the ones considered lucky, the Passat owners who had no problems, anomalies in a sea of disgusted counterparts.
We have had a lot of problems with our ’99 Passat. The timing belt went at 80,000 miles, causing $4,000 in damage to the engine.
After reading the sheer volume of the woes of angry Passat owners I wondered, does Volkswagen ever read these reviews?
Everyone told me that I should expect at least 150,000 out of this car. Well, it just died at just over 100,000 miles. Perhaps that is not just a bad story, except that I had to get the engine rebuilt at 75,000 miles, the oil pan replaced at 50,000 miles (the dealer gave me a hard time about the warranty too!), and just about everything else replaced along the way. Since owning the car, I have spent probably about half of the purchase price just trying to keep it in working order (and I am a responsible driver who takes it in for all the checkups). Drivers beware.
The overall theme from consumers was the timing belt issue. It fails at around 60,000 to 80,000 miles. This was much different from the standard Volkswagen warning to have the belt changed at 105,000 miles. A timing belt failure is usually fatal to the engine. Without a warranty, Passat owners face a potential engine replacement that could run into the thousands of dollars.
This car, although it has a very good ride, has had more than it’s share of repairs. Mine has had problems with its water pump, defective power steering, both tie rods joints, both CV joints, door alignment, two timing belts…all in only 60,000 miles. I expected more from VW. My repairs have totaled over $2,500 in about 6 years!
One owner had the timing belt go at 67,000 miles, but then had to deal with getting it fixed under warranty at the dealer.
I bought this car new and still own it. At 67,000 miles the timing belt broke causing the valves to hit the pistons. This was covered under the warranty, but the dealer was very confrontational and I thought at one point that I may have to sue them. The ingition module has gone out twice, and now it has some other yet to be determined problem. If you buy one of these be aware the timing belt needs replacement (~$750) every 60,000 miles or you will ruin your engine and you need to uses synthetic oil in it
At one point when considering the Touareg and Passat, I had thought about buying a New Beetle, but decided to go with something else. I never got to the point where I took a NB for a test drive, but I did read the reviews. The New Beetle owners complained of shoddy workmanship and of having to deal with their cars being back in the shop numerous times to replace parts that failed prematurely.
Fell in love with this car and bought it new. Within the first three months, I think it was in the shop about 4 times. Since then, particularly during summer months, it’s in the shop on average about once every 6 weeks. Have had problems with the windows, the speakers, the battery (twice), the roof has broken countless times, the wiring on the tail lights, the airbag sensors, the blinker – and the door, which still isn’t fixed. Also, the service at my dealership is terrible. They once replaced the wrong airbag so the sensor came back on a couple days later. I would ABSOLUTELY NOT RECOMMEND this car. They take no accountability and I will never purchase another VW, no matter how cute. Source – Edmunds
I was baffled as to why Volkswagen automobiles–with their German engineering–were falling apart like old Yugos.
We took a look at the parts supply chain of Volkswagen. While the company claims in its ads that their cars are German-engineered, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the parts were made in Germany. In some cases, Volkswagen used parts that were manufactured in China. The code words in an article, “tight control on product quality” caught our eye. Back in October of 2007, Volkswagen announced a “restructuring plan” and the company announced it would “strengthen its control” on its auto parts suppliers in China. While Volkswagen continues to advertise its automobiles as having the highest quality, what they don’t mention is where VW parts are made. Volkswagen has been procuring its parts from China since 1985, one of the first major automobile companies to do so.
VOLKSWAGEN China announced recently it would launch a restructuring program to strengthen its control on its auto parts suppliers in China.The move is expected to help the German car maker, which is on track to turn around its sales on the world’s second largest auto market, to keep both tight control on product quality and to cut costs during its enlarged sourcing operations from China. Volkswagen planned to team up with a third party to offer training, supervision on its domestic auto parts suppliers in the program dubbed as “Qualification Supplier China Program,” Wolfsburg-based Volkswagen said yesterday.
