2nd Jan 2006, 23:57

I'm driving my Dad'S 2001 Passat and at the end of my trip the climate control shut down, not good for foggy nights, If anyone has any info I'd appreciate it. I checked the fuse and that's not it.

13th Jan 2008, 18:23

Sad to say this, but I am glad I've found a list of others who are disappointed with their Passat! I was starting to think I was crazy because I have only heard good things about VWs thus far. I absolutely love the appearance and handling of the car, but have been to the service department so many times, the guys already know my name : (From the trunk latch to speakers to instrument cluster... this car has been a nightmare. Not to mention that replacing a simple headlight turns into a costly ordeal when you realize that it has to be taken into the dealer for replacement. I can say I will never buy another VW - and wouldn't recommend it to anyone with a tight budget.

19th Jan 2008, 21:56

I just recently purchased an 01 Passat 2 weeks ago with 55,000 miles on it. Already it is back at the dealer because the turn signals stopped working the other day, lights for the heater controls went out and the fuse for the power adapter keeps blowing. I am very weary and am already considering exploring my options of getting a new car. I wish I had seen this site before I made the purchase.

16th Aug 2008, 14:57

We have a 2001 GLX 4Motion Passat and it is a major lemon. I can't tell you how many times I have had to replace brakelights (>4), headlights (>4), etc. In fact, the headlights both went out last week at night no less. Try driving with no headlights sometime and needing to high beam everyone.

The dash indicators are all jacked up, the turn signal indicator had to be replaced, the water pump blew out and almost killed the car. The serpentine belt had to be replaced twice now (@ > $800 a pop). The alignment has chewed threw 4 sets of very expensive tires. This list goes on and on.

We bought the car for something like 28K, and I shudder to think of the costs we have incurred trying to keep this dangerous beast running.

All this and we are only at 70K miles.

This is the last VW I will ever buy. NEVER buy a VW.

28th Aug 2008, 23:57

I have a 2001.5 Passat with 4motion, triptronic, etc. It's loaded. I love the way the car drives, but it has been an electrical nightmare from the beginning. It has only 48,000 miles. Initially the stereo stopped working. Replaced at a cost of nearly $1000. I have replaced the passenger side tail light every 3 months for the last 6 years. The rear drivers side door window and lock do not work and no one can figure out why. Now the AC has stopped working (most of the time... it occasionally works for no apparent reason). When it isn't working, there are two dashes (--) where the outside temperature readout should appear. The dashboard lights (especially the AC) don't come on and off with the headlights, but seem to come on and off whenever they want. Now the battery drains if I don't drive the car every day. I recently had the car at the dealer for over a week and they replaced the CCM and the control head for the AC with no change. I made them take the new parts off as I refused to pay for parts that didn't fix the problem. Then I took the car to an independent foreign car repair shop and they kept it for 29 days before they admitted that they had no idea what the problem is. VW would only offer to sell me another car at a discount. I will NEVER buy another VW for any reason. If anyone has any thoughts on what's going on with this car, I'd appreciate any help you could give. But hurry, I'm going to try to trade the car this weekend.

2nd Mar 2009, 00:29

I'm glad I saw this site cause I'm on a tight budget and I was going to purchase a 2001 Passat GLS used, and now I'm glad I'm not going to do it. Thanks Guys!

13th Jul 2009, 16:40

My 2001 Passat GLX has been nothing but a money pit. The latest thing to fail, which I have not priced yet, is the self dimming mirror that is now all foggy and not working. I love the way the car drives and the creature comforts, but it is EXPENSIVE to keep. I would never buy another German car - that famous German "engineering" really means lots of bucks to keep it running - true for ALL German cars, way overrated!

24th Jul 2009, 15:01

Wow, I was just about 4 hours away from driving up to another town and buying an '01 Passat V6 that I found on craigslist. After reading all the comments (not one of them positive) I am definitely canceling my appointment. Thanks guys for posting, and I'm sorry your German car turned out to be so horrible...

30th Aug 2009, 08:04

I too have a 2001.5 Passat purchased new. It's costly to maintain, but fun to drive when working properly.

10th Dec 2009, 15:57

I have a Standard 2001.5 Passat (not many mid-size cars have the standard transmission) bought new and I love it. I'm hoping I can make it to 100k like my other cars. But there have been some quirky electronics. Replacing the headlights is the biggest issue for me, generally once a year they blow out. I have had to replace the battery, but that was because I didn't realize it wasn't a maintenance free battery and let the water level get too low. And then there was the 10 amp fuse that kept blowing, which made my left side marker lights fail. Added a 15 amp fuse and haven't had any issues since in that position. The latest is the heater doesn't work. I've seen heater core recalls, but not for my year. So, if I want to keep the car, it will probably cost me a bit on this one.

Overall, it's not any more expensive than other cars I've had over 75k miles.

One respondant above mentioned mysteriously disappearing oil. I talked to a car guy who said this is typical of any automobile that uses 5W-40 or 0W-40 oil and is starting to get up there in mileage. The molecules are just too small to stay in the chambers and tend to go out the exhaust.