Front Suspension Control Arm problems of the 1998 Volkswagen Passat - part 1

The lower control arms on my 1998 vw Passat are defective and dangerous according to my mechanic. Vw refuses to replace them even though there was a recall for these parts. The reasoning is that: - I brought my car in for the recall at their dealer in 2005 and at the time the parts seemed ok. - at this time, their dealer has reinspected the car. The vw dealer thinks that both lower front control arms on the car need replacement. However the parts are not about to fail and the car is still drivable and thus vw will not pay for their replacement. My mechanic states that the car need to be replaced and the car is dangerous to drive in this condition. Please advise whether vw is responsible under the "revised-vm (40g3) - December 2004" recall campaign to fix these. Thanks.

Noise from left side control arm of a 1998 vw Passat 1. 8t.

The contact owns a 1998 Volkswagen Passat. The contact heard a popping noise while driving 3 mph in reverse. The front end of the vehicle slammed to the ground without warning. The vehicle was towed and a local mechanic replaced the lower right control arm. The contact has the failed component along with pictures. The manufacturer would not perform the repair for free. The purchase date was unknown. The current and failure mileages were 197,000.

I am the second owner of a Passat that had been driven 72000 miles. At that time the following defects were noted and had to be repaired: 1. Outer tie rod and cv boot. 2. Cooling system: all cooling hoses, oil cooler, water pump, radiator, & associated items. Vw of America refused to reimburse for the cost of these untimely repairs that were due in part to faulty information in the owners manual, that states that the cooling system was sealed and did not need any maintenance. These enormous and costly repairs at a mileage when comparable cars of other manufacturers need little or no repairs up to and way past 100,000 miles, are excessive in my opinion. (the first owner gets a warranty of 100,000 miles and 10 years, something that for the second owner is reduced to 50,000 miles/5 years. I wonder if the car is suddenly not as good anymore when somebody buys it from a previous owner?) consumer reports magazine lists repair records for engines and suspension systems of that year and model as being "worse than average," and I can see why. I would welcome to join others with similar experiences for a possible class action against vw.

1998 Passat both front control arms needed to be replaced due to defective.

I own a 1998 Volkswagen Passat and I'm the original owner. I have done all [even more than] the recommended maintenance on the Passat. I had the control arms replaced once already 2 years ago [not under recall or reimbursed for this procedure]. I am once again getting considerable craking noises from my control arms in my front suspension. I do not drive my Passat abnormally nor had any accidents with it. I feel that this happening to my Passat is not a normal wear and tear issue, but something else - bad design or materials?.

I purchased a pre-owned 1998 vw Passat sedan with 36,000 miles on it in 2002 which was a great deal!! or so I thought. Since that time I have started hearing a noise coming from the front right tire. . Or suspension . . Like a creaking, crunching, knocking noise. I took it to a vw dealership and was told that the control arms on the right and the tie rods needed to be replaced. I found out that the tie rods had been recalled and the ones on my vehicle had been replaced under that recall in 2001, but had again worn out. I find it hard to believe that tie rods would wear out over a 3 year period since the car barely has 70,000 miles on it. I have viewed this website and found over 200 complaints concerning this problem and am curious what vw plans to do. . Wait until someone dies when a control arm snaps? vw needs to recall this item now!.

The consumer stated that the control arm broke and it was noticed when the vehicle was being towed. The consumer was unable to drive the vehicle and it was no longer under warranty. The consumer was told by the dealer that he would have to wait until this problem was under recall before they would do anything.

Contlor arms on my car have been damaged. The rubber used to produce tie rods is too soft and the car makes noise while driving over bumps. The failure also does not allow to perform aligment on my vehicle until fixed. Cost of repair over $600. This is a well known problem on the suspension for vw, Audi and car owners.

Daily driving conditions the abs light comes on with audible warning and the brake light blinks continuously. Root problem is the abs electronic module that is malfunctioning. This is a very common problem as much web research has been conducted through online Passat forums.

No accidents ever, severe creaking in front left and right suspension. Left control arm replaced (at my cost although under warranty), creaking stopped from left side, but right side still creaks severely.

Our 1998 Passat has only 50,000 miles on it, and yet all of the expensive front control arms are starting to go bad. They are getting play in the ball joints, which are only replaceable by replacing the whole control arms. Since there are a total of 8 control arms, the cost of repair is potentially very high. And if they are not replaced, the potential for hazard and injury becomes very great if the joints get so sloppy that they affect the handling of the car and eventually come apart. Vw should not be allowed to get away with building such an under-engineered suspension system.

Mechanic is telling me all four tie rod assemlbies and control arms need replaced. I have been hearin a loud crunching noice everytime I go over a small bump or turn a corner.