It will prompt domestic suppliers to work out future planning and to target inefficiencies in production, technology, management and workflow.
When parts are obtained from Chinese parts manufacturers at a lower cost, the specter of lower quality is always possible.
Was the timing belt that failed in the Passats–well before the date they were supposed to be replaced–manufactured in China?
According to China Daily, Volkswagen now uses over 800 Chinese manufacturers for parts. Last year alone, it spent $1 billion in its sourcing from China.
Another issue: where was the car was built.
Volkswagen has assembly plants all over the world, but many of the cars that end up in the United States were put together in their Puebla, Mexico plant. On Yahoo Answers, someone asked whether Volkswagen cars built in Germany were “better built” and had more reliability than their counterparts assembled in South American countries, such as Mexico, Brazil and Chile.
The answer voted “best”, was from “Car Nut”, who wrote that he had worked “off and on” for Volkswagen from 1980 to 2005. He had seen Volkswagens assembled in various plants across the globe. Car Nut said that Volkswagen used car parts in their assemblies from Japan and China, as well as from Germany, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico. He also stated that models built in Mexico had lower standards than those built in Germany and that Volkswagen had sent out information to the dealers that they were trying to rectify the situation with capital investments and better quality control.
Potential new and used Volkswagen buyers are unaware that the Passat or Toureg they’re considering may have been put together in a plant in Mexico, assembled from parts made in other countries, such as China.
Today Volkswagen announced a 1999 – 2005 Passat recall on an estimated 410,000 cars with gas powered engines and automatic transmissions. The recall involves a “damaged heat shield that comes in contact with the exhaust system” which could “create a risk”. According to AutoBlog, Volkswagen has also found some “faulty fuel lines” on “some” Passats with the 1.8 liter Turbocharged V6 while their AWD equipped cars “may” have damaged fuel tank ventilation valves.
Buyers of used cars are attracted to Volkswagens because they’re sturdy and fun to drive, which is partly because of the “German engineering” they advertise. But what many buyers may not realize is: the car is made up of parts that are not German made. The parts may be from Chinese parts manufacturers or their counterparts in Brazil, Mexico, Chile or Japan.
The fact that Passat owners have reported the timing belts deteriorating at twice the normal rate–and the resultant engine failure–might be from Volkswagen cost-cutting efforts. But, the consumer apparently is paying the price for the use of cheaper parts: the cost of ultimately replacing the engine, costing thousands of dollars.
Is that cute, eye-catching, little Passat, or New Beetle sitting on the used car lot, an endless pit of repairs and heartaches? Volkswagen ads say “Drivers Wanted”.
I say, “driver beware!”
By LBG
Source – Autoblog – WV recalling 410,000 Passats sold between 1999 and 2005
Source – US News & World Report – Recall Alert: Volkswagen Passat
Source - Supply Chain
Source - Edmunds
Source – Yahoo Answers
Image - Passat
[edit: June 5, 2008]
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Good writing. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed my Google News Reader..
Matt Hanson
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[...] Ron Hogan wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptI learned a few things I wanted to share about one particular car maker which I assumed their automobiles used to fit that criteria, the German automobile company Volkswagen and its SUV, the Touareg, the zippy Passat and the cute little … [...]
[...] LBG1 had a pretty good blog post. Definitely worth your time. Here is a small excerpt:It was then that I realized the dealer was the closest Volkswagen repair shop in case I had to have it repaired. Reliability is the most important thing that I consider, after all, what good is it forking out $30 to 40000 for a car if … [...]
Great job!
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No, not good writing. Grammatical errors abound, and it was generally hard to read. It got especially bad towards the end. One tip: it’s “may have”, not “may of”. The word “of” can never be used as a verb.
