2001 Volkswagen Passat problems
NHTSA has received 558 complaints about the 2001 Volkswagen Passat, and 16% of them involve engine. After that come electrical system (15%) and brakes (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 558 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 16% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 20 and 17
- Injuries and deaths
- 18 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 58,000 miles 368 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 | 54 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 70 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 69 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 67 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 34 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 25 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 18 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 14 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 12 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Among the 368 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 58,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 62,000 miles (65 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 20 complaints mention a crash; 17 complaints mention a fire; 18 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2001 ranks 9th most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Volkswagen Passat with enough data (346 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 3 safety recall campaigns.
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.
2001.5 passat gls 1.8t the coil pack fouled and caught the coil on fire. Had I not opened it up and removed the valve cover along with the coil pack itself, the car would have went up in flames. I feel sorry for those who dont know much about cars. This is an ongoing issue with VW coil packs. VW claims that if they go bad you can still drive it to the dealership. I dont believe this to be a safe idea.
Cruise control was set at 65 MPH with about 400 miles on vehicle, and brakes did not turn off cruise control . Vehicle did not stop. Driver had to use emergency parking brake, and crashed into vehicle in front of him. Upon impact, driver's and passenger's airbags did not deploy, which did not protect the occupants. VW did not give consumer a loaner car and could find nothing wrong with vehicle. *slc
Consumer called complaining about having problems with the vehicles coil packs. Also stated that this is the fourth time that they have been replaced. Dealer was contacted and has knowledge of the problem. Dealer has stated that it is a common problem. Ph
I leased a 2001 volkswagen passat 1.8t in feb. 2001, which I am currently having problems with. The vehicle jumps when driving and/or when stopped. It also jumps forward when stopped. This is a accident hazard since I have had instances when stopping at a traffic light/stop sign, the vehicle jumps forward thereby causing it to come to a complete stop after the stop sign and/or traffic light.