2008 Volkswagen Passat TDI from UK and Ireland - Comments

It's almost easier to list what hasn't gone wrong with this car!

The 2nd week I had it, the parking brake released itself and the car rolled into the garage door (we live on a hill). Damaged the garage door and broke the bumper, grill and a headlight. Dealer said I should have parked it in gear! Ongoing legal argument over insurance costs.

The parking brake released itself several times over the following few months. Argument with dealer about safety of a parking brake that releases itself when the car is parked...

Then the parking brake started not to release on acceleration. This particularly happened on hill starts. Cue more arguments with dealer.

ECU needed an upgrade to cure a flat spot.

CD player failed and had to be replaced under warranty.

Battery went flat twice. Evidently a software fault with CD player means that if you don't leave a CD in it, the radio switches itself on and flattens the battery!!! Used the very nice man from VW recovery, who says this is a common problem.

Clutch judder on takeup. Clutch replaced at 18000 miles and "dual mass flywheel" whatever that is. My suspicion is that this is due to the dreaded electronic parking brake fault. Another argument with dealer about who would pay for the clutch.

Rain sensing wipers not working properly.

Central locking goes bonkers in heavy rain.

Sat Nav disc supplied was out of date.

Windows occasionally won't wind up unless you switch off the car and restart it. Dealers can't find any fault.

EGR (?) valve failed causing black smoke and loss of power. Replaced under warranty by dealer without quibble for a change. (I gather this is another common fault as they had them in stock).

It would be a nice car if it worked.

Electronic parking brake should be ditched in favour of a conventional unit. It is a major source of unreliability and frustration.

Car is nice to drive on the motorway, but a bit cumbersome in town.

MPG is not as good as I expected, and rarely gets above 50 even on the motorway.

I am very disappointed with the build quality & reliability of this car.

The dealers are hopeless and very expensive.

There are many common faults with this car that the dealers won't admit to.

I agree with a lot of the comments. I fail to see the advantage of the electronic parking brake.

I have a number of minor niggles, which the dealer isn't interested in and implies that it is my imagination. (I have a problem where the headlights come on during a long daytime journey and was told that it is normal as they are designed to come on at speeds in excess of 78mph - If so, why not every time?).

Build quality OK but not as good as my previous model Passat.

I now have a flat spot at 1800rpm where the car occasionally attempts to stall when pulling away in traffic. I guess they will tell me that is normal as well.

I see they still aren't making decent cars!! German cars are best to be avoided nowadays as they are terrible!

It's like a grab bag. Sometimes you end up with an excellent Volkswagen. Other times you just get a Lemon. Check with your state Lemon laws. You might be able to get the dealer to buy it back or replace it with a brand new one.

The OP is from Europe. I do not think they have the lemon laws that the US has =(

I foolishly ignored the complaints of disatisfied owners of the new Passat and purchased a 2008 2.0 SE, which I much regret. I was the very happy owner of two previous models, which drove nearly 300000 miles and only required routine maintenance. I have been to the VW dealer and have been told that the electronic parking brake is correct. To do a hill start, I would need a third leg. One for the accelerator, one for the brake pedal and one for the clutch as the electronic parking brake does not always release as supposed to.

I also have a terrible problem with condensation, which is getting worse as the weather gets colder. I will never buy another VW.