I bought my car with 65000 miles on it. Owned it for month and a half, then the piece connected to the catalytic converter, clamp and gasket broke. I had to have my car towed and they repaired this because of the federal law stating it was covered up to 80,000 miles or 8 years. While it was at vw being repaired they checked for any other problems and informed me that my high pressure fuel pump lobe and follower were also in need of repair soon. And began telling me vw of america has admitted that the camshaft lobe (and high pressure fuel pump lobe) was a manufacturer defect, but the bulletin was only issued to the dealership (not the public). This also affects the evap system. I do not understand how a company can know of a manufacturer defect and not have a recall on a car? The warranty specialist suggested that I call vw customer care, but they did not show any concern... What has to be done to get a recall on this specific issue because I am not the only one who has this issue.
2006 Volkswagen Passat engine complaints
Page 5 of 5: complaints 101 to 130 of 130, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. While starting the vehicle the engine coil for the spark plug made a rattling noise. He smelled an electrical odor, then the engine stalled. After turning the vehicle off, smoke was released from the coil itself. He used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the flames. The dealer was contacted, and they stated that they wanted to buy the vehicle back from him and give him credit to another vehicle. The vehicle has been at the dealer for about 2 weeks now and they are waiting for permission from the manufacture volkswagen to diagnose the vehicle. The dealer was waiting for him to accept. The offer to buy the vehicle back. The failure and current mileages were 14000.
Catastrophic engine failure caused by a faulty bolt. The oil pump bolt fails on 3.6's and the engine self-destructs due to no oil pressure.
I am the second owner of a 2006 vw passat, who has had multiple issues with this vehicle. The latest being of most concern. When I attempt to start the car, it will either not turn over at all, or the engine turn over, then die. This happens nearly everytime I am in the car. My vehicle is 4,000 miles outside of the warranty, so neithervolkswagon, nor my local vw dealer will assist me with the cost (being an '!@#$% amount of $1643.00 out of pocket), nor has a recall been issued. I have called and emailed numerous individuals at vw corporate level, with no results. In doing research, I have found many forums, with multiple posts of customers having this same issue with this car, specifically the 2006 model. I have also went through the better business bureau to attempt to get answers on why vw is not doing more for their customers with a part that is obviously defective. Below is the reply email I got from them, instructing me to contact your company. Thank you for your attention and time on this matter. Copy of email from bbb-- {I am in receipt of your email sent to the better business bureau, inc. Upon review of your email, it doesn't appear as though you have filed a claim with the federal safety agency. I suggest you begin there. The office of defects investigation (odi) is an office within the federal safety agency. Odi conducts defect investigations and administers safety recalls to support the federal safety agency's mission to improve safety on our nation's highways. The federal safety agency is authorized to order manufacturers to recall and repair vehicles or items of motor vehicle equipment when odi investigations indicate that they contain serious safety defects in their design, construction, or performance. Odi also monitors the adequacy of manufacturers' recall campaigns. Before initiating an investigation, odi carefully reviews the body of consumer complaints and other available data to determine whether a defect trend may exist.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. The contact stated that the steering column locks up on her vehicle and prevents it from being driven. She attempted to start the engine and an indicator illuminated, which stated that the steering column was locked. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and they stated that the steering column was defective and needed a module. The repair would cost $1,300. The failure mileage was 63,000. Updated 05/27/09 *bf updated 06/08/09 *bf updated 6/16/09 *nj the left rear caliper needed to be replaced,the check engine light illuminated, the transmission was making a loud noise, the tire pressure light illuminated, the left turn signal did not work, the left wheel bearing needed to be replaced, the hood release lever inside the vehicle was inoperative. Updated 06/17/09.
I have a 2006 volkswagen 2.0t & on the 18th of april as I crossed over a railroad track the car exhaust got very loud. I had to pull over & shut car off. This happened on a saturday late afternoon so I had my mechanic (not volkswagen dealer) looked & found the flange that bolts the whole exhaust to the manifold had broke (clean break all the way around ) @ the factory weld, almost like it had never been "tig" welded completely @ the factory. This is something that should not have happened in any circumstance.
2006 vw passat 3.6 l in shop for two weeks now with seized motor at just over 64k miles - oil light alarm came on suddenly at 70mph ....immediately stopped vehicle and had roadside assistance tow to vw dealer...been there ever since...still waiting for vw to decide what they are going to do for me...
