2006 Volkswagen Passat 3.6 4Motion review from North America
"Expensive and unreliable"
What things have gone wrong with the car?
HID headlights failed the day we took delivery and required 2 weeks to repair. At 15000 miles the original engine failed due to a sheared bolt in the oil pump. It took the dealer 2 weeks to replace that engine, and the factory replacement engine failed on startup with the same problem. After another 2 weeks the dealer told us that the second replacement engine (third overall) failed on startup with the same problem. A week later they called to say that the car was repaired. We took delivery and the serpentine belt fell off after 10 miles.
After they fixed that we have driven it about 600 miles with no failures, but are afraid to drive far from home for fear it will leave us stranded.
General comments?
A lovely car with great interior room and lots of luxury touches. The 3.6L engine has superb power and the all-wheel drive is great on wet and snowy roads. When it runs we love it, but we are afraid of driving it far now for fear of breakdowns.
Overall, a great car let down by horrible reliability and poor dealer service - the car was out of service for 7 weeks in the first 6 months of ownership!
Recommended reviews
| One of the best cars around with a strong family ties |
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| Go for it if you want to keep it at the dealership and not drive it over half the time! |
| Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? | No |
| Model year | 2006 |
| Year of manufacture | 2006 |
| First year of ownership | 2006 |
| Most recent year of ownership | 2007 |
| Engine and transmission | 3.6L V6 Automatic |
| Performance marks | 9 / 10 |
| Reliability marks | 0 / 10 |
| Comfort marks | 9 / 10 |
| Dealer Service marks | 0 / 10 |
| Running Costs (higher is cheaper) | 5 / 10 |
| Overall marks (average of all marks) | |
| Distance when acquired | 6700 miles |
| Most recent distance | 15600 miles |
| Previous car | Volkswagen Beetle |
| Date of Entry | 12th July, 2007 |