Three problems related to cruise control have been reported for the 2001 Volkswagen Passat. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2001 Volkswagen Passat based on all problems reported for the 2001 Passat.
When driving the vehicle, the cruise control kicks on by itself. I don't know what the maximum speed that the cruise control is set, but I let the vehicle get up to over 85 mph yesterday before I 'canceled' the cruise control. The 'cancel' button only temporarily solves the problem - a few minutes later, the cruise control kicks on again. It does not matter if I'm on a highway or a residential street - the car will suddenly kick in and increase speed. I have not taken it to a dealer yet.
Cruise control was set at 65 mph with about 400 miles on vehicle, and brakes did not turn off cruise control . Vehicle did not stop. Driver had to use emergency parking brake, and crashed into vehicle in front of him. Upon impact, driver's and passenger's airbags did not deploy, which did not protect the occupants. Vw did not give consumer a loaner car and could find nothing wrong with vehicle.
Auto has cruise control. The owner's manual indicates that there is a cruise control indicator light on the dashboard. When the cruise control is on/engaged, no indicator light shows on the dash. Morong vw (the falmouth, maine service center we use) and the vw customer service hotline indicate that despite the owner's manual statement that cars with cruise control have a cruise control indicator light, none is installed in 2001 vw Passats. They both indicated that no repairs would be made to this problem, despite my request. In my view, it is potentially dangerous for there not to be an indicator showing the cruise control to be engaged. I've never owned a car or been in a car with cruise control that did not have such a light. Without the light, there is higher risk of inadvertent engagement, or failure to remember that the system is engaged, both potentially dangerous situations. Is there any regulation that requires such a light? thanks for your time.