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Maintenance & Repair Maintenance & Repair - Archived Discussions Problems with 99 VW Passat GLS 
527 messages, Last post on Aug 08, 2000 at 11:56 PM
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| Bought my VW Passat GLS tiptronic because my husband didn't like the Honda Accord, which I love and have never had a single problem with. The Passat has been giving me one problem after another, perhaps it is just a lemon. From pieces falling off the side of the door that they just snap back into place (makes me feel real secure), seats that collect all the lint in the world and won't vacuum off (leather next time), to the oil leak they say isn't there (just in time since the warranty is over, now 30K miles), to now when I start my car in the morning and back out of my garage the exhaust is smoky which my dad says shouldn't happen. Any ideas as why this is happening? or has anyone had this problem? Trying to get the husband to trade it in for a dodge dakota crew cab. we'll see. | |
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I have a 98 Passat and was one of the first new body styles to hit the US market. I have had an enormous number of problems. Your steering problem is one I have had and my girlfriend has also had on her Jetta 2 times. As luck would have it my VW dealer is an Audi dealer too. The same day we brought in the car for the strange steering noise an A4 owners was reporting the same problem. We all had our Steering Racks replaced. I also had a strange noise that happened when I hit particular sized bumps. It was in the front of the car. I took it in and they could never duplicate it. Finally they looked and found that there are spacer blocks put between the frame of the car and suspension for shipment from Germany. Somehow they forgot to take them out during their "prep". That may be what you are experiencing. Overall I have never had this many problems with any other car. Here is a list of the problems I have had. Suspension spacers Dashboard computer (tach, speed, etc.) 2 times Lock system computer Steering Trunk & glovebox lights (not a fuse, wiring let loose) Harsh Idle (changed oxy sensor at 5k miles) Rattling Glovebox (3 times and loose again) Oil Leak somewhere they have not located (it is on the garage floor!) I really enjoy driving the car when it operates correctly. I get over 30mpg on every tank and happy with the performance. It has the best sound system of any car I have owned, and rides beautifully. I am getting ready to buy another car and just can't bring myself to put up with going to the 4-5 times per year for problems. I just don't feel confident in the quality of the car. I am hoping they are getting the "bugs" worked out but the Audi A4 has been out for a while and has some of the same problems. They use the same engine and many other components. My last car was a 626 and I can't recall ever taking it to a dealer for anything other than routine maintenance. Hope this helps. |
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"I have a 98 Passat and was one of the first new body styles to hit the US market." That kind of says it all. The 1998.5 was more then just a new body style, it was a whole new car. I think everyone would agree that buying early in the first model year is just asking for trouble. Not to belittle your problems, they do stink to have. almost 27k trouble free miles on my 99 GLS Turbo! |
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I bought my Passat in 98. Was great, back then was a real head turner. It now has 42,000 mile and is in for repair every other week. Trouble did not start too long after that. My 1st oil change, asked them to adjust the lights, was told it was an European styling, now that the warranty is up and I took it to another dealership, I was charged for this alignment. 2. A whistling noise started to come during the cold weather only, went away during the spring, and back again following winter. along with this the engine got noiser and sounded like a pick-up truck. The whistling noise was diagnosed as a power steering pump. The loud engine noise was not diagnosed properly and invloved replacing the alternator, power steering pump pulley and a generator. After this work was done I got a whistling noise every time I turn the steering wheel, I brought it back minutes after the repair, was told it was a air bubble will go away. By the time I drove off it was past the warranty mileage. The noise is still there and they refuse to fix it, saying its a power sterring belt and the warranty is over, even thought it was never there before the repairs. During this work they damaged my crusie control which worked fine before I brought it in. The dealer ship tried to blame me as it was shortly after the warranty period now. After much arguement they agreed was their fault and replaced for free/ 3. Shortly after that, airbag warning light - which needed resulted it being replaced. I later found out this is a common problem, but not reported to the customers. 4. A rattle in the front end started around 23K miles, every bump a hollow rattle was coming from the front end It gradually got worse. Initailly they never fixed it. Each oil change at the dealership, they ignored it. It was so loud. ^ months later, and at 42k miles they found it to be the stabliser link and control arm. Which they tried to charge me for, and ened me digging my records out and showing them this was reported to them a long time ago.. They have this on their system and were able to pull the work order up. IF not for my records they were going to charge me for this. THis car has been a nightmare for me since the day I got it. It handle great, but I end up getting rides to and from the dealer ship every other week from fellow employees and its starting to be a big joke. Really fed-up with this car and the sale people or anyone at the dealership is not eager to help. I am in the process of taking this up with VW America. I must have just got a lemon, but they way it is being handled by VW is just not right. |
