I used to love my Passat

[Winesnob]

Hi there, I have posted here previously when I was taking possession of my new 125kw TDI Passat back in 2007. Since then I have had trouble free motoring but on a routine drive to Canberra on the long weekend it went pear shaped. My pride and joy went from 120k/ph to 0 in under 10 seconds in traffic. VW roadside assistance were fantastic and organized a tow truck but were unable to help with a hire car as it was after 12pm on a Saturday. They did spring for a $300 cab fare which took us home so we could grab the wife's car and continue on our trip. The fault was diagnosed as a number 2 injector failure which sounds simple enough but this stopped the car completely and it could not be re-started. Incredibly there is not a spare part for this in Australia and the dealer where the car is being serviced is still searching the world for one, or so they tell me. My issues are that this car is under 3 years old and only has 49000km on it. I would not expect a fault of this severity in a sub $50k let alone a +$50k car with so few km on it. I would also have expected this to be fixed quickly and not costing me a fortune on rental cars.

For anyone thinking of buying a VW Passat; please don't think for that extra $10-20k you are buying peace of mind though I'm sure there are hundreds of Passat owners who have not had any issues at all.

[OilBurna]

good luck and hope ti gets fixed soon no issues on mine with 43,000 kms 2007 as well glad I got extended warranty.

[Rob Burns]

My issues are that this car is under 3 years old and only has 49000km on it. I would not expect a fault of this severity in a sub $50k let alone a +$50k car with so few km on it. I would also have expected this to be fixed quickly and not costing me a fortune on rental cars.

Not sure why you think that spending 50k on a car should guarantee you reliability (or how you seem to think that one problem in 3 years of ownership isn't reliable). Go spend a quarter of a million dollars on a Range Rover and see how reliable they are.

[PassatB6]

Try VW for a goodwill claim

[anthony]

The most relaible car on the market is a $22000 Toyota Corolla....

[ryana89]

I don't think a full blown injector failure Especially on a diesel is a small thing.
If anything the car may have been able to soldier for a short distance.....
But the ECU did its job and recognised the injector failure and cut the engine to save it from any damage.

[hooba]

The most relaible car on the market is a $22000 Toyota Corolla....

No, they aren't infallible either. My mate has had warranty done on his brand new Corolla, I've started calling him "Lucky"...

[Jmac]

When the ECU recognsies injector drama it goes into safe im afraid, you will need an injector and the wiring loom too, ive done a few now. If its under warranty which i would recommend you check you should get all 4 done. Hate to say but i worked on Porsches for a large portion of my dealership career and 150k+ still gave them heaps of dramas, how does a 13mm nut for the balance shaft snapping off causing the engine to scramble sound, heaps worse than an injector. i know its still crap but it happens. And i wouldnt compare with a Toyota, they dont break but i know what i would rather drive
Cheers
Jmac

[kaanage]

there is not a spare part for this in Australia and the dealer where the car is being serviced is still searching the world for one, or so they tell me.

This is the portion of the story that is more worrying than the failure itself and I think Winesnob is entitled to feel pi$$ed off at the entire brand. It's all very well saying breakdowns happen but carrying a decent stock of spare parts is not an unreasonable expectation of a brand like VW. And it's not like the engine is an exclusive to that model (or even the brand).

It certainly has me worried about my VW's now.

[Jmac]

Yep true that, last couple i ordered i had to order from Germany, one came from the warehouse in singapore. These dont fail often but agreed they should at least have a (set) in the country, wiring looms we do have so go figure
They go hand in hand
Cheers
Jmac

[Maverick]

Hi there, I have posted here previously when I was taking possession of my new 125kw TDI Passat back in 2007. Since then I have had trouble free motoring but on a routine drive to Canberra on the long weekend it went pear shaped. My pride and joy went from 120k/ph to 0 in under 10 seconds in traffic. VW roadside assistance were fantastic and organized a tow truck but were unable to help with a hire car as it was after 12pm on a Saturday. They did spring for a $300 cab fare which took us home so we could grab the wife's car and continue on our trip. The fault was diagnosed as a number 2 injector failure which sounds simple enough but this stopped the car completely and it could not be re-started. Incredibly there is not a spare part for this in Australia and the dealer where the car is being serviced is still searching the world for one, or so they tell me. My issues are that this car is under 3 years old and only has 49000km on it. I would not expect a fault of this severity in a sub $50k let alone a +$50k car with so few km on it. I would also have expected this to be fixed quickly and not costing me a fortune on rental cars.

For anyone thinking of buying a VW Passat; please don't think for that extra $10-20k you are buying peace of mind though I'm sure there are hundreds of Passat owners who have not had any issues at all.

Your expectation of trouble free motoring for the life of the car because you paid $50K+ is unrealistic at best.You had a single component fail out of the many thousands in your car, some of the most unreliable cars cost over $50K and it's partly down to the sheer number of systems in cars.

If you really don't like the car any more sell it, buy a bland Japanese car and hope you don't have any failures with that.

[Transporter]

My issues are that this car is under 3 years old and only has 49000km on it. I would not expect a fault of this severity in a sub $50k let alone a +$50k car with so few km on it. I would also have expected this to be fixed quickly and not costing me a fortune on rental cars.

Most likely you will get your car fixed under the warranty, so I don't see any issue there. I said most likely because the injector injects the fuel and if you had a dodgy fuel VW can say it is not their fault and you would be chasing the fuel company. Then, yes you have an issue....

[anthony]

No, they aren't infallible either. My mate has had warranty done on his brand new Corolla, I've started calling him "Lucky"...

That is VERY VERY VERY unusual and UNlucky...lol.

[Rob Burns]

That is VERY VERY VERY unusual and UNlucky...lol.

If it's a new Corolla then it's more of a sign of things to come. Didn't the head of Toyota admit that their QC had dropped because of cost cutting during the GFC?

[mebius9]

I have to say that Passat is a bit fragile (maybe all German cars are?)
All the high tech components that makes this car great seems to also make them delicate at the same time
The injector in Passat operates at very high pressure and are known to be sensitive to quality of the fuel you feed them
I've decided to only refuel at the big name patrol stations after DPF incident I had with mine
I think it will be well worth the couple of extra dollars.