[kslives]

1700/- only for the bonnet..

[srgntpepper]

Originally Posted by srgntpepper

Hi Guys,


Is a little fogging in the headlamps ok?

Thanks!

One year Update:

When I took it to the VW shop for the foggin, they said this was normal and showed me an official video saying that it doesn't matter and is covered by warranty in case something does happen.

Mumbai has seen pretty heavy and regular rains, and this year the headlamps haven't fogged up at all. Pretty happy.

Another wonderful experience. Last week left the left side window open overnight. Chose the worst rains in 40 years to do so. Next day morning, was in tears when I saw the entire left side flooded with water. Seats soaked. HUD splattered.

took me hour and half to empty the water, and then sponge out whatever I could. used a siphon to suck out water from the rear ac vents, and from under the carpet. but could still hear slushing. The bottom of the front left seat was dripping water. Was sure the power windows, seats would all be fried.

Called the friendly neighborhood garage guy. Everything was working, He took the car. Removed the seats, the carpet and cleaned it up. Used halogen lamps to dry it out. By evening, car was a good as new. Not a single thing had shorted or failed. Massive sigh of relief, and more love for the car.

The seats were damp but not musty, and no fungus appreaed. On Saturday had a 250 km drive without rain. Did it with windows down. and seat heaters on and by evening dry as a bone.

In general, the car has been pleasure to drive. especially in the last 3-4 months where my train commute has been replaced by long drives.

The only glitch has been the front sunshade visor has gotten loose at the pivot. Hoping to get fixed under warranty.

Thanks

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by kslives

It dries up in some time (maybe 20-30 mins) and it's dry again by the morning. The headlight was recently changed as I was involved in a minor accident which damaged my headlight. This was replaced along with the other works at the Gurgaon VW workshop (Frontier Autoworld). The condensation/fogging only seems to be happening on this light, not the other one.

Originally Posted by srgntpepper

When I took it to the VW shop for the foggin, they said this was normal and showed me an official video saying that it doesn't matter and is covered by warranty in case something does happen.

Mumbai has seen pretty heavy and regular rains, and this year the headlamps haven't fogged up at all. Pretty happy.

Hi,

I've encountered the same issue on my car as well. Sadly, it has popped up on both the head-lights as well as fog-lights. My car is a Dec-2018 model and has never had any of the lights damaged / changed.

This problem only pops up when the car is driven in the rain, and it goes away in a few hours when the car is parked back in my basement. However, I did not notice this problem during the previous (2019) monsoon.

Wonder what is causing this, since it didn't occur under similar usage conditions previously.

@srgntpepper - What did the technicians at the VW workshop say to justify this as normal?

[kslives]

It's happening due to the temperature variation inside the capsule and outside it. If this fogging clears in a couple of hours then it's fine if not then it's of concern and you should get it checked

[VPJ74]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Hi,

I've encountered the same issue on my car as well. Sadly, it has popped up on both the head-lights as well as fog-lights. My car is a Dec-2018 model and has never had any of the lights damaged / changed.

Welcome to a permanent VW feature in India ( Monsoon areas for sure). You will learn to live with it.

[srgntpepper]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

@srgntpepper - What did the technicians at the VW workshop say to justify this as normal?

Yes. They said it's normal and to be expected. The basic funda being the lamps aren't airtight for cooling purposes. Once humid air goes in, and then cools down, condensation is going to happen. They even sent me an official looking vw video saying so. It was sent on wa, let me see if I can find it.

Haven't encountered the problem this year. So while I'd have it checked and the issue put on record for warranty reasons. I wouldn't worry.

The car has been out in heavy rains last 15 hours in Lonavla. Attaching pics.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by kslives

It's happening due to the temperature variation inside the capsule and outside it. If this fogging clears in a couple of hours then it's fine if not then it's of concern and you should get it checked

Originally Posted by VPJ74

Welcome to a permanent VW feature in India ( Monsoon areas for sure). You will learn to live with it.

Originally Posted by srgntpepper

Yes. They said it's normal and to be expected. The basic funda being the lamps aren't airtight for cooling purposes. Once humid air goes in, and then cools down, condensation is going to happen. They even sent me an official looking vw video saying so. It was sent on wa, let me see if I can find it.

Haven't encountered the problem this year. So while I'd have it checked and the issue put on record for warranty reasons. I wouldn't worry.

Thank you for your replies! Glad to note it isn't anything to worry about immediately. Will ask the workshop to note the issue when the car goes for it's next service (Dec - 2020).

The fogging isn't causing me any problems as such, but is surprising that VW would consider this as normal. Haven't seen any such issue on my other cars (Altis & City) even though all of them have HID / Xenon / LED bulbs installed.

Oh well, I will continue to enjoy the 'self-fogging' headlights for now. Can't complain about such a 'feature', can I?

[fordfreak]

(Apologies for the back to back posts).

Has anyone had to change their battery yet? My car randomly refused to start this afternoon. This has happened without any warning whatsoever. Luckily the car is stranded at home and out on the road.

Even though my usage has reduced since the lockdown began in March, my car has been in regular use. I checked the indicator on the battery only to find it showing 'low'. The voltage seems to have fallen from about 13.6 V to 8.8 V as per the VW Connect app.

Will be getting the battery checked out tomorrow. Never seen a stock battery fail in about 20 months (9,849 KMs) of usage since I bought the car.

