2003 Volkswagen Passat GLS from North America - Comments

Turbo gasket was not installed properly and it leaked. Fixed under warranty.

Fuel pump went at 28,000 miles.

At 40,000 miles the radio LED went blank and the back drivers side window would not roll up and down. Had to fight hard with customer service to get it paid for despite warranty. Got the car back from the dealer and one headlight pointed directly towards the ground. I have no idea why! I fixed it myself.

Fog lamps have a short in them and immediately blow the fuse when they are turned on. This happened at 60,000 miles.

At 78,000 the turbo blew. The dealer states that the bearing in the turbo wasn't getting properly lubricated. Friction caused pieces of metal to break off of the bearing and travel through the engine as the engine and the turbo are on the same oil loop. These pieces of metal ruined the valves, piston heads, cylinder walls, etc. The engine has to be replaced and despite a perfect maintenance record, VW will not pay a dime towards the repair. They will extend the warranty on oil sludge for people who don't conduct oil changes at regular intervals, but they won't fix a problem for a customer who cares for his vehicle perfectly. I have to pay for a new engine to be installed. I found on-line that VW has had to replace over 400,000 1.8 Turbo engines.

This car performs okay, it is not fast, but has a little umph to it. The turbo isn't bad when it isn't falling apart. The car is safe and handles nicely when it is running.

However, the car is completely unreliable. VW continues to manufacture cars with electrical and drivetrain problems. Please, please look up reviews of VW's cars and customer service on-line before you buy. If after reading all these reviews, you still want to buy a VW? Then your asking for the headache you are going to receive. Buy the extended warranty on the drivetrain. The customer service in my opinion is the worst in the business. They only have a five year 60k warranty on the drivetrain enough said! They have no confidence in their own product.

I think your complaints are totally founded, but I also think we must get as much info as possible before giving that hard earned cash away.

In general, it should be made clear to buyers that turbo engines need special treatment. You must always have in mind that a turbo is a delicate device designed to turn at 10 times the engine speed and, somehow, it has to be lubricated with that same engine oil. So you need high quality oil, frequent top ups and oil changes (even in between services), avoid overheating at all costs, allow some time for the turbo to cool before switching the engine off etc. In other words, maintenance can get expensive... Why isn't VW (or any other similar manufacturer for that reason) telling you all this? Obviously, because you'd run away from their showroom in seconds. This is one of the main reasons (the cost of a properly designed turbo engine being the other) that here in Europe turbos were very popular in the 80's but vanished in the 90's, with VW's, Volvo's and Saab's being the exceptions to the rule.

On the other hand, and to be fair, if you go by the book and use a turbo engine as it should be used, then you should go past the 100K mark without problems. Some Volvo and Saab's are here to prove it. And oils have really made a leap forward in terms of quality, so it is quite easier to make a turbo engine last longer nowadays than, say, 20 years ago.

BUT, the fact remains: a turbo engine is always going too be more vulnerable than a normally aspirated one- So get informed before buying and choose according to your needs and your personal driving style.

Interesting comment on the Turbos.. As an old farm boy, I'm used to having turbos on our large John-Deere Tractors and we never seemed to have trouble. I"m SERIOUSLY considering buying a Passat with the TDI, but this post has me thinking twice.. My concern it whether or not this is Maintenance related OR Quality related... Any help would be greatly appreciated... hrngman@hotmail.com.

My wife and I are on our second turbo Passat GLS. The first was a 99, the current one is a 2003. We love the car, but have had a few issues. Mostly minor electronic things with the exception of the replacement of a sensor in the engine. The customer service is the worst I've ever experienced. The customer service alone has convinced us that we've bought our last VW.

Volkswagen's 1.8 Turbo four is a disaster. Every time I go to see my mechanic, there are at least three 1.8T Volkswagens and/or Audis in his shop, each with their own set of problems. The turbo, timing belt, and ignition coils seem to be the most common problems. Now, to top it all off, an oil-sludge problem has become widespread. It is such a shame to me that VW and Audi, with all of their resources, cannot build more reliable cars. The V6 engines seem pretty good, but I will never own a 1.8T. I don't have much faith in the TDI engine either. My mechanic gets TDIs in there all of the time that have injector failures.