Problems with my Passat - Again!

ahappychappie

Hi,

Looks like I was spot on with my earlier post. You may well be chuffed but you have another 3 injectors that could potentially fail...

VM should recall, I ended up selling mine as I didnt want several high repair bills, I know I'm not alone so ultimately VW are the loser as I doubt I'll but VW again.

anewman

ECU power to earth could mean anything from a wiring fault to a faulty ECU. If it's the latter then VW will really take you to the cleaners. There are some specialist places that repair ECU's at a fraction of the cost, but VW only like to swap them out for new ones.

VAG are not as good as they used to be and let brands like Skoda down with the inherited VW problems Leaking door carriers and broken window regulators anyone?!

masterlumps

why are they only paying 70% of the repair work

cyclonebri1

All this just reassures me that any car can suffer a catostrophic/expensive fault.


Don't lable it a VW/Renault/Ford/VX/BMW issue, they all get it wrong;)

kittiej

Masterlumps

I've still got to pay for the parking brake switch which is through wear and tear.

I expect another injector to go at some point and will be wanting to get shot of it as soon as I've paid 1/2 off the HP UNLESS I can get Black Horse to change the damn thing - but I don't see this to be very likely if I'm honest.

Never-the-less, I can only ask

NewlyFrugalMumof3

Morning all,

having posted for ages, but would be very grateful for some wise advice. Yesterday on way home from my voluntary job, my beloved (10 year old) Renault Scenic car just stopped from 70 mph to 0! on the dual carriageway. The nice Mr AA man has diagnosed that the cambelt has gone and this has resulted in piston/cylinder damage in the region of £500 - £800+:eek:. I spoke to my local garage who confirmed what AA man said.

We have only a few months ago replaced my OH's car for a new Fiat as he needs it for work and his 10 year old car kept breaking down. My dilemma is:

Our finanaces are pretty tight now and I know if we get another car to replace Renault it will push us to max, and then I'll spend my life worrying about money even more than I do now.
The car really isn't worth more than the £800 to fix it, so it would be throwing good money after bad, particularly as I don't know what else is going to go wrong with it.

However, we live on the edge of a city but everything is pretty spread out and although I already walk a lot with the children/dog, I don't know if I could cope without having a car, particularly in the winter. Until nearly 4 years ago (when purchased the renault) I didn't have a car and made do with walking everywhere and relying on public transport (!) but I lived in a more close knit town then.
Also suffer from PND and winter tends to make this worse .

Wonder whether to go for a second hard car, would need to be another MPV (have 3 children & dog) and spread the cost as much as poss, or to be brave and do without a car, save on insurance & petrol and MOT and tax.

your thoughts would be really appreciated.

thanks.

T.

bigjl

I know a few people that have had some issues with VW's, could it be peoples perception of a brand that always offered good quality and reliability or the simple fact that the accountants have stuck their nose in, just like they did at Merc in the late '90s.

I must admit that the most reliable cars that i have had have been Subaru's. Not everyones choice but all issues where sorted by the main dealer at no cost.

I also rated my Seat Toledo, 99T, unbreakable, but customer service wasn't as good as that experienced by my mate with a mechanically identical VW.

I have know three people at work, the only three to have owned a new shape Passat actually, who wouldn't have one again.

One bloke, a seriously high mileage driver with a 140 mile daily commute had an old shape Passat for years, I beileve it was a 130PD engine, never had many problems apart from the normal suspension issue that they had, front wishbones or bushes? Can't remember now.

But he went to a new Passat and found the seats crippling, the fuel consumption crap and it broke down a few times, it was 2 years old.

The result he got rid, and got a 5 or 6 yr old Vectra, 2.0 Dti, not as quiet as the Passat but a solid old scholl diesel lump with a camchain tat gives better mpg than either of his Passats, the reasoning is that he couldn't find an old shape Passat that hadn't been minicabbed, clocked or was plain overpriced.

I personally rate the mk3 or mk4 Mondeo, but the mk3 has some issues and the mk4 is abit on the pricey side, though i did some sub contract Ambulance Response work in one that was 14 months old and had 70k on the clock and it drove like new car, this was around Swindon and Bristol not London, but I definately rate the mk4, it will be a while before I can afford one though.

Strider590

NewlyFrugalMumof3 wrote: »

Morning all,

having posted for ages, but would be very grateful for some wise advice. Yesterday on way home from my voluntary job, my beloved (10 year old) Renault Scenic car just stopped from 70 mph to 0! on the dual carriageway. The nice Mr AA man has diagnosed that the cambelt has gone and this has resulted in piston/cylinder damage in the region of £500 - £800+:eek:. I spoke to my local garage who confirmed what AA man said.

---

your thoughts would be really appreciated.

thanks.

T.

Keep your next one serviced and maintained properly.

bigjl

As strider has said try and keep on top of things like cambelts in future, the only was forward for your Renault is a second hand engine, don't even think of repairing the current engine.

My mate has a Honda Oddysey, jap import Shuttle, not the best on fuel, dull, but has double wishbone front suspension, loads of room, a rear bench that folds into the floor easily, they are all Auto with the early ones having the 2.2 Prelude engine, but are almost certainly unbreakable, very cheap compared to other MPVs just do the cambelt and balance belt as soon as you buy.

We actually imported three from Japan ourselves to see how easy it was, 2 have been sold to friends and not one has had a single mechanical fault apart from a ripped cv rubber boot. This is three years later, one lady that bought one has only put on tyres taken it for MOT's and changed the oil twice, so they take abuse quite well.

Just make sure it hasn't been a minicab/taxi.

NewlyFrugalMumof3

Strider590 wrote: »

Keep your next one serviced and maintained properly.

FYI I have had my car serviced every year on time! Please don't assume. I would like some constructive advice not criticism.