Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SUSPENSION | |||
| 05/05/2011 | 70000 | ||
| Front control arms failure. very common in this suspension design. there has been a recall issued in europe for the same problem. likewise, the audi a4 shares the same chassis and same front end suspension. these control arms are seriously under designed. this is dangerous! having this fail while driving will result in death or serious injury. this is a design flaw, and is being overlooked. the bushings on my control arms (all 4 for each of my front wheels, eight in total) are seriously cracked and need replacement. this is not something that should be failing at 50k and 70k miles. volkswagen should be held responsible for replacing failed control arms. | |||
| 03/28/2011 | 77908 | ||
| I have a 2003 volkswagon passat with 77,650 miles with problems with the oilpump and engine problems that is unknow. the automobile will stall not start it hasn't been driven in over 6 monthe due to the rattling noise in the engine and i believe slugged is build up in the engine but since then i have replaced two oilpumps in the vehicle and the sensors. engine oil pressure failure and defective coils on each cylinder. | |||
| 09/22/2008 | 2 | 09/01/2007 | |
| 2003 volkswagen passat fire*cw the consumer stated while driving a light blinked on the dashboard. according to the owner's manual, it was a light for the catalytic converter. when the consumer arrived to the dealer, the light went out, and they could not find a problem. the light returned shortly thereafter and stayed on. the dealer repaired the light. the ball joints failed, but they were not covered under warranty. soon, the light illuminated on the dashboard again, that was supposed to have been fixed by the dealer earlier in the year. the consumer continued driving, when suddenly another motorist informed her the vehicle was on fire. the fire department stated the fire was caused by the catalytic converter. the consumer's insurance agent contacted her and advised her volkswagen was covering all the cost related to the incident, because the fire was a result of a recall that had not been taken care of by the authorized dealer from where the vehicle was purchased. *jb | |||
| 04/27/2005 | 12 | 04/27/2005 | |
| Headlights fails proper function. they have been replaced. seat belts and sun roof do not work properly. engine replaced; steering wheels - car pulls to the right everytime an alignment was done and they calibrated the wheels. - problem continued - this problem caused the tires to be destroyed in a few kms - less 20 000; water infiltration - for now it is fixed; trunk was hard to open and close - problem fixed. front doors vibrated - the rubber of the doors are being exhibiting signs of damage; the front glass ( windscreen ) isn't from the same year of all the others. *jb | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT | |||
| 02/01/2008 | 39000 | 1 | |
| Car went in for brake job at 39,000 miles. mechanic found that both front cv joints were cracked and front axles and cv boots would need replacement. this was close to a $1,000.00 repair job on a car with under 40,000 miles. apparently this is a not uncommon problem with 5th generation passat vehicles. i feel volkswagen should do a recall on this problem. *tr | |||
| 09/17/2008 | 32000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen passat. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for a recall repair. the technician discovered that the cv boot on the front driver and passenger wheels were cracked. the technician strongly advised that the failures be repaired to avoid further damages within the suspension system. the estimated repair cost was $700. the vehicle has not been repaired. the vin was unknown. the failure and current mileages were 32,000. | |||
| 02/09/2005 | 10/19/2002 | ||
| I have a 2003 vw passat sw. about a year after i bought it i noticed when it started to get cold in the winter the right front suspension would make noises as if something was grinding or broke in the suspension. i brought the car to victory vw in harrisburg, pa in the late fall/early winter of 03'. they ended up changing the control arms that time i believe. well, this year when it started getting cold the noises came back. i have had the car in the same dealership twice to have the problem checked out. both times the car has been in the shop the air temp has been too warm for the noises to be reproduced. i've looked around the internet on various vw blogs and found that there are others also having problems with their right front suspension as i am. i also found that some are having problems with front suspension in general. my dilemma is that this car is getting ready to go out of warranty in about a thousand miles and i don't feel it's my responsibility to fix this problem when it has been fixed by vw in the past and will probably need to be fixed again in the future. any help you can give on this issue is appreciated. | |||
| SUSPENSION - FRONT - CONTROL ARM | |||
| 01/21/2006 | 40600 | 1 | 01/01/2002 |
| Dt*: the contact stated while traveling up hill at 25mph the vehicle sputtered and stalled. the vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was determined the fuel pump needed to be replaced. previously the contact experienced braking problems while traveling at high speeds. there was vibration and grabbing in front end of the vehicle when braking. the vehicle was seen by the service dealer four times. the front rotors, the rear rotors and both control arms were replaced. the problem was corrected by the replacement of these parts for twenty thousand miles and has now returned. | |||