2001 Volkswagen Passat Steering Problems

“I own 2001 vw Passat with 43200 miles. This past year I noticed failures of outer cv joint boot both sides and rubber dust boots on all ball joints which causes a dirt and water to destroy ball joints. I changed outer cv join boot both sides and one upper control arm ball joint and others will fail soon.”

“Upper control arms on both sides are worn out. Tie rods are worn out on both sides. Catalytic converters needed replaced. I paid for the tie rods, warranty covered converters, and I have not had the upper control arms replaced. Oil leaks on engine. Interior lights do not activate when drivers door is opened.”

“The Passat has been a well maintained family wagon. The car has always been garaged and has mostly easy highway miles. My wife was driving with my daughter on a rainy evening. After making a right hand turn, the steering wheel would not turn back to the left past centered. She stopped the disabled car on the right shoulder and called me and the tow truck. When I arrived I confirmed her analysis. The tow driver had never seen anything like it. The vw dealer called the next day and indicated that the steering rack had failed. They also replaced upper arms and the right axle. …”

“At 13,000 miles, steering column began to clunk when turning the wheel. New steering column installed under warranty. At 27,000 miles, same problem returned. Informed by a mechanic that issue may be due to design of column universal joint when passing through firewall (sharp angle leads to more stress and likely failure over time.) when warranty expires, this will become my issue.”

“The steering wheel was loose. Dealer had to tighten the rack and pinion in order to alleviate the problem. ...mechanic reported that part was almost out on one side, and had it come out ability to steer would have been lost.”