[fordfreak]

ODO crossed 34,100 and got a few more updates to share.

Firstly, I made a major blooper. I got lazy and ignored the "Key fob battery low" warnings on the dash and paid for it. I had been getting these warnings for the last 3 months and they became much more frequent over the last 10 days. Still I ignored it like an idiot.

One fine afternoon, my driver called me saying both the keys were dead and he was locked out of the car! So now the car was stuck in the basement parking with no functional keys. I got home in the evening and struggled to open the cover to access the manual slot. It had clearly become jammed since it has never been opened. After 20 mins of wrestling and some bruised fingers, I managed to get the cover open. Put the manual key into the slot and turned it right (to unlock). Nothing happened. I turned it left and the car answered back to indicate the doors were locked.

It took me another 20 minutes of fighting with the manual lock to get the door opened. Once I gained access to the car, there was no problem in starting it. Phew! What a workout that was. Surprisingly, when I opened the car using the manual key, no alarm rang. Doesn't the Passat come with a burglar alarm?

I called the VW dealer and asked if they had the remote battery in stock, which they thankfully did. The lady whom I spoke with over the phone, was very helpful and prompt in her actions. Sent the car over the next day and the battery on one key was replaced. Since they had only one battery in stock, the spare key remains dead for the moment. Will get this sorted out soon. Lesson learnt!

Secondly, I had been following up with the dealer regarding the rust spot on my car. I had sent the car for the 4th service on the 5th of Jan and had also asked them to look into the rust issue. I was told they will get back to me in 10 days time. They obviously didn't. I chased them to inquire about the progress of my case and was told that the photographs had been sent to Volkswagen and now they were waiting for their decision.

After not hearing back for another few days, I called again and was told to bring my car to the workshop on the 8th of Feb. The driver reached the workshop at 10:15 am and reported to the service adviser. They took the car in and made the driver wait till 12:30 pm with no word on what was happening. After I asked the driver to follow-up, he was told that they have taken photographs again and were sending it to VW. The SA told the driver to take the car back and that he would speak to me (he still hasn't called).

So, they called my car back just to take photographs (which they had supposedly taken and sent to VW earlier!). No call to confirm if they had received the car at the workshop or to discuss why it was there. No call to let me know what was going on or if they will be doing any work on the car.

I am amazed at how incompetent OSL Exclusive is! There are a few good people there who are prompt and atleast keep the customer informed about their car and actually help, the rest seem to be clowns who couldn't care less!

I am not going to bother calling them to follow-up anymore. I would rather pay and get a good job done, than have to deal with this nonsense just to get a repair done under warranty. Decided to get the rust repaired at a trusted independent garage.

Other than this, the car is driving well. Been using it quite a bit for airport runs, weddings, etc. The usage has been higher than usual over the last one month. The fuel economy always puts a smile on my face (showing a decent long-term 10.3 km/l on the MID). The new Yokohama tyres are absolutely brilliant. Loving the quiet and smooth drive I now get to experience after swapping out the Pirelli set. May get the exteriors + interiors cleaned/polished soon.

[rpunwani]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

ODO crossed 34,100 and got a few more updates to share.

Firstly, I made a major blooper. I got lazy and ignored the "Key fob battery low" warnings on the dash and paid for it. I had been getting these warnings for the last 3 months and they became much more frequent over the last 10 days. Still I ignored it like an idiot.

One fine afternoon, my driver called me saying both the keys were dead and he was locked out of the car! So now the car was stuck in the basement parking with no functional keys. I got home in the evening and struggled to open the cover to access the manual slot. It had clearly become jammed since it has never been opened. After 20 mins of wrestling and some bruised fingers, I managed to get the cover open. Put the manual key into the slot and turned it right (to unlock). Nothing happened. I turned it left and the car answered back to indicate the doors were locked.

It took me another 20 minutes of fighting with the manual lock to get the door opened. Once I gained access to the car, there was no problem in starting it. Phew! What a workout that was. Surprisingly, when I opened the car using the manual key, no alarm rang. Doesn't the Passat come with a burglar alarm?

