Volkswagen / Passat / 1999
1999 Volkswagen Passat problems
Owners have filed 854 complaints about the 1999 Volkswagen Passat with NHTSA. Service brakes, hydraulic account for 22.7% of them — narrowly the most common, ahead of suspension at 16.4%.
Complaints854
Crashes15
Fires18
Injuries13
Deaths3
What owners report breaking
Service brakes, hydraulic 22.7% · 194
Suspension 16.4% · 140
Engine and engine cooling 10.5% · 90
Steering 9.3% · 79
Electrical system 7.3% · 62
Service brakes, air 4.7% · 40
Visibility 4.1% · 35
Vehicle speed control 3.7% · 32
Severity
Of those complaints, 15 describe a crash, 18 describe a fire, 13 report an injury and 3 report a death.
Reading the numbers
Across the 22 model years of the Volkswagen Passat in this data, 1999 ranks 2nd by complaint volume — 2013 draws the most.
Filings have fallen off, 3 in the last three years against 8 in the three before. That is normal as a generation leaves the road.
The median odometer reading at the time of complaint was 75,959 miles.
In owners' own words
The abs, brake and oil light all come on (oil will flash) with sporadic irregularities in the tachometer. The tachometer will sometimes drop to zero. All this happens with 3 distinct beeps whenever I use the brakes. Colder temperatures can lessen the occurrence of the problems. Dealership service says that the abs module needs to be replaced at a cost of $3600. I have not yet approved the repair on the car. Service brakes, hydraulic · reported at 90,000 miles
1999 Vw Passat 1.8 Turbo. Abs light came up on 74000 mile for no reason. Light was coming and going. Now it is always on. Reading codes says: "no communication" between control module and computer. Diagnose was: bad control module. Module cost $700 us dollars, and dealer is asking for $700 to replace( for me it will take 15-20 min). Still, this is too much for bad designed and in a wrong spot placed module. Service brakes, hydraulic · reported at 74,000 miles
1. Abs & brake warning lights appear - no obvious events leading up to failure. 2. I drive carefully to the dealer shop during a snow storm - careful not to apply the brakes too strongly. No accident occured - but danger of accident definitely increased. 3. Dealer determines the problem is the abs pump. Due to safety issue, I have an appointment to have abs replaced at my cost of at least $1200 . Service brakes, hydraulic · reported at 78,410 miles
Verbatim from NHTSA filings. Complaints are unverified owner reports.
Safety recalls
Checking NHTSA for open recalls…