I’d also like to ask where the author came up with the notion that VWs were reliable, sturdy, or well-engineered. It’s pretty well known that VWs are really bad cars which require a lot of maintenance and shop time. Just check the resale values of various models if you want to know how well they are liked after people have owned them for a while.
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Yeah there were a lot of grammatical errors, but the gist of the article was a welcome read. As the owner of a 2002 Golf with 55k miles on it, I thought I had a lemon of a car. It too is at the dealership every other month.. that is until the dealership decided to not carry or service VWs anymore (only Audis) and while I’m still driving the dud, G-d willing I plan on getting a new car within a month. Problems with the golf are repeated and include (not limited to): the windows falling out of their “holders” and just falling down with nothing to hold them in place! (both front door windows have had their parts replaced three times each), the radio doesn’t go below a certain volume or else it just goes mute (this volume is very high) and you must turn the radio off and on then make the volume louder for it to work. Brakes squeal even after replacing pads (and anything and everything else) and adding liquids (all by dealer), after many times, told that’s “normal!” Electronics needing resetting.. Car battery dying repeatedly for no reason at all (constantly needing jumps)… Plus weird lights come on for parts needing replacing only to have parts replaced and lights/sensors reset – and then those parts start acting up/weird noises come again and light/sensors come on again repeatedly after a week or so.. Not to mention hub caps coming off in middle of the highway/randomly – windshield wiper blades needed to be replaced every year (even though I use rain-x now and therefore don’t even use the blades that much in comparison…) rubber/material bits seem to be melting off (was told – it must be my moisturizer! – apparently using purell/hand sanitizer on your hands makes pieces melt and the dye bleed off your steering wheel cover! The list goes on and on…
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I own a Passat.
I am hoping to trade it in to the dealer. Just had the timing belt done at 85,000.
What a fucking piece of shit. Car pisses me off so much. Bought it two years ago. Probably have spent $3,000 on random crap.
(timing belt, two CV Joints, cracked oil pan, leaking valves)
Not to mention my cat converter just shits out. I’m hoping the dealer just wants my business so I trade this fucker in for a better car.
My local VW Mechanic swears by Jetta TDI’s so check those out. Supposed to be reliable.
All in all? Fuck the Passat.
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My wife first leased a 2006 Volkswagen Passat in Nov 2005. She put a ton of miles on it, and we kept having all kinds of really annoying problems. Both sun visor’s vanity lights (or the contacts), crapped out, tie rod ends, a support structure in the engine compartment and later an issue with it not starting. So by January 2007, she worked a good “trade” on another 2006 Passat that she bought (no lease), thinking that we had just gotten a lemon.
Car is now 9 months old, and unfortunately 3,000 miles outside of factory warranty.
So far:
Electric parking brakes would not completely release causing the rear brakes to have to be replaced by 50,000 miles. Front brakes looked great. Never had a car that wore out the REAR brakes first. Son-of-a-gun to replace too. No warranty help here.
Both visors vanity lights, again – warranty covered.
A vacuum problem with the engine that caused it to not to be able to idle (died at stop lights and the like). Warranty covered
A failed fuel injector that again caused the vehicle to not run, or run poorly at best. Warranty covered.
Now, at a 62,000 miles, and 9 months old, the darned thing shuts itself off after 1 second, with a message “Steering Wheel Lock Failure”. Seems that stupid system can’t unlock the steering wheel in the time frame allocated by all the wonderful computers. Seems that the mechanical movement itself is getting sluggish. Took it to the dealer, they charged $125 to let their computer talk to the car computer for 2 minutes, and diagnose the steering column lock as being defective, requiring replacement of the steering column lock, steering column itself, steering column control module, and the convenience control module (matched to the steering column control module).
Cost $2,400.
What a flaming heap of rubbish this car has become, for the SECOND time. Shame on me, the first Passat was not a lemon, Volkswagen’s are lemons by design! What an embarrassment to the long prestigious history of German engineering!
