11th Mar 2003, 17:02

The driver side rear floor fills up with water in our 2002 VW Passat. The dealer service had the car for two days, but could find no leaks. Open doors and/or windows have been eliminated as the problem.

1st May 2003, 10:05

I have a 2002 Passat with a 1.8 Turbo engine. I purchased it July, 2002 and it has been nothing but trouble. I have had it in the shop around six times in the last eight months. The speedometer has gone out, the radio has gone out, two ignition coils had gone out, the tachometer went out, and something in the transmission went out. Of course, VW has fixed all of these problems, but not without a high degree of poor customer service and extreme inconvenience.

I have been dealing with the BBB since all of this began and to this day, the VW Corporation has not fully refunded my rental car expenses nor offered an apology. I asked that my car be replaced with another one and they refuse.

Buyer Beware! Do not purchase a Volkswagen. It is not just the Passat, but the company itself. They had many opportunities to do the right thing and they chose not to.

On top of all that I have written above, this morning, my Passat would not start... I guess I'll have it towed back in to the dealership. The grief continues...

3rd Oct 2003, 17:25

Most all present grade SAE oils 5W-30 will protect an engine for at LEAST 5,000 miles if it run at the right temperature. (Meaning the thermostat is working properly and the engine warms up correctly and drives off the moisture that causes sludge in the oil).

No such problems with the Passat V6. Turbocharged engines are great if you want to lease the car for 24 months. If you want to keep it 12 years and get your money back, buy the V6. A Turbocharged engine is a lot more stressed than a bigger, normally aspired engine (that makes the same or more power) and the turbocharged engine will wear much quicker.

11th Nov 2003, 05:07

I have had a Passat 1.8 since new. I have had it serviced at the proper times and mileage.

Last week the timing belt went in between services. THe bill came to just under £2000.

VW do not want to know and have offered me no compensation.

21st Nov 2003, 17:03

I have a 2000 1.8 turbo Passat - I dearly love it! The wife was against buying a car in this price range, but we took the plunge and have been most happy through 50+ thousand miles. Now, the bad part. Recently, my beloved Passat has developed a bit of a hiccup. It's odd, but whenever I am accelerating through a tight right turn, as to get onto an interstate, I lose power. The engine doesn't stall, but rather, the ASR yellow icon flashes in the dash and the car slows. This continues until the "g" forces drop as I straighten out to merge into traffic. I then regain "power" and the vehicle runs fine. It doesn't matter if it's cold or warm or how long the vehicle has been running. I've searched under the hood for signs of "arcing" as in an electrical shorting, but have found none. Puzzling. Now here's the REALLY BAD part. The extended warranty I bought on the day I purchased the car is NULL and VOID. I've been told that the company has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The 650.00 I spent on top of my cars purchase price was for not. So I'm trying to diagnose this myself. Anybody heard of such a thing? It only happens when I make hard accelerating right turns. I am not "speeding" or driving hard, and the wheels are not losing traction.

22nd Nov 2003, 21:51

I doubt this will help, but figure it couldn't hurt as the vehicle in question was a Fox. BUT:

In my case it happened when I was around a 1/4 tank. Tried electrical, even replaced Fuel pump. ARRGH!!!

Phoned "someone who knows". He replied "transfer pump". This was a second pump in the tank. I did it and... WOW!!!

It was HEALED!!!

Like I said, two COMPLETELY different cars, but the behaviour sounds similiar. I hope this can at least give you a direction to go in, maybe someone else can add to this. Den.

27th Dec 2003, 03:52

My 1998 VW Passat has recently developed a water leak in the rear driver's side passenger footwell. I've tried to locate this, but without success. If anyone has found the solution to this problem please let me know!

7th Apr 2004, 21:23

If your water leak is colorless, it's probably the air conditioning drain tube. They can get plugged up and condensate cannot drain to the outside and it overflows into the car. It's about $75 to clean it out if that's what the leak is.

5th Jul 2004, 19:38

This is in response to the guy with the ASR light coming on during tight right turns. I am guessing that it could be an ABS wheel speed sensor. A tight right hand turn would cause the inside wheel to turn much slower than the left. This could be "fooling" the sensor into thinking this is slippage and triggering the ASR system. If not the wheel speed sensor I suspect the problem lies somewhere in the ASR system. Your first step would be to check to make sure all of the wheel speed sensors are clean so they are getting the correct readings. I.

1st Sep 2004, 17:40

I own a 2002 Passat GLS with a 1.8 turbo. Has anyone had issue's with the oil pump? We have about 62,000 in mileage and the dealer promised to repair it on warranty, but has refused because they say we don't have enough records to prove the oil changes have been done.

17th Feb 2005, 07:06

My Passat is a 1999 and in general I love it. My problem is that it is using oil like crazy. I have kept up all of the maintenance and gone through three oil pumps due to sludge - thank goodness for a great power train warranty. The dealership, which provides excellent service, tells me that it can be expected for the Passat to use a quart of oil per 1000 miles. Is this so? Can I do anything to remedy the situation? Is it in writing anywhere that this is acceptable oil use?

21st Nov 2005, 17:39

I bought a used 2000 volkswagon, and I have had it for two months, and the check engine light came on. what should I do now?

14th Feb 2006, 17:33

I have had a 2002 Passat for the last 8 months, it has already had over $3,000 in troubles, including the cv axle and boot going 3 times. Once in the dealership it takes weeks to get out. Twice they forgot about my car. I ask about trading it in, and they offered half of what I paid, only a little over 7 grand. To drop 7 grand in 8 months is absurd. Any way it is in the shop again with guess what another cv axle problem it has been there for just under three weeks, back order on the part. DO NOT BUY VW, ANY OF THEM!!!

5th Mar 2008, 13:41

I have a 2002 1.8 Passat which I bought new in June of 2002. I have taken it to the VW dealer for service every 5000 miles. Aside from the coils being recalled, I've replaced rear brakes (45,000 miles), rear rotars, axle boot, rear brakes a 2nd time (70,000 miles), pads, liners, disc rotors, a headlight, the battery and 2 motor mounts. I don't really know how this compares to other vehicles because this is the 1st time I've ever kept track of service. I've spent about $6391 (including tires) on the car which is an average of 6.7 cents per mile driven (plus gas of course). The car has 95,000 miles on it. I really love the vehicle.