9.0

really awful
Typical Repair Cost:
$600
Average Mileage:
174,250 miles
Total Complaints:
2 complaints

Most common solutions:

  1. not sure (1 reports)
  2. replace positive battery cable (from front of vehicle) (1 reports)
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problem #2

Jan 222018

Passat LX 2.0L

  • Automatic transmission
  • 145,000 miles

Low voltage causing the interior lights to dim, and sometimes all warnings will appear.

- cstodd47, Spring Hope, French Polynesia

problem #1

Jul 102017

Passat 3.6L V6

  • Automatic transmission
  • 203,500 miles

I was very frustrated to find very little information out about my problem which apparently had been going on for much longer than I realized. The Red Electrical Steering Light came on a few years back & I replaced the electrical steering with a 'Used Part' at around $150 as a brand new Electrical Steering was over $1,000 just for the part! I also was told to replace the Comfort Control Module & was repeatedly told that Interstate Battery was selling me defective batteries. I bought a top of the line battery charger & started charging my battery on trickle charge every night so that I could drive my VW without the electrical steering or other modules going off due to 'low voltage'. Finally one of my friends who worked at Chapman VW (& has ironically been let go just weeks after my car was returned to me) spilled the beans to me about this known issue that is not 'public knowledge'. He then printed me out a 30 page 'Technical Bulletin' which was dated March 6th, 2009 & has the # 2020128 listed as: RVU - 97P4/Y5 Check and, if Necessary, Replace Positive Battery Cable. The technicians at VW refer to this part as a 'Wiring Harness'. This is the positive battery cable that goes from the front of the VW, all the way to the rear trunk. (This is not the small positive battery cable that attaches to the battery itself). Once this cable was installed, & the battery properly brought up to a full charge, all of the modules had to be reset so that they would behave. Sure enough the troubles I have experienced over the years have gone away, & Interstate Battery was right all along! I use to think they were selling me bad batteries (who knows, maybe some of the batteries had issues), but the last battery they installed on August 2016 was starting to give me the same problem & Interstate Battery stood their ground this time & wasn't going to just warranty out a battery that they knew was not the problem. After having the new positive battery cable installed, I have not had to charge my battery at all with my battery charger. My electrical steering hasn't gone out either since the modules were all reset. My only regret is not reporting this problem to the world in earlier years, as I have a feeling many others have traded in a perfectly good VW Passat when all that was needed to fix multiple problems, was the positive battery cable. The technician at Chapman VW who was let go shortly after my vehicle was repaired was honest to the point that it may have cost him his job, but I have no idea & that may have been a coincidence, but I'm thinking that management may have not liked the fact that by having me fix my positive battery cable that I will now most likely not have repeat service calls for all of these modules that were going off & were only going off because of low voltage & according to my mechanic, VW's are one of the most electrical sensitive vehicles. The wiring harness I received had to be specially made in Germany as there were no OEM Parts available (at least that was what I was told). I plan on getting another 5 years or more out of my VW Passat There are other small issues, but I have already gone a bit off topic, so that is all for my post on this & for those of you who have the 3.6L 2006 VW Passat as myself, I hope my information helped you out.

- irie passat, Peoria, US