- John “S”
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Maybe people should pay attention to there cars more instead of whining……I have a 98 passat 1.8t turbo, 160k miles, did the timing belt myself in the recommended intervals, change oil regularly, car has been flawless. 160k and original clutch…..I feel bad for the VW haters, if you neglect the car it will neglect you…………….
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You’re kidding right? Grammar suck, spelling sucks, date ranges are incorrect and your quotes arent even on target!
“Passats with the 1.8 liter Turbocharged V6″ – sorry son, no such thing.
Next time you bash a product, get your stats and info correct.
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I hate ignorant American drivers… and I’m American!
Americans want a car that they can forget about. They don’t want to worry about changing the oil or doing routine maintenance. They just want something that will get them from point A to point B. If thats what you want… go buy a ford!
Volkswagens (and every other german/european car on the market) require routine maintenance, strict oil change intervals, and general overall upkeep. It’s not some Ford Focus.
Drivers in europe have a passion for driving cars, so taking care of them is second nature. Americans on the other hand don’t have the same passion and don’t understand why these elegant german automobiles are so expensive to maintain. You can’t have a sleek, sexy, fun-to-drive car if your not willing to pay for it.
You must PAY to PLAY.
So stop your bitching. Your ineptitude is giving these great, reliable, and fun german automobiles a bad reputation.
By the way… I own a 2000 VW Passat 1.8 turbo. 101,000 miles, no problems. I just take good care of it.
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Bought a new 99 passat V6 and have 165,000 miles. Only problem outside of maintenance was a short in cigarette lighter (caused dash lights to go out). Love the car. Would get another if I could afford it…..
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German cars are not what some people expect. To understand why, one has to look at German culture. In order for a German citizen to get a driver’s license it will cost the equivalent of many thousands of U.S. dollars, the training will take several weeks divided by classroom and driving time. In the classroom people learn how cars work and how to properly maintain them. If they fail, they lose the money and cannot retake the test for a year at which time they’ll have to pay again.
Germans take driving very seriously and as such have trouble understanding why anyone would want cup holders and lots of extra storage space. The thought of a Big Gulp and a giant bag of Cheese Doodles in the console is incomprehensible. Consequently when German cars are designed and manufactured it is assumed they will be owned by individuals that think like they do. The Japanese, by contrast, simply give-in to whatever the market demands. You want a 40 ounce electrically powered cup holder that unfolds artfully from the dashboard? No problem. The Germans have a tough time being that, um, flexible.
Let’s look at the 1.8T sludge debacle. While this engine is being derided as “defective” by so many unfortunate Americans it has one of the longest running manufacturing histories of any power plant this side of the Chevy small block V8. It powers (and continues to power) millions of vehicles from Mercedes to Audi, and VW. It has been lauded all over the world as one of the finest engines ever made. It has been in production for decades. So what went wrong here in the States?
The 1.8T is turbocharged. A turbocharger is an air pump lubricated by engine oil and is powered by routing scalding hot exhaust gasses through it. Its purpose is to use exhaust gas that would normally be wasted and utilize it to increase the engine’s power by pushing air into the combustion chambers making it behave like a much larger engine. Thus providing both fuel efficiency and horsepower.
The key to a trouble-free existence is in knowing that the turbo gets very, very hot and is lubricated by engine oil.
Every time you shut the engine off a small amount of oil turns black as it burns sitting inside the hot turbocharger. Then every time the engine is restarted this bit of burned oil gets flushed back inside the engine. Over the course of several thousand miles and many start-stop cycles the burnt oil accumulated at bottom of the engine will start to resemble the inside of your backyard barbeque. Not pretty, and a $9,000.00 engine bill is in your future.
VW has always said to use Synthetic Oil in these engines because synthetics tolerate the turbo’s higher temperatures and if changed at the recommended intervals will not cause sludge problems. But a lot of American’s either cheaped-out or didn’t understand enough about how their cars worked and went to the Quick Mart for $19.99 oil changes instead.
