general problems of the 2013 Volkswagen Passat - part 1

Vehicle's sunroof spontaneously imploded while driving on a 40° day going normal speeds ~60 mph.

Def system failed- cel came on w def light stating xxx miles to no start, codes p204f & 18097, now unable to start or drive car safely, 18097 code may cause abs & steering to shut off while driving & p204f renders the car unusable. Epa mod was never performed on my car per dieselgate settlement rules- & now the manufacturer(vw) is refusing to fix their mistake car has been in shop repeatedly for 30+ days at a time since 2022 for the def system and not once was the epa mod mentioned to me vw refuses to fix the def system or do the epa required mod- meaning I was sold a stop sale car. Also claiming I’m not entitled to warranty even though per their own warranty I am the first owner that I can see other then a dealership am now told by other tdi owners that are still under warranty that vw is refusing to fix anything to do with the p204f code.

I am trying to trade in my car online and submitted to get an instant offer. The instant offer says my vehicle is reported to have 30,000 more miles on it than my odometer is showing. My title also states its a 2 dr sedan.

While driving, the side right view mirror fell out due to failure of the adhesive. Just the mirror (not the backing or mirror assembly). I first checked at a junkyard, I could not use the mirrors I found there, because as soon as I started pulling the backing assembly off, the mirrors would pop off the adhesive backing. On looking for a replacement mirror online, I found that this problem was very common for vw side view mirrors. So much so that there are a ton of replacement mirrors being sold with comments in reviews about vw’s “weak” adhesive.

On 4/12/2023 - I was traveling on highway 4 in the afternoon headed back home from work. While driving around 70mph all in sudden without any warning front driver side wheel locked up and causing the car to pull hard on driver side. I hit the retaining divider while trying my best to not to hit any other cars. This should be a recall a major one as no car should lock up like this.

The central locking system is malfunctioned as the car does not automatically or manually lock. This is a safety risk as anyone inside or outside the vehicle can open the doors. This issue has been ongoing for about a year & has been ignored from different auto shops during different service times. I addressed this issue again when bringing the vehicle to the auto shop on 5/4/24 for a separate concern & the diagnostic code has been confirmed but was told “we will clear the code & it should reboot itself”. This did not work as the locking system is still malfunctioned & still have to manually lock the vehicle through the driver door when leaving the car. When inside the car & attempting to lock the car inside, you can hear it trying to lock but does not fully click over to lock because when driving, anytime speed is accelerated from 0mph to 10mph, it continuously attempts to auto lock. The locking indicator light does not illuminate when inside the vehicle.

Vw has replaced the heater core twice on this car. Yet less than 1 year later the heat will not work on just the passenger side which then foggs the windows and eliminates visablility rendering the car useless.

Clock spring malfunction: air bag indicator light, loss of function of horn, loss of function of steering wheel controls.

The infotainment screen and system have malfunctioned. The screen goes black and attempts to reboot repeatedly, never actually starting up. This prevents any access to the infotainment system and and use of the backup camera. Not only is this an inconvenience but a safety hazard as all cars are now required to have a backup camera. Upon further research, this is a common problem among many Volkswagen models and has cost Volkswagen customers thousands per incident/case.

Noticed the carpeting getting wet on the drivers side floor. After doing some research online tracked it down to the drivers side drain for the moonroof. The hose shrunk over time and disconnected from the rubber piece that goes through the firewall and allows the water to drain outside of the vehicle. Had to splice a piece of hose to the original so it would be long enough to connect again. Worried that the condensation from the water leaking inside the car may affect electrical components over time.

The clockspring was repaired June 14 2018, my airbag light turned on when I was backing up my vehicle and none of the steering wheel control buttons operate.

* driver air bag, horn, all controls in steering wheel. * not having a horn or working air bag * yes, defective clock switch has been confirmed-this was a recall, was replaced and failed again * no- dealer/recall repair center only * no, air bag light came on and that was it. At that moment nothing worked this occurred in March 2022. I was told it would take 1-2 months to get the part. The part is still unavailable. Called vm customer care-they instructed me to call the dealer. The dealer has no control over parts coming from vw. Now driving 8 months without an airbag or horn. All controls in the steering wheel are inoperable. Most are convenience items. Air bag and horn are safety issues.