This month has thrown a number of battery / starter related issues at me. First, the starter on my City decided to fail. Second, the battery on my old Altis gave up after about 3 years of heavy duty. And now the newest member of my garage decides to join to party.

[kslives]

My battery had conked off very initially when I'd bought the car. Called the VW helpline.. they came jump started the car and took it to the workshop. The battery they had installed (exide) was defective. They replaced it with a new one free of cost (of course)

[srgntpepper]

My battery conked off about 11 months into ownership.

I thought it was my mistake though. It was very hot and I leave a half inch opening in my windows when I park in the open in my office lot. I felt that maybe I forgot to lock (I used the key fob to unroll the windows). That caused the battery to drain by the end of the day.

Car wouldn't start. Or even lock the doors. Roadside assistance came and fired it up. I felt the steering assist was a bit gummy, so I took to service centre where they replaced the battery at no cost. I also seem to recall they said they put in a higher capacity battery.

I also have the vw fogging-is-expected video, anybody who wants it, pls pm me their phone numbers or message on nine 8 2 zero nine double zero forty-five 0.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Has anyone had to change their battery yet? My car randomly refused to start this afternoon. This has happened without any warning whatsoever. Luckily the car is stranded at home and out on the road.

Just wanted to share an update regarding my battery issue.

25th August :-

RSA technician arrived and jump started the car without any problems. He advised getting the battery changed. Took it to the dealership immediately to have it checked further. The service centre asked to keep the car for a few days to check it out completely.

28th August :-

They concluded that the battery needs replacing. No other faults were found. Initially they wanted to charge me for the replacement and that it would take 5 - 6 days till they could get a new battery in stock. I requested them to release my vehicle and that I would get the battery changed directly at an Exide store. I paid the diagnosis charge and took the car back.

Before I had reached the battery store, I got a call from the service advisor asking me if I could wait for 4 days instead of buying the battery, as he had already made an FOC replacement request to VW. Agreed to wait and took the car home. The car refused to start once again after I parked it.

1st September :-

Got a call from the service advisor informing me that VW had approved replacing my battery under warranty. Scheduled a visit to the workshop the next day for the same.

2nd September :-

Called RSA once again to jump start my car and send it to the service centre to have the new battery installed. They kept my car for 2 days more after fixing it, citing some procedural / paperwork formalities.

4th September :-

Finally got my car back with everything working perfectly and in a clean condition.

Overall a slightly slow and unnecessarily long process for such a minor issue, but the dealership had been reasonably clear with their communications and didn't leave me hanging in the dark. Not going to grumble as I am happy to have my car back to normal once again.

Appreciate the inputs given by fellow members here too. Thank you!

[VPJ74]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Just wanted to share an update regarding my battery issue.


Appreciate the inputs given by fellow members here too. Thank you!

You should also write to VW India highlighting the poor performance of the OEM battery. VW are clueless or pretend to be so about this very common problem in their cars.

[kslives]

Any idea if there is any software update for the infotainment system on the Passat (composition media)?

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by kslives

Any idea if there is any software update for the infotainment system on the Passat (composition media)?

Just had my car serviced last week. Didn't hear of any such update. Could you elaborate a bit on what the update brings in?

On a separate note, my Passat's driver side seat heater conked off. This is surely one of the weirdest failures I have experienced in any car that I've owned. As luck would have it, this happened a week before my standard 2 year warranty expires, so it is getting replaced FOC.

The service center couldn't find any fault codes and tried numerous fixes to find the root of the problem. They even swapped their test drive Passat's seat into my car to replicate the problem. Turns out something is wrong with the heating element (?) / wiring inside the seat. They have applied for a replacement of the part as well as the entire seat (either / or).

Now have to wait for 20-25 days while the parts get shipped in.

Service center experience was definitely better. Got the 2nd year service done during this visit too. I was kept updated on any progress regularly and my car was returned in a clean condition.

Only a couple of slip ups this time. They left my VW-Connect dongle unplugged in the driver side door pocket. I was scratching my head for a day as to why the device wasn't showing up on my phone, before I checked and found the cause.

Also, they haven't tightened the driver seat completely. It rocks slightly under acceleration & braking. Nothing too dangerous but nevertheless annoying and uncomfortable. Have asked them to be more careful when the car gets sent to them for the pending repair.

Other than that my car has been running well. Usage has been drastically reduced post-Covid / lockdown, so the ODO is still at about 10,600ish.

[kslives]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Just had my car serviced last week. Didn't hear of any such update. Could you elaborate a bit on what the update brings in?

Well, VW and other car manufacturers usually keep coming up with software updates so was wondering if there are any such updates available for the Passat.

To add to what you wrote regarding your heater... I've had an issue with my car as well.

My rear electric sunblind just snapped all of a sudden and now the connector (plastic piece) on the side is broken. For no fault of mine, I'm helpless coz this will not be covered under warranty (since it is a broken part) and the cost to buy a new one is 40k! I'm looking for a solution to get this fixed so if someone has a solution, please let me know.

Also, just FYI.. The standard warranty on the passat was increased from 2 years standard to 4 years. I'm assuming you bought the car in early 2019, that's when I had bought it so you don't need to worry about warranty till 2023 (i have opted for extended warranty for 2 years as well).