5.1
fairly significant- Crashes / Fires:
- 0 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 0 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 19,013 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.
On my vehicle, the passenger front lower control arm is failing at the ball joint. There are loud screeches at low speeds when passing over bumps coming from the ball joint evidencing the inappropriate wear. This was addressed and replaced according to service bulletin "vm" with Volkswagen in early 2005, but the part is wearing improperly again. Failure of this part could cause loss of steering and could be fatal at highway speeds.
- Denver, CO, USA
The contact's son owns a 1999 Volkswagen Passat. While driving at an unknown speed, the contact's son heard metal rubbing near the front end of the vehicle. The contact stated that the front suspension was loose. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and they replaced the upper and lower links. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage was 94,490 and failure mileage was 89,000.
- Freeport, MN, USA
I own a 1999 VW Passat wagon. There have been some recalls about the front end. I did have it checked at least twice by my dealer who said everything was ok. As I was nearing my home today at about 25 mph the right front wheel suddenly collapsed upward into the wheel well and the car started skidding on the right side of the frame off to the right side of the road. Because I was going rather slow I was able to correct it and stop it before it went off the road. If I had been going 65-70 next to other cars on the interstate or even 40 on a two lane around town I'm sure things would not have been quite so benign and we (my family and I) may all have been injured or worse! when the wrecker lifted it the driver and I both looked at the a arm and the ends were cracked or sheared off. I did not hit anything before it happened, and did not hit anything while I have had the car. Even if I had it would seem that the inspection by the dealer should have found it. This seems like a manufacturerer problem and it is way too serious to say they weren't responsible. There could easily have been a death connected with the front wheel collapsing when you consider lost of control at highway speeds!
- Niantic, CT, USA
Normal use of '99 VW Passat with an odometer reading of 99,650 lead to the failure of ront contorl arms and tie rod ends. Replacement control arm set with tie rods retails for $1,700. Purchased a set for $495 and an additional $198.75 in labor.
- Harrisburg, PA, USA
Front suspension creaks constantly while driving car. This appears to be common complaint by other owners, but Volkswagen (VW) unwilling to admit that parts are wearing too soon. Creaking started at about 45,000 miles. From other postings it appears that this will cost me at least $1,000 to repair. I am afraid to take car the VW for repairs, because of high cost. I hope this problem is not dangerous.
- Waukesha, WI, USA
The 1999 Passat has had a number of problems from excessive oil consumption, electrical problems, water pump defects, front end assembly and transmission problems. (nar)
- Chicago, IL, USA
The front end is "creaky." There is considerable noise, usually when turning. I suspect that the bushings in the multi-link front suspension are worn. I received an estimate from the dealer on 7/18/2003 of $1020 to fix it. I chose not to fix it at that time. Over the past year I have heard numerous stories of Passat and Audi A4S that have this same problem so I want to add another complaint to the file.
- Nashua, NH, USA
Recall letter for replacement of tie rods on 1999 Volkswagen Passat. The front end of the vehicle squeaked. The technician found lower and upper control arm damage, the control arm boots were torn open with no lubrication which caused the squeak noise. There was also a cam shaft tensioner gasket leak which was removed and replaced.. the consumer took the vehicle to have the rods replaced after receiving the recall, however, the dealer called the consumer back and informed him, the vehicle had been inspected and it was not necessary for the work to be done, even though the recall letter stated it they would be replaced to prevent future problems.
- Lawrenceville, NJ, USA
Front end knocking started at 35,000 worse when turning. Brought to dealer front right and left lower control arms needed to be replaced not certain of saftey risk if problem left unfixed.
- Shawano, WI, USA
Bushing failure on all 4 front lower control arms. These bushings gradually became loose and began squeaking, accompanied by clunking over low-speed bumps. This is a common problem on these cars. VW has refused to officially acknowledge the defect and do a recall, even though they are paying for part of the costs for some people's repairs and they have redesigned the bushings in question. Furthermore, the relatively inexpensive bushings can be replaced without replacing the entire control arm, but dealerships refuse to do that, instead to force most customers to pay for the much more expensive control arm assembly. These bushing failures pose a danger if they fail severely enough. The only reason they aren't causing wrecks is that the failure is gradual and most owners replace them before the bushings get too bad. But this is still a safety issue and the repair is hardly optional.
- Fresno, TX, USA
No summary listed for above vehicle.
- Seattle, WA, USA
No summary listed for above vehicle.
- Rochester, NY, USA
Sypmtoms are creaking, groaning from front suspension
- Chicago, IL, USA
No summary listed for above vehicle.
- Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Have contacted VW customer service and requested for coverage since this is quite a common problem on Passat. However, VW refused to cover, not even half the cost! other Passat owners have at least got all parts covered by VW! the total cost sum up with up to $1000. The main problem happening is basically I heard consistent clunking noise when turning under low speed, going over a bump, and occasional braking. According to what I have heard, this is called the "lower control arm failure" and there's a bulletin in VW that this is recognized as a problem and service providers are infomed to install particular components to fix the problem. I think this is quite a critical part for the car as we don't want the car to lose control expecially turning. And the most thing that pissed me off is that vwoa refused to cover some costs! I know at least an owner got it all covered by contacting vwoa! the first noticing of the noise was at around 40000 miles but sunnyvale VW referred that this is a noise coming out from the engine pump which is leaking at that time. Noise of course didn't resolve and I didn't even bother to ask as they can't detect it. Hopefully, I can get some help from NHTSA. Thanks
- San Jose, CA, USA
No summary listed for above vehicle.
- Nashua, NH, USA
No summary listed for above vehicle.
- Austin, TX, USA
Very common problem. Suggest investigation/recall.no safety defect listed.
- Tucson, AZ, USA
Suspension clunking noise - taken to dealer 5+ times, no resolution.
- Austin, TX, USA
- Albuquerque, NM, USA