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| I have to agree with sporin, your first mistake was buying the first year of a redesigned car. My 2000 has been perfect, no problems at all, VW has made a lot of running changes. I do think part of your problems are poor dealer service, that is an area VW could to a lot better on. I can't stand any of the VW dealers in my area, incompetent to say the least. | |
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I also have a 2000 Passat Wagon and I just looked at the roof rack and yes, on my car, there is a small gap between the metal and the plastic. It looks pretty normal to me, although I did notice that the roof rack plastic meets the car above the driver's seat. I love our Passat. It does have a bit more body roll than I'd prefer at times, but it's a fun little car. I just hope the car continues to be problem free as I rack up more miles. Oh yes, I'm not sure about other 2000 models, but my Passat came with a 6 disk cd changer for free. It was advertised as a Volkswagon special, but I think it's cause so many people complained about not having an in dash cd player. Have other people with the 2000 models received this extra? Azile |
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I've driven my 1999 Passat V6 with tiptronic for 1 1/2 years and 27,000 miles in L.A. traffic and freeways daily. I haven't found a better everyday, economical car for a performance oriented driver like myself (I've owned a 911S, BMW 3.0, Lotus, Fiat 124 sport coupe and have been through the Bondurant Race Drivers School). I've had no real problems at all with the car that VW didn't promptly fix (steering pump or something like that). The car screams when you get the revs above 4000. My normal driving mode is in tiptronic. I only use standard automatic in stop-and-go traffice. When you need to pull onto the freeway and get to 80 mph fast, the V6 with tip gets you there mighty quickly. The car is very comfortable, and a high quality vehicle in all respects. Don't let these maintenance posts discourage you. The Passat is one hell of a performance automobile. You have 24,000 miles to get the bugs fixed. A final tip: when shifting the tiptronic, to get a rapid shift, make the shift first, then instantly back off the gas,then get back on it. This is the reverse of what you are used to with a standard shift, but it works great. You'll be able to shift with nearly the speed you would get out of a manual transmission. |
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| Not certain if thisis relevent but I had a 1993 Passat station wagon that leaked oil for what seemed like years. The VW dealer kept telling me that it was no real problem and to diagnose the problem and fix it would cost me at least $250. Then I blew out a tire while traveling near the Poconos and ended up at a garage with all kinds of VW's sitting around and he says that he can fix "that oil leak ya got" for $30. It actually cost me $28. He said all he did was replace a gasket. I was in such a hurry that night that I forgot to ask him the details but it did not leak oil at all for the two years that I owned it afterward. | |
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Just bought my first VW--a beautiful new 2000 Passat 1.8T., and found this thread while browsing through Edmunds. Sorry to hear about your VW troubles. Not that it will necessarily make you feel any better, however, I would suggest that if that is the most trouble you've ever had with one car, then your'e not doing too badly--remember, it could be worse. As for your car--well, I must agree with the sentiment of others here--I would never, I say NEVER buy the first year of a redesign. WHY? I did this once with a '92 BMW 325i, and learned the hard way (I've mentioned my woes on other threads previously). My troubles outnumbered yours many times over, and was the worst nightmare my entire life. As for my car, only has about 600 miles as of today, but the initial quality and satisfaction is very high. If everything that I've read about the '98 Passats is true--which I don't doubt those of you who have posted troubles are not telling the truth--I would say that someone somewhere is paying attention. Live and learn, I suppose. READERS TAKE NOTE: NEVER, EVER, EVER BUY THE FIRST YEAR OF A MAJOR REDESIGN OF ANY CAR--unless you are very daring, patient, and have plenty of free time (you'll likely be spending lots of time at your local dealer). Just pick up a copy of the Consumer Reports Car Buying Issue, and compare all the repair records of different cars from the first year of their release to the most recent. |
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