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Is my expereince unique? 2003 Passat

I need to vent.

I purchased a 2003 Passat GLS new in August 2003. The car has been generally reliable. Until recently, I've really been very happy with it. But now, with 75,000 miles on it, that's starting to change. I wonder if my experience is unique, or if my expectations are out of line given the car's age and mileage.

Over the last year or so, each time I have taken the car to the dealer for service, they have found something that needs to be repaired, and its usually been something fairly costly. For example, in December I took it in for the 75,000 mile service. They called me to say that the brake fluid is dirty and should be flushed, that the outer CV boots are failing and should be replaced, and that the timing belt is fraying and needs to be changed. The total cost - over $1900. I refused and a couple of weeks ago I was able to negotiate the cost down to an acceptable amount, and I took the car in to have those things taken care of today.

No surprise, the phone just rang. Its the dealer calling, the "cam seals" are leaking oil. I have not noticed an oil leak. The service rep assures me this is only going to get worse. He tells me this is normally a $700 job, but since the car is already apart, they can do it for $300.

I feel like I'm being robbed at gunpoint.

Maybe its time to get rid of this car.

Reply to
Art Greenberg
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It sounds like you don't trust your dealer's service department, or agree with his pricing.

Maybe it's time to take your car elsewhere for service?

If nothing else, a second opinion will help you decide if it's time to dump your car.

Reply to
Bert Hyman

Its certainly difficult to be comfortable with them.

I also do not have a feel for what kind of things to expect from this car at this stage in its life. That makes every service an adventure of sorts. An adventure I can do without.

Agree. I'd have done that already if the dealer had not agreed to reduce the price of this service. I felt like telling them not to replace the cam seals would be too much of a gamble, likely to cost much more if done separately from the other work being done today.

I'll try taking it to another dealer for service next time and see what happens.

When I was much younger I used to do a lot of the work on my cars. I gave that up a while ago in favor of devoting the time to other responsibilities and interests. My recent experience sometimes makes me wish I had not given it up.

Reply to
Art Greenberg

I have an '02 Passat GLS 1.8T wagon that's given me only one "sticker shock" repair (a throttle body problem which incidently nearly got me killed when the car went into "limp" mode as I exited a freeway), and overall has been cheap and reliable (of course, my previous cars include a Saab and a BMW, so maybe I'm just used to high maintenance costs).

I only have about 45K miles on it, so I'm not sure my experience can be compared.

Reply to
Bert Hyman

Timing belt replacement is normal for the mileage. The CV boots need only replacing when they are ripped. You can check this yourself. I've never seen a cam seal leaking with that mileage. Maybe a bit wet that's all, don't worry about it.

SFC

"Art Greenberg" schreef in bericht news:JOudna0S9LnZLOfWnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@supernews.com...

Reply to
SFC

I have a 2009 VW Rabbit (and also owned a 2006 at one point), and I believe that around 80,000 miles is the normal time to replace the timing belt in recent model Volkswagens, so the report about your timing belt doesn't surprise me. It wouldn't hurt to have it replaced. Also, they might not see the condition of the cam seals until they get into the engine to replace the timing belt, so that might be why they didn't tell you about the cam seals until you brought it in to get the timing belt replaced.

Several years ago, I owned a car that seemed to go through oil fairly quickly. I didn't notice any leaks, but when I took it in to have it checked, they said they found some leakage and the cam seals needed replacement. That seemed to help a little, but not completely.

$1900 does seem a bit high.. As others have suggested, maybe you could look into taking the car somewhere else for service.

Eric

Reply to
Eric O.

Another thing to remember is that some of the services will be more expensive than others. That's true for any car. The reason is that for certain services, there are more major things that need to be done. Replacing the timing belt can cost more money than other services because they have to open up the engine in order to do it, and as long as they're opening the engine, they often recommend replacing other parts that need the engine opened, such as the cam seals, water pump, etc.. Because they have to open the engine for those things, you'll spend less money if you have them all replaced at the same time than you would if you had them replaced at separate times.

Eric

Reply to
Eric O.

Do they show you what they find? MAKE THEM GIVE YOU YOUR OLD PARTS BACK!!!! At least the solid stuff. ;-)

CV boots are easy to see if you look under the vehicle or turn the wheels. Yeah they go bad!

Timing Belt is a little harder to see but 75K miles seems a little early unless the timing belt tensioner is noisy.

Brake Fluid is supposed to be flushed every 2 years but some dealers sell some "maintenance" jobs like candy and I have seen them try to sell this job to one person within a 3 month period. That confused & worried her so she decided to get a second opinion. hint hint.

Some places are starving and will sell you things you may not need to get your $$$

JMHO One out of many daves

Reply to
dave AKA vwdoc1

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