TheSamba.com :: View topic - Opinions/suggestions needed on TONS of problems w/ 06 Passat

Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:24 pm

Bought a CPO 06 20k mile VW passat that is a piece of crap & literally had everything replaced within 6 months - a few of them within 3 DAYS of purchasing the car. From entire AC system to radio to ignition module to steering column, instrument cluster to heater, gas tank dropped & replaced, fuel injectors I believe, coil packs, fuel lines, radiator leaking, water pump, driver door handle because it stopped working & had to crawl in passenger side!! Driver door striker as well on a different occasion, almost all suspension parts, rear struts, the list goes on and on.... Those are just off the top of my head but almost every moving engine part, suspension, & electrical item was replaced, yet something else manages to fail! Though it didn't cost anything, still a hassle and most of all an incredible frustration!!

Logged complaint about two months ago with Central Region Rep Addie/Addy at VW North America. She credited ONE (1) payment of sub-$400. Logged another complain late last week after car DIED on freeway at speed in the middle of nowhere, amidst traffic - this is not the first time either!! That problem causes a hazard, risk of injury to myself, as well as someone slamming into the back of car causing accident and damaging the perfect, repaint free vehicle I unfortunately drive. Not only all those reasons, but a stalled vehicle blocks up traffic.

I do not believe lemon law buybacks apply to used CPO cars, especially in AZ/NE (dual residency) - however I would like at LEAST one year of payments credited to my account for troubles/frustration/loss of work/time/effort/hassles. Addie is refusing to help anymore after the one payment two months ago, does anyone have any ideas/suggestions?

Oh by the way, an associate of mine that owns commercial property here in town has allowed me to park car on his lot - with pictures of lemons posted all over it, and printed copies of this problematic summary. I have already steered away THREE people from purchasing VW's - and going to make it my personal mission to cost them as much business as humanly possible, for the REST OF MY LIFE, as I have nothing more to lose. Best regards all.

Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:36 pm

You bought a used car, even though it was certified. Unfortunately a car company cannot repair something that isn't broken when they certify it. You are fortunate to have had all of this covered under warranty. I would look at an extended warranty from an independent company if I were you. They will warranty the car for a fairly reasonable price, given your mileage.
If you can get a vehicle history on the car, find out whether it came from another state. I have heard of dealers 'washing titles' on real lemons by moving a lemon from one state to another. If you can prove it, you may be able to force the dealer to refund your money or maybe you can get an attorney to help and recover damages.

Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:51 pm

Sorry to hear that. At my old dealership we had a similar situation. The guy walked a picket line every day with a sign up. That lasted for about a month. He dropped dead of a heart attack one day. Just sayin'.

Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:26 pm

Interesting part about the title washing, I know that is common in Illinois (ala Luxury Motors outfits getting flood cars from the southeast.)
The car was purchased in Arizona but came from Santa Monica originally. I know how easy it is in CA to make the dealer lemon your car, so I can certainly see this as a possibility.... thanks for heads up.

Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:32 pm

get the previous owner info, find out if the original dealership lemoned it. CA DMV might be able to tell you as well

Wed Apr 06, 2011 5:56 pm

If the car was CPO by a VW dealership it's unlikely it was a lemon. Most brands will forbid CPO if there's a blemish on the CarFAX or the like.

Looks like these 06 Passat owners had similar issues as you are having:

http://www.edmunds.com/volkswagen/passat/2006/consumer-reviews.html

Numerous complaints about $2,000.00+ repair bills, A/C going out, power steering, etc... Probably just a bad year of car.

Some subjects:

stay far away from VW -Worst Car ever
Biggest Piece of Crap I have ever owned
I Wanted To Like This Car
Worst Car ever owned

Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:39 am

^^^
Thanks for the heads up about other complaints.

Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:11 am

After working at a VW dealer when the '06 Passats were new, I can tell you that was the one vehicle that made the '04 Touareg look good...

Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:51 pm

I make it a point of never buying the first year of any VW.
'06 was the first year of the new Passat, and I mean NEW.
Passat usually is a re-skin of the Audi,
but the B6, and also the B3 Passats where awful, and 100% VW.
I have a B5 Passat, and it is expensive, but it is a wonderful car.
I've looked at carfax for VW CPO's and they smell like dead fish,
but with the warrantee, you are at risk for nothing but your time.
I'd dump the POS, before it starts eating YOUR money.
As far as getting emotional about it, it does you no good,
and actually makes it harder for you to work with the dealer.

Thu Apr 07, 2011 1:30 pm

Wow that's saying something.

brobards wrote: After working at a VW dealer when the '06 Passats were new, I can tell you that was the one vehicle that made the '04 Touareg look good...

