general problems of the 2005 Volkswagen Passat

It just died and I lost brakes, power steering, and only know what else stopped working. Come to find out the splines wear off of the oil pump shift after the counter balance and chain goes out. This is so common a problem that when you google what happened there are numerous videos and complaints about this issue, with ways to stop it from happening. Korea has already recalled them and europe has recalled them, why are we so far behind on this. Not only is it expensive, but also a major safety issue because this stops the brakes from working and the car does not have stopping power with the motor dead. Not everyone knows to report to NHTSA!.

Car was started at 9:30am at home- last driven night before locally. Car was driven @ 1 mile, parked, engine turned off, doors locked and left in parking lot. At 9:49 the local police called me to alert me that my car was on fire. There is footage of the fire on youtube. . Read more...

Low oil pressure do to sludge build up. Bought the car as a certified pre-owned vehicle. I bought it around 60k and at 100k I am being told that I need a new engine.

The contact owns a 2005 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph, the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The contact steered the vehicle to the side of the road and had it towed to a mechanic. The failure was diagnosed as engine oil sludge. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The VIN was unavailable. The approximate failure mileage was 143,000.

On 3/23/13, when turning left in traffic, the "sealed for life" 5-spd auto transmission made an incredibly hard shift, began slipping badly, and quickly lost 3 fwd speeds, "limping" in for service. Normally, a trans failure at 143k would not prompt an NHTSA complaint. It is not the car, but rather vwoa and its dealer network, that are the problem. My local dealer refused to check auto trans fluid level, and would only grudgingly do a fluid change if I wanted, for an extortionate $700, steadfastly maintaining that neither was necessary. Vwoa today 4/5/13, ironically, criticized me for not following the owner's manual recommendation of checking fluid every 40k miles. Local dealer wanted over $4400 + misc fees & tax to replace the trans. At the same time, they indicated my new tires with 500 miles on them were in a marginal tread wear condition. Ditto the recently renewed (at the same dealer!) rear brakes. Btw, the transmission manufacturer, zf, recommends communicating to customers the benefits of fluid changes at 50k mile intervals. Vw won't listen to either customer or trans mfr. Trans was rebuilt at qualified independent shop. There was also an earlier recall (thanks, NHTSA!) of ceramic glow plugs that would fall into cylinders and cause catastrophic damage. Fortunately, I had the repair done independently, as this condition was known for at least 2 yrs before vw's official response. Vw did compensate me for this, but I wonder how many $9k engines were destroyed while vw contemplated its collective navel. Btw, after the official vw fix (done at dealer), the car starts in winter like a 1980 rabbit diesel. I fitted a zerostart as corrective measure. Vw also refuses to discuss the balance shaft chain drive issue with me. A ticking time bomb at 143k. They know it. I know it. Nhtsa, please take vwoa to task! as for me, I'm now shopping competitors.

The interior heater does not work correctly. We took the vehicle to a vw mechanic oasis auto center in redding, CA. He said he cleared the coil but that a valve may also be part of the problem. This occurred in November 2011. Since we live in n. California it has not been a big issue since it is warm most of the year. I did however see this is a recall item. Please advise me if we can still get this repaired under the recall.

I was driving on highway when the alarm message "oil pressure low: stop engine" came on. I got off the side of the road and the engine locked up. Bent valves, broken piston shaft, engine needs replaced. I've seen this so many times on the internet as I've been looking into my options since then. Volkswagen will do nothing to help nor take responsibility. They offered me $1000 toward a new Volkswagen. Seriously? I have maintained the vehicle. They know there is a problem with these cars and as far as I'm concerned, it is criminal to sell these without recalling to fix the problem. If I wasn't able to get off the highway, outside of chicago, my passenger and I would have been smashed with countless other injuries. I didn't stop the car once I got off the road, it stopped itself. Volkswagen needs to be accountable for their products.

I have recently come to the need of having to replace a critical part of the engine oil system in my 2005 Passat tdi. For various reasons, not the least of which is an inferior design, the balance shaft assembly on this particular engine (2004-2005 model years) will cause oil flow to the engine to cease, disrupting safe travel of the car immediately, regardless of the speed of travel. This failure is exceptionally dangerous at highway speeds of 70+ mph. If this failure were to occur at highway speed, the driver would notice a sudden deceleration and a need to move to the shoulder abruptly. Not only would this endanger the driver and occupants of said vehicle, but other drivers on the roadway as well. Volkswagen has yet to issue a statement, recall or warning to owners of this particular vehicle, nor is it mentioned anywhere in the owner's manual as part of a vehicle maintenance program.

Nvs-216 mec and ref. # is 10257848 vw 2005 Passat tdi balance shaft replacement this was a very expensive repair($3200)ot avoid a catastrophic failure of the engine at any speed that could result in total lose of control. This is a design flaw by vw and should be replace at their cost!.

I have leased a 2005 vw Passat. I changed my oil on a regular basis, my mechanic did not write the in mileage or out mileage when he gave me my receipt. My car broke down on the highway and vw states that I need a new motor due to sludge in the motor. The are telling me my receipts are not good enough and won't cover the motor. I have searched the web and see I'm not the only one with this problem. The palisades, NY vw are impossible to do business with. I'm not getting a new motor!.