Car went in for brake job at 39,000 miles. Mechanic found that both front cv joints were cracked and front axles and cv boots would need replacement. This was close to a $1,000 repair job on a car with under 40,000 miles. Apparently this is a not uncommon problem with 5th generation Passat vehicles. I feel Volkswagen should do a recall on this problem.

- Southampton, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for a recall repair. The technician discovered that the cv boot on the front driver and passenger wheels were cracked. The technician strongly advised that the failures be repaired to avoid further damages within the suspension system. The estimated repair cost was $700. The vehicle has not been repaired. The VIN was unknown. The failure and current mileages were 32,000.

- Bryn Mawr, PA, USA

I have a 2003 VW Passat sw. About a year after I bought it I noticed when it started to get cold in the winter the right front suspension would make noises as if something was grinding or broke in the suspension. I brought the car to victory VW in harrisburg, pa in the late fall/early winter of 03'. they ended up changing the control arms that time I believe. Well, this year when it started getting cold the noises came back. I have had the car in the same dealership twice to have the problem checked out. Both times the car has been in the shop the air temp has been too warm for the noises to be reproduced. I've looked around the internet on various VW blogs and found that there are others also having problems with their right front suspension as I am. I also found that some are having problems with front suspension in general. My dilemma is that this car is getting ready to go out of warranty in about a thousand miles and I don't feel it's my responsibility to fix this problem when it has been fixed by VW in the past and will probably need to be fixed again in the future. Any help you can give on this issue is appreciated.

- Elizabethtown, PA, USA