2002 Volkswagen Passat GLS review from North America

The problems with this vehicle have been quite extensive and expensive. Where shall I begin?

Burnt out Headlight (4 times)

Burnt out day-time driving light.

Burnt out license plate light- every other time it goes in.

Burnt out brake light 2x (same one out of 4)

Burnt out rear turn signal.

Air Flow Mass Sensor ($500)

Some other sensor ($600)

Vacuum Hose.

Oil Sludge Issue- this is a ridiculous issue. VW has to take apart the entire bottom of the car to change the oil. Then they realized that the more this plate on the bottom of the car is taken off, over time it gets looser. So then they decided to syphon out the oil because that is easier, but do they realize its not as very effective in terms of getting rid of oil slug.

Fuel Injector Clogging.

Starter Motor.

Battery ($200) -don't forget this car uses a special battery. The battery is located all the way in the back of the engine bay incased under this giant piece of plastic- I don't even know how you would put in a new one, but it doesn't matter because if you take out the battery and put it back in, the car will not start unless the dealer resets the computer.

Right CV Joint.

Left CV Joint.

Left Rear Door Seal.

Trunk Lock 2x.

Hardware holding on plate covering the bottom of the car that is removed for oil changing fell off -$61 to replace.

There is more I am sure that I am just forgetting.

Its fun to drive and the interior quality is excellent, but repairs and just general maintenance are too much. For example- $67 oil changes.

I have put MUCH more money into this yr 2001.5 vehicle than our 1996 Suburban with 216,000 miles on it and our 1996 Grand Cherokee with 196,000 miles on it. Lets just say that Suburban and the Jeep each had the entire A/C systems replaced and the Jeep had its transmission rebuilt.