VW Passat .... if you ever consider owning one ....

[Delphinus]

This is rediculous.

I had a 1991 Passat that I absolutely adored for several years until a little old lady driving on the highway decided to cross the double line and drive into me head-on. At highway speeds we were both lucky to live through that accident.

Anyways I adored that Passat and since it died in a spectacular fashion, I decided to get a new Passat. So two years ago I bought a 1995 Passat. I had been drooling over the VW VR6 engine ever since it's inception in the early 90's. A very peppy engine and a lot of fun to drive.

Well ... let me tell you something if you ever consider a Passat. WALK AWAY!!!! Don't let the "nice driving feeling" intoxicate you.

I have owned this car for 2 - 1/2 years and let me tell you. I HAVE SUNK ABOUT $8000 INTO MAINTAINING THIS CAR IN THAT TIME. That's rediculous!!! The maintenance this car needs is high, high end. I mean ... literally, this is the kind of maintenance I would be OK with if the car was a Porsche 911 (and I mean a high-end 911 not a 20 year old 911.)

$1000 last week for a new hydraulic clutch.

$600 today for miscellaneous steering components.

Just discovered today that the rack is toast. Ok, so much for the $600 now I'm looking at more like $1600 (because the rack is about $1000 and that's for REBUILT). After 4 VW's in the last ten years, I can tell you that VW doesn't have a clue when it comes to steering racks. This is a serious weakness with this maker. I went through 3 steering racks on my old 1991 GTI. That car just ate racks. When I got the word today that my steering problems of late are coming from the rack .... I just about lost it.

But .... I have bigger problems than just a mere $1000 steering rack.

MY TRANSMISSION JUST LOST A SYNCHRO GEAR. You can hear it banging around in there as you drive. Unbeleivable. This car must have been so abused in its previous life.

I mean ... what is this? Did my car suddenly turn into a Chrysler? I have to replace my tranny???!! Who ever heard of replacing a STANDARD transmission?! It's not an automatic for crying out loud!

BTW, I'm a decent driver. I don't pop my clutch, I don't ride my clutch. I don't drag race. I take my car in for oil changes and all the scheduled maintenances.

Well ... that's it. I'm through owning second-hand VW's. I might possibly be through with owning VW's altogether, and forever. Forget "Drivers Wanted." They should change their logo to "Parts Wanted." They USED to be good cars. Ten years ago. But now ... no, forget it. They are just low-end Audi's with high-end Porsche maintenance needs.

Do yourself a favour. Stay away from them.

To think of the reef setup I could have had by now. Man alive.

BTW, I'm now looking for a decent 1984 GTI. Best car I ever owned (too bad it was STOLEN and then WRECKED by some PUNK!! AAARRRGGGGHHH!!!!)

[AJ_77]

:shock:

I'm with you man, our '86 Jetta was the biggest POS ever. Even though they are wildly popular now (and supposedly better), I wouldn't touch one. I will not buy another VW - that's still a real bad taste in my mouth.

Very Sorry to hear of your VW disaster. People complain bitterly about domestic products, but I've known VW, Audi and even Merdeces owners with horror stories similar to yours. Doesn't make sense.

Aj

[Samw]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

This is rediculous.

I had a 1991 Passat that I absolutely adored for several years until a little old lady driving on the highway decided to cross the double line and drive into me head-on. At highway speeds we were both lucky to live through that accident.

I mean ... what is this? Did my car suddenly turn into a Chrysler? I have to replace my tranny???!! Who ever heard of replacing a STANDARD transmission?! It's not an automatic for crying out loud!

Wow. Highway head-on?? Horrific but glad to know you both walked away from it.

Replacing the entire transmission is also standard procedure for my Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo (Mitsubishi 3000GT VR-4 rebadged). If you look up the shop manual under transmissions, its says that they are not serviceable. Neither Dodge nor Mitsubishi sells parts for them. Neither of them will even open up the Getrag tranny. A new tranny costs $10,000. Luckily, I found a rebuilt one for $2,500 from California. The driveshaft U-Joints are also not serviceable and repair requires a complete replacement at $2,000. Luckily, I got an aftermarket carbon fiber one with serviceable U-Joints for only $1,500. This is only since summer. I too have sunk about $8k-$10k in repairs on my car but over 4 years.

