2000 Volkswagen Passat V6 4Motion wagon from North America - Comments

I sort of messed up on my explaining the probs with my 2000 Passat, here is how it went;

1. Timing belt, water pump and back brakes = $2100

2. Less than a week after that, check engine light emissions workshop. Oxygen sensors = $1000

3. Less than a week later, check engine light emissions workshop, fuel heat sensor and ONE bad plug wire = $900

4. Less than a week later, check engine light emissions workshop, this time I ditched the dealer and took it to a local mechanic. All plug wires bad, all plugs bad, coil bad. He DID show me the BAD parts, black gunky plugs etc. = $1000.

After the second time to the dealer, I noticed that the stereo only worked after 8am, perfectly I might add. About a week later the stereo only worked after 10am and now it works on & off after noon. I really want to try the #42 fuse thing, but I can't find the fuse box.

I have had similar problem of the seals for the boot for the drivetrain. I sent a letter to VW complaining about this issue and they said that there was no recall notice so it would not be covered. Actually, the boot for my 2000 Passat cracked at around 70k and then around 90k. I find this very disturbing to know that it is NOT a defective part problem. Also, I have had to replace the water pump twice in the lifetime of the car: once at 60k and second time at 80k. Fortunately, I bought the car with the original factory warranty of 100k powertrain coverage or else the cost would have been $1500 to replace the water pump. As to one of the previous comments regarding a thumping noise when coming to a stop, I had that experience in my old Ford Windstar and it was due to the engine mounts wearing out. I don't know if it is the same problem for the VW, but I suspect it to be similar.

Now at about 99k I need to replace the clutch.

I have two VW at home: 2001 Passat and 2002 Golf.

Both cars' check engine lights on and off all the time. THe sensors have been replaced for numberalbe times ($400). Passenger side water leaking happened once ($400), 4 tires have to be changed at 38000 miles ($400), head lights changed twice for Passat, air meter and hose ($600)...

Although driving VW is fun, it is too expensive to maintain it. Vote NO for future.

My 2000 Passat 1.8T Wagon has currently 178,000 miles on it. I purchased it with around 35K on it, and it ran like a champ until about 80K. Then the EMISSIONS WORKSHOP signal. Took it into a VW dealer and got lucky, he told me not to worry about it and put some premium gas in her. I ran the premium for a tank and it went away. For a month. It has been on ever since. I just deal with it.

Also, I have blown at LEAST 5 of each headlamp bulbs and two or three front turn signal bulbs. Always seems to happen when first starting the car.

I was told I needed a new clutch at 105K, but drove from Grand Rapids to Maine and back no problem. Now at almost 180K, it is barely there anymore. Taking it in next week, initial estimate (non-VW mechanic) is $950. Other than the weird "quirks", its been a relatively good car, but next I will listen to Consumer Reports and buy a Honda or a Toyota.

I have a 2000 VW Passat 4 Motion... My "emissions workshop" light comes on all the frickin time... an easy fix for that is disconnecting the battery for 1-3 minutes and then hooking it back up... It resets the computer and makes the light go off... I have been dealing with that for about two years now... It first happend about 6 months after I bought it... it is a pain, but you can remedy the problem yourself... why pay someone else to do something you can do yourself!!! I have a few other problems though... my turn signal is loose... so if I hit a bump or something they come on... very annoying.. not sure how to get that fixed, also, if I turn the heat/ac up past like 2 it makes this horrible sound... It works, but it is so loud and embarrassing... I am not sure what that is either... any ideas?

My wife and I received my parents 2000 VW Passat 1.8T two years ago. It currently has 180,000 miles.

We have had major issues with it since we received the vehicle. Namely the "Check Engine/Emissions Workshop", which came on while we were living in Georgia (A Non-Emissions County), so no major worries, but we paid to have the mass air flow sensor replaced nonetheless as we knew that when I was out of the military we would move back to Northern Virginia and would have to pass emissions.

Didn't work, light still comes on every time that we fire her up. Funny though is that it has passed emissions two times. Friend that rebuilds older VW Bugs for fun asked about it and said that it is simply a faulty computer problem.

We just drive with it and have learned to live with it. It is not blinking so all should be well.

This morning, while pulling into the parking garage at work, we got a wonderful STOP! Oil Pressure warning. Freaked me out, because I had heard no issues with this before. Stopped, let it cool down, checked oil. Everything seems fine. Light has not come back on.

I am now sitting here trying to get up the gall to try and make it home in D.C. traffic this evening.

Overall, once we stopped worrying and just kept driving it and servicing it like normal, it has run fine. Now, just to wait and see about the STOP light.

We are not looking to replace the VW with another VW, looking at a Honda or Toyota, better service and better reliability... oh yeah and we won't pay a 7 - 8 thousand premium for the VW name.

I had a 99 Golf and I have a 99 Passat GLS V6. I love the driving fun of the car and the way mine looks (made a few modifications to lights and appearance) but I hate the cars themselves.

Starting with the Golf, I owned it for one year. In that year, I spent over $1,000 in repairs for stuff that should not have broken and when I did take it to the dealership, they broke something every time they touched the car. Engine lights were on and off all the time. Clear coat was cracking off the hood. Catalytic converter broke for no apparent reason. Got a recall for the front window clips… windows were fine, got recall in the mail, both clips broke that afternoon.

