general problems of the 2002 Volkswagen Passat

The abs brakes are faulty. . . . They work randomly. From what I have research this particular modular should have been a factory recall. . . . .

Periodically, when driving, the "abs", "brake", and the "anti slip regulation" lights will flash with an alarm sound that lasts around three seconds and the lights go off. This happens when the car is running and has happened on the highway and while stopped. There is no difference in the way the car handles, drives, or brakes during and after this occurs. On one instance the "anti slip regulation" light stayed on and I had to stop and shut the car off. When I started it again, the light was extinguished. This has been going on for 3-4 months and only happens about once a week.

Brake pedal was frozen - brakes inoperative. Mechanical inspection revealed water in the brake booster that had frozen, causing loss in brake function. Examination of the NHTSA website revealed action number pe07018 which is an exact match of the symptoms of the vehicle affected. The plenum drains were obstructed with debris and there was water in the plenum tray.

There is water in the brake vacuum booster. When it is cold it will freeze up an no brakes. This is the first year for this problem had car six years. I check the pleum drain an its clean. There should be a recall on this. . Read more...

I was driving up somewhat of a hill and had to slow down due to a bit of traffic flow. I had realized I was a little closer than I thought so I braked a little harder than usual. My brakes were grabbing on tightly to the ground like they should but then seemed to have given out at the last couple seconds. My car hit the car in front of me, resulting in both my front airbags going off. The airbag on the passenger side and swung out and hit my right hand, resulting in some minor burns and scrapes. I then started going backwards after the car in fron of me was hit. I hit my brakes to stop my car from rolling and there was nothing. My car would not let me brake. So I went to put the car in park, and then the car would not park. Finally the car stopped rolling backwards and we went to go move the car out of the street about 5 minutes later. The car wouldn't move at this point, so I had to take the car out of park and put it in neutral. The brakes are working fine now for the most part and there had been no previous brake problems. There was never a light indicator that said that my brakes needed to be checked nor had they felt different.

The contact owns a 2002 Volkswagen Passat wagon. The contact stated that while driving 30 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and failed to respond. The emergency brake was engaged in order to slow down; however, the vehicle then crashed into the rear of another vehicle. There were no personal injuries. A police report was filed of the incident. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where no repairs were performed. The manufacturer was not notified of the problem. The approximate failure mileage was 151,000.

The contact owns a 2002 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that the brake pedal was extremely stiff and would not respond when depressed. The contact applied the parking brake and the vehicle was towed to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The technician stated that the brake booster would have to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 62,000.

Started car 5 am during winter months-car brakes were completely depressed-brakes were un usable. Car was able to accelerate however brakes could not be used at any point. This is a serious and dangerous issue as any freezing temperature will render the brakes un usable and possibly result in a crash. Brought the car to several repair shops and was notified that a p9 service which sealed pollen filters to prevent debris from entering the area surrounding the brake booster had been done, but debris still entered.

About 9 months ago I was caught in a heavy rainstorm with my 2002 Passat 1. 8t. Water flooded the battery compartment due to drainage hole located under the battery clogged with leaf debris. All power (steering, brakes, etc. ) was lost and car stalled out on the highway. Now the car's brakes are malfunctioning in freezing weather. The brake pedal sticks to the floor at times; other times the pedal is very hard and must be stomped on to stop the car. I cannot use the car under these circumstances as it is too dangerous. Vw dealership confirmed diagnosis of problem as resulting from freezing water in brake booster. I reported the problem to vw customer care. They refuse to reimburse me for the dealer's $1600 fee to replace the booster, booster lines and vacuum pump. Why hasn't NHTSA forced vw to issue a recall as I've discovered there have been numerous other similar complaints? vw's stance on this was that the problem would be noticed in the driveway or at low speeds and therefore doesn't pose a safety hazard. This is totally unacceptable as temperatures can change quickly during a journey. Why has NHTSA backed down in the face of such a lame response? I will never again buy another vw car since their vaulted safety reputation is not deserved and their customer service stinks.

Water in brake booster frozen, causing breaks to fail - near incident on the freeway at high speeds. Frozen water is due to known service issue with 2002 Passat. Vw will not take responsibility for failure of brake booster even though mechanics indicate failed air plenum/filter is only way for water to enter brake booster. Vw will not take corrective action on brake booster, a $600 repair. This is a major safety issue in cold weather. See investigation #pe07-018.

