1997 Volkswagen Passat problems
NHTSA has received 57 complaints about the 1997 Volkswagen Passat, and 28% of them involve electrical system. After that come wipers, windshield & visibility (28%) and air conditioning & heating (16%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 57 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 28% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 2 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 99,000 miles 48 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 2 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 9 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 11 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 6 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Among the 48 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 98,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 93,000 miles (16 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 1 complaint mentions a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 2 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 29th most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Volkswagen Passat with enough data (5 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
I was driving my 1997 passat when it started to over heat. The temperature gage rose very quickly and I immediately took the next exit off of the freeway ( 1/8 of a mile in distance). When the temperature gage reached 240 degrees my red dashboard light started to flash. I decided that I needed to pull over immediately. Within seconds, not minutes, I heard a loud pop sound, like an explosion. Steam shot out at myself and my daughter inside the car and we were sprayed with boiling liquid on our feet and lower legs.
While en-route between dexter, michigan and grand rapids, michigan, cabin began to smell of smoke. Shortly thereafter, the cigarette lighter caught fire. Fire was extinguished with a halon extinguisher promptly. Examination of the components post-fire revealed a defective center conductor. Circuit was fused at 10 amps which was found to be blown, post fire. No injuries, no damage to personal goods, damage was confined to cigarette lighter assembly, which is poorly designed.
On sunday, august 5th, 2007, while driving the car with my 7 year old son in the back seat, dense, noxious 'steam'/smoke began to come out of all vents and around the dash area in my well-maintained volkswagen. Hot coolant also leaked into the passenger compartment of my passat on the driver's side. Note that this occurred while air conditioning (A/C) was on & continued to pour out of vents without A/C on. My 'low coolant' indicator light (red LED in instrument cluster) also began flashing.
The windshield wipers, air conditioner and headlights stopped working. The consumer staed the ignition switch needs replacing.
Tl*the contact owns a 1997 volkswagen passat. Whenever the contact attempted to activate the windshield wipers or headlights, they failed to turn on. The vehicle has not been diagnosed by the dealer. There were no warnings prior to the failures. The current mileage was 62,000 and failure mileage was 60,000.