Take a look at this thread from a Scion TC site.
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=94706
VW does not have a monopoly on safe car design.

Contrary to the title of this site, I wanted to post my experience…

I have a 99 Passat, 176,300 miles. The car has (overall) been truly wonderful. The reliability has been flawless (1 tow and that was due to a truck backing into it at an intersection and piercing the radiator). There is one odd nagging problem - I have to replace headlights FAR more often than I have ever had to in the past. I think I am on my 10th headlight (mix of left & right). Can’t complain overall though - it’s just a few minutes of work. I replaced the timing belt (& tensioner) at 120k miles - that’s it for “”major”" maintenance expense - I think I spent $800 (along with some other work). I replace the oil & filter (full synthetics only) every 5-6000 miles.

Now, where I can agree with the “”sucks”" part is that most VW dealerships have been relatively slimy. They are the third worst in my opinion - Honda being the absolute worst (I have never found one where I had a pleasant or even close buying experience), Toyota coming in second (one pleasant experience marred by a last minute money grab at the dealer, where I nearly walked out). I would happily see most of these dealers close, though I have had wonderful experience with the cars. My 99 Passat was preceded by my wife’s 86 Golf (194k miles, replaced since we needed more space) and my 87 GTI (engine problems @213k miles, didn’t want to bother since my wife’s 86 Golf was available - mothballed as we had purchased a Volvo wagon w/ the arrival of kiddies).

I am very good about doing routine maintenance (esp. oil changes). I find this totally fundamental to having a “”good ownership experience”".

I have no doubt that some folks have come across a lemon - but that can happen even to Honda & Toyota folks…

As I am driving my 99′ Jetta today, I notice the tack compleatly drop and the car die. I put it in park, and try to restart it…with no luck, not only will it not restart, the key won’t turn back or release from the ignition ( they are still in there) the dash lights will come on and the car will ‘ding’ telling me to take my keys out, it just wont release them, or start. It’s sitting at the shop right now, with the import mechanic scratching his head in confusion. Any thoughts? Anyone ever had this happen?
thanks
-wolf

have had the car for three months clutch already replaced twice, once under warrenty. I am an experienced driver and have never had this happen to me in the past 15 yrs on any other vehicle. while driving went to down shift and realized that the clutch was stuck to the floor. has anyone had problems like this or anything else that would cause this.

Post edited 11/19/05 9:45 PM by jenny

Hello,

Does anyone have any information on a “”silent recall”" or “”goodwill recall”" for a 99 VW Passat? Two months ago I replaced an Oil sensor that was faulty (or so i was told). The oil light came back on 2 weeks ago and now I’m being told its probably my oil pump. I know they’ve had some problems with this. My car only has 75,000 miles on it and that doesn’t seem right for an oil pump to be going out this soon. For the most part I’ve met all the scheduled oil changes and maintenance checks.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I see that this topic has been discussed at length, but the information seems (Paul) to suggest that only the Passat and A4 are at risk. What about my 2002 1.8T GTI? I had assumed that my car was also at risk for sludging. If not, why not? If so, what can I do? I’m using synthetic oil ($75 - $80 a change every 4K, thank you very much), but should I do a prophylactic engine flush as well? Is my car doomed to seize on the I-5 Grapevine?

I was a VW technician at a dealer for almost six years, and currently sell parts. I couldn’t agree more. I think they are over-engineered crap. Take the New Jetta. It looks just like a Corolla, but is less reliable, and costs several thousand dollars more. Hmm, I wonder why sales are down. Maybe VW will lose their asses like they did in the early nineties. We can only hope.

A friend of mine got a 2001 2.0 Golf.
Any links you can provide me with the “”things that go wrong”" with them.