This sort of behavior is as foreign to German’s as driving with Slurpees and Pork Rinds on the console.
German cars are built to high standards using quality materials. They drive solidly and track on the highway as if on rails. If cared for fastidiously will give many miles of trouble free driving. But if your idea of “maintenance” is to top it off with the cheapest fuel and oil you can find and check tire pressures once a year, then spare yourself a lot of grief and buy something else because these cars are simply not for you.
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GLK and other VW loyalist…
I agree in principle, that most Americans equate a quick run through the car wash as maintenance, and in fact VW’s when they work, are a bit of artistry in motion. I don’t think any other manufacturer can bring into synchronicity suspension, engine and cabin quite like VW. However, after having owned a 96 Jetta, and TWO 2006 Passat’s, I am convinced that VW is clueless with regards to all the “simple” things….
The engines in all my VW’s have been first rate. Unbelievable (and the engines themselves) very reliable and long running. While the engines keep going, everything else falls apart. First the ’96 Jetta whose washer fluid container mounts “cracked” every 6 months of driving, the 3 water pumps, CV joints, and leaking throttle body – all within 130,000 miles. Engine ran “great” though…
Two 2006 Passat’s now, both suffer from a series of identical problems (see posting above), the most inexcusable is that stupid steering lock problem that cost $2400 for crap that suffers from fundamental engineering incompetence.
I’ve a feeling that if VW sold stripped, bare, basic driving machines (like they do in Germany), what would be left would be a decent maintainable machine. Having owned three VW’s, I am left with the feeling like each of them was a proof of concept proto-type with no long term design goals beyond the first 30,000 miles of “farfignewton”. I’ve bought new 1 Ford, 1 Honda, 4 Toyota’s, a Mercedes, and 3 VW’s, and 1 Jeep. The Jeep was was by far the easist and cheapest to keep going well into 200,000 miles. The “Toy’s” never needed anything but scheduled maintenance. But, beyond a shadow of a doubt and no matter “how” fun the VW’s are at first, long term they are a never ending nightmare of mechanical problems.
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I have had it with my ’03 passat, paid a lot of money for it and it has been a black hole for 3 yrs and only has 60k. The list of of repairs just keeps growing, now it has an oil leak, timing belt replacement, brake issues and a broken dipstick. I also have a ’99 sable with 195k that hasn’t had near the problems.
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Funny…
Always had VW’s all my life. As a Brazilian now living in the States, I visited the factory in Curitiba, Paraná where they assembled the Golf MK4 and that factory has the highest standards both in work force and machinery.
In the States, I had a 2003 VW Golf that I got new, put 60.000 miles on it, made all the scheduled services and oil changes and never had any issues. Sold it to a friend how still has it, drove another 30.000 miles and it rides like the first time I drove it out of the dealership.
But some people, slam their cars doors, glove compartments, trunks, etc..like they would on the 1970 Oldsmobile that could tolerate the abuse like war tanks, but because of the extra weight would suck gas like drunks.
Times have changed, and lighter materials,mean more efficient cars but less tolerant to abuse. And VW, always worked with lighter components for shock and crash absorption, fuel efficiency etc.
Like my uncle who is an italian mechanic for over 40 years would say, close your car door as you would close your fridge, just enough strength to get shut. It’s not an Hummer, thank God.
I now have a 03 Passat that has been reliable and awesome to drive and it has 88.000 miles on it.
It’s a free and open market. A car needs care and attention. Treat it well if you want it to do the same for you.
If taking the car for service and oil changes is an annoyance, than stay away from brands like VW, BMW, Audi, Alfa Romeo, Renault or Peugeot to name a few.
For my part, I stay away from the ultra reliable Toyotas. I would never have to take it to have it fix, but would hate to look at it in my driveway and they ride like cheap FIATs(those are bad, I agree).
