Problems with 2003 Volkswagen Passat FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE

While driving my 2003 vw passat down the highway at 35 miles per hour, the engine simply ceased operating. fortunately, i was able to get out of traffic and glide into a shopping center parking lot. the vehicle would not restart and had to be towed, and the fuel pump replaced. the passat had only 51,764 miles when this breakdown occurred. while searching through the internet, i have seen numerous complaints of this same make model and year vehicle with a fuel pump failure. vw has only recalled certain vin numbers for this fuel pump. my passat does not fall within the recall vins and vw refuses to acknowledge a global problem with these fuel pumps. *tr

I was driving east on atlantic avenue in delray beach, fl., i made a left turn onto n.e. 4th avenue and within a few yards the car stalled in the middle of the street. fortunately i was not too far from the fountain square parking lot so i pushed the car into the parking lot to prevent an accident.

My 2003 passat with 46,000 miles and regular 5,000 miles service visits recently had two major problems. the alternator went bad and was producing nearly twice the voltage. there were no service bulletins or recalls on this item and was fixed at a significant cost to me. next was the fuel tank. i first experienced an odor which turned out to be a leak in the gas tank. i am working with an excellent volkswagen service business which is not a dealership. vw america will only take the word of a licensed dealer. the defective tank is currently being replaced at a very significant cost to me. there are no service bulletins or recalls on my vin. i understand that a local dealership has had to replace a few of these. this is a very nice car developing a bad reputation. i have safety concerns with this car and wonder what will happen next. *jb

2003 passat faulty fuel pump. car experienced total loss of power that could potentially lead to an accident. despite vw issuing a recall to remedy this problem on certain 2003 passats, they refused to pay for this repair (replacement of fuel pump - parts and labor). *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen passat. while driving 30 mph, the contact smelled a gaseous odor. the windows were rolled up and the air conditioner was activated. the vehicle was towed to the dealer who stated that there was a leak in the fuel line under the hood. the failure was caused by a cracked fuel line hose. the current and failure mileages were 67,000.

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen passat. while driving 5 mph, the vehicle lost power and completely shut off. the vehicle was towed to the dealer who determined the cause of failure was the fuel pump. the contact conducted research on his vehicle and found that there were recalls on the fuel pump for the 2003 volkswagen passat. he notified the manufacturer who stated that the recalls applied to vehicle's made between september 2002 through march 2003. the contact's vehicle was made in april, therefore excluding it from the recall. he believes that his vehicle is included in the recall. the current mileage is 52,000 and failure mileage was 52,00 updated 02-01-08. *kb

While driving 60 mph on highway, car stalled and would not restart. dealership replaced fuel pump to remedy failure. old part is available. *tr

Vehicle stalled at very busy intersection and would not start. had to be pushed to the side of road through traffic and towed to dealership. fuel pump was found to have failed and needed to be replaced at a total cost of over $900.00 with cost of rental vehicle. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen passat. the contact stated that the vehicle leaked fluid while it was parked. the check engine warning indicator light illuminated. the dealer replaced the fuel seal twice. another repair shop stated that the breather tube needed to be replaced, but they did not make the repair. the failure mileage was 105,000 and current mileage was 116,000.

I had taken my car to the dealer to replace a fuel pump. when the car was returned to me there was a hole burned into the driver side seat. the rep at the dealer said the seat warmer in the driver side seat had burned completely through the seat. he had seen it happen before. but my seat warmer was not on at the time. i don't need to use it in southern california weather. the problem will need to be fixed but the manufacturer should be made to cover the cost. *jb

2003 vw passat with fuel pump replacement. consumer would like reimbursement for the cost of the rental vehicle, while his vehicle was having the fuel pump replaced. *kb in the beginning, volkswagen told the consumer his vehicle was not included in the recall and the fuel pump was not defective. after the fuel pump failed and the consumer paid for the repairs, volkswagen extended the recall which included the consumers vehicle identification number. *jb

Fuel pump failed at 75k miles. my vin is within the recall range for 06v017000 but i was refused recall service as vw claims my vehicle is not affected. i contacted vw when the recall was announced and was informed of this fact. the vw dealer replaced the fuel pump but informed me again that the replacement was not covered. as a fuel pump should last much longer than 75k miles, i feel that my vehicle was misidentified and should be covered. *jb

Tl*- the contact stated that his 2003 volkswagen passat glx, fuel pump failed on 02/23/07. he stated that while driving vehicle at a speed of 45 mph on clear day in the center lane the vehicle lost power. he stated that the vehicle stopped in the middle of the expressway and couldn't ge the vehicle to start back up. he and other witness help push vehicle up the hill to the side of the road. the contact had the vehicle towed to the volkswagen dealership. the contact stated that the dealership informed him that the fuel pump had failed and needed to have fuel pump replaced. the contact found a recall for the same year, make and model with campaign# 06v017000 for the fuel system, gasoline: delivery: fuel pump. the contact stated that he checked with the dealership and they informed him that the vin did not fall under the recall. the contact stated the service manager did inform him that they will cover the cost of the parts, but he would be responsible for the cost of labor $200.00, and a diagnostic cost of about $150.00. the contact stated that he had informed the dealership that he would like to keep the fuel pump that will be removed from the vehicle.

Tl* - the contact stated that a 2003 volkswagen passat stalled while driving at approximately 30 mph. there were no warning indicators. the vehicle would not restart and was towed to a repair shop. the repair shop diagnosed the vehicle as having a bad fuel pump and replaced the part. the repair shop advised the contact there was a recent recall on fuel pump. the contact called the dealer and was told this vehicle was not a part of the recall due to the vin. *ak updated 2/22/2007- *nm

Car quits suddenly while driving; won't re-start. was towed to dealer; replaced fuel pump. *jb

2003 volkswagen passat 1.8l fuel pump died without warning during rush hour in a very busy part of town. it caused a huge traffic jam, and i had the car towed to my house by aaa. i had my mechanic check it out and her verified that the fuel pump had died. the car has only 55k miles on it, which is very premature for a fuel pump failure. this is a recall item on 2003 passats built up until 3/03. my car was built on 4/03 and volkswagen refuses to cover the repair, nor fix it under warranty because my car is over the warranty mileage. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 5 mph, the vehicle made a clanging noise while pulling into a garage. when the brake was depressed, the pedal went all the way to the floor, and did not engage completely. there was no indication of a problem prior to the incident. a private repair shop was consulted, and determined the rear brakes needed to be replaced. the brake pads were replaced, the tires were rotated, and the oil was changed. during the subsequent test drive, the vehicle stalled completely while traveling 25 mph. a service dealer was consulted by the private repair shop, and determined that the fuel pump had failed. the fuel pump was replaced. there was a nhtsa recall # 06v017000 which pertained to the fuel pump. the vehicle was not included in the recall due to the vin.

Dt*: the contact stated there was a recall notice received in march 2006. there were no problems with the vehicle before the recall notices was received; however the contact inquired six times as to when the part would be in and the dealership could not offer an estimate. the nhtsa recall was # 06v017000 regarding the fuel system, gasoline: delivery: fuel pump. the parts needed to repair the vehicle were not available at the local dealership. the manufacturer confirmed the parts were not available.

Dt*: the contact stated while traveling 65 mph, the vehicle would not accelerate. the vehicle was coasted to the side of the road and then towed to an independent repair shop. the repair shop determined the fuel pump needed to be replaced. there was a nhtsa recall, # 06v017000, regarding the fuel pump. the vehicle was not included in the recall due to the vin. 08/29/06 vehicle was in left lane of 4 lane interstate when failure occurred. driver had to move across all the lanes to safety. *tt

Fuel pump faliiure on 2003 vw passat car stalled on i-95 in the middle of highway traffic family was stranded on i-95 at 1:00am

Last summer the fuel pump failed on the highway on my 2003 volkswagen passat vin #[xxx]. the car was towed to vw and the fuel pump was replaced. during a search on the internet for recalls i noticed that there was a recall for the fuel pump on the car. when i looked deeper into the recall i found that my car is barely out of the vin # recall range. i have also found that this is a large problem with other people being barely out of recall range. i think that the vin # recall range is obviously short of what it should be since so many people are having this issue.. this is not normal wear and tear. vwoa was not willing to help in this matter and i thought i should report it...*nm updated 07/11/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)

At 44,400 miles and just 4,000 miles after fuel pump replaced the new fuel pump failed on my 2003 passat wagon. both incidents occurred while driving the car on high traffic suburban washington dc streets. there was no warning and car came to an abrupt stop without time for me to signal the cars behind me. this is in addition to having to replace both front and rear rotors at about 20,00 miles as well as control arms. this seems to be an inordinate amount of service in only 3 years and 44,000 miles! *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 40 mph the vehicle stalled without warning. it was coasted off the road without incident and towed to an independent repair shop. upon inspection, a fuel pump failure was discovered. there is a nhtsa recall, # 06v017000, regarding the gasoline fuel system; fuel pump. the manufacturer was alerted and stated the vin was not included in the recall.

2003 vw passat 4-door with 1.8t motor. i find it hard to believe that a fuel pump failure which causes a vehicle to die without warning on a california freeway to not be a defect. there is a recall for this part, but it just so happens my vehicle identification number does not match up. just because the vin # does not match up, does not mean there still is not a defect. i would like to know how i could research this further, so that i don't get stranded on the freeway again. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated while driving 40 mph the vehicle stalled without warning. the vehicle was maneuvered off the road and later towed to the dealer who determined the fuel pump needed to be replaced. there is a nhtsa recall, # 06v017000, regarding the fuel pump. the vin was not included in the recall.

I was driving along when my 2003 vw passat lost power and stopped. i had it towed to a vw dealership in town. they said the fuel pump needed replacing. i found that there is a recall on this make and model for this problem, however, vw refuses to cover the cost. *nm

Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle would not start due to a defective fuel pump. the vehicle was towed to the service dealer who determined the fuel pump was the cause of the problem. the fuel pump was replaced due to recall # m7 (nhtsa # 06v017000). the pump was replaced three times by the service dealer who determined the first two to be defective and the third pump failure due to ethanol mixture in the fuel. the manufacturer suggested several gas stations to be used that had been tested for ethanol content.

Dt*: the contact stated while driving on a normal road condition at 45 mph the vehicle decelerated until it completely stalled. the vehicle was towed to the dealership where the fuel pump was replaced. there was a recall for the fuel pump but the vin was not included. the consumer replaced the fuel pump at his expense. updated 09/12/06. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated a recall letter was received in march 2006; the vehicle is not having any problems as indicated in the recall. the dealer has been contacted at least once a week since receiving the letter. there is a nhtsa recall, # 06v017000 on the vehicle regarding the fuel pump. the parts needed to repair the vehicle are not available at the local dealership. the manufacturer confirmed the parts are not available.

After receiving a letter, dated march 2006, stating a recall was needed for my 2003 volkswagen passat, an appointment was made to get the issue taken care of. i have a friend with the same car and learned of the importance of the recall after her car cut off on her while she was driving. this could be a very dangerous situation. i was called roughly a day before my appointment to let me know that the part was on back order and they would need to move my appointment back 2 weeks. i called the dealership back with concern for my safety and asked if there was a rental car available until the part came in. they informed me that they would not be able to give me a rental car but i could call volkswagen and speak with them about it. i guess they didn't feel my safety was an issue, therefore they did not give me a rental, but they did offer to call around and see if i could be seen sooner. that didn't work out because everyone was on back order for the same part. i kept my appointment for today at 8am, took off work, drove clear across town, checked in with them, they took my key, and i headed to the customer waiting area. i was called back down to the desk 5 minutes later for them to tell me that they still didn't have the part and would have to call me when it came in. i could not believe that no one called to inform me of this instead of having me drive all the way to the dealership! i find it hard to believe that volkswagen is not more concerned regarding the safety of their customers to plan ahead. makes me never want to buy a volkswagen again! *jb

Nhtsa recall 06v017000 for a vw passat. i have been waiting nearly 3 months since my appointment for the "part to arrive." i have called a written vw about the fuel pump, all i get is - "it's on order." *nm

Dt*: the contact stated stoppage of fuel supply to the engine could cause it to stall. there is a nhtsa recall, #06v017000 on the vehicle regarding the fuel system gasoline delivery fuel pump. the parts needed to repair the vehicle are not available at the local dealership. the manufacturer confirmed the parts are not available. the contact indicated that on april 14, 2006 the dealer was supposed to replace the fuel pump per volkswagen safety recall m7, but the work was canceled due to no replacement parts. the contact continued to inquire from the local dealer when the replacement part would be available, but did not receive a definitive answer. the contact contacted a dealer 60 miles away and made an appointment to have the work done there. it took several trips by contact until the replacement work was completed. the contact was unhappy by volkswagen uncaring attitude and lack of assistance and service by volkswagen dealers. *ak

We own a 2003 volkswagen passat. twice the fuel pump has gone out in the middle of hwy. 29 in napa. the first time the fuel pump went out the car was still under warranty. the second time it went out, yesterday, the car was no longer under warranty and we were charged $441 to have it fixed. volkswagen denies that our model has any problem with the fuel pump even though other passat models are under recall for this same problem. the second fuel pump was put in last january, about 16 months ago. now another fuel pump was put in yesterday, april 27, 2006. both times the fuel pump has gone out without warning on highway 29 in napa. *jb

Recalled fuel pump is not available. dealer says pump is on national back order. *jb

I own a volkswagen passat, 2003, 1.8 liter turbo. for the past two years we have been experiencing a hesitation on take off. sometimes when backing out of the garage the car hesitates really bad. the is my wife'f car and i am afraid the someday it may stall out at a very busy intersection, causing a crash. i have contacted a volkswagen dearler and he advised that my vin number does not fall under the vin numbers of the recall, volkswagon already has in place. i would like to report that we have already had out oil pressure pump replaced and i was wondering if there has been other coplaints of the oil pressure pump failing. *tr

Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle had a recall (06v017000) for the fuel pump. the vehicle was on the waiting list to get the fuel pump replaced with the dealer for five months. the service dealer expressed the part was not available. the manufacturer expressed the fuel was unable to be obtained.

Dt*: the contact stated there have not been any problems with the vehicle however, a nhtsa recall, #06v017000 on the vehicle regarding the fuel system, gasoline: delivery: fuel pump was received in april 2006. the parts needed to repair the vehicle are not available at the local dealership. the manufacturer confirmed the parts are not available. the parts finally arrived and the vehicle was repaired. updated 07/03/06. *jb

Fuel pump failed in my 2003 volkswagen passat called volkswagen about the recall and they told me there is no recall yet and will not be covered the all occurred on 3/27/03. *jb

Dt*: the contact stated, recall # 06v017000; fuel pump (vw #m7) was received in the 2nd week of march 2006. when the service dealer was contacted for an appointment, the contact was informed the fuel pump was back ordered and the contact would be notified when the part was available. in may 2006 the part was still on back order. when the manufacturer was notified, the contact was referred back to dealer.

Over four months ago, i received volkswagen's safety recall m7 (applicable to 2003 vw passat's) regarding a defective fuel pump that may cause a car to "stall without warning and . . . present a potential risk of crash." i immediately called a dealer to get the part replaced. nothing has happened since. after months on a waiting list i am now leaving the washington dc area, and am told that there is a similar wait list (backed up for over 4 months) where i'm moving to. volkswagen's delay and refusal to cure the fuel pump defect is simply unacceptable. i strongly urge the nhtsa to investigate. *jb

2003 passat carbon built up on the injectors of the fuel system. *ts ***nar*** after several attempted repairs, the check engine light illuminated and the vehicle was running rough. *jb

