9.3

really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$370
Average Mileage:
84,350 miles
Total Complaints:
3 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. replace cooling system (3 reports)
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problem #3

Jan 102011

Passat 1.8L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 88,000 miles

I had a signal on the car. Low coolant. I checked it out and found oil in my antifreeze tank. Everyone including VW said cracked gasket. That was supposed to be a $2500 cost. Luckily I found someone who knew the many VW issues and was able to resolve it for 300.

- eosa07, Tomball, TX, US

problem #2

Mar 122010

Passat 1.8T 1.8L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 95,000 miles

I do not like this car. It's too much of a prima donna.

- eosa07, Tomball, TX, US

problem #1

Apr 022009

Passat 2.0L Turbo

  • Automatic transmission
  • 70,000 miles

while driving, high engine coolant level warning light came ON. stopped car, shut off engine, removed coolant reservoir cap carefully. coolant overflowed onto the ground. noticed the coolant was contaminated with oil, a sludge. removed engine oil dipstick to check engine oil level. no oil showed on the dipstick. traced problem to leaking engine oil cooler / heat exchanger, which is located at the engine oil filter housing. engine coolant is used to cool the hot engine oil. because oil pressure is greater than the coolant pressure, any leak in the oil cooler will allow engine oil to seep into the cooling system and contaminate the coolant. had to replace the oil cooler, coolant reservoir, and reservoir cap, and flush the cooling system 5 times. at 43000 miles, this same engine was repaired under warranty by VW dealer after having oil sludge problem. not sure if dealer replaced oil cooler/heat exchanger at that time.

- demerin, Benicia, CA, US