Events leading up to failure: none - sudden failure. Was on interstate at highway speed. Power suddenly dropped and dashboard lights lit up. Speed dropped very quickly but was able to avoid incident and go the car to the side of the road. Failure: oil pump drive gear bolt broken. Car was at dealer for 15 days to replace oil pump, timing chain, sprockets, adjuster tensioners. Parts are not available. Car was at second dealer for additional 19 days to correct problems created by first dealer while fixing the engine. (received apology by phone from service manager of first dealer.) issues: 1.sudden loss of power at highway speeds could cause an accident. 2.following instructions in manual, I drove car to nearest dealer ? A distance of 10 miles ? With reduced or zero oil circulation. Longevity of the engine may be significantly impacted. 3.vw of america declined to inspect the engine in more detail or to replace engine. 4.this is a moderately common failure of this engine. I found 38 almost identical failures at: a.http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3462993 b.http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=3193697 summary & requested actions: 1.recall issued for affected engines. 2.my engine replaced / vehicle replaced.
My vehicle had 19k on it and from a cold start sounded like a diesel. I made an appointment at the dealership and the day of that appointment my check engine light came on. The dealership has now had my car for 9 days and have still not diagnosed it. Apparently there is a major defect with certain year passat engines. The bolt that holds the oil pump in place backs out and shears off, thus requiring an engine replacement. I am very dissatisfied with vw service and unhappy that my vehicle had such a fatal problem so early.
There were no events that LED up to the failure. Basically the catalytic converter busted at a flange seam where it bolts to the motor. This further caused my brakes to fail after hot exhaust blew on the brake vacuum tube for the brakes. Unfortunately, neither volkswagen or the dealer where I purchased the vehicle are willing to be of any assistance, since it is 8,000 miles over the warranty even though the car is only 2 years old. Supposedly the dealership ordered the part 10 days ago, and it still has not arrived. The irony of this is that when I asked the dealership if they would return the defective part to me, they said no because they want to return it to the manufacturer for a warranty exchange!
On a warm day with the A/C running, my 2006 passat 3.6l will have an engine surge increasing RPM to 1,000 while stopped. This has almost amounted in a crash on numerous occasions as it makes the car difficult to keep stopped and causes it to lunge forward. It also results in low fuel economy as the car idols much higher than the normal 600rpm.
Engine RPM increases when vehicle is stopped and air conditioner is running causing the need for additional pressure on brakes to prevent car from moving forward
Sheared oil pump bolt at 16,000 miles. Enigne lost all power. Dealer replaced oil pump, timing chain and all related hardware. Asked manufacturer (volkswagen) and dealership for new engine due to likley oil starvation after oil pump was inoperative. Request denied. Very unhappy as this very low mileage car may have a severly damaged engine that vw is unwilling to replace.
High idle during high ambient temperatures. Idle is raised to 1000-1050rpms during temperatures above 90f. This causes loading of the transmission and additional brake pressure is needed to keep the car at a stop. This can occur suddenly and randomly presenting a safety issue. I have almost ran into several cars at various times when stopped at a light or in traffic. It has happened countless times during the high ambient temperatures.
About a year ago our new 2006 vw passat 2.0t started to have very hard shift when downshifting when car slowing down. Then the car engine started to hesitate and accelerated by itself until cal was undrivable. Dealer fixed the card in two weeks. Today a year later the car had the same issue, hard shifting when slowing down and engine hesitation accelerating by itself. Car undrivable.
My vehicle went into the shop (star motor) april 1, 2008 for an engine light indicator. I was told the fuel pump and cam shaft were bad. They were replaced and I got my car back on april 16, 2008. On may 17, the light came back on and I had to take it back to the shop. They replaced the coils (not sure what these are). On may 18, 2008, the engine light came back on and I had to take it back to the shop. They informed me that the cylinder head needed to be replaced because the compression was not good in cylinder #'s 1 and 3. They decided to flush the turbo/injector system and time the vehicle. I got the car back (not sure of the date). On may 5, 2008, the engine light came back on and I had to take it back in. When put on the computer, I was told that the light indicated and read a cam shaft/misfire 3. Months earlier, when the engine light first came on, we called in to star motor and my husband was told that "as long as the light wasn't flashing, it was okay." I told this to star motor on may 18, 2008, and gail told me that is correct. That is what they have been told at the home office. Obviously, that is not the case. As soon as the engine light started flashing, we called and set up an appointment within 3 weeks. The flashing was very intermittent (flashed maybe once or twice a day). My car is still not fixed and star motor does not appear to know what the true problem is. I was told that the volkswagen home office discussed my car in a classroom setting and they are merely able to guess what the problem is. This is a high end car; 2006 volkswagen passat, and these types of problems should not be occurring; fuel pump, cam shaft (twice), etc. Star is trying to work with us. They have even given us loaners to drive, but volkswagen is not willing to help at all. I have been doing research online and have found that these types of problems are far reaching and not simply ours.