My 2013 vw Passat with only 61576 miles showed problems with heat on driver side and no heat for passenger side . Brought car to dealer on 2/15/2022 and was told heater core was defective and should be changed because it could cause car to over heat and cause damage to engine if not taken care of. I had the car repaired at $1000. 00 out of my pocket because they wouldnt cover it in their warrenty. Multiple vw forum members have the same experiance . I contacted vw customer care and they would not help. I believe this is a major recall that could cause someone to blowup their engine for a poor quality heatercore.

My clock spring broke in December, I am 50 on the list at our dealer. We called another dealer and was told it is a national back order and there are thousands on back order. . I called vw customer care and there does not seem to be any sense of urgency to rectify this. They are blaming covid and the war in ukraine.

Vw is has a recall and warranty extention on 2013 - 2014 vw Passat tdi with engine code ckra, which mine is, for the heater core,. Sysmptom are no heat on passnager side, same sysmptom I am experiencing. Yet vw says mine is not covered yet falls in the apramiteres. They claim there are a range of vins but will not provide me with that info to see if mine is covered. They will not explain why some are and some are notcovered as they are all the same car, with the same aprt same issues, yet vw will only cover replacement on ceratin models. Yet they wont explain which.

Check engine light and epc light suddenly came on during acceleration around 40mph. Acceleration dropped and idle is rough. Check engine and epc light and rough idle with no acceleration occurs every time vehicle is started. Obdii codes show misfire. Online forums show similar cases with no consistent reason or fix between 30k and 70k miles.

The clock spring has broken and disables all steering wheel buttons, horn, and the driver airbag. I've replaced it and it broke again in less than a year.

Vehicle has 49000 miles and is a gasoline engine. Passenger side heat only blows cold air, which prevents the windshield from defrosting/deicing in wintertime, affecting visibility and safety. Driver's side is not affected. Research suggests that the problem is the result of a defective heater core similar to that found with diesel versions of the vehicle. This issue should not be occurring with a vehicle only having 49000 miles.

Check engine light and epc light turned on. Sometimes my car will not start, but then other time it with start with one turn. Also while I am driving, it looses power sometimes. One time the car shut off completely while I was in drive. I took it to the mechanic and he did a diagnostic computer code check. The code was reading camshaft position sensor malfunction. The mechanic replaced the sensor but noticed that the metal on the sensor is shearing significantly.

Clock spring failure after manufacturer recall "fix". Vehicle was in motion, making a routine turn when loud clicking sound was noted. Immediate failure of airbags, horn, and all steering wheel controls, including hands-free safety features.

The steering wheel controls stop working the horn no longer works after the recall on the airbag they fixed in the steering wheel.

Engine shuts off unexplainably. This has occurred while the vehicle was stationary on a city street and in motion on the highway. The component part/system that is causing the safety risk is unknown to me as well as the Volkswagen dealership and foreign auto mechanic that I have taken the vehicle to, to have it serviced.

About a year ago we noticed a strange odor devoloping in the car and researched that it could be a wax vw puts on the plastics. In the heat this max puts off an odor. After a while my son started devoloping sinus issues to the point he was at the doctor getting medicine to treat. This summer he did not drive the car much and we noticed he was not sick. I contacted vw on 7/23/19 with the concern of mold or the plastic issue. I dropped off the car to a dealer on 7/27/19 to have a mold test done, the results were told to me that levels of mold we acceptable levels but I was not told according to who's level. When I or my son drive this car we develop headaches and sinus issues caused from the odor the car is putting off in the passenger cabin. As of today 8/13/19 vw has turned it over to the dealer to charge me $245. 00 to look for a leak. They are not looking at the wax on the plastic which they have agreed they do. After looking at issues on the internet with vw odors there are many out there causing issues. This issue gets worse when using the ac.

The car has coolant issues, had power steering system replaced, now there's a gas leak, replaced gas cap loss of power suspension is horrible now everytime I refuel the car struggles to turn on.

Has a problem with the fuel system, I have the diesel engine and when the glow plugs starts flashing you can feel the loss of power and takes several seconds to get up to speed, read online that it's an ongoing issue for several people.

Clock spring is not working after takata recall implemented. No controls on steering wheel work. Horn does not work. Airbag would likely not inflate. Airbag light is on. This occured while the car was not moving.