Thu Apr 07, 2011 2:40 pm

The car is still under CPO warranty so yes, the two dealers in different states that I visit have been fairly accommodating, and the repairs have been fixed.
However, the car has left me stranded on numerous occasions, and the dealership often says "we cannot duplicate the problem." I have to leave it with them for days at a time (has been in shop a total of MUCH more than 30 in the last year), they use MY gas putting on hundreds of miles, and I worry if they will not find a problem. But ALL of my claims have been substantiated and have been repaired. But the CPO warranty runs out soon - although I have an extended MPP warranty it has a $100 deductible - and at the current rate of things I will be paying at least an additional $400 monthly to deductible for all my trips to dealer.
Friends and family have owned new AMG Mercedes, new Range Rovers, Jags, etc - and NOTHING scares me more than owning this VW out of warranty.

Will post back any new information. I realize all manufacturers have lemons every once in a while, however the most upsetting thing is VW seems unwilling to help or work with me. Addy no longer takes my call, and hung up on me immediately (without speaking) after receiving her last time - moving up the chain of command. Best regards.

Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:00 pm

At least you didn't get one of the '06 Passats with the VR6 with the loose oil pump bolts...

Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:12 pm

If you are being hung up on it's time to escalate. Sounds like your quibble is with the brand not the dealer. Can you sell the car or are you upside down on it?

Fri Apr 22, 2011 5:28 pm

Just trade it in.

I have an 03 W8 that received all sorts of bad reviews, reports of bad problems, etc. The ONLY problem I've ever had was when the alternator died in January. Yes, it was expensive to fix, but it's been absolutely reliable, as was my 00 Passat. I knew my warranty was expiring and I drug my feet picking up an extended warranty. gambled and lost.

I've got over 100k on it, just finally had to replace the rear brakes and had to do the fronts finally about two months ago. Amsoil every 10k and two sets of tires since I've owned it.

VW has had their problems and you definitely got one, but I've had just the opposite experience. I've had FAR more problems with every Toyota I've owned than any of my VW's. Just sayin, don't rule out the brand.

Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:27 pm

I was just wondering if this is normal, or out of the ordinary !!!!
This car now has about 48k miles on it. Lately has been better, though not perfect.

The Passat is about 750 miles overdue on an oil change - Bad I know but doing this to a BMW or brand new Mercedes Benz in the past has not hurt me (though not a habit.) It should not kill the car or blow up the turbo lol. If so the car must be built in a sweat shop by mice!!
Anyway, the oil (4.9qt capacity) HAS A WHOPPING 1QT IN HER!!!
The car doesn't leak a drop of fluid. Do the turbos really burn almost 4qts of oil in 750 miles over a recc. change?? That seems utterly ridiculous and asinine!!!

A friend of mine told me to have the crank case breather valve checked, as well as see if oil is getting in the intercooler. What is wrong with this car......???

Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:46 am

Per the factory book, I change my oil every ----5000----- miles, it has now been 5750 since a change - FULL synthetic of course.
I have not checked it for about 3.5 weeks, when it was at 5000 miles since change. During that check, the oil level was correct. So, in 750 miles it has burned (or possibly lost while driving) approx 3.9 quarts ?
Sorry for not including that information the first time, my fault !! So IS THAT excessive???

Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:09 am

Yes. If you're burning it at that rate, you should be seeing that. My 00 1.8 used about a quart over the 10K change interval, but nothing like that. You sure it's not leaking somewhere? are you checking it hot or cold? was it in the same state both times you checked it?

I'd say you have a leak. You'd know if you had something like bad oil seals in the turbo unless you are a Mr Magoo.

Mon Aug 29, 2011 9:13 am

chabanais wrote: If the car was CPO by a VW dealership it's unlikely it was a lemon. Most brands will forbid CPO if there's a blemish on the CarFAX or the like.

Looks like these 06 Passat owners had similar issues as you are having:

http://www.edmunds.com/volkswagen/passat/2006/consumer-reviews.html

Numerous complaints about $2,000.00+ repair bills, A/C going out, power steering, etc... Probably just a bad year of car.

Some subjects:

stay far away from VW -Worst Car ever
Biggest Piece of Crap I have ever owned
I Wanted To Like This Car
Worst Car ever owned

I'd have to disagree with that. We have a certified 03 Audi A4 Cabrio. we found out It had two cvt's replaced in the first year and supposedly the upgraded clutch pack after that. We had to have the discs replaced after we got it and found that the discs weren't upgraded before we got it as was indicated in the repair history. If Audi will do it, so will VW.

Thu Sep 01, 2011 5:00 pm

Well guys, a few days ago I went to take the car in for the oil change. While driving there, (about 2 days after adding all this oil but had hardly driven this pile) - the oil pressure light came on, and the car shut off while driving!!!

After adding more oil on side of road, took it to dealer. They got it up in the air, looked at her, and determined there is oil in both lines to turbocharger, as well as in intercooler/leaking on skid plate, etc.
I had another individual at separate repair facility check on TSB's for the subject - which there are many!!! However, now the dealer is fighting with me and unwilling to replace the turbocharger (which I want) OR ANY of the turbo lines !!

SOOOOOO FRUSTRATING !!!!!!

Thu Sep 01, 2011 6:13 pm

Taking your car out to a field and lighting it on fire is illegal. Also, having a friend ram his truck into while parked on the street is illegal. But.....