My 2006 passat 3.6 has problems when pressing gas pedal.. Vehicle seems to have a delay when pushing peddle.. You can push pedal down 1/4 way before vehicle even jumps RPM's.. Vehicle will then just jump forward.. This has caused me to almost get into 3 or 4 accidents because I have pulled out and car just sits there then will just take off.. Vehicle was at dealership and had update done but this didn't help my problem.. Update caused me to now have same problem but also have shifting problem..
01/20/07 passat 3.6 had catastrophic engine failure while driving home. Warning light came on display advise low oil pressure and to immediately stop the car. Mileage on vehicle at time of failure 13,357. Vehicle had to be towed to dealership. Dealership stated that the entire engine would have to be replaced and then later stated that repair could be done. Partial list of repairs is as follows: remove and replace timing belt, tensioner and sheared bolt that caused engine failure. Check main bearings and replace remove and extract broken.......? Cannot make out notes on service ticket. Flush engine block vehicle returned to us within 1 week and has never been right. Constant issues with shifting and continued noise in engine. 09/10/07 check engine light came on and remains on. Low oil pressure message and stop car immediately displayed on readout. Loud clunking and grinding noise in engine again. Appears that same failure as before has opccured again. Mileage is 22,161 dropped vehicle at dealership on 09/11/07 and dealer is trying to figure out what sent wrong and why. I am insisting on new engine replacement or vwoa to buy back the vehicle. *tr updated 10/03/07.
Issues with hesitation when a rolling stop, and when completely stopped. There is a 2-3 second delay before the car responds to the gas pedal. I have almost been hit 3 times now when pulling out into traffic. That 2-3 delay in acceleration could cause an accident. This is an issue known to vw, they say they are workig on a fix. What are they waiting for, someone to get killed! Numerous v6 owners have the same issues! Also seond issue is, when I am stopped in heavy stop and go traffic and extreme heat my car idles at 1000rpms. This is corrected by me putting the car in park, stepping on the gas till 3000 RPM and it will go back to normal. It feels like the car in ready to lunge forward unexpectedly. Again well known issue to vw, several internet forums discuss this vw has don't nothing.
Engine idle speed increases to 900-1000 RPM at stops in warm/hot weather. This causes driver to increase pressure on brake to stop car safely. This idle speed may hold for several stops before returning to normal 650-700 RPM. If in stop and go traffic, the high idle will hold longer. It has been suggested that the high idle is in response to the warm weather causing increased resistance in the battery cable from the battery in the trunk of the car (2006 vw passat v6 only) causing a drop in voltage received. The ECM increases engine idle speed to compensate.
Tl*the contact owns a 2006 volkswagen passat. The contact stated that the push key becomes stuck and the gears must be shifted in order to correct the failure. Also, the emergency brake failed to operate properly, and the vehicle's interior smelled like rotten eggs. On april 9, 2007 the vehicle was brought to a dealer for a diagnosis. The current mileage was, 10,000 and failure mileage was 9,000.
Tl* - the contact owns a 2006 vw passat. The contact received a recall notice on january 25, 2007 re: service brakes, hydraulic:power assist:vacuum. The dealer honored the recall. However, the contact didn't feel safe driving the vehicle. Five days after receiving the recall the brakes failed while a family member was driving 10 MPH. The brakes wouldn't engage. The brakes remained in the upright position when the contact attempted to stop the vehicle. Volkswagen will honor the warranty. The contact requested to terminate the lease and accept a different vehicle or an allowance for another vehicle. Also, the contact's radiator had to be replaced at 200 miles and he felt the vehicle was a lemon.
Tl* - the contact stated that while driving a 2006 volkswagen passat it stalled in a turn. He had been driving along steadily for 2 hours with out incident prior to the vehicle losing power. The contact took the vehicle to be serviced, and was informed that they could not find the cause of the problem. *ak the passenger side headlight was inoperable, the work was completed, however 2 hours later the headlight failed again. The vehicle exhibits a one to three second lag in the accelerator, most noticeable when the consumer is truing to accelerator. There was a rattle coming from the headliner/sunroof assembly. There was a rubbing noise coming from the brakes. There was a rattling noise coming from the rear view mirror trim pieces. The windshield wipers were inoperative. The fog lights were inoperative. Updated 01/31/07.
