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2005 Volkswagen Passat Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 148 complaints with NHTSA about the 2005 Volkswagen Passat, most often about the engine (42% of complaints, typically around 87,500 miles). It is 14th of 23 Passat model years by number of complaints and has 3 recalls.
Most common 2005 Volkswagen Passat problems
Engine
62 complaints · 42%Half of these problems showed up before 87,500 miles. Parts named most often: engine, cooling system.
Numerous reports of vw bhw diesel engine oil balance shaft / chain failure are reported. Volkswagen of america refuses to acknowledge any responsibility for repair despite the fact that vw has recognized the issue and changed the design. Failure of the balance shaft / chain results in immediate lack of power creating…
Was driving home and the check engine light, stop driving light, low oil pressure light and a buzzer went off. Had the vehicle towed to a mechanic and have found that there is no oil pressure. The vehicle with this many miles should never have a problem with no oil pressure. The mechanic tells US that it might be…
Fuel system
23 complaints · 16%Half of these problems showed up before 71,000 miles. Parts named most often: delivery.
My 2005 Passat has developed a fuel leak under the tank. My vehicle looks like new and only has 72000 miles on it. This leak/smell occurs after when the car is moving as well as when the car is sitting in the driveway. Seems very dangerous to me and I've read many complaints describing this exact scenario. Why is vw…
I was driving down the road and the car started chugging and died. The dealership told me the fuel pump failed and a new pump and filter were replaced. There has been a recall on the fuel pump for the 2003 vw Passat but the dealership won't recognize it for the 2005.
Transmission
13 complaints · 9%Half of these problems showed up before 57,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, manual transmission, axle assembly.
The failure is with (1) the balance shaft oil pump chain drive system on the vw Passat 2.0 tdi diesel automobile. The failure has occurred numerous time to other vw owners and present an imminent threat to vehicle safety should such failure occur in heavy traffic. (2) ceramic glow plugs for the tdi diesel engine have…
Over 2 years since new, car hesitates with soft throttle acceleration likely between 1 and 2 gear, no throttle response for up to 5 seconds, very dangerous when making left turns across traffic or joining traffic from a stop. 2005 volkswagon Passat tdi most recent date given, hundreds of incidents of same. Vw dealer…
Seats
13 complaints · 9%Half of these problems showed up before 81,500 miles. Parts named most often: front assembly.
The contact owns a 2005 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated the driver side seat warmer ignited a fire and burned through the seat. There were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for the repair. The manufacturer was contact who stated that they would discuss the repairs with the dealer and give him a…
I started the car and immediately turned on my driver's heated seat. Within 2 mins, smoke started appearing on my left side. I realized my seat was starting to catch fire, so I quickly turned off the vehicle. Luckily, my clothes did not catch fire. However, my heated seat burned a hole complete through the leather.…
Electrical
9 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 63,500 miles. Parts named most often: wiring.
Brake lights remained on without brake pedal pressure, and remained on after turning off ignition. I investigated prior recalls and saw: report receipt date: feb 20, 2007 NHTSA campaign number: 07v063000 component(s): exterior lighting I went to local vw for recall repair and was told that brake light repair was…
While driving my 2005 vw Passat station wagon for about 10 minutes, the check engine light flashed. As I was pulling to the side of the road, the battery light came on. I turned the car off and immediately noticed white smoke coming from the hood of the engine, as well as a brown burn circle. I got myself and my…
Other or unspecified
7 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 70,500 miles.
Car was started at 9:30am at home- last driven night before locally. Car was driven @ 1 mile, parked, engine turned off, doors locked and left in parking lot. At 9:49 the local police called me to alert me that my car was on fire. There is footage of the fire on youtube. Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqbndfdjpag the…
Tl contact owned a 2005 Volkswagen Passat station wagon. While the vehicle was parked, it caught fire. The fire department extinguished the fire. The cause of the fire has not been determined. There is a fire report but the contact does not have a copy. There were no deaths, injuries and no police report. The current…
Body and structure
6 complaints · 4%Parts named most often: body, frame and members.
Heat shield is held by plastic screws which easily become damaged, fall off, or are not replaced after service. Heat shield which protects the bottom side of the engine from rocks and other debris, came off on the interstate. The front of it was scraping the pavement. I had part replaced for $287.82. Now Volkswagen of…
The contact owns a 2005 Volkswagen Passat. The contact stated that upon arriving to his residence, he discovered that the grill of the vehicle was missing. The dealer was contacted and sent him a replacement. The contact installed a replacement grill and within a few days, the failure recurred and the grill fractured…
Speed control
5 complaints · 3%Parts named most often: accelerator pedal.
My Volkswagen Passat has experienced scary acceleration without me pushing on the accelerator. This has happened twice, both when on the highway. I checked my mats, but they were not obstructing anything. I was so surprised to see the news tonight on channel 5 boston covering this story!