The driver's door intermittently will not unlock and open. The driver has to enter through the passenger door and climb across to the driver's seat. This problem began in November 2018. I scheduled a service appointment at hanover Volkswagen service department (PA) on 12/28/18. The problem was diagnosed and scanned finding fault for implausible signal from left front door latch. The recommendation is to replace the door latch and latch cover. The part was not available so I scheduled service for 1/2/19. I was then notified the part is on nation back order. The door has not unlocked 3 days since 1/2/19. I find this a safety issue since I cannot exit the car either through the driver's door when it does not unlock.

Driver's side door frozen shut in winter and upon opening handle/lock became inoperable resulting in failure of door to remain closed/locked during operation - door would swing open on turns presenting a safety hazard. Research suggests that this is a known problem.

Clock spring failure. Dangerous as air bag and horn do not work.

There was a recall on clockspring, and the repair was a clockspring cover that was repaired on my vehicle in March of 2016. July 2018 my clockspring had to be completely replaced costing $650. There was also an airbag recall that caused my horn to stop working, airbag light to come on, at the same exact time the clockspring stopped working. I took my vehicle to a dealership 2 days ago to have the clockspring looked at and the recall on the airbag repaired. The dealership informed me that I would have to purchase a new clockspring because only the cover was considered a recall, however obvioiusly this was not a sufficient clockspring repair.

In oct/6/2017 took my car to rudolph vw for the air bag recall, in June 29, 2018. I got the same warning lights except this time they are telling me that the problem is the clock spring, the part under nit the cup and airbag and this time I have to pay for it, a problem originated by them and now they want to collect $ 610. 00 dlls. Also they said that the warranty expired, 1 year or 12,000 miles, my car odometer record indicate back the 28086 in 10/6/17 and now 80,998 miles impossible to believe.

While I was home, I noticed my airbag light came on and the buttons on my steering wheel didn't work. A few days later I was driving on the highway and a car almost changed lanes on top of me. I tried to honk my horn and nothing came out. Thankfully the car swerved back in it's lane because I didn't have anywhere to go. I took my car to the dealership and they told me the clock spring needed replaced. In 2016 I had my clock spring replaced as part of a recall (69l2). I've recently learned that many other people are having a similar issue with their recall-replaced clock spring. Volkswagen is not acknowledging the problem with the recall work and clock spring being faulty and will only replace it if I spend over $700 for another diagnostic and repair.

Car would make whirling sounds intermittently, difficulty going up hill, rough idle sometimes, car shut off while driving, car shut off while idling at a light, car had difficulty starting or would start then shake and let out loud and hard bursts of gas from exhaust and cut off, car will start up then lose power, sometimes will start back up. One time it took 3 tries and would not start. Had at vw dealer multiple times since jam 2017 till now. Happened again today after I got gas, shut off then took a while to gain power and epc and check engine light were on then disappeared. Every other time the wngine light would disappear. The last time in March they had the car 10 or so day. Two days later it idled rough. They were busy to check the car now this. Jan 2017 check engine light they said fault p0106/p2188- did software update and advises faults may come back. Feb 2017 engine light they said same faults and manifold pressure sensor failed. Got replaced. March 2017 car stalled in traffic multiple times. They cleaned throttle body. March 2017 in idle car shaking and shut off rpms up and down replaced camshaft position sensor. May 2017 shut off in traffic- replaced n80 valve. 05/05/18 got spark plugs changed. March 7 car shut off three times after getting gas. They had it till March 19 said charcoal canister need replacing then upon pick up said n205 valve cam adjuster solenoid clicking loudly. March 29 noticed hearing whirling sounds and rough idle. Called ealer no one available over weekend. Busy. Today 04/08 car shut off after 2nd gas fill up. Started back slowly epc and engine light steady then it gained power and lights off. Vw corporare advised in 2017 I am out of warranty and have high mileage. Opened claim again today they said same thing but will see if the corporate would be willing to offer assistance. All work has been done via vw dealers.

Check engine light (mil) luminated. Code p202a. Reductant tank heater control circuit. 135k miles.

Driver door handle sticks in cold weather and won't open from the outside. When crawling across from passenger side to open driver door from the inside, something broke very easily. I was able to open the door, but now my drivers door won�tlock in place to stay shut. Very dangerous to try driving with the door swinging open at every curve.