I have had recurrent issues with my 2006 passat. I just got the car back from the dealer after being at the dealer for repairs for 25 days, and I was trying to brake at the end of my street and the car did not brake. The pedal was very hard -- I could barely push it in with two feet. I activated the parking brake, and the car stopped -- thank god, I was only going 10 MPH, but if I rolled into the intersection I could have been killed. When the car stopped, the check engine light came on, the engine began revving up and down and the headlights were flickering or surging and getting brighter and dimmer and brighter very rapidly. I turned on the interior lights to better view my dash, and the interior lights were surging/flickering as well. In one of my previous visits for dealer repairs, they told me they put in a brand new electrical system. How can this be happening again? This car is beyond repair. I believe I have a lemon and it is dangerous to continue driving this car. I cannot believe that after a 25-day stint in the dealer repair center it's still not working. This is the last of many trips to the dealer for repairs. Incidentally, while I bought the car new, I bought it after using it as a loaner when my 2006 jetta tdi was in the shop more than I drove it during my period of ownership. That car had some issues as well, so when I liked the passat I decided to trade it in. I've only driven this passat for less than 5,000 miles and it is terrible. My wife drives a 2006 jetta tdi (a different one) which runs great. How can only one of three cars purchased in less than a six month period function properly. This is seriously impacting my views of vw quality. I have trouble writing vw and the word quality in the same sentence. Thank god I didn't die tonight.
Events leading up to the failure ;the problem that I am about to describe has on a consistent basis occurred since I purchased the vehicle. Failure and its consequences ; there are three problems. The 1st problem being that when the vehicle is running/on and I am either in park, at a stop light or similar, the engine "sputters" as if it has lower grade/bad gas or is misfiring or has an air leak of some sort. Problem 2, when I am at a complete stop/parked and the vehicle is in drive, when I let off the brake to "creep" forward (like in traffic) the car shakes/throbs/inches forward as if the brakes are clamping down on the discs and letting go really quick. It is not a problem with the brakes because if I let the car "creep" in idle up a hill without using the brakes the car still shakes/throbs. The 3rd problem is that the throttle response is delayed anywhere from 1 full second to 3 full seconds. It's simple, when I press on the gas pedal, the car does not move/the engine does not rev anywhere from 1 to 3 full seconds. At highway cruising speeds, it does the same thing. In both instances whether it be at a stop light of cruising at highway speeds, this problem has nearly gotten me killed or seriously hurt. What was done to correct the failure = I took the vehicle in to have the dealership service department see what was causing these problems so they could fix it and they didn't come up with anything.
There are no events leading up to failure. I didn't experience the symptom when I bought the car. The car had 71 miles at the time of purchase. I started experiencing the problem between 200-250 miles. Failure: the vehicle sometimes shakes mildly to violently when the ignition is on and the vehicle is in park or neutral. I serviced the vehicle with volkswagen and they said this is normal.
I purchased my vw 3.6 4motion passat with 71 miles. When the vehicle reached 200 to 250 miles, the engine started shaking when gently applying brakes at slow speeds. I also experience this when the gear is in drive and their is no gas being applied. I have serviced the vehicle with volkswagen twice and they state that this is normal behavior. I have researched this through a internet forum and discovered that not all owners of the same vehicle type that I have experience this symptom. The shaking topic can be found at the following url. Http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=2619540.
Recurring engine misfire. There is a engine misfire that seems to occur mostly when it's very hot outside (arizona summers!) and significantly affects the car's ability to accelerate. I took it to the dealer who checked the fuel filter and found no problem. They reset the code and gave the car back to me. The problem is still occurring and I am scheduled to take the car in again. The dealership said they contacted vw america and vw america stated they know of no problem, but for me to bring the car in and attempt to recreate the circumstances under which the misfire occurs.
2006 volkswagen passat delay in acceleration, while accelerator was depressed. *kb the consumer was told there was no fix for the hesitation. The consumer was told the problem was know as the california 5 MPH start hesitation. The dealer stated it was a software issue that would be corrected in the near future.
Check engine light came on. Upon drop off to dealer it stayed for 5 business days(as of 3/30 it is still there). Multiple fault codes for misfiring in one of the cylinders. Plugs, 6 coils, fuel pump relay have been replaced. Injector cleansing being performed. Car is 5 weeks old with 1300 miles. All these fixes have amounted to nothing as the car still has the misfiring problem. Volkswagen of america is following their guidelines trying to fix an unsafe car.
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