Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 03/12/1995 | |||
| Electrical system failure, brake light don't turn on, horn would blow by itself. tt | |||
| 04/08/1993 | 1 | ||
| Electrical short, causing resistors/fuses/electrical windows/heating/air conditioning to fail. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY | |||
| 07/24/1998 | 10/01/1993 | ||
| Miles:1,519- doesn't turn over - replaced battery: 8602- check engine light stays on- repl bad housing connection:11,672-check engine light on-rpl cam position sensor&ecm&ac controls:22,013-rattling whining noise-repl frozen radiator fan motor, burnt fan conn/reproduced wring, o/ring, defective cam position, sensor;25,763 replace battery;34,677-serpentine belt repl;36,800-repl hall/tci control unit;50,610- repl battery, alternator harness;51,070 repl auxiliary water pump;connector,hoses;53,190-ac control with open connection & wiring overheated,repl controls & repaired wiring, heatercontrol, connector:60,523-repl heater core, seals, thermostate, housing, seal ring, 3 o-rings, serpintine belt; 63,782-repl battery, cruise control & sunroof no longer work too costly to repair, 66,035- repl power supply relay, fuel pump;71,000 transmission problems. dealer indicates full replacement of transmission. purchased '88 jetta. in '97 decided to upgrade to passat glx. with all the problems i have had with this car i would not recommend anyone buy a volkswagen. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS | |||
| 07/29/1998 | |||
| Driving the vehicle and other cars noticed flames coming from underneath the fog lights of the car. pulled vehicle over , turned the ignition switch off and put the flames out. fireman determined that the fire came from the front left fog light. took vehicle to the dealer. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION | |||
| 01/01/1999 | 100 | 01/01/1994 | |
| Car fails to start when turning ignition on. takes repeated attempts. requires unlocking adjustable steeering wheel and 'thumping' the wheel up and down. occasionally starts on first attempt, mostly after several thumps. three times took over 45 minutes to get car started. dealer replaces starter the first time i took it in for repair. three more dealer visits have been labeled 'works ok', even though i had to start car for service manager. came back 'checks ok'. i suspect corrosion of some kind in the ignition wiring. very frustrating.*ak | |||
| 12/10/1997 | 1 | 07/15/1993 | |
| Ignition system failed causing engine to stall during motion. | |||
| 12/01/1995 | |||
| Vehicle will stall without warning while driving, in for repair 4 times. tt | |||
| 06/01/1995 | 1 | ||
| The vehicle stalls while driving for no apparent reason. tt | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - MODULE | |||
| 07/24/1998 | 10/01/1993 | ||
| Miles:1,519- doesn't turn over - replaced battery: 8602- check engine light stays on- repl bad housing connection:11,672-check engine light on-rpl cam position sensor&ecm&ac controls:22,013-rattling whining noise-repl frozen radiator fan motor, burnt fan conn/reproduced wring, o/ring, defective cam position, sensor;25,763 replace battery;34,677-serpentine belt repl;36,800-repl hall/tci control unit;50,610- repl battery, alternator harness;51,070 repl auxiliary water pump;connector,hoses;53,190-ac control with open connection & wiring overheated,repl controls & repaired wiring, heatercontrol, connector:60,523-repl heater core, seals, thermostate, housing, seal ring, 3 o-rings, serpintine belt; 63,782-repl battery, cruise control & sunroof no longer work too costly to repair, 66,035- repl power supply relay, fuel pump;71,000 transmission problems. dealer indicates full replacement of transmission. purchased '88 jetta. in '97 decided to upgrade to passat glx. with all the problems i have had with this car i would not recommend anyone buy a volkswagen. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - IGNITION - SWITCH | |||
| 03/15/1996 | 50 | 01/01/1993 | |
| Ignition : for the last 9 months, intermittently, car will continue to run after the ignition is turned off and key is removed... been to 3 vw dealerships 5 times total. abs brakes never worked since new, wouldn't stop on snow or ice like other abs brake systems .. after many complaints for 4 years vw fixed some of the abs problems but abs warning light still comes on sometimes. also, pedal intermittently will go to floor, and snow and ice performance is much worse than our other abs passats . seat belts: lap belt buckle seems likely to cause injury in an accident . air conditioner : $150 switch in dash has failed 3 times (common on 1993-94 passats). sunroof: small part breaks on track requires replacement of entire expensive sunroof mechanism ... (seems to happen many 1993-94 passats). fog lights: corrado and passat lenses fog up or fill up with water and then crack from heat. vw and hella redesigned lens on corrado model but not on passat $26 to $50 per lens, 11 lenses so far. *ak | |||
| 05/31/1995 | 1 | 10/01/1994 | |
| Ignition switch defect. | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - STARTER ASSEMBLY | |||
| 01/01/1999 | 100 | 01/01/1994 | |
| Car fails to start when turning ignition on. takes repeated attempts. requires unlocking adjustable steeering wheel and 'thumping' the wheel up and down. occasionally starts on first attempt, mostly after several thumps. three times took over 45 minutes to get car started. dealer replaces starter the first time i took it in for repair. three more dealer visits have been labeled 'works ok', even though i had to start car for service manager. came back 'checks ok'. i suspect corrosion of some kind in the ignition wiring. very frustrating.*ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING | |||
| 03/05/1997 | |||
| After turning on the vehicle, an electrical short in the wiring caused the wires from the battery to the dash to catch on fire. *ak | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - INTERIOR/UNDER DASH | |||
| 5 | 10/01/2000 | ||
| No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak | |||