2003 Volkswagen Passat problems
NHTSA has received 816 complaints about the 2003 Volkswagen Passat, and 22% of them involve fuel system. After that come engine (18%) and seats (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 816 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Fuel system 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 18 and 102
- Injuries and deaths
- 60 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 58,000 miles 660 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 | 92 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 110 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 139 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 89 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 100 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 48 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 36 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 20 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 12 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 9 |
| 200k+ miles | 5 |
What the data shows
Among the 660 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 58,000 miles. For fuel system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 69,000 miles (155 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 18 complaints mention a crash; 102 complaints mention a fire; 60 injuries reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 82% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 31 model years of the Volkswagen Passat with enough data (576 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 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.
I wanted to note that on october 1st, my heated seat on my 2003 volkswagenw passat malfunctioned. It actually burned through the seat, filled my car with smoke, and left me with a small burn on my thigh. Luckily, I am fine. But, this should never have happened, and I was lucky I wasn't driving down the highway at a high rate of speed. Feel free to contact me if you need further information.
Seat heater was on high when I felt my bottom heating up and when I lifted my bottom off of the seat the car filled with smoke. I drove straight to the dealership (luckily under warranty) and sure enouch there was a burn in my leather seats. They are ordering me a new seat heater!! Didn't seem to mind the fact that I was burned.
Seat heater burned through the fabric, burning the driver on the leg. Consumer had to pull over to pour water on it since smoke and sparks were on it. Consumer will contact dealer for repairs.
Volkswagen of america will not recall faulty coil packs in 2001/2002/2003 passat 1.8ts, even though they know the installed part is defective. My first coil pack failed, and will be replaced under warranty but VW will not replace all coil packs, as they should. This is a dangerous situation, as coil pack failure while on the road may cause accidents.
Cylinders misfire causing acceleration hesitation. Spark plugs and coil were replaced feb.2009, dec. 2013, aug. 2014, june 2015. The conditions are repetitive and identical.