The 2003 volkswagen passat suddenly would not start. with only 54000 miles it completely failed to start on account of a sudden and complete failure of the fuel pump. *nm

On this date i was driving at 65 miles per hour on the interstate. as a car pulled on to the driving lane in front of me from the entrance ramp, i accelerated and pulled left into the passing lane. suddenly i had no power, and managed to coast about 3/4 of a mile, through traffic, to the right hand shoulder where i could get off the road. it was a very dangerous few minutes which fortunately did not result in any collision. the car was towed to the local volkswagen dealer where the fuel pump was found to have failed. it was replaced at a cost of $589.80. the mileage at the time of the incident was 63, 661 miles. *nm

I was driving on interstate i65 from birmingham, al to huntsville, al mid morning on the 27 january 2006. nearing the end of journey to the huntsville turned off on i65 and volkswagen (vw) passat 2003 lost complete power. i had no idea what had happened to the car, and was frantically trying to find what was wrong while trying to control the car to a stop and get off the highway. upon calling road side assistance i had the car towed to the nearest vw dealership, located in huntsville, al. during initial investigation led them to believe the battery was dead and replaced it at a cost of $200. upon further investigation they said my fuel pump was dead and needed replacing, this is what caused the car to stop as no petrol could be pumped into the engine. i did not know why i have to pay for the battery as i had power in the car. currently, car will not be fixed until next tuesday at a cost of $600 to me. i read online at passatworld.com forum that their have been numerous other vw owners experiencing fuel pump problems. they expect this problem to be documented a lot more in the near future as our 2003 year vw passat come out of warranty and the suspected year with the faulty fuel pump. i do not see how this fuel pump could fail upon any doing of my own as i have always run the car with a full tank and on 93 octane. vw need to make a recall on this part as there is an unusually high number of vw owners experiencing this problem. this part needs to be recalled, causing a car to lose power on a highway immediately is life threatening and will cause an older age driver to not know what is happening to the car and crash. car is vw passat gls 2003, 60,000 miles on it, i bought it new.*ak

Passat 2003 glx with 40437 miles. was driving on local roads the car started shuddering for 1-2 seconds. the engine then instantly shutdown. i could not restart the car. had it towed to nearest dealership. the next day it was reported as fuel pump failure, and repaired it under warranty.*ak

2003 passat broke down because of a broken fuel pump. consumer would like to be reimbursed. *kb the dealer refused to cover the failed part because the vehicle had over 50000 miles. the vehicle was taken to a local garage for repair. *nm

Bought a 2003 vw passat 1.8t in may 2005. since then, i have taken the car to the dealership for repair 4 times now. the car will all of the sudden start running very rough and the check engine light came on. the first time, they replaced a "defective" spark plug. within a few days of getting it back, it happened again. they decided to replace all the spark plugs that time. it happened a third time and they did not tell me what they had done to the car, but kept the car for a week. it is currently in the shop again (now for a week again) because it began to run rough, developed a slow oil leak, and does not always start on the first attempt. i have not yet heard from the dealership what is causing the problems. i asked them to check everything on the car. i have also lodged a complaint with vw of america. *jb

Engine stopped running while driving. there were no warning indicators. after coasting down a hill approaching an intersection, i eased into the accelerator to cross intersection, only to experience a total loss of engine power. vw dealer diagnosed engine loss due to failure of fuel pump. dealer replaced fuel pump and saved old pump at my request. old pump is available for inspection. i consider engine loss to be a safety issue because most cars these days have steering and brakes that are powered by the engine. luckily, i was able to keep control of the car and bring it to a safe stop. *nm

Engine stopped while in motion without warning causing power steering to fail. diagnosed as fuel pump failure. also, in 2004 oil pump failed due to sludge. repair not covered due to inability to produce service records. *nm

Instant fuel pump failure. late saturday night with 9 week old child in the car. car simply stops running on the highway. does not restart. did manage to get baby into warm vehicle and home. car had to be towed. *jb