1999 Volkswagen Passat: harsh or hard shifting

Filed Aug 24, 2006 · Suspension · 78,050 miles · WI

Car clunked and rattled over small bumps, and felt floaty and wandering at highway speeds. Dealer reported that upper front control arms were bad. Said this is a very common problem with vws and audi's.

Filed Dec 3, 2004 · Transmission, Visibility · 85,029 miles · OR

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. *bf the vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined that the transmission control module had been damaged beyond repaire. *nm 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. *tc

Filed Jul 2, 2004 · Suspension · 74,000 miles · KY

I've had a clunking sound in the front suspension whenever I hit a bump. It has gotten progressively worse for the last several months. The dealer tells me it is the front upper control arms and ball joints and that there is a tsb on such. This is a common well known problem with this model and poses a safety issue.

Filed Jun 6, 2004 · Steering, Suspension · 40,000 miles · CA

Control arm's of '1998-'2000 passats are failure prone much earlier then the norm for passaneger automobiles. (a fact they recognized by a redesign of the control arms on '2001 and up passat's. I purchased my car in 7/99. I drive 70 miles a day, mostly freeway, which as all know is actually very easy on an automobile. Yet with-in 2 years (40k) my front suspension was showing signs of premature wear. I get many "creaks" and "clunks" that are easy to hear at low speeds. After researching in popular internet forums for the car,(www.clubb5.com , www.vwvortex.com) I found out this failure is very common for this automobile. Vmoa (volkswagen of america) has not issued a recall yet (even though they have received thousands of complaints) as of this late date. (6/04) the response from vwoa and your dealer network has been inconsistent, to say the least. Some dealers will not even look at the car, some will look at it and say nothing is wrong, and some will say that it is the control arms, but will not help out the owner when the time comes to contact the customer care center at vwoa . Vwoa is not much more help, promising to get on the problem and telling you they will callback, only they dont. Or if they do ,it is, sorry we cannot help you.. So what happens is that many of the owners that are out of warranty, must pay for a costly repair out of pocket. A repair that should have never happened. (I have never had control arm bushing failure in my previous 13 automobiles!) repair costs run over $700 for parts, and the same amount in labor. I am purchasing my car from the bank soon. Overall it is a great car. I must replace the control arms very soon. I dont look forward to that and the high cost it will run me. I wish for vmoa to treat its customers like a modern customer focused company. Bad designs happen. They owe it to their customers to make it right. Thank you. John e. Tami.

Filed Mar 19, 2003 · Electrical, Transmission · 65 miles · FL

The car is on it's second transmission with only 47000 miles, and having problems with it. Doesn't want to shift into higher gear and clunks sometimes. Headlights did not work for first 4 months we owned the car. Dealer could not find the problem. Sunroof opens and closes by itself. Dealerships have not found the problem. Map light has started to do the same. Indicator lights go on and off. Dealer says he has never heard of a problem with the wiring on these cars and that it is safe to drive.

Filed Oct 21, 2002 · Suspension · TX

Bushing failure on all 4 front lower control arms. These bushings gradually became loose and began squeaking, accompanied by clunking over low-speed bumps. This is a common problem on these cars. Vw has refused to officially acknowledge the defect and do a recall, even though they are paying for part of the costs for some people's repairs and they have redesigned the bushings in question. Furthermore, the relatively inexpensive bushings can be replaced without replacing the entire control arm, but dealerships refuse to do that, instead to force most customers to pay for the much more expensive control arm assembly. These bushing failures pose a danger if they fail severely enough. The only reason they aren't causing wrecks is that the failure is gradual and most owners replace them before the bushings get too bad. But this is still a safety issue and the repair is hardly optional. Dt

Filed May 7, 2002 · Suspension · CA

Have contacted vw customer service and requested for coverage since this is quite a common problem on passat. However, vw refused to cover, not even half the cost! Other passat owners have at least got all parts covered by vw! The total cost sum up with up to $1000. The main problem happening is basically I heard consistent clunking noise when turning under low speed, going over a bump, and occasional braking. According to what I have heard, this is called the "lower control arm failure" and there's a bulletin in vw that this is recognized as a problem and service providers are infomed to install particular components to fix the problem. I think this is quite a critical part for the car as we don't want the car to lose control expecially turning. And the most thing that pissed me off is that vwoa refused to cover some costs! I know at least an owner got it all covered by contacting vwoa! The first noticing of the noise was at around 40000 miles but sunnyvale vw referred that this is a noise coming out from the engine pump which is leaking at that time. Noise of course didn't resolve and I didn't even bother to ask as they can't detect it. Hopefully, I can get some help from the federal safety agency. Thanks

Filed Apr 29, 2002 · Suspension · WI

Suspension control arms deteriorating. Common issue. Bushings drying out and disintegrating. Symptoms include creaking and clunking at low speeds. Vw is starting to pay 50% for some people with this issue, but no more.

Filed Mar 11, 2002 · Suspension · GA

Clunking in front end going over imperfections in road at low speed. Seems like possible control arm failure.

Filed Jan 5, 2002 · Suspension · TX

Suspension clunking noise - taken to dealer 5+ times, no resolution.

Filed Jan 4, 2002 · Suspension · MI

07/21/01 scheduled service for clunking/rattling noise in front suspension over small road imperfections and secondly tie rod recall. Mechanic replaced tie rods, but same clunking/rattling noise occurs upon departure. Dealer ordered sway bar links, replaced on second visit. Rattling noise stops, but shortly after repair, sharper clunking resurfaces, turns into also scraping/squeaking noise on sharp turns left with time. Website and independent research indicates many instances of identical symptoms in same model of car leading to possible wheel detachment in extreme circumstances. Other dealers indicate tsbs issued, but no remedy for repair cost on this relatively late model car. Ball joints only come with kit priced at approximately $600 from dealer. After reading numerous website posts, I've become very concerned on safety of car as clunking/knocking/squeaking/scraping noises have grown louder with my vehicle. I'd feel very uncomfortable keeping/selling this car without the problem remedied. I strongly support a vw or at worst case the federal safety agency initiated recall on this apparent design defect to prevent recurring problems.