Went to drive home from work yesterday in my 07 Passat and the coolant warning light and alarm came on. An inspection showned no coolant at all in the bulb.

After a call to the Volkswagen assistance line, I was advised to put in some tap water and take into the dealership. They did an pressure test and checked everything (so they say) and told me it was fine and topped up the coolant.

Then again today the same thing happens....no coolant. But this time i could see coolant under the radiator.

So tomorrow its back to driving the old 1500 beetle to work while the Passat gets fixed. It might be 37 years old but its still the most reliable car i have ever owned.

i hate radiators & head gaskets.

its a choice between the 1960 bus, and the brand new TDI golf.. have not have one problem with either.. decisions, decisions..

If it's a choice between the buggy (most parts 40years old,some a mere 30 years old) the cab, the wifes 4wd or the sons Civic I'd take either of the VWs every time for sheer enjoyment of driving! I've always enjoyed driving them and probably always will, now if only we had a kombi as I think I enjoyed kombis most of all. I've had Jags, MGs, Toyotas, Mitsus and Fords before but they were just phases I was going through but I've always had a VW at the same time, I suppose I was just checking to see if I was right and so far I haven't been proven wrong

I got rid of my 2005 Honda CR-V Sport for my 1970 Beetle... think I miss the Honda? Think again! :P

I'd take old over new any day.

You just can't beat the reliability of an old vw!
Many people say that my car is worn out, too old, but I have given jump starts to all those people with my trusty bug. And it has never needed a jump start, even with a 8 year old battery. Plus it has never left me on the road stranded since I have owned!

So obviously I prefer old over new!

True story
coming back from the easter nats I had to do a running repair. The pre heater tube had sprung a leak and melted the plastic heater element. This guy walks pass and stops. has a look and says "how you going to fix that? looks like you will be stuck here with me. I had a look, grabbed a crushed coke can off the road, trimmed the edges up, went to the petrol station and grabbed some hose clamps($9), wrapped the tin round the pipe, clamped it, started car, fixed. Had a chat with this guy he had been stuck in the local hotel for 2 days and had to wait till tuesday so the NRMA could get a diode that had failed in his electronic distributor. I wished him luck and continued on to brisvegas.
old skool everyday driver YEAH!

Even though I do love my VWs I'm not sure I'd still call them reliable. Only because they are getting on in years and things do wear out. In their day I would trust them above any other vehicle on the road but now if it's not one thing it's something else. That's why I'm building my sons Baja from the ground up. Everything that can be replaced is, and everything that can be rebuilt is. So when he is out in it (that's if I let it out of my sight) I'll know that it can be trusted to get him home. But like DUBB61 said if something does go wrong chances are it can be fixed, at least enough to get you home. I don't think you could say that about a modern car with electronic everything, even my cab with fuel injection scares me when I think about it, so I try not to think about it

I had a 96 VR6 Passat. Bloody beautiful car but had never ending cooling system problems. When all is said and done though it still had that VW ability to get under your skin to make you love it.
Love my 67 more than ever though, however it is not my daily driver.

I have two veedubs,1957 and a 2007 both are the best two cars I have ever owned.Will never go back to a Jap or Aus built car again...em

i have a 2003 golf 2L auto (picked up on the way to valla that yr lol)
before clicking over 20,000 kms .. it had 2 oxygen sensors , an air flow meter and a coolant temp switch replaced under warranty
at 26,000 the auto shit itself , they wanted to replace a valve body at the time (which they stated would take 3-4 weeks to get in the country... wtf ?)
long story short , after a few phone calls and heated words it recieved a complete new box

at around 35,000 yet another oxygen sensor , air flow meter and coolant temp switch were replaced

2 months ago at 55,000 the gear box sent the car into limp mode again
at this point the car was out of the 2 yr warranty the dealers provide on replacement parts

enter yet another tow job for the car , turns out they found a corroded plug on the end of a printed circuit (where it plugs into a harness on the car ... corroded becuase the last dealer forgot to fit an o-ring in the plug)

now have the car back .... with more problems in the box haha

this is just bad luck on my part i guess , i work on late model vw's day to day at my work and they rarely have the drama i have had


i have more faith jumping in my 69 wagon to go for a drive then i would in most cars to be honest
nothing is built like it use to be

man, does your car have 666 in the VIN number or something? That's some bad luck, or a bad dealer on the repair side.

I've got my 68 Baja and a 1999 Passat.

So far the Passat has been perfectly reliable, it's a nice car to drive. It handles great, is comfy and gets awesome fuel economy. It's also a car that I can leave parked anywhere without worrying about it. It's easily replacable.

I guess my 68 Baja doesn't really fit this topic very well, as it has a modern V6 and digital climate control. I take the Baja when I want some power! It's fun to drive. It corners like crap though (in comparison to the Passat).

I do have experience with the old VW technology in my Baja vs the new technology. I wouldn't call the old VW parts reliable. I had fuel pumps die, ignition coils, generators, alternator regulators and lots of other bits die on the old VW engine. I haven't had anything die on my V6 in the 4 years I've been driving it. The only problem I had was with a cheap 2L kombi clutch plate, but that wasn't the V6!