2003 Volkswagen Passat: ball joint or control arm failure

Filed Apr 26, 2012 · Suspension · 70,000 miles · CA

Front control arms failure. Very common in this suspension design. There has been a recall issued in europe for the same problem. Likewise, the audi a4 shares the same chassis and same front end suspension. These control arms are seriously under designed. This is dangerous! Having this fail while driving will result in death or serious injury. This is a design flaw, and is being overlooked. The bushings on my control arms (all 4 for each of my front wheels, eight in total) are seriously cracked and need replacement. This is not something that should be failing at 50k and 70k miles. Volkswagen should be held responsible for replacing failed control arms.

Filed Apr 7, 2010 · Brakes, Steering · TX

Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6) 2003, vw, passat: a.)tie rod and b.)brake vacuum VIN: [xxx] 2006 vw recalls 06v472000 & 05v540000 are suspiciously the same problem as my 2003 passat. Last trip to service dept revealed both problems. There has been no accident or injury to date.

Filed Apr 1, 2010 · Fuel system, Suspension · NY · fire

2003 volkswagen passat fire*cw the consumer stated while driving a light blinked on the dashboard. According to the owner's manual, it was a light for the catalytic converter. When the consumer arrived to the dealer, the light went out, and they could not find a problem. The light returned shortly thereafter and stayed on. The dealer repaired the light. The ball joints failed, but they were not covered under warranty. Soon, the light illuminated on the dashboard again, that was supposed to have been fixed by the dealer earlier in the year. The consumer continued driving, when suddenly another motorist informed her the vehicle was on fire. The fire department stated the fire was caused by the catalytic converter. The consumer's insurance agent contacted her and advised her volkswagen was covering all the cost related to the incident, because the fire was a result of a recall that had not been taken care of by the authorized dealer from where the vehicle was purchased.

Filed Aug 3, 2006 · Brakes, Fuel system · 44,400 miles · MD

At 44,400 miles and just 4,000 miles after fuel pump replaced the new fuel pump failed on my 2003 passat wagon. Both incidents occurred while driving the car on high traffic suburban washington dc streets. There was no warning and car came to an abrupt stop without time for me to signal the cars behind me. This is in addition to having to replace both front and rear rotors at about 20,00 miles as well as control arms. This seems to be an inordinate amount of service in only 3 years and 44,000 miles!

Filed Jan 23, 2006 · Brakes, Fuel system · 40,600 miles · MD

Dt*: the contact stated while traveling up hill at 25mph the vehicle sputtered and stalled. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was determined the fuel pump needed to be replaced. Previously the contact experienced braking problems while traveling at high speeds. There was vibration and grabbing in front end of the vehicle when braking. The vehicle was seen by the service dealer four times. The front rotors, the rear rotors and both control arms were replaced. The problem was corrected by the replacement of these parts for twenty thousand miles and has now returned.

Filed Feb 21, 2005 · Suspension · PA

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.