NHTSA Complaint #10047080 — 2000 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT

MY HUSBAND AND I PURCHASED A 2000 PASSAT WITH 927 MILES ON THE ODOMETER ON JULY 21, 2000 (ANCIRA, SAN ANTONIO, TX). THREE VISITS TO THE DEALER THREE FOR A FLUID LEAK (3/29/01, 2/13/02, 1/17/03). EACH TIME, WE WERE TOLD THAT NOTHING WAS WRONG. FOUR MONTHS AGO- "EMISSION CONTROL," "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT CAME ON. ALSO THE FOLLOWING QUIT WORKING: POWER MIRRORS, THE TRAVEL COMPUTER, TEMPERATURE SENSOR WAS ERRATIC, FUEL DOOR QUIT AND THE FUEL MILEAGE GAUGE MALFUNCTIONED. MOST RECENTLY, THE CAR STARTED RUNNING ROUGH AND A CLEAR, VISCOUS FLUID APPEARED ON MY GARAGE FLOOR. THE CAR HAS 25,000 MILES. WE CHANGE THE OIL REGULARLY. IT HAD A 15,000-MILE CHECK-UP. WE TOOK THE CAR TO A REPUTABLE MECHANIC (MANDER AUTOMOTIVE IN HELOTES, TEXAS). THE OWNER OF MANDER (BOB MANDER) WAS VERY CONCERNED THAT THIS CAR HAD SO MANY ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER PROBLEMS. ANCIRA INFORMED (MANDER) THAT THE CAR'S WARRANTY HAD EXPIRED BY 900 MILES (24,990) THAT VISIT (11/6/03). COMPUTER SCAN AND ANALYSIS SHOWED SEVERAL CODES RELATED TO MISFIRES AND RUNNING LEAN. ALSO: TRANSAXLE SEAL LEAK AND BATTERY FAILED THE LOAD TEST-WOULD NOT HOLD ACHARGE. MANDER FIXED: SEAL LEAK, REPLACED THE BATTERY, CHANGED THE OIL, REPLACED THE ACTUATOR (FUEL DOOR), REPAIRED VACUUM LEAKS, RESET THE T.E.H. COMPUTER AND CORRECTED THE FAULTY WIRING TO THE MIRRORS. WE SPENT $649. 24 HOURS LATER-"CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT RE-APPEARED. THE CAR BEGAN TO VIBRATE HARD. WE TOOK THE CAR BACK TO MR. MANDER (11/14/03). HE FOUND A DEFECTIVE OXYGEN SENSOR AND PROBLEM WITH THE COOLANT SENSOR- BOTH REPLACED. THAT TIME WE SPENT $358. MY HUSBAND AND I HAVE AN ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIP WITH MANDER AUTOMOTIVE AND TRUST THEIR WORK AND ANALYSIS. THE "CHECK ENGINE" LIGHT AND "EMISSIONS CONTROL" LIGHT IS BACK ON. THE CAR IS RUNNING HARD, AGAIN. I HAVE CONTACTED VW (REFERENCE #30522917) AND MY HUSBAND WAS ADVISED TO TAKE THE CAR TO A DIFFERENT DEALER HERE IN SAN ANTONIO (ROD EAST). *LA