The car (vw Passat tdi 2005) began accelerating on its own. The gas pedal would depress beneath my foot (without my pushing it) and the car would accelerate without stopping. When I hit the brake, sometimes it would jerk out of the "accelerating mode" (as if I had pushed the brake in cruise control), but then it would…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2005 Volkswagen Passat recalls
Fuel system: delivery
Risk: A heat shield that may contact the exhaust system can result in a vehicle fire. In addition, a fuel leak from a fuel line or fuel tank ventilation valve, in the presence of an ignition source, can lead to a vehicle fire.
Fix: Dealers will install additional underbody heat shields on vehicles with automatic transmissions to cover the possibly damaged areas and flash all 1.8t engines with a precautionary software update. Dealers will also inspect and adjust the fuel line routing on 1.8t vehicles and the fuel tank ventilation valve on 4motion/all wheel drive vehicles, and replace components if necessary free of charge. The recall began on june 13, 2008. Owners may contact volkswagen at 1-800-822-8987.
Full defect summary
Volkswagen is recalling 412,000 my 1999-2005 passat (5th generation) vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions and produced after june 14, 1999. These vehicles may have an underbody heat shield that can become damaged. In addition, affected vehicles with automatic or manual transmissions may have a fuel line (1.8t engines only) or fuel tank ventilation valve (4motion/all wheel drive only) that can leak due to fracture.
Lights: switch
Risk: The brake lights could become inoperative, or remain on. Failure to provide the proper signal when braking could lead to a crash without warning.
Fix: Dealers will install the newly designed brake light switch free of charge. The recall began on april 27, 2007, and will be conducted in several staggered mailings through september 21, 2007. Vehicles within the make, model, and model year of this population may be involved in either this recall or 06v-183, but not both. The remedy is the same for each recall. Volkswagen dealers will apply the remedy based on the VIN number of the vehicle. Owners may contact vw at 1-800-822-8987.
Full defect summary
On certain passenger, wagon, and convertible vehicles equipped with or without cruise control, a brake light switch may malfunction if it was installed incorrectly.
Fuel system: fuel system, diesel
Risk: Fuel leakage in the presence of an ignition source may lead to a fire.
Fix: Dealers will replace the diesel pump. The recall began on february 8, 2005. Owners should contact volkswagen at 1-800-822-8987.
Full defect summary
On certain passenger vehicles, the high pressure diesel pumps were produced with an improper fastener, which could allow diesel fuel to escape from the pump.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Engine compartment fire
Summary
In july 2010, the agency opened pe10-027 to investigate allegations of coil on plug (cop) ignition coil fires in my2002-2003 vw passat vehicles.the investigation was upgraded in january 2011 to include all my2001-2007 4-cylinder vw passat, gasoline, turbo-charged vehicles.based on the analysis of vw's response, and including odi's consumer complaints, odi has since identified 135 unique engine fire reports attributable to the cop coils.after further review of the details as contained in each report, odi determined that 43 of the 135 fire reports were actual fire/flame incidents, 83 fire reports were thermal events (smoke, spark, heat or wire melt), and another 9 fire reports were undetermine
Fuel tank leak
Summary
Volkswagen (vw) is recalling certain vw passat 4motion and audi a6 quattro and allroad quattro all-wheel drive passenger cars.vw vehicles subject to recall were manufactured from november 22, 2000 through may 31, 2005 and audi vehicles subject to recall were manufactured from june 2, 2001 to june 1, 2005.the NHTSA recall number for the vw vehicles is 08v-156 (vw also is correcting defects related to heat shield and fuel line hazards for these vehicles and for 1999-2000 passats in this recall action.)the NHTSA recall number for the audi vehicles is 08v-157.since 2006, odi has received 17 complaints of fuel leaking from the subject vehicles' fuel tanks.the 400 complaints shown above may includ
Passenger engine compartment fires
Summary
The manufacturer notified NHTSA on 04-apr-08 that a safety recall action would be initiated to remedy the issue.in june 2008, the manufacturer issued a technical service bulletin (code 26e5/r5) regarding the specific procedures to be employed in this campaign.vehicle owner notification letters were sent beginning approximately june 13, 2008.the campaign was assigned NHTSA no. 08v-156.this recall affects all my 1999-2005, 5th generation gasoline-powered passat sedans and station wagons.approximately 412,000 vehicles are affected.corrective action will consist of installing additional exhaust system heat shielding to mitigate the potential thermal effects of engine ignition problems.based on t
Questions about the 2005 Volkswagen Passat
- What are the most common problems with the 2005 Volkswagen Passat?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: engine (62 complaints, typically around 87,500 miles); fuel system (23 complaints, typically around 71,000 miles); transmission (13 complaints, typically around 57,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2005 Volkswagen Passat have?
- 3 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from April 7, 2008 (fuel system). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2005 a bad year for the Volkswagen Passat?
- It is 14th of 23 Passat model years by number of complaints, with 148 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.