Used 2003 Volkswagen Passat Consumer Reviews
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Pretty Good.
Cali to Mass, 06/13/2008
2003 Volkswagen Passat GL Fwd 4dr Sedan (1.8L 4cyl Turbo 5M)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
As my first real car, I lived in Orange County and bought it @ 66,000 miles Certified. Two car accidents. One cross country trip from California to Boston. One winter later it has 105,000 miles on it! GULP! But it's fared pretty well. I've had a few minor electrical issues, and an engine leak but after the terrible VW Customer service honored everything it was alright. After putting over 105k miles on a 5 year old car it still coasts the highways SO SMOOOOTHLY. I need brakes done shortly, first time since 66,000 miles. Just got my timing belt done and ready for more. Good Car considering everything Ive done to the poor thing.
Impossible to fix
Kenneth, 08/30/2005
2003 Volkswagen Passat GLX Fwd 4dr Wagon (2.8L 6cyl 5M)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
This was a good basic car. However, all of the items meant to make this a luxury car did not work (auto-wipers, auto-AC, etc). I could only get parts at the dealer and only the dealer could work on it. But, even the dealer couldn't fix any of the problems. I sold it with all of the problems that supposedly had been repaired. I did not have a trip to the repair shop cost less than $2,000. From new to sold (including repair costs) I lost approx $30,000 owning this vehicle.
2003 Volkswagen Passat for sale near you
Showing 3 of 21 listings
- GLX SedanMSRP: $6,997247 mi away
- GLS 1.8T SedanMSRP: $2,263403 mi away
- GLX 4Motion SedanMSRP: $3,997494 mi away
See all 21 listings
This car always makes me smile
grammatarz, 10/22/2003
2003 Volkswagen Passat GLX 4Motion AWD 4dr Wagon (2.8L 6cyl 5A)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
The only unfortunate thing that I have found is that 2003 is the first year that they installed a plug in the back of the manifold. Unfortunately mine blew without warning after 4 months..this may be a chronic problem. Ultimately, the car gave me no warning that all of the oil was blowing out as I was driving. It should have given me a low oil pressure sign or something. It's something to look into.
Why can't VW get it right ??
Fool me twice ??, 12/03/2005
2003 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8T Fwd 4dr Wagon (1.8L 4cyl Turbo 5M)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
My husband owned an '86 GTI that had electrical probs from day one. He swore he'd never have another VW but I begged. While we have not had any major electrical probs, the car has been to the dealership too many times. The trim is continuously discoloring or falling off, the wiring harness went bad in the first 10,000 miles, the fuel pump went out at 44,000 miles and we had to replace the brakes AND rotors at 44,000. When the car was stalling for no apparent reason, the dealership asked me if I had driven through any puddles recently. Enlighten me, can a VW not go through puddles without stalling? Now the interior light only occasionally comes on when you open the door. The gas mileage is dissappointing. I've learned my lesson.
Fun but tempermental
tim d, 11/10/2009
2003 Volkswagen Passat GLS V6 Fwd 4dr Sedan (2.8L 6cyl 5A)
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Bought this car new in 03. Blue Anthracite with Grey Leather. Very well appointed and good performance. Drove great, had the feeling of a safe and heavy car. Had problems that I would not expect of a fairly new car: Short Brake Life, including warped rotors. Bad Breaklight Switch, $900 alternator replacement, a battery that only the dealer can replace (not good when it goes out on Sat. night). 2 bad CV boots. Oil leaks. Improper alignment burned up 2 new tires. Ridiculous price on 40K and 80K maintenance. When this car was getting near 80K, I sold it on Craigslist and bought a Honda. I could not stomach another trip to the dealer for them to find more stuff wrong.