Problems with 2003 Volkswagen Passat EQUIPMENT

Car missing a getting bad milage ...same car does not run well and caught fire by turbo 2003 passat vw 1.8 liter turbo. *tr

Sun roof drain disconects and water fills passenger compartment causing computer malfunction , air bags to malfunction and fire hazzard. this is the second time 1st time in 2006

The heater core tubing in the car disintegrated at about 18,000 miles. this resulted in the check engine light appearing, coolant leaking into other parts of the engine department,and the fumes from the coolant in the passenger compartment. at this time the vehicle was under warranty, so i took it to the volkswagen dealership. they replaced the purge valve (about an hours work) and returned the car to me. i took the car back two more times for the same problem before the warranty ran out and the dealership performed the same service. the coolant leak became significantly worse (i began adding coolant every 3-4 days) at around 82,000 miles and the fumes from the coolant in the passenger compartment became very strong. i took the car to another repair shop and the mechanic discovered that the tubing from the heater core had completely disintegrated and the heater core needed to be replaced altogether. i have seasonal asthma associated with allergies and inhaling the fumes from the coolant has made the condition worse. i am currently having the vehicle repaired at a cost of approximately $1200. *tr

This car was never inspected for recalls, or safety issues. the moment the car was handed to us the battery died. the dealership quickly change the battery. the car was hesitating on acceleration ever since. it was on july 27 2008 that finally the check engine light came on. took the car to a garage and it has coast us 270 dollars to fix it so far. we have not had this car for more than a month. there are two recalls on this car that were never look at or fixed by precision toyota of tucson . one of these recalls can cause fire. *tr

My air condition has been on the fritz so to speak for the last year, i thought it was my imagination. this passed week when i turned it on full blast all that was coming out is warm air. i took the car into vw dealership they repaired two leaks they said, when trying it out a few days later the air was blasting warm air once again. i took it back and now they are telling me the evaporator needs to be replaced costing me $1,700.00. how could this happen to a car that is not even 5 years old yet. i am very disappointed. *tr

Tl*the contact owns a 2003 volkswagen passat. the contact noticed that the radio was malfunctioning. he took the vehicle to the dealer and a technician stated that the stereo failed due to unknown causes, and the entire system needed to be replaced. the contact has not had the vehicle repaired because it exceeded its warranty. the manufacturer did not provide any assistance. the failure mileage was 95,000 and current mileage was 109,000.

I've spent over $8000 towards vw dealership attempts at fixing the horn, radio, homelink, climate control (a/c and heat) rear passenger side window, heated seats, dashboard panel lights, and defroster flap. vw replaced abs and brake light module, but only fixed the horn. vw stated they are not responsible even after i paid for them to fix the above problems and they are still unable to determine the cause of the problems. i request reimbursement from volkswagen for the repair attempts and related expenses. current vehicle mileage: 127,000. *tr

Twice, the rear brake lights remained on uncontrollably - intermittently at first, then permanently. this failure was trouble-shot and repaired by the dealer both times. in each case, the brake light switch had failed. from studying the switch part numbers, it appears the suffix has also twice changed to a later version - although i don't believe they were installed in that order in my car (see pn's below). i believe i have the latest version currently installed. this is an unacceptable failure mode, as it not only is a safety issue (driving around with brake lights continuously on, but if left on for prolonged period, the rear brake light bulb sockets get extremely hot and in my opinion have a good chance to melt the plastic socket/reflectors and possibly catch fire. more importantly, the abs and cruise control become inop, the throttle body alignment is disturbed causing the car to behave terribly on acceleration and many cel-type light illuminate on the instrument panel. failures occurred: 1st time: @ 34540mi, 4/7/2005. 2nd time: @ 49,746mi, 5/24/2006. orig s/w pn 3b094551a (from factory). 2nd s/w/1st replacement pn 3b0945511_ (assume basic pn), 3rd s/w/2nd replacement pn 3b0945511b). i have never had to change the brake light switch on my 1984 vw scirocco - i'm the original owner and had driven it over 174k miles! a failed brake light switch on this passat has much greater impact (lights, abs, throttle, cruise control) when it fails than it would on the scirocco (just lights), and it was the passat brake light s/w that failed twice - due to poor design/reliability. amazing and unacceptable. *tr

Purchase car in fl, now live in iowa due to job transfer. a/c unit continues to not blow cold air in a dependable method. have to shut off vehicle and restart to sometimes get it started again. now torque converter light came on just after powertrain warranty expired 1 month outside of warranty. got in contact with vw of america. would not asist, but instead sent $2,000 good faith voucher towards to purchase of a new vehicle to make an attempt to help me with the problems. please help. *tr

A/c doesn't always come one went the engine is started. it blows but not cool air. i can pull back off the highway, shut the engine off and restart and it works fine. i have had it into the dealership repeatedly. the have seen the problem but can't seem to resolve it.*jb