I called the VW dealer and asked if they had the remote battery in stock, which they thankfully did. The lady whom I spoke with over the phone, was very helpful and prompt in her actions. Sent the car over the next day and the battery on one key was replaced. Since they had only one battery in stock, the spare key remains dead for the moment. Will get this sorted out soon. Lesson learnt!

It's very easy to replace the battery on the Passat Key Fob. I have done this 2 times. You need a CR 2032 battery. Please see the link below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGnanZDefng

There are a lot of fake Maxell / Sony CR 2032 batteries. I ordered a pack of 10 Varta batteries from Amazon.

[fordfreak]

Just a few minor updates to share.

The ODO is now at 35,300 kilometers, and the car has been performing flawlessly. Fuel economy is stable at around 9.6 - 9.8 km/l.

A fault message occasionally pops up saying the the rear camera is not available, but on engaging reverse it works normally. I had pointed out this issue during my last service (Jan 2016) but the workshop didn't find anything amiss. I guess I will just live with it for the time being as it isn't a real hassle.

I had given up hope on getting any response from the service center regarding the rusted part replacement. I had decided to get the job done at my trusted body shop a littler later (along with touching up the rear bumper) since this wasn't very urgent.

About 15 days after the last visit (just to have the car inspected), I got a call from the service adviser asking me to send the car in as the part had arrived. I fixed an appointment with him and sent the car in 3 days later. The replacement process took the whole day and I got my car back in the evening as promised. The car was clean as I had instructed the driver to be on their heads to clean the car, in the event of them returning it in a dirty condition. Thankfully that didn't happen this time.

The funny bit about this whole thing is that the workshop didn't even open a job-card for the work carried out under the rust-warranty. I didn't have to pay anything, nor was I made to go through the receptionist to fix an appointment. No papers were given to the driver at the time of giving them the car, nor did they give any papers while handing the car back to us. Since I was satisfied with the work done, I let this pass.

If I am not wrong, every time a car goes to the authorized workshop, a job-card must be opened even if it is just for an inspection? For instance, I had sent my 2010 City for servicing to the Honda workshop only to have it returned saying that the car doesn't need to be serviced now as it had barely run since the last service. They gave a printout as proof that the car had gone to their workshop. The total bill amount was 0 as they hadn't done anything to the car.

Next on the to-do list is replacing the wiper blades as the driver-side one is starting to tear. I don't want the arm scratching up the windshield. The annoying squeaky noise with each sweep is also driving me mad. Also planning on getting the interior cleaned.

I intend do have these done during the first week of April as the car will be free for a bit during that time.

Originally Posted by rpunwani

It's very easy to replace the battery on the Passat Key Fob. I ordered a pack of 10 Varta batteries from Amazon.

Thank you rpunwani. I bought a Maxell unit (1 piece) for Rs 70. I didn't want to get 10 pieces of the Varta battery since I needed just one battery for the spare key fob. I will try changing the battery tomorrow using the video you posted. I hope I don't break anything .

[rpunwani]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Next on the to-do list is replacing the wiper blades as the driver-side one is starting to tear. I don't want the arm scratching up the windshield. The annoying squeaky noise with each sweep is also driving me mad. Also planning on getting the interior cleaned.

I intend do have these done during the first week of April as the car will be free for a bit during that time.

Please check my DIY post for replacement of the Passat's wiper blades; far cheaper and better than the original replacement.

[fordfreak]

Changed the battery on the spare key-fob at the end of last month. A big thank you to fellow Passat owner rpunwani for posting a very helpful video on how it is done.

Step 1: Got the manual key out of it's slot, before beginning to disassemble the key-fob assembly. Very easily done with the push of a button.

Step 2: Pushed the chrome head of the key-fob out of it's slot and removed it, allowing access to open the key-fob's main body.

Step 3: This was the slightly tricky part. One has to be careful not break anything. I slowly separated the two halves of the main body, exposing the innards of the key-fob. Easy to remove the battery for hereon.

The old battery was a Panasonic piece.