This complaint is related to NHTSA action number pe 07018. My 2002 vw Passat experienced a complete transmission control module (tcm) failure in mid 2009. Water had gotten into the passenger compartment and disabled all its functions, including brakes, transmission and engine. It included sudden, unpredictable surging when the gas pedal was depressed. This occurred in a parking lot and there were no injuries. Vw repaired the car at their expense. Several months later, in very cold weather, there was complete loss of brakes and the car rolled down a driveway, across a busy street into a wall. Again there was no bodily injury and minor crash damage. Vw diagnosed the problem as water (ice) in the brake booster and repaired the car at my expense. Vw refused a request for an adjustment claiming that this event was unrelated to the first one. Last month, vw sent me an update notice for revised maintenance of the water drains and plenum chamber, as originally described in their service bulletin of Nov. 2007. I consider this a serious and potentially life threatening safety issue and request that NHTSA take appropriate action.

Failure of abs module.

In wet weather, my abs module goes haywire. When taken to a repair shop, they state that my brakes are fine and that the control module seems to be defective. This use to only happen once in a great while, be it is starting to become more frequently.

The "brake fault" and "stop" words appear on the dash and then a very loud and annoying beep comes on for 3 beeps. I spoke to a technician at the vw dealership and he said that is a very common problem, especially in 00,01 and 02 models. The module just "craps-out" as he put it and warned me that is usually costs about $1,000 to fix, but would need $120 just to diagnose and make sure that this is indeed the problem. I asked if there was a recall on this issue and was told "no". This is obviously a very common problem based on the over 200 postings I saw in regards to this problem in a mere 20 min. Of looking online. I am sad that the car I feel in love with has been nothing but a pain (which is what I was told by many people it would be). I work for Mercedes Benz and they manufacture their vehicles in germany as well, with much fewer problems. I believe this must be a recall since it is obviously a manufactures defect and costing people way too much money.

- the contact stated that while in the driveway the brake pedal would not depress and the 2002 Volkswagen Passat would not stop. Fortunately, my driveway goes uphill and the vehicle stopped. Towed the vehicle to the dealership, who determined the tree debris clogged a tray and the rain water overflowed into the brake booster and freezed. And this freezing caused the failure. The debris was cleared, and the master vacuum and other components were replaced at cost of $780.

Bought the car new and have had to deal with defective tires, defective ignition coils causing two major breakdowns at highway speeds with children in the car. The last two ignition coils were recalled. The car will not run if it is wet from heavy rain and has to be completely dried before the breaks work properly. Oil pump was replaced 14 months ago, another major breakdown on highway with children. It has broken down yet again. . . The dealership says it needs another oil pump because of sludge, about $2000, not under warranty because it is past the 12 month, 12,000mile mark. Two other private mechanics told me, replacing the oil pump would only disguise, temporarily the real issue. . . . The engine is junk. It now sits in my driveway because it is not under warranty because I am missing some oil change receipts. Also the blinkers don't work, the rear door won't open, auto locks work intermittently and headlights have been replaced twice and are out again. This was the first new car I ever bought. I bought the car after a divorce because I wanted a dependable car to commute to work and transport my children safely. The car has 85,00 mi.

I owned a 2002 vw Passat v6 for 2 years. Three times within that time during rainstorms, the engine died and all the electrical equipment, including the power brakes , failed. I have just found out that the air intake for the engine is either near a wheel well or behind a headlight, as is apparently common for sporty cars. The water gets sucked into the engine. Vw charged me $9000 after the second event, blaming it on pine needles in drainage wells. Five days later, I went through a small puddle and it happened again. I sold the car. I think this warrants investigation as a major safety hazard.

2002 Volkswagen Passat experiencing problems with passenger seat, door panels, glove compartment, radio equipment, buttons for the mirror equipment and the vehicle kept cutting off. The consumer stated when the passenger seat went forward it would not stop, the heated seats burned the consumers children, however he did not state how many children. The vehicle could not be aligned. The door panels and arm rest were peeling. The headlights were always going out. The brakes squeaked. The battery, generator and ground wire were replaced due to vehicle stalling.