Front headlights malfunctioned - replaced them but they couldn't make the alignment of the beam. the car runs to the right but the wheels are calibrated and the direction alignment is done. the car infiltrated water inside the car and trunk. sunroof malfunction - opens in all positions but don't close. the car as the front glass is from 2005 and all the others are from 2002, construction of the car 2003. diesel escaped from the pump. cd changer - 6 cds as malfunction the radio doesn't eject the cd's. the motor gag various times a constant rotation. the trunk was hard to open and close. there are other complaints.... the complaints begin 15 days from the purchase. *jb

New '03 passat purchased in dec. '02. feb. '03 i noticed difficulty with steering when the wheel was turned to the extreme left or right. after several trips to the dealership in which power steering fluid was found to be low and refilled, it was determined that the power steering rack needed to be replaced. in mar '03, the power steering rack was replaced by volkswagen under warranty. nov. '04, i again noticed difficulty with the steering in extreme left or right wheel positions. dec. '04, vw determines that the power steering rack again needs to be replaced. they claim that there is no larger problem with the car leading to repeated failure of the power steering rack. likewise, they insist that there is no intrinsic problem with vw power steering racks. however, i find it difficult to believe that two power steering racks from vw placed in the same car in a two year period just happened to be faulty. *jb

The ignition coils on my 2002 vw passat 1.8t ar about to fail for the third time. the car was bought in may of 2002. the first incident occured in december, the second in january, and now it is about to happen again now in february. each incident is preluded by a slight jolt in the car upon start up followed bu rough idleing. every time we take it and and are told it is fixed and then sure enough a month later i am back there again. i do not see this problem getting any better. in addition the mach rstereo system has been fixed, then replaced. the replacement unit's qulaity is poor in comparison to the original. this car has been a nightmare.

Brake failure light appears even after multiple brake repairs. driver?s side rear upper brake light replaced for 29th time in less than 2 yrs. multiple coolant leaks still present even after repair and water pump replacement. radio/amplifier not functioning even after replacement (radio was only used twice in vehicle?s lifetime). diagnostics show airbag malfunction. regulator pin on rear passenger side window keeps breaking (3rd replacement since 2003). engine cover below car keeps falling off due to rusted bolts. homelink system keeps malfunctioning. fuses keep blowing out. dashboard panel lights out (odometer, fuel gauge, etc.). ccm module keeps breaking down. car needs to be jumpstarted when not in use for over 48 hrs. climate control (a/c and heater) works only sporadically. all repairs performed by vw dealership, yet same issues keep reappearing just a few weeks after repairs. repairs performed in past 2 years: ecu unit replaced, brake light switch replaced 3 times, a/c compressor unit replaced, abs module replaced, alternator replaced, brakes replaced 3 times. *tr

After starting vehicle and reversing out of driveway, oil pressure light came on after the egine rpm's reached 18000. 40000 miles service was done 6 mths prior. dealer claims it resulted from oil overfill. not the case, oil overfill resulted after the fact. vw america will not honor powertrain warranty, saying maintenance records incomplete. *nlm

Multiple problems with the 2001 vw passat. problems began at 16000 miles and have continued up to the current date and mileage of 33000 miles. car has been seen in vw service department 11 times since november 2001. lawsuit has been filed against vw america.

Heater stopped working-heater core checked and found to be okay. thermastat replaced. water pump found to be non-functional and replaced. problem not solved. head gaskets replaced and found cracked head. head replaced -s still did not solve the heat problem. heater core replaced-still did not solve the problem. radiator replaced - problem appears to be solved, however car runs worse than it did before spending $3,500-. totall frustrated and no help from audi after numerous phone calls. car warranty ran out in december-problem occured in january.

Starter coil failure - for over a month the problem would appear and disappear. sounded almost like the muffler fell off, but would be accompanied by loss of power to the vehicle. unexplainable as to why this happened.

Failed coil pack on vehicle after only 16000 miles. dealer service adviser stated that vw is aware of this problem in all 2001 thru 2003 vw passats with 1.8 liter turbo engines. service adviser stated that vw is having so many failures on this product that the part had to be ordered through vin direct from germany. they will not replace all four coils, only the failed items. vehicle failed on highway and became a safety hazard to other motorists until i could negotiate to safe area to investigate failure. ts

I recently leased a vw passatt station wagon and things have gone wrong with it even before the car had 300 miles on it. the car has less than 5000 miles on it and it has spent some 10 days at the repair shop. defects have included a transmission that would disengage, heated seats that would not turn off, a/c and side mirrors that would not work, a module had to be replaced, the car had to be aligned, the front spoiler fell off, a speaker had to be replaced, part of the trim on the back was falling off, the memory settings on the driver's seat were not working, and the sun roof was rattling. the sales department has responded to all my calls by saying that i need to talk to the service department or to vw corporate directly. i have done both, when i called vw corporate they responded that as long as the car was driveable they would cover it under warranty and would not replace the car. they offered me a lube job as a settlement!