Step 4: New battery in place, just followed the above steps in reverse and completed the assembly of the key-fob.

And we are back in business!

Since my last post, I have driven the car for around 200 kilometers only. Loving every drive and no problems to report now. Will post my next update once I have changed the wiper blades and gotten the car shampooed and polished.

[fordfreak]

Barely been driving the Passat since I got the new City. Spent this entire month enjoying the new car feeling. The Passat has barely done 400 kilometers this month.

The reversing camera had been known to act up from time to time, but the workshop didn't find anything wrong with it. However, this time it seemed to take inspiration from Microsoft Windows and show me the 'Blue Screen of Death'.

This screen was thankfully only seen once. Usually an error message pops up when I start the car, but on engaging reverse, the camera works perfectly. On some occasions, only the OPS works when I engage reverse, but no camera support. Since this is not a major issue (and I would rather not send my car to the service center), I have decided to let this be unless it goes totally dead one fine day.

Sadly due to work and family commitments, I haven't had the time to take my car for a well deserved polish and shampoo. I might even postpone this till post-monsoons since the car will get messy anyways if we have a normal monsoon this time. I have a friend's engagement ceremony to attend tonight, so will finally take the Passat out for a long overdue drive.

[rpunwani]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Since my last post, I have driven the car for around 200 kilometers only. Loving every drive and no problems to report now. Will post my next update once I have changed the wiper blades and gotten the car shampooed and polished.

Dear Fordfreak, please check my DIY post on changing the Passat's wiper blades at a fraction of the cost of the OEM one from VW. I have been using them for over a year and the wiper blades have enough juice in them to last a year more.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by rpunwani

Dear Fordfreak, please check my DIY post on changing the Passat's wiper blades at a fraction of the cost of the OEM one from VW. I have been using them for over a year and the wiper blades have enough juice in them to last a year more.

Hi rpunwani,

I went through your thread regarding the DIY wiper replacement. Very well described process, I must say!

I looked up the website you ordered from, but they seem to be out of stock. I also checked out another website mentioned in your thread, but wasn't certain which product to order from the given options.

The VW workshop have quoted Rs. 2,590 for new wipers. I am planning to get the job done with them just to save time, since I will be travelling till the middle of the month. I don't want to be caught out with non-functional wipers incase it starts raining soon (they have predicted rain by mid-week here).

[rpunwani]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

The VW workshop have quoted Rs. 2,590 for new wipers. I am planning to get the job done with them just to save time, since I will be travelling till the middle of the month. I don't want to be caught out with non-functional wipers incase it starts raining soon (they have predicted rain by mid-week here).

It seems the price of the original wipers has come down; still very expensive compared with the DIY option. I have observed that wipers generally hit the market around mid-May as the sales are seasonal.

Do not get rid of the existing blades; they can be refurbished when you are able to source the wipers blades from the market.

[kashd]

Crossed 40K in ODO.....taking out the beast for a long drive of 2500km plus. No problem so far baring AC. Its a pleasure driving this vehicle

[fordfreak]

Updates:-

Just a few more kilometers to go before the ODO touches 37,000. A few updates to share for the time-being.

Wipers replaced - Got the wipers replaced at the VW workshop a while back. Thankfully they didn't trouble me during this visit and everything went smoothly. Ended up paying around Rs.3,500 for the job. Would have been cheaper if I went down the D-I-Y route, but was a little stretched for time and hesitant about ordering parts online. So I just ended up going to the dealer. Drove in the rain a couple of times last week and found the wipers performing as expected. No squeaks or smudges. I have stashed the old wipers in the boot for use in the future if the need ever arises.

AC - The AC has started acting up a little. Suddenly it seems to take much longer to cool the cabin. I have never had the gas topped up or anything, since I have owned the car. Hopefully it will just need to be recharged and nothing more troublesome. I will watch this for a while and see if it is getting worse, or is it just my imagination.

Rear Brakes - I need to get the rear brakes replaced at some point. The service adviser had told me (during my last service in Jan.) that the rear ones are good for another 3,000 kilometers or so. It has now been over 3,000 kilometers and I have noticed that the rear wheels getting noisier (scraping noise) on braking.

