Purchased a 99 VW Passat wagon from a Virginia dealer in Nov 2004 mileage 47.5K. The transmission control unit/module has now completely failed. This expensive ($1300) circuit board is located under the front passenger seat. It is in a non-draining well in the floor pan under the carpeting and padding. It is in no way sealed or waterproofed to prevent corrosion from condensation or failure from water buildup in the area. Normal use in inclement weather allows drops of water to accumulate in this area. Once the water gets to the area where the tcu is located it remains there. Whatever evaporation that does occur just increases the humidity around the tcu, it then condenses on the cold metal floor pan or the tcu and drains back into the well the tcu is in. Since it is under the carpet and the padding one cannot see or easily detect that water or even just a dampness exists here. The tcu corrodes until it fails, when it fails the vehicle is undriveable and must then be towed to a VW dealer. There is no diagnostic data available that would allow a regular garage to repair it. Even gc Volkswagen requested 3 hrs of diagnostic time. Their final charge was 3.5 hrs to identify the problem and replace the tcu. A 12 month/12000 mile warranty was given except for failure due to outside influence. As I understand it this means any use of the vehicle outside of a temperature and humidity controlled enclosure. I was assured that it will fail again and there was nothing I could do to prevent it. By the time one discovers water in the area the damage is already done. VW will not reimburse me for the repairs or issue a solution to prevent further damage to the tcu. This is a design flaw and should be recalled as it effects every 1.8T w/ tiptronic auto transmission. VW is endangering peoples lives and costing people thousands of dollars due to the poor placement of this component. Outside influence is a scam to deny payment. I would not buy a car I couldn't drive outside- would you?

- Glen Head, NY, USA

Clunking noises heard when transmission is in gear and moving forward-not heard in reverse. Car would not go into any forward gears, it would only shift in reverse. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined that the transmission control module had been damaged beyond repaire. The unit sits beneath the passenger seat of the vehicle and was completely submerged in water due to the failure of the sunroof drains which caused rain water to collect and pool inside of the vehicle.

- Portland, OR, USA