Quote Originally Posted by PassatB6 View Post
Lams,

I remember you got your Granite Green wagon about the same time as me. Sounds like you're getting out of the bixenon problem without breaking the bank. I've had a leaking washer bottle which was replaced under warranty. Somewhat dissatisfied with the aircon- needed a fan and an intake replaced out of warranty but VW paid about 75% due to me having reported aircon issues during warranty. Currently got a grinding sound in the front could be worn tyres but wondering if its the wheel bearings. What did yours sound like?
I've had to replace rotors and pads some time ago but luckily no unexpected major expense yet. Hoping to make it through to June to trade as the car will be 41/2 yrs old by then. My build Date is Jan 06. I'm claiming the oldest b6 passat on VWW!
Hi PassatB6,

VW warranty has been good to my family and our cars - but now that they're coming out of warranty we're starting to worry little.

Wheel bearing failures can cause all sorts of noise, but for us it was a low pitch mechanical whine that increased with speed. Of course VW first blamed the tyres. So I swapped the wheels with another set we had lying around and they had no choice but do what they were suppose to - look at the car and fix it. I imagine any good mechanic would be able to diagnoise it for you.

gregozedobe,
The battery was installed for 4 months but when it failed, it was by far the hottest day it's experienced. $1300 repair cost was not a battery alone, but it involved cleaning up of the engine bay, a new starter motor, a new VW battery.
I took it up to the manufacturer and they said best they could do was replace our faulty battery. Of course this isn't good enough...
I often monitor the fault codes in this car with VCDS, as there's always little things wrong with it. I've never seen any faults related to overcharging / too high voltage etc. The VW battery made it through summer without any issues
I'm not too sure what killed the xenon, but I spoke to an ex VW foreman and he says he's replaced numerous ballasts. Just this morning I saw a passat on the road with only one xenon headlight working...