Scrapes/Bumps - The rear bumper has picked up a couple of tiny scratches from being parked on the road. Need to have these repaired after the monsoon is over. Also planning to get a small dent on the left front door repaired. Someone dropped their bicycle on the car while it was stationary.

Yokohama Tyres - Loving the quality of the Yokos. I went to the usual petrol pump where I fill up our cars, the tyre repair guy recognized me and asked "Aap aur tyre theek karane aate nahi?" (You don't come anymore to get your tyres fixed?).

Originally Posted by kashd

Crossed 40K in ODO. No problem so far baring AC.

My car is also closing in on 40,000 kilometers on the ODO. What problems are you having with the AC?

[VW2010]

AC - The AC has started acting up a little. Suddenly it seems to take much longer to cool the cabin. I have never had the gas topped up or anything, since I have owned the car. Hopefully it will just need to be recharged and nothing more troublesome. I will watch this for a while and see if it is getting worse, or is it just my imaginatio

40K Suggest the right time the AC does kaput. If you are still under warranty get the AC Compressor, Drier and the lines changed under warranty. If its out of warranty you are looking at around 1L expense for this change.

The typical indicator is not only cooling effectiveness but the starting delay to engage the compressor. It usually takes seconds to get the compressor going but on a faulty one it will take around 2-3 Minutes. This definitely indicates bad compressor.

Only thing you can try to do is disconnect the battery for 10-20 minutes and reconnect to reset any lags. But if you still see delayed cooling and lower cooling you are definitely looking at changing the unit.

[kashd]

The ac stopped cooling six months back. Checked with two top local aircons who concluded that compressor need to be replaced. They also told that the compressor life in Passat is max 30k km. The cost of replacement around 36-40k. Almost got convinced on replacement but decided to check with automark vw dealer. Wrote a letter to VW also stating how German cars allow such low quality compressor. Then magic happened. The dealer came back stating replacement of valve and some outer linings. Estimated cost around 18k. They finished the job and handed me a bill of 13k. I was overwhelmed. Since then the ac is working perfect.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by VW2010

If you are still under warranty. The typical indicator is not only cooling effectiveness but the starting delay to engage the compressor. It usually takes seconds to get the compressor going but on a faulty one it will take around 2-3 Minutes. This definitely indicates bad compressor. Only thing you can try to do is disconnect the battery for 10-20 minutes and reconnect to reset any lags.

Unfortunately my warranty ran out in December 2015, so I am on my own now for anything that goes kaput. I tried listening to the sound of the compressor kicking in, but that was at a time after a 20 km drive. Do I need to check this during the first start up of the day? I will be checking this again over the weekend, in my free time. Will try disconnecting the battery and see what happens.

Just out of curiosity, how exactly will this fix the problem? Sorry if this is a very stupid question.

Originally Posted by kashd

They also told that the compressor life in Passat is max 30k km.

35-40k is seriously early for the compressor to fail. My Altis has done 50,000+ and is still going strong. I remember changing the compressor on my old Corolla after completing around 80-90k on the ODO.


Minor niggle:-

Been having an annoying issue that just doesn't go away. The air-intake cover seems to keep working itself loose every few days. I first noticed this over a year and a half ago, when I had opened the bonnet to refill the windshield washer container. I have to keep checking on it every 5 days, since it doesn't make any noise or do anything abnormal while falling off. I have fixed the circled part back in place a number of times, only to find it falling out again after a few days on the rough roads! Does having the cover open have any effect on the performance or anything else on the car? Would appreciate the advice of fellow bhp-ians.

Cover open

Cover fixed

The cover that keeps falling off!

I haven't had any problem driving the car, nor have I noticed any abnormal sounds or readings. But I don't like the idea of driving around with anything loose or improperly fitted.

Cheers!

[sagpatel]

If you have a good rapport with the service center, they may be able to offer you goodwill warranty.
Also 30k km for compressor is very less, my yeti is at 80k kms and it is still going strong.