2002 Volkswagen Passat GLS from North America - Comments

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.

I'm pretty surprised to hear about your expensive problems with your passat. We have a 2002 passat GLS wagon, and have had far fewer troubles.

I was living with my parents when they decided on the passat, but I moved out shortly after. My parents are TERRIBLE at maintaining their cars. I really don't get it. Anyway, despite their dangerously relaxed approach to oil changes and basic maintenance, our passat has been fairly reliable. Anything that's gone wrong with it was either covered under warranty with no questions asked, or was done under recall. Oil sludge, for example, was a problem that was spelled out it a letter we recieved in 2004. Since then, I've been changing the oil for them myself (that damn plastic cover on the bottom of the car is a PAIN) with synthetic, and we've never had a problem. The ignition coils went once, but that was because my parents never got the recall repair done untill it was too late. These problems are irritating for sure, but they aren't out of the ordinary. As a result, I'm genuinly impressed with the overall reliability and build quality of the car. And as a die-hard car nut, I really appreciate the sophistication of the car's engineering--its wafty turbo-torque, its intelligent 5 speed automatic, its comfy ride and lightning quick handling (OK, it's not much for grip, but we didn't get the big tire/wheel package). To me, the car is immensly satisfying to drive, and while a similarly priced camry or accord might be blissfully trouble free, I find that the bit of extra effort in Do-it-myself oil changes is worth the driving satisfaction that simply isn't there in competing sedans/wagons. I certainly am surprised that so many on this website have complained about the Passat's reliability, because after 80k miles, ours is like new in its feel, and generally toruble free.

I own a 2002 passat sedan and it has 85,000 miles on it have replaced one headlight and the turbo the car is fun to drive the 5 speed auto with tiptronic is great I do all the repairs my self so everything is less costly this is a great car and recommend it... you need to take car of these cars to have them last...

I have a 2002 VW Passat 1.8 Turbo and have had a lot of maintanence issues.

Oil pump (due to oil sludge problems) 3x's

Catalytic converter 1x

CV joints 2x

oil panel box cracked 1x

Replaced brake disc 2x's

Burn out headlights

Burn out daytime lights

The car has been fun to drive but the repairs are so expensive. Based on my experience with my Passat, I will not purchase another VW. This car, though nice, has broken my taste for high end foreign cars.