2.3

hardly worth mentioning
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
65,998 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2003 Volkswagen Passat miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2003 Volkswagen Passat Owner Comments

problem #12

May 082018

Passat

  • 138,718 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Car loses power and stalls out after coming to a stop. Epc light illuminates and car must be put in park and started up again to move. Today, it stalled as I pulled out to make a left turn and I was stuck in the middle of road with oncoming traffic coming at me.

- Woodleaf, NC, USA

problem #11

Feb 102017

Passat

  • 203,000 miles
Ignition coils keep failing. Just replaced in February again in may and will have to again here any day.

- Rozet, WY, USA

problem #10

Sep 112013

Passat

  • 75,000 miles
The front floor gets very hot when the vehicle is in motion even when the aircondition is running

- Brooklyn, NY, USA

problem #9

Aug 012011

Passat

  • 132,249 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Coils for cylinders 2-4 inexplicably failed as well as the plugs and need to be replaced in order to repair misfire code. Engine purge valve also needs to be replaced.

- Branchburg, NJ, USA

problem #8

Feb 282011

Passat

  • 163,012 miles
Due to a design flaw with all Passats 1998 and up they are prone to having major failure of tcm transmission control module as in cases of heavy rain water will leak into passenger floor area and fill the tcm with water hence locking transmission into park and no longer allowing vehicle to be shifted...

- Flanders, NJ, USA

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problem #7

Oct 092007

Passat 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
The contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that she has received too many recall notices on her vehicle. She has received a total of three notices within the last month. The recall numbers were unavailable. There had been no failure to date. The current mileage was 59,000. Updated10/26/07.

- New City, NY, USA

problem #6

Sep 052007

Passat 6-cyl Diesel

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that she did not receive recall notice M-7 for over a year and a half. There had been no failure to date. The current mileage was 30,000.

- Rockville, MD, USA

problem #5

Jul 152007

Passat 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
A water leak in either the sunroof drainage tubes or pollen filter caused 2" of water to fill the passenger front/rear of my 2003 VW Passat. There is currently a terrible smell of mold/milder in the vehicle. Upon researching this problem on the internet, it was found that numerous VW owners have the same problem.

- Bloomfield, NJ, USA

problem #4

Nov 012006

Passat 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 80,000 miles
The contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. The contact has had the vehicle repaired, however, several failures continue to recur. The failures include the instrument panel lights, cruise control, heated seats, the regulator pin in the passenger side rear window, the glove compartment, and the head lights. The failures were noticed while driving 40 mph. The current mileage is 109,000 and failure mileage was 80,000.

- Laguna Niguel, CA, USA

problem #3

Apr 272005

Passat Diesel

  • Manual transmission
  • miles
Headlights fails proper function. They have been replaced. Seat belts and sun roof do not work properly. Engine replaced; steering wheels - car pulls to the right everytime an alignment was done and they calibrated the wheels. - problem continued - this problem caused the tires to be destroyed in a few kms - less 20 000; water infiltration - for now it is fixed; trunk was hard to open and close - problem fixed. Front doors vibrated - the rubber of the doors are being exhibiting signs of damage; the front glass ( windscreen ) isn't from the same year of all the others.

- Porto, 00, USA

problem #2

Sep 062006

Passat

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
My Passat had two previous instances of water leakage in the floor of the back seat, where the computer is housed. This resulted in a short-circuit in the cars computer in the fall of 2005, causing the car to slow in traffic and ultimately stop when I reached dealership. Maroone Volkswagen of delray beach addressed these two instances under warranty by focusing on the pollen filter and pollen filter caging. On the third occasion, I again took it to maroone Volkswagen on September 6, 2006 since this seemed to be another recurrence of the same problem. Dealer would not fix under warranty. Service advisor said cowl had a hairline fracture, which was allowing water under my hood and into the car. However, cowl was intact on previous visits for same problem. Contacted VW of America who accepted dealers diagnosis. This is especially troubling given there is a wealth of information online posted by Passat owners experiencing the same leakage problem that I describe above, and it is not due to cowl. Please refer to autobahn.com.

- Boca Raton, FL, USA

problem #1

Jan 142004

Passat 4-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Noticed rust coming through the upper and lower moldings surrounding front door windows...unit still under warranty, less than 2 yrs off lot, bought brand new...a 2003 VW Passat

- Worcester, MA, USA

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