Constant noise seems to be coming from front end suspension.

Upper control arm failure on my 1998 vw Passat. Dealer quoted me $1200 repair, even though I bought the car "certified". My Passat had only 55,xxx miles on it at time of failure. My concern is the repair- I don't have the money, so the parts wear more and more becoming more and more unsafe. Why isn't there a recall?.

Front control arm bushings torn and creaking. Possible safety issue if bushings deteriorate further.

I own a 1998 Volkswagen Passat. I am getting considerable creaking noises from my control arms in my front suspension. I have not driven the car abnormally or had any accidents with it.

This is the 2nd time in less than 6 months that my control arms have failed. I have a stock car, with stock suspension. This is mind-boggling that control arms on a 1998 car would fail twice in 1 year. I'm not the only one. Please, my wallet and my kids christmas begs you, recall these control arms. Please before someone is killed. I have contacted vw of America 4 times on this and they do not care. I have written vw in germany, all I got was a gift certificate. Please, do something!! dt.

Please investigate 1998-2001 Volkswagen Passats for control arm issues in front suspension. I had to replace mine at only 45000 for over $1,000!.

Suspension was creaking from the front. Pulled wheel off of car and discovered the control arm bushing is destroyed. I took the car to the dealerhship and they will not repair under warranty.

Upper and lower control arm failure. Noises, creaking. Could lead to accident if not repaired immediately. This is a known problem on my year and make vehicle but the manufacturer refuses to recall the parts involved.

Both front ball joint/lower control arm assemblies had to be replaced at 33000 miles, which is far earlier than it should be. It's also an extremely common problem with 1998 Passats. Aside from the $900 cost to replace these components, the complete failure of the assembly would be a serious safety hazard if the car were in motion. Although vw has redesigned these components for later model year Passats, they've done nothing to address the problem with 1998 models. A safety recall should be issued on these components so nobody dies due to their faulty design.

Lower and upper control arms failed after 3 years of ownership. Vw has a technical service bulletin for the lower control arms that covers the payment if under warranty, otherwise vw would pay 50% of the job. However the upper control arm is not covered in the TSB. I feel that this is a critical safety issue if both control arms failed while I was driving. There should be a safety recall.

Vehicle was making a metal-to-metal squeaking noise. Consumer took vehicle to the dealership for examination. Dealership informed consumer that both upper and lower control arms needed to be replaced with only 53,000 miles on vehicle.

Consumer took vehicle to dealer because steering column was making some noise. Dealer said control arms and tie rod end needed to be replaced, and wheels needed to be aligned.

Squeaking noise from front end. Out-of town vw dealer said "ball joints" $800 to repair. "dangerous to drive". Contacted vw customer service, they said it must be checked by dealer used for regular maintenance. That dealer said "lower control arms need replacing" "safe to drive" $1200 to repair. Took to 3rd mechanic, who said nothing was wrong, "just noisy". It continues to get worse, and I am concerned with safety.

Vehicle has a squeaking noise coming from suspension when steering or going over bumps or braking. Consumer stated the cause of the problem was failure of the bushings in the front lower control arms.

It is very common with the Passats 1998'-1999', that all the front control arms fail within a short period of time. This problem also occurs with Audi a4, because they both share the same suspension. Please investigate, and issue a recall as soon as possible.

Control arm ball joints and tie rods faulty causing noise in the front end of the vehicle. Nlm.

Loose steering there is noise everytime I hit the brakes and accelerate also when I go over bumps. The bushing of the all the control arms are gone.

I have had two failures of the control arms. The first one was covered under warranty. The second one was never recreated and accepted by the dealer until a year or so after it was reported in September of 1999. The manufacturer will only pay for the replacement of the parts. The issue with the control arms failure is it affects the ability to maintain an alighnment and causes the car to wander on the road.

Premature failure of upper and lower control arms in 1998 vw Passat. Had right control arm replaced at 43,000 all four replaced at 68,000 and now at 111,000 need to be replaced for the third time.

Both front control arms defective which caused the vehicle to fail inspection. The consumer's daughter received a recall notice but the dealer refused to repair the vehicle until she provided them with maintenance records.

The right front suspensions is very noisy over bumps, including just pushing down on the right front fender. After taking this to our local vw dealer here in fort collins we were told the fix is to replace the control arms at a cost of $750. I called vw of north America to complain saying this was way below industry standards for durability of this type of component. Vw's response was sorry it's out of warranty. This is ridiculous. I have since done a search on the NHTSA site and found this is a common complaint for the Passat. Vw should recall the part & provide an improved replacement that meets industry standards.

Control arms need to be recalled by mfg. For free replacement - safety issue.