Should I keep my Passat??

[Leadwings]

We have a 2008 Passat 125 TDI wagon. We purchased this second hand off the Justice Department, an ex magistrates car. Had 27k on the clock, 2 years old. I have met the magistrate who drove it and he had just retried, so the car had been well cared for and not thrashed (or at least I am assuming a 65 yo magistrate didn’t thrash the car and speed a lot).

We bought the car as we had twins on the way, and needed a car good for the kids (safe) and good for country driving (we have a farm 500 km away)

Since then the car has been a list of problems:

1. Gear box jerked around at low speeds. VW fixed mechatronics unit under warranty. (yet the 6 speed wasn’t subject to the recent 7 speed gearbox recall that had problems with the same mechatronics unit??)
2. Park brake would not disengage all the time. Park button got replaced under warranty.
3. Passenger side electric window works intermittently - still a problem
4. Car would refuse to start intermittently. Would turn over, but not start. Left my wife stuck on numerous occasions with 1 yo twins in the back. Wound up being a cam angle sensor. Car now out of warranty. VW quoted $1200, got it done at a European specialist mechanic for $500
5. Oil leak somewhere on the LHS of engine. Only minor leak, but oil hits hot manifold/muffler and smells. Had mechanic look at it, he replace rocker cover gasket. Leak still seems to be there, and have discussed with mechanic (he is good) and he said to find it would require a major disassemble - so probably not worth it, just live with the minor leak
6. Car died on my wife again. Got towed to mechanic, injector #3 short. After research, seems is common problem and VW have fixed out of warranty on other cars. Called VW Australia, girl says there is no recall on that. Ask for a manager to call me back. He confirms there is a “service order” on that, but not recall??? Get towed to authorized VW dealer. VW have agreed to replace all 4 injectors and wiring loom. I am still yet to see if they will pay for the towing and my mechanics time considering it has been subject to a “service order” but this was never done when I was getting it serviced by VW authorised service people.

For an expensive car that has done less than 55,000 km, I have been shocked and abhorred at how unreliable it has been. Trouble is the resale price on it has tanked due to the recent media about the gearbox recall and it will cost us at least $10,000 to change it over. I know others who have had no problems with their cars, so it seems they can be an OK??

So the question is - should I dump it as too unreliable and costly, or keep it as $10k will pay for a lot of repairs?

What are others experiences - what else commonly goes wrong with these, and how much to fix?

[ope126]

All very common problems relating to Passat's and others...(I have experienced these issues with my previous 2 Passat's)
I wouldn't worry too much about it!

[MRT11]

I had very similar problems with my first A3. Everything usually will be fixed under warranty. Sadly you've come out of warranty now and dont have that backing behind you. I would look at trading the vehicle on another Passat but a new current one. They dont seem to have the issues you've been having and they are a lovely car. Tell your VW dealer that you've had these issues and work on those as a point of trade. VW Australia can sometimes chip in some money and they can try and reach a good changeover cost that will be suitable to you. Hopefully you could work out a deal and come off with a lovely new car. Or even on a demo in 2012 plate.

I have been through this all on my first Audi and I came out successfully. Good luck with it mate and dont hesitate to ask any questions