B7 Alltrack Loss of Power

[Kenneth]

Guys

Just a warning note that earlier this week I lost all drive whilst commuting at 100km/h.
Managed to move to side of road.
Tried to select other modes via shift and paddles but nothing - not even limp home.
Turned ignition off and on and everything OK.

No lights/codes.
Must say dealer wasn't too interested but has agreed to have a look.

Will keep people posted.

Not a happy experience.

Ken

[kleung]

No lights/codes.

Is this the first time your car has done this? Hopefully there has been a fault code logged that the dealer can pull out. Not still under warranty?

[ope126]

Ken, that would be a scary scenario. Please keep us up to date with the outcome!

[Kenneth]

Guys

Took car in and guess what?
No code and they could not replicate fault so I'm on watch and wait.
Funny enough it possibly happened again but this time I was at a traffic light on a hill - rolling 2m backwards was again scary and thank god there was no one behind.

They did replace a faulty hand brake switch that may have contributed but not sure how.

Anyway back to driving.
Overall I love the car the only gripes I have are:

# No auto fold on side mirrors - I live on a busy road and have lost a couple in the past
# Can't open the tailgate when I have a trailer or bike racks on
# 90kg tow ball weight restricts what I can tow - basically a lightweight camping trailer
# voice recognition hates my accent

[Umai Naa!!]

# No auto fold on side mirrors - I live on a busy road and have lost a couple in the past
# Can't open the tailgate when I have a trailer or bike racks on
# 90kg tow ball weight restricts what I can tow - basically a lightweight camping trailer

To be fair, these are the sorts of things you look into, before purchase.

[Guest001]

You wouldnt want your taildoor to open when you had a long load on a trailer. Would give you something to really moan about.

It is a preventitive mode to protect you from yourself

Almost all Euro cars have a similar towballweight.

Only a matter of flicking the dial to fold mirrors and I have tried unsuccessfully to make them auto fold.

Hardly VW's fault about your accent. It hates almost any voice so dont feel exclusive.

Use auto hold and it shouldnt roll back

[3C4M Guy]

Yes Ken, please keep us posted how it goes. Speaking from experience there's nothing worse than an intermittent fault that won't replicate when the car is at the dealer.

Question: In your initial post, you mentioned no lights/codes. Does that mean you have a scan tool so you can check for DTCs if the fault reappears?

Comment: my 2007 B6 Passat had an intermittent EPB switch that had to be replaced. I can't believe VW hadn't sorted out the reliability issues with these by the time they got to B7.

[Umai Naa!!]

EPB system is different on the B7. Even the switch is different.

Having said that, the C revision of the B6 switch has been pretty reliable, whereas previously, it was the cause of nearly all EPB-related issues on the B6.

[booba]

I assume alltrack has folding mirrors like other B7? if so then just buy the cheap dongle off aliexpress that will autofold for you.

# No auto fold on side mirrors - I live on a busy road and have lost a couple in the past

[James b]

Guys

Just a warning note that earlier this week I lost all drive whilst commuting at 100km/h.
Managed to move to side of road.
Tried to select other modes via shift and paddles but nothing - not even limp home.
Turned ignition off and on and everything OK.

No lights/codes.
Must say dealer wasn't too interested but has agreed to have a look.

Will keep people posted.

Not a happy experience.

Ken

That's my b7 all over, but mine is not a alltrack. The used car dealer says he doesn't want to throw anymore money at it. he won't even pay for the tow

[Guest001]

I assume alltrack has folding mirrors like other B7? if so then just buy the cheap dongle off aliexpress that will autofold for you.

# No auto fold on side mirrors - I live on a busy road and have lost a couple in the past

Dont waste your money I threw threw the one I bought from Ali EXpress in the rubbish last week. Also tried in VCDS and while it accepted the coding it doesnt fold the mirrors.

[Kenneth]

Guys

Fair cop on the mirrors should of checked but I would have bought it anyway.
I have a Thule bike rack which I fit to the towbar and this rack can be tilted to allow opening of the tailgate. Unfortunately the loom does not allow the gate to open. Next time I have it in for service I will ask Volkstek to check if they can override.
I did check the towing capacity but forgot the tow ball weight. This just isn't up to speed for AS conditions.

As far as codes and lights when the incident happened I meant no dash lights/warnings.

[Guest001]

You would be hard pushed to find any Euro car with a much higher towball limit. Exception in VW would be the Touareg. Even a Tiguan is useless as is similar to a Passat.

The reason is they build vans differently to here and are of a much lighter construction and dont have the heavy things Aus vans have.

You will have to buy a Jap ute or SUV to tow anything much heavier.

As said you should HAVE checked before buying.

The tailgate should only be stopped if a trailer is attached so should work with just a bike rack. It is controlled by the electrics in the trailer loom and if nothing hooked up should work as normal

[ozrcboy]

I think the Thule rack plugs into the trailer point, which is why the car thinks a trailer is attached, and wont open the tailgate.

I find that an annoying feature too. Those that think its just fine probably don't tow very often.

It would have to be an extremely long load on your trailer to contact your boot on opening - almost so long that it you went through a sudden change in pitch etc (driving out of a driveway into the street for example) it would hit the body of the vehicle.

IMHO VW got that feature wrong.

[thedriver]

Late to this thread, but wondering if any other B7 owners are expericing this power loss? I have the B7 V6 FSI Highline 4Motion and have experienced power loss numerous times. It's always been under acceleration, and often when changing from the Drive to Sport mode.
Repeatedly pressing the accelerator does nothing, there's no power no engine revs; it's just total power loss. I need to go back to Drive mode or hit the brakes to get the power back so I can use the accelerator again. There's no errors on the dash when it happens either.
This has happened to me approx once per year on average since 2011.
I've spoken to VW Australia about it and they just told me to take it to my local dealer. The dealer couldn't find ANY error codes. I was even able to tell them the exact date and approximate time it happened on one occassion. Drove around with a service technician for about an hour trying to make it happen but couldn't forcefully replicate it.
Very frustrating and VERY CONCERNING as VW Australia doesn't really seem to take it seriously.