On to the Passat. Power locks stopped working, multiple dealerships do not know why. Spent $600 to chase the problem…. No chasing, chasing implies you can see what it is you are going after. Still no power locks.

Sunroof opens and closes on its own, dealership told me I need a new one. After paying them to tell me that and to tell me they think it might leak because the drain was full of leaves I asked them if they cleaned it and they said no.

Headlights UV damaged, dealer wanted $380 for a pair, went to eBay.

Stock tie Rods go soft to fast, another few hundred dollars.

Cup holders broke in both vehicles. 3’ plastic crankcase breather hose broke $94. Vacuum lines, dry rotted, fell apart in hand.

Clear coat cracking off deck lid and all other edges, $1250.

Random engine lights that cannot be solved. Car now shuts off after I put any amount of gas in it. Two different shops don’t know why. Replaced gas cap, did not fix.

Water leaking on passenger floor; have yet to fix the leak because of costs.

Just had the control arms replaced for $217.35.

Brakes cost me $63 a pad and machining rotors over $300.

Timing belt job caught a break on this only paid $700 to a retired VW mechanic. Now, that mechanic as well as Advanced Auto Parts cannot get their OBD II computers to connect to my car. State of Delaware automatically fails any car with an OBD II error.

Right cylinder bank running lean, no cause detected. Incorrect purge flow, no cause detected.

I have spent more money on diagnostics than I have fixing the car and they still cannot solve the problem. In my first 2 years of ownership, it spent over 2 months in the shop, all at my expense. I have spent several thousand dollars to fix problems and they still are not fixed. The dealership's mechanics are notably the worst in the area.

I will never buy nor suggest anyone buy a VW. Both of mine have been crap and the cost of maintenance is out of this world. Nice car when it doesn’t have problems, but I haven’t experienced that yet.

I understand why you have brake-issues with a 2000 model Passat. The thing is, I live in Europe, and I remember that not long after the Passat was released here, they recalled 100.000+ Passats, because they had issues with the front brakes. The problems was numerous, but the reason for them to call back the cars, was that it was discovered, that snow would cloak up the air ducts that cool the brakes, leading to them overheating and fading, towards ultimately failing.

I don't know if this call back was performed in America - generally VW dealerships and service is a lot better in Europe than North America, through my impressions.

Fact is, the 2000 model wasn't much more than an extensive facelift of the old model from 1996-1999. Actually, they even overlap, so you can get the old model as "new" as 2001, and the new model as "old" as 2000.

This facelifted model brought so much bad publicity to Volkswagen, just due to problems like mentioned here. It was not really a "true" Volkswagen, it didn't match the same strong specifications. I've had two VWs that both went over 200.000 miles, and was then sold to others, and I'm about to buy a new one, still going for VW.

But I remember my driving instructor back when I took my license also had one of these, although it was slightly newer. When it had done 22000 miles, the entire clutch had to be replaced, because some rubberthingies on the clutch surface, designed to make the shifts smoother, was simply worn off, resulting in every shift being - well, let's say quite noticeable.

So I won't ever go for that version of the Passat. :) Sad to hear about your experience with the car though. I hope you'll come to appreciate it, if it starts acting right again ;)

For anyone who has had a "Stop! Oil Press" Warning. This cost me oodles of money and turned out to be that a BMW garage had used non synthetic oil in my 1.8T and sludge had formed in the sump. When driving at low revs, the oil pressure light came on.

I had two de-gunks, which did not cure the problem. Eventually they took the oil sump cover off and cleaned out the cakked up sludge, and this eventually cured this problem.

On 1.8 T I personally recommend only using fully synthetic oil and changing it more frequently than suggested in the manual.

Regards.

The advice on synthetic oil is completely correct! Trust me, the added cost is well worth it compared to the cost of a new engine if you use regular oil. This will happen! I have heard of engine failure as early as 35,000 miles when someone had used conventional oil. Also make sure to us a 5W-40, Castrol Syntec makes one that I would reccommend, Mobil 1 will work also. And just because its synthetic don't wait more than 5000 miles between oil changes and make sure you watch anyone working on the car, because before you know it some mechanic who knows nothing about these cars will fill it with some cheap oil and cost you thousands.

I bought a 2000 VOW 4 wheel in 2008. It had more than 110k miles on it. The car is beautiful to behold, however I can't say I have enjoyed the car. Firstly, right from delivery, starting the car was problematic. The dealer said that was a normal problem with VOW and all we had to do was hold down the key for some few seconds. The problem hasn't improved and is worsening. Presently some days it starts on cue, on other days it's an embarrassing 5- 10 minutes wait repeatedly holding the key down. I don't know if anyone has had such problems and found solution. My problem is compounded because presently am using the car in a region of Nigeria in Africa with no VOW dealership or mechanics well versed in repair of this model.

The other problem of overheating and leaking power steering fluid has been sorted at astonishing cost. I guess my next car will be maybe a Honda or Toyota which can be easily fixed here. I guess I was used to VOW, which was the first car I owned.

Check the fuel pump relay. Happened to my Audi. Hairline crack on the solder causes this. Car electrician pulled it out, opened the casing, and melted some solder on the crack, and bingo -- it never gave problems.

I have a 2000 Passat 4motion that has had the Emissions Workshop Light on, off and on for the past three months. I have had two suggestion to replace the catalytic converters. How expensive should this procedure cost? At what point do I need to replace them? Any suggestions??