Oh, get this. Dodge sells spark plugs for my car at $50 per plug (not the entire set). A rubber air conditioning hose (about 3") was about $250. Good thing I had an extended warranty at that time otherwise, my repair total would have been >$15,000.

[EmilyB]

Did my car suddenly turn into a Chrysler?

[christyf5]

Quote:
Did my car suddenly turn into a Chrysler?

Wahaha, I was thinking a Chev! I used to own a Blazer. You know what gave them that name right?? The damned thing caught fire twice. :shock: Now thats a POS!!

Christy

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

I feel your pain...I have a Mazda 626 and its got some issues. But I also have a VW Passat...newer model though 2002. I like the Passat a lot and it has worked well for the past 1.5 years. The Passat is derived from the A4/A6 family (basically an A5ish) and its got the same drive components. VW really changed their attitude in the late 90s since VW was loosing market share to the bigger brothers - BMW and Mercedes.

I haven't heard much about any recent steering rack problems on VW. Most of the problems that I am hearing are electrical problems. If you think VW is bad...try an BMW. You'll get to know the dealer very well

Say...do you get your repairs done at the dealer or by yourself ?

VWs are like Ford of Germany...they aren't that great but they do handle a lot better than most America fords.

- Victor.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by reefburnaby

Hi,

VWs are like Ford of Germany...they aren't that great but they do handle a lot better than most America fords.

- Victor.

Bahhh don't even try to put Junk up to the same level as a FORD.. I have had 6 fords and never had any problems that cost me money.. I have a camaro and all I did was fix it, I had a dodge and took a mortgage out to repare it..


Steve

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

VWs aren't junk...they work fine if you get the right people to work on them. BTW, I have own 4 fords too. No problems with those cars. I seem to recall Ford had a thing with Tranys and electrical stuff for a while....

- Victor.

[Delphinus]

Well .... there are issues of reliability, which is one thing, and issues of abuse, which is another thing. There are two sides to my complaints here. One, I have to replace stuff that I think are completely unreasonable to replace at 150k. This is where I think the car was abused in the years prior to me owning it. Things that I should have found when I looked the car over, but I missed. So this is my own fault, and I'm mad at myself for it. Water under the bridge now though. Two, the cost of parts and the whole accelerated maintenance schedule is a little rediculous. I knew the cost of parts was high for Passats going into this. I've been driving Passats since 1996. It's just that as the designs get more and more overengineered, it gets harder and harder to perform routine maintenance and as such the cost of things that should be trivial suddenly become nontrivial. But the cost here is comparative to high-end sports car when in actual fact it is not a sports car but a sedan. This is where I'm mad at VW. I look back at all my invoices for the last 2 and half years and it really is astounding. These are costs I expect from cars that are much more expensive than this one was.

The steering rack as far as I'm concerned is an issue of reliability. However the tranny is not. This car has had abuse in a prior life. It's just coming to light now, now that I've finally broken down and decided to start really getting dirty. I pulled the clutch out last week and it's been since then that I've really noticed these other issues. If it was driven hard enough to damage the gears in the box, then it's conceivable that it is also an abuse issue with the rack. I just personally have a lot of misgivings about VW's steering racks since I've had another VW (my 1991 GTI) that ate racks like they were candy. It's possible that was a one-off thing but there was something about that car that caused it to wear through racks like nobody's business. So when someone says "VW" and "steering rack" I get soured. But it could just be random bad luck.

The real issue, the real issue that caution anyone about Passats in general, is the total cost of ownership. You're going to find this out if you keep your car beyond your warrantee period. These cars are low-end Audis, and the cost of parts reflect this.

When they're running, there isn't much to compare. They are some of the nicest cars out there IMO. I am a real lover of VW's (just starting to not love OWNING VW's).

It's like tridacnid clams. I love looking at tridacnids, but having some in my tank is the most stressful thing. "It is alright? Is it alright? ooops I looked at it wrong, and it died." Gaahhhh!!!!

Whatcha going to do. Oh well.

[titus]

Hello,

Hey Tony I feel for your problems bud. Can't believe that. Time for a S2000 eh. This bad boy is sooooo solid that it's beyond believe. I'm not talking about just driving. Even touching the body panels, they don't flex at all!

Titus