Just for clarification, German Engineered, does not mean it has to be assembled in Germany. It means the philosophy in design, concept and structure follow the simplicity and objective approach that Germans have.
Happy driving.
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I know this is an old post, but I want to throw in my $0.02. My 1999 Passat has 205,000 miles on it, mostly city driving. People still comment on how nice it looks. I spent almost nothing on it outside of routine maintenance until recently. Yes there have been a lot of things that wear out that need replaced. Tires, brake pads, rotors, timing belts, air filters, fuel filters, headlights, wipers etc. If you know of a car that can operate and not wear things out, I would love to hear about it.
It had 3 unexpected failures, 1 timing belt (the author fails to mention the 1999 Passat had a 100,000 mile drive train warranty so any/all timing belt and CV joint issues are covered at no cost)which was covered under warranty at 82k. One Ignition control module went bad at 130k. One exhaust pipe that came out of the press fit at the turbo that was welded in place at 150k. I changed my first clutch at 160k. Recently at 200k I had a power steering line start leaking and I think my catalytic converter is making noise. I replaced a couple window devices with new bolts, repaired the glovebox with new bolts, replaced the air conditioner condenser, my cruise control no longer works and the radio gets poor reception.
Other than routine maintenance with synthetic oil, the annual BG44k and always running premium fuel, I have spent about $600 on the car in 200k miles. My old 1985 VW Jetta also made it to about 200k but it was ended by a 1000lb elk, not VW design. Both cars were built in germany from german parts. There is a sticker right on the window that tells you the assembly point and parts origin.
$1 Billion in car parts is nothing. (the amount VW supposedly spent in China) After losing a lawsuit to GM a few years back, VW was ordered to buy 1% of it’s car parts from GM to repay the lawsuit debt. It amounted to $17 Billion dollars a year for several years. If 1% is 17 Billion, VW buys 1.7 Trillion Dollars of parts each year, so $1 Billion dollars from China is 1/17th of 1 percent of the parts potentially coming from China. My cars had 0% Chinese parts and were always serviced with OEM german parts, not junk from checker or Wal-Mart.
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Awesome stuff. You made a really nice compilation. Thanks!
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My passat did great, until last week! 173,000 miles! But of course little things here and there start to add up in the pocket book! Vavle train problem, window on passenger side fell to the bottom of the door, sunroof opens and closes all by itself, abs problems, battery replaced twice in a year, but all in all I love to hate that car! I will never buy a VW again! Parts are pricey and finding someone who knows what they are doing, GOOD LUCK!
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Back in 2006 I bought a new 2.0 TDI Passat, with DSG transmission and virtually all the extra gear.
It’s worst point is reliability. I’ve had the turbine die at 65k kilometers, which is quite low although you expect the turbine to die eventually on a turbodiesel. It took with it the cooling system which made it into quite an expensive repair bill. I’ve also had other, smaller issues with the engine over time. The electronic doodads are not well engineered – the electronic parking brake is quirky and sometimes bugs out and stays on when you turn it off and I avoid using it these days (since it’s a DSG it’s basically safe to leave it in parking gear) despite having it repaired once. The motor which drives the lights (which move as you turn the steering wheel) broke down at about 50k km. Some valve in the exhaust system also broke down somewhere around the 50k km region. The engine fault light would sometimes go on for seemingly no reason ever since the car had maybe 10k km, which would turn off the turbine (which would be quite dangerous on a highway, but fortunately it never happened on it) and you would have to reset the car (literally, turn it off and on again) for it to work normally – no fault would be found at the repairshop. Lots of annoying issues which require fairly frequent time at the repairshop. Certainly not what I expected knowing about the old VolksWagens in 90-ties and before, which were robust and reliable cars, and I doubt I’ll be buying another VW in the future.
It’s a shame, because on the other hand the car drives like a charm, the interior is very nicely decorated and comfortable, and if it weren’t for annoying reliability issues it would be a superb car.
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