21st May 2008, 06:17

I have a 2001.5 new Passat GLS 1.8L Turbo. It is at the VW dealers shop, because I lost power. The coil packs need to be replaced. The shop wants $750 to replace them. I think this is a fairly easy repair and I could do it my self for about the cost of the 4 coil packs at about $150. The shop says it is including changing the spark plugs, cleaning the fuel injector and throttle assembly. I think they just want to squeeze extra $$ from me. Should I just replace the packs myself?? And forget about the throttle assembly and fuel injectors and spark plugs. I had the spark plugs replaced about a year ago. Thanks for any ideas about what to do. So the question is should I let the shop do, coil packs, spark plugs, clean the injectors and throttle assembly or should I just replace the coil packs myself ?? I have 110K miles on it.

21st Mar 2009, 14:00

I have a 2000 VW Passat. I just got it with 32000 miles on it. It was my 84 year old mother's car.

Right off the bat the engine/workshop light went on. I got it diagnosed at two places. It is the air pump, check valve, and hose. The first place charged $100. for the diagnosis and wanted $1200. to fix it. The second place diagnosed it for free and wants $850. I thought I was getting a care-free car. $100 for diagnosis and $850 for repair, about a $1000 fix on a practically brand new car.

What are EOA parts?

12th Apr 2009, 01:20

I have a 2002 Passat 1.8L Turbo with 125K+ miles. I have always put Premium gas inside the car, but I did recently switch to using Premium with 10% ethanol at my local Kroger gas station. I do have records of all my car's service. I have gone for regular service within 5-6K mile intervals. Sometimes, I have gone longer than 6 months because I know drive less to work than before. I just want to give you a full understanding of my background.

I recently have experienced a melting plastic smell in my garage at night when I turn off the car. It is not every night. I actually had to replace the dipstick tube recently because the plastic and tube fused together. I thought I had fixed the problem; however, the melting plastic smell occasionally has continued.

Furthermore, I have notice a light brown oil based liquid leaking from the engine block. It is not 100% oil. This leaking fluid started after I replaced the dipstick tube.

I have decided to read up on the situation, and I'm totally shocked by all of the horrible stories about the oil sludge problem.

I would some guidance on my situation before I ask my mechanic for some insight. If you have a oil sludge problem, can you do anything before it gets to the emergency situation? Should I start to use full premium gasoline without ethanol because of the high mileage? What questions should I ask the mechanic before they start their diagnosis?

12th Jul 2009, 14:09

To the post above... sounds like it could be related to the heat shield / cat recall recently announced by VW. I would bring it to your local VW dealer and have them check to see if it's related. Did you get a letter from VW re: the recall?

10th Dec 2009, 00:12

Hi,

I own a 2000 VW GLX Passat. When the car is warm and I turn on the heater (air recycling is off) I smell strong burning oil inside the cabin. When I switched to air recycle the smell is gone after a while. I took it to the dealer and they told me a seal inside the engine is broken, and it will cost $1250 to replace. Can anybody share any info on this issue?

11th May 2010, 08:58

Ohh my GOD, you guys just made the glorious VW Passat wagon GLS look like trash, truly I was just planning on buying one because I had gotten a good deal for it. But now that you mention it, I would be crazy to buy this car. Truly isn't there a way round the expenses and all the mechanical break downs? I believe spare parts are expensive depending on which country you are, and secondly if you guys say the car is that bad, why doesn't it have as many recalls? I only registered 4.

I think you people are against VW; I have seen a lot of low income earners enjoying the car. So as the saying goes, "take care care of me and I will take care of you". German cars just need a little more attention that others. Please, the VW is a great car, actually a durable car. Sometimes you need a little faith with cars, because $1000 repairs could save you from throwing your car away. Think about it.

Oscar.

19th Aug 2010, 12:39

I would like to know if an independent mechanic is the best one to look at the car before purchase to check out the vehicle, and how do you do it?

The mechanic store deals specifically with Volkswagen's.

6th Nov 2010, 12:20

On the dashboard of my 2000 Volkswagen Passat wagon, there is a mileage indicator on the top of the screen that I have no idea what it means. Can anyone explain what this mileage indicator means?

10th Nov 2010, 00:56

I bought a 2001.5 Volkswagen Passat 1.8 turbo engine almost a year ago. When the car was purchased, it had 76,000 miles on it. The first few months were trouble free.

In June 2010, the A/C compressor failed. I checked around on replacement compressors. VW wanted over 900.00 for just the compressor, so I started my search on the internet for replacement parts. I found a web site that had an A/C replacement kit. The kit had a new compressor, drier and metering device for less than 400.00. I bought the replacement from the internet and replace the parts myself. A/C has been great since the repair.

One evening 2 weeks ago, my girl friend called and said the car was making a lot of noise, she was about three miles from home. I told her to drive it home. When she got home, I went out to see what was wrong. It sounded like a diesel engine.

So the next morning we called the shop. I figured the engine was trash, so I drove it to the repair shop the next morning. About three hours later service writer called and said that the cam shaft tensioner was bad. Also quoted the timing belt and water pump also needed replaced. At a total of 2200.00. Then the service writer also said that the engine may need desludged as well. To remove the sludge would run another 1200 to 1400 more. Keep in mind that this engine only has 86,000 miles on it now. So the repairs would be around 3400.00-3600.00. Seems like a lot of money for a car that is only worth 6-8k.

This will be the last VW that will ever sit in our driveway. We should have stuck with Subaru!!! NEVER AGAIN.