Problem with Passat Estate...advice needed!!

[stokesy]

Guys,

I've been a regular reader on this board since owning my Leon Cupra, which I sold recently and bought a 2.0 TDI SE Passat Estate (having a new baby will do that to you.)

Anyway, I was hoping someone could maybe diagnose a problem with my Passat. I bought it second hand from a dealer just before Christmas. On receipt of the V5 we found it the prvious owner to be a one Provincial Securities (we all know the story there.)

Anyhow, since driving the car for about 3 months now, and roughly 3,000 miles, I notice that my fuel consumption isn't great compared to the manufacturers claim. I think overall I'm averaging around 39, but don't see to be able to get above 45mpg on motorway runs, which is bothering me.

Also, recently I noticed that the car seems to, intermittently, loose power for a fraction of a second, and then pick up again. It can do this at almost any speed, and I must admit, nearly caused me a nasty accident yesterday driving on the A303 whilst overtaking a car and the road merging into one lane.

Anyone had similar behaviour from there car, and if so, any idea what the problem was. Mine is a 57 plate, so is still under warranty.

Thanks,
Lee

[Dook]

Depends on whether you have the 140 or the 170. On the stutter, never noticed that on mine, you should get the dealer to look into it. On the mpg, mine is a 170 and the long term mpg at 24k is approx 38mpg. I can get mid fifties on a motorway run, but only if I drive really carefully at no faster than 55!! general use commute etc is around 39-40 every day. The 140 is better at mpg, so if that is yours, again, would get it properly checked out.

Thing to watch out for on the warranty is whether it has been properly serviced or not. If not, you will struggle to get anything done under warranty, as my brother-in-law is finding out on a Mazda 6 bought at a Ford dealer with remaining manufacturers warranty. Engine went bang big time, Mazda refusing to accept warranty because the servicing was not done properly by the Ford garage, even though they sold it on with 'remaining manufacturers warranty'....

[angus]

Guys,

I've been a regular reader on this board since owning my Leon Cupra, which I sold recently and bought a 2.0 TDI SE Passat Estate (having a new baby will do that to you.)

Anyway, I was hoping someone could maybe diagnose a problem with my Passat. I bought it second hand from a dealer just before Christmas. On receipt of the V5 we found it the prvious owner to be a one Provincial Securities (we all know the story there.)

Anyhow, since driving the car for about 3 months now, and roughly 3,000 miles, I notice that my fuel consumption isn't great compared to the manufacturers claim. I think overall I'm averaging around 39, but don't see to be able to get above 45mpg on motorway runs, which is bothering me.

Also, recently I noticed that the car seems to, intermittently, loose power for a fraction of a second, and then pick up again. It can do this at almost any speed, and I must admit, nearly caused me a nasty accident yesterday driving on the A303 whilst overtaking a car and the road merging into one lane.

Anyone had similar behaviour from there car, and if so, any idea what the problem was. Mine is a 57 plate, so is still under warranty.

Thanks,
Lee

TBH your fuel consumption is better than mine is/ever has been, which would be really disappointing if I had to pay for it, as it is a good 5mpg worse than the old 130TDI. Progress?

Regarding the `hiccup`, mine did something similar a couple of times early in its life (before it had the new engine), but was fixed at service time when a `software update` was carried out. Don`t know if this did the trick or if it was a coincidence though.

[pieguts]

I have the 105 se version,at 4000 miles when I had it,and the economy is crap,42 around town if im lucky.

[martin1810]

Stokesy. Despite what vw claim, 45mpg in normal use is about average for this car. On a long motorway run you will get better but mixed driving tends to give about 45 mpg. The loss of power sounds like turbo drop off. Tell the dealer and ask them to check all the vacuum pipes and valves. Stress the fact that it's dangerous.

[Cylon2007]

I have the 105 se version,at 4000 miles when I had it,and the economy is crap,42 around town if im lucky.

I would think 42MPG round town for a car the size and weight of the Passat is fine

[Motorway]

Where i live is quite hilly and i regularly average 42-45 round town. however i do do quite a few trips to the southwest and all motorway driving i average 55-57mpg.

As for the original problem of "loss of power", i have not had this. but as it has been said it does sound like a Turbo related problem maybe a hose?.. there is another suggestion, the throttle pedal as i understand is electrically controlled and there is always a slight posibility of the switch developed a fault?.

[kennym999]

Driving my car normally/easy I get about 41mpg over course of a tank. The problem with me is that my max journey is usually no more than 10 miles so car rarely heats up fully. In terms of what engine you have there is very littke difference, 1mpg better for the 140 engine on urban and 1mpg better for 170 engine on extra urban. I have just learned to live with mpg safe in the knowledge that the sacrifice is worth it for driving a big solid car that should cause me too much hassle.

[Cylon2007]

The problem with me is that my max journey is usually no more than 10 miles so car rarely heats up fully. .

nail/head running like that you will never get the best fuel consumption, in fact at 10 mile runs I reckon you are doing pretty well on the mileage, it should improve when the weather gets warmer as well.

[kennym999]

nail/head running like that you will never get the best fuel consumption, in fact at 10 mile runs I reckon you are doing pretty well on the mileage, it should improve when the weather gets warmer as well.

Yes I know. It is also helped that I only pass through 2 sets of traffic lights (1 being a crossing) and drive mainly outwith rush hour on roads between 40 mph to nationals.