Volkswagen Passat CC (2008 – 2012) Review

Solid black paint does not seem to be very resistant to stone chips.

TPMS tyre valve stems subject to mixed metal corrosion and can snap off.

Warranty on 7-speed dry clutch DSG extended to 5 years or 150,000 kilometres in Russia and China. Followed by recalls in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. Problem is with the Mechatronics unit, replaced in the Singapore/Malaysia recall. The transmission reportedly makes strange noises heard inside the car when shifting from 4th to 3rd, 3rd to 2nd and 2nd to 1st. Outside the car the noise is a metallic and repetitive sound, made when the car goes over speed-bumps. www.autoevolution.com reports that an angry group of French VW owners claim that Seat, Skoda and Audi drivers are also reporting the same problems.

P ulsing vibration on braking at the rear caused by inner face of one rear disc acquiring two severely localised corrosion areas that effectively reduced the thickness of the disc at that point and caused a pulsating action on braking. This is due to prolonged static periods with the electric parking brakes on. It causes increased corrosion at the brake pad area which traps moisture and feeds the corrosion mechanism.

55k mile 2010/10 reg Passat CC 1.8 DSG needed 2 clutch pack replacements to the DSG gearbox, following juddering on takeoff in 1st and 2nd gears. The first time was covered under warranty at 40k miles, but had to be done again at 50k miles, this time under extended warranty, that reader had to pay for, as over 3 years old. It also uses a litre of oil to every 1,400 miles. Reader told that this is 'within tolerance'. It is also about to go in as the drivers door has dropped, which is not covered under the extended warranty.

On first generation Passat CC, the integrated RNS510 sat nav unit fitted as an option has become vulnerable to theft because, apparenty, the coding system used by VW on this model is easy to re-program and it can be fitted to older Volkswagen models.

Clutch or DMF failure reported at 32k miles on 2011 Passat CC.

2011 Volkswagen Passat CC 3.6 has V55 auxiliary coolant pump which should run when the engine is switched off hot to circulate coolant around the cylinder head. Pump not working on a readers 3.6 and suffering wet terminals. Worry that this may have allowed heat spots on the very wide cylinder head.

Big disappointment from American owner of 2011 Passat 2.0T manual with the reliability of the car and with its American dealers: "Just to echo your information about the reliability issue of CC of those model years, I had a faulty engine indicator on instance for which I made four appointments with 2 dealers. I paid for the diagnosis the first time when they purged the engine but found nothing, hence it is my cost on the labor. They sent me to buy a new fuel tank lid which they believed was the cause. Firestone found a leaking seal on the engine cover during oil change. I took it back the dealer for replacement (under warranty) but they felt very embarrassed and challenged me about using a legit service shop. But the faulty engine light is still on after the seal replacement. I took it to another dealer that eventually found a faulty valve that turned out to be the cause and the faulty light was finally off. There have been just so many problems at the power train that their technicians are scared of going any further about diagnosing issues. I can just tell clearly now with this clutch issue. First time VW owner and liked the CC for all the good things other reviews suggested. But I am more than just a little disappointed for the build quality by a German car maker that has been in the industry for so long."

Dual clutches of 2010 VW Passat CC DSG started to judder at 17k miles. Transmission oil had been changed in August 2014. Cost to replace clutch pack estimated at £1,070 after £600 contribution from VW.

Volkswagen announced fix for EA189 1.6TDI and 2.0TDI engines. A “flow transformer” will be fitted directly in front of the air mass sensor on the EA189 1.6TDI engine. This is a mesh that calms the swirled airflow in front of the air mass sensor and will improve the measuring accuracy of the air mass sensor. (The air mass sensor determines the air mass throughput, which is a very important parameter for the engine management for an optimum combustion process.)In addition, a software update will be performed on the 1.6TDI. The workshop time is expected to be less than a hour. The EA189 2.0TDI engines will get a software update. The programming time for this will be around half an hour. The objective is still to achieve the applicable emission targets without any adverse effects on the engine output, fuel economy and performance. However, as all model variants first have to be measured, the achievement of these targets cannot yet be finally confirmed. Based on this, service concepts are currently being developed for all 28 EU markets concerned. The aim is to implement the update in the first vehicles during a recall starting in January 2016. However, to compete the entire recall is likely to take until the end of 2016. Volkswagen will contact all customers and endeavour to consider individual customer needs during the implementation of the recall to avoid any disadvantages for the customer such as possible loss of mobility. All customers will be offered free courtesy cars if required. Since the beginning of October 2015, all Volkswagen customers have been able to check for themselves whether their vehicle is affected by the diesel issue. At www.volkswagen.de/info every customer can enter their vehicle identification number to obtain clear information.

Report of EGR failure on 58k mile 2010/60 VW Passat CC 2.0TDI 170 with EA189 engine. VW quoted £660 inc labour and VAT for replacement. Because this is a NOx emissions cheat engine that is particularly prone to EGR failure, VAG may be forced to either clean or replace these EGRs FoC as part of ist EA189 emissions recall.

Complaint that prior to NOx emissions fix a VW Passat CC EA189 2.0TDI was fault-free. But adter the fix suffers an "overboost problem" at more than 70mph. Owner gets P0234 on his fault code reader that translates to "Engine Overboost Condition". Dealer denies that the softwarte fix caused the problem. (This may relate to the DPF actively regenerating more frequerntly.)