| NHTSA Complaint Number: 006077349 |
Incident Date: Aug, 01 2006 |
| Consumer's City: ANNANDALE |
Consumer's State: VA |
| Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO |
Manufacturers Name: Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| Model Name: PASSAT |
Model Year: 2002 |
| Vehicle Involved in a Crash:
No |
Component's Description: Fuel system, gasoline:storage:tank assembly |
| Vehicle Involved in a Fire:
No |
Persons Injured: 0 |
| Vehicle's VIN#: WVWTH63B92P |
Date added to File: May, 23 2021 |
| Date Complaint Received: Aug, 29 2006 |
Complaint Type: IVOQ |
| Incident Reported To Police:
No |
Purchase Date:
Mar, 10 2002 |
| Was Original Owner:
Yes |
Anti-lock Brakes:
Yes |
| Number of Cylinders: 6 |
Date of Manufacturer: - |
| Was Vehicle Towed:
- |
Description of the Complaints:
2002 vw passat, v6 4motion just turned over 50,000 miles (warranty expired) and noticed that when i filled the gas tank, for several days until the gas level went down, there was a very strong gas odor in the car and around the car. took it to the dealer, who first pointed out that it was time for me to pay the passat driver privilege tax, a.k.a., $650 for standard maintenance work. regarding the gas smell, after the mechanics allegedly checked the car, the service advisor speculated that it was a leak in one of the fuel pump seals, which are located under the back seat (where the strongest smell was coming from). he said that he had seen other passats at around my same mileage with the same problem. the tank was only full though, and the smell was not present, so he asked me to bring the car back on another day, with a full gas tank, so that the mechanics could smell it. when i suggested that it might be more difficult (and dangerous) to examine a full gas tank, he agreed and when i brought the car back a week later for the mechanics check it out, that's when the service advisor told me that the gas tank was 'cracked' (near the top) ' and that it would cost $2,000+ to fix it. this is obviously not caused by 'wear and tear'- nor is it a problem that i could have caused absent some sort of impact. i called vw america to ask them to pay for the repair, and after they investigated my claim, they told me that the dealership offered to pay 1/2 the cost of the repair, ($1,000). when i next spoke with the service advisor at the dealership, he told me that vw had offered to pay 1/2 the cost of the repair, or would give me a $1,000 credit toward a new car. my investigations have led me to the conclusion that this is either a defect of the vw fuel tanks or the crack is due to corrosion, which should be 100% covered under the 12 year corrosion warranty. either way, vw should be held accountable. *nm
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