Four problems related to carrier/rack have been reported for the 2013 Volkswagen Passat. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2013 Volkswagen Passat based on all problems reported for the 2013 Passat.
A. The engine. 1. My Volkswagen Passat 2013 tdi can not pass massachusetts state inspection, after several times of repair the problem was tracked to emission that the repair shop was not able to fix it (alphacars & motorcycles, alphacars, 649 massachusetts Ave, boxborough, MA 01719, phone: (978) 263-9000). (dates of repairs: ~05/30/2020, ~06/29/2020) 2. Dealer did three recalls and repairing for emission, charged $590 (07/31/2020). But emission issue persisted (08/27/20), and needed to be returned to dealer (08/28/20). 3. Dealer intended to charge another $650 for �diagnosis� of the emission issue (09/09/2020). 4. The diesel emission issue of this vehicle is not fixed after many repairs, when this issue can be fixed is unknown, whether it is possible to have this issue fixed is unknown. Given that this diesel emission issue comes from Volkswagen's well known software scandal on diesel emissions, and likely due to defective modification conducted later, this vehicle imposes a major risk to driver's safety. B. Airbag. Every time I start the vehicle, I got warning message about the airbag, even though the vehicle is regularly maintained by Volkswagen dealer. The airbag may be defective, and imposes a major risk to driver's safety. C. The vehicle had major coolant leaking. At regular maintenance with dealer, after my complaint, the dealer found a hole and fixed it. Around middle of June, 2020, the leaking became very severe, I got warning light when driving on highway, and the engine temperature was very high and had a danger of complete shutdown.
My fiance was taking a left turn crossing a busy road during hours of dusk. Headlights were on. He was not able to see the opening of the road when turning and drove over the side walk and crashed. Front air bags deployed and windshield cracked. 3 tired popped along with other font end body damage. I had just purchased car from a dealership a few months earlier. Later I researched any recalls on my vehicle and a recall dealing with headlight issues and the headlights on my vehicle not being able to be adjusted properly, came up. If this issue was fixed before I bought the car, my fiance would have not crashed.
Volkswagen replaced my vehicle steering wheel "clockspring" under a previous safety recall. My car has now recently suffered from a failed steering wheel "clockspring". My drivers side front airbag is now incapacitated, my horn no longer works and my steering wheel controls do not work. This occurred upon my making a full left hand turn, upon making the turn, I heard cracking sounds come from my steering wheel and all of the sudden, I got an airbag error warning light (I still do), my horn did not work (still does not) and my steering wheel controls did not work (still don't). This should be a second recall to cover this issue because the "clockspring" was formally recalled for the exact reasons that I (and apparently a lot of other auto owners) now suffer from and the supposed replaced clockspring is causing the same safety issues. Volkswagen is currently not taking responsibility for installing faulty "clocksprings" or negligent auto design for this issue. A new safety recall for this should be issued.
I purchased the vw Passat in December 2012. I noticed within the first week the slow response of the navigation but I thought maybe because of the cold weather. I live in michigan. When spring came around I still saw the slow response and it was agitating me. I put the car in reverse and back out of my drive way and the camera still doesn't come on till after. At the same time my seat was squeaking. I took it to the dealer and they said the seat is fine and they will ask about the navi unit. At one point the navi restarted while I was driving. I took it back to the dealer and showed them how slow it responds and they got approval to replace it. I also showed them the seat they looked and saw that it was cracked. How can a seat crack? the second navi unit had the same response time. It also restarted while I was driving. I took it to the dealer and they called vw and the technician on the phone told them that the sd card I am using for my music is to large of memory probably that's why its slow. Now I am an engineer and that is just absurd. I called vw and they said I cant talk to a technical expert they will have to call the dealer ship. Have not heard anything and the dealer has not as well. I then moved all my music to the internal hard drive and took it to the dealer and they said will call them and explain to them what is happening. The music is not the problem even with out any music the unit is very lagging. If the navigation unit boot up is slow that is fine. What is the purpose of the camera if I can back out of my drive way or any parking spot start to drive then see the camera. Now sometimes it works but most of the time the unit takes close to a minute or so to boot up. Also the new seat they put in is beginning to squeak again.