Comments on: 40k Service Interval on Our 2005 Jetta

By: Dan Volkens

Dan Volkens — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:09:00 +0000

No problem, let’s hope it does! :D

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:51:11 +0000

Thanks, Dan — yeah, I guess you’re right. Hindsight being 20/20 and all.

When I told my husband I was going to keep this car until it died, I thought I’d have it longer than this before something major happened! Oh well, I am definitely keeping it as long as I can.

I still love it and, who knows, maybe this new transmission will hold out for another 200k… :)

By: Dan Volkens

Dan Volkens — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:14:40 +0000

Hey Lori, I’m sorry to hear that your transmission is giving out. That’s one of the worst things to come up in car maintenance. Transmission problems aren’t extremely common with Volkswagens, though problems have arisen here and there. You’re right, you may have been able to catch the problem early enough with the service intervals, but you never know. Looking back is always clear (hindsight is 20/20 :D )

Make sure to shop around for various estimates to try to save as much as you can on the repair. And maybe you can hold on to your Passat for as long as you can to get the most out of this extra repair cost instead of turning around and trading it in soon or selling. Of course, only if this works for your specific situation. :)

Regardless, good luck with everything!

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:08:56 +0000

…oh, and I forgot to mention: my Passat is a 2005 (I put a lot of miles on it in the four years I’ve had it due to a long commute to work)

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 16:05:41 +0000

I wonder if I would have had a different outcome if I had done the same for my Passat TDi…

I purchased mine brand new at VW of Windsor in Ontario, and never liked their service dept, so started taking it to a private mechanic.

The transmission gave out on me recently at just under 100K miles. From what I’ve been told by a couple VW mechanics since then, they may have been able to see what was coming with these interval checks.

Unfortunately, I have two car payments left, and I have to spend another $5-6,000 on a transmission (including labor).

I was so good to this car — I rarely took it beyond 80 mph, and had it serviced regularly — I just wonder if I could have prolonged the life of the transmission if I had stuck to the VW maintenance plan.