2002 Volkswagen Passat from North America - Comments

The first year I got the car everything was fine. When I bought it at the dealership supposedly it had a new timing chain. 67,000 miles later the timing chain breaks and the manufacturer warranty expired at 60,000 miles for that. The mechanic has no idea why it broke. $4330 later, it was fixed.

Then I had to replace the Transmission Control Unit because of some leak that was later recalled a year after, & VW does not honor their cars or help.

Owning this car almost 4yrs and $12,000 later and that includes money in repairs only.. I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER VOLKSWAGEN!!! I use to love them, until I owned one. I never met anyone that had one, until after I bought one, and then I come across 9 people I know personally, they hated their VW too. The only thing it is good for is $$ in gas you spend, if it is driveable.

The leather still looks brand new, but the seats aren't comfortable on long road trips.

An employee of a Volkswagen dealer even said there are more brand new VW's coming in for warranty work and repairs out of the owners pockets, more than any other new car they have on the lot. This dealer sells Jeep, Isuzu, Hyundai, Kia. I couldn't believe those were better than VW's.

This car is a nightmare and not dependable at all!! I would love to beat the crap out of the car and mail it to VW of America to show them what I think of their engineering. If VW were the only car makers, I would rather walk even in the 100 degree weather. That is how much I HATE VOLKSWAGEN'S!!!

There are only 2 good things about the car;

1) The leather stays nice if you take care of it.

2) The trunk is big.

That is all I can say positive about that.

I hope VW blows up or goes out of business with their crappy cars. I know people with every type of VW, so it is NOT just the Passat that has these problems. Everyone I have met that has one, they have spent several thousands of dollars in repairs even when they baby their car.

I will never in my life own another Volkswagen.

If I won a VW, I would tow it to trade it in for something else, because it may break down on the way if I drove it.

My 2001 Passat V6 has brought me nothing but grief since the day I purchased it. In 2005, it was, absolutely, a seemingly excellent buy with many options, beautiful drive, at 60K miles and only a $16K price tag. I have now spent easily that much now in maintenance... it bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds and bleeds the owner out of money. It's always SOMETHING. I just replaced the cat converters in the hope I can pass my CA smog. NOPE. Now I cannot pass because the ABS is out and it automatically fails the OBDII test at any smog station.

I have shared many of the problems complained about on this webpage. I will not bore by repeating details. All I have to say is that the my purpose in buying a VW was for the love of the logo and the history and LONGEVITY, a quality that VW has now long since tossed away. VW has seriously injured its reputation with the American consumer by building cars that are junk.

I also own a 2002 Passat. I agree that it is a great car to drive when it is working. It is a very sensitive car and not reliable. It requires frequent visits to the dealer because the car is designed such that no one but the dealer can fix it. Moreover the service dept at the VW dealer did not treat me right. I also hope VW goes out of business. They deserve it.