Faults:

The controls on the steering wheel did not work. The steering wheel had to be replaced.

The radio, Monsoon system, was completely dead for a while and then it could not stay on any station. The stations kept changing, without control. It would stay on a station for 5-10 seconds and skip to another. This was also fixed.

Now there is a problem with the coil, the car had to be towed to the dealer. Since the part is not in stock, the car has to stay at the dealers for a while.

General Comments:

This car was fun to drive at the beginning, till the problems started.

Faults:

The service folks detected a coolant leak when I took my car for my 5000 mile service. It was fixed in a day though and they give me a rental car.

Few weeks later one ignition coil failed and it was towed to the dealership. Luckily it happened early morning in my garage. They did not have ignition coils in stock and had to wait for two weeks to get my car back. They give me another Passat to drive though. Two weeks later, VW of America sent a letter apologizing for the ignition coil problem, but no mention of replacing the other coils. I don't feel like taking the car on long drives afraid of being stranded somewhere because of the other three ignition coils.

General Comments:

I absolutely love driving this car. I don't have any problems driving a 1.8T contrary too many reviews I read.

If not for the ignition coil problem I had the car is definitely worth the money I paid for it.

Faults:

Two failed ignition coils within 5 months of ownership.

Leak in gas tank resulting in spillage and fire department intervention - first weekend of ownership.

General Comments:

Two of the car's four ignition coils have failed in the first five months we have owned it. Each failure rendered the car inoperable. VW acknowledges that all of the ignition coils in 2001, 2001.5, and 2002 1.8T Passats are "susceptible to failure," but they refuse to replace the remaining coils until they "actually fail." For us, that means two more breakdowns and two more tows - the only question is when and where. VW says it is not treating the ignition coil defects as a recall because this is not a "safety issue." Having been stranded on the side of the road twice in the last month, I could not disagree more. I am extremely disappointed in VW's handling of this known defect and will never buy another VW.

Faults:

The outstanding problems with this vehicle are the ignition coil and the dismal response of VW-America. One must threaten them with the lemon-law or lawsuit to get any sort of turnaround in repair time.

I've had 3 coils replaced in the last 2 months, and for the first two coils, the car was not in my possession for over 30 days. This last coil problem had the car at the dealer for 2 days, but I blew my stack with VW-America on the phone Monday night.

General Comments:

I wonder how VW-America keeps their "customer care reps" because they must be getting chewed-out hourly by irate Passat owners.

I was in love with this car at first: the safety features were on par, the feel of the car on the road, and the interior feel of the car was just fantastic. But, all those positives were erased by the sub-standard customer service of VW-America - basically a non-response to a serious problem.