Other powertrain problem on the 1999 Volkswagen Passat
Only 3 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When other powertrain problem gets reported
There are 11 reports of other powertrain problem on the 1999 Volkswagen Passat, 3 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 19th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 39,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $400–$4,500 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 17 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2017, at a median of 2,000 miles, and latest on the 2005 at 75,000 miles.
By volume the 2006 carries the most reports, with 32; the 1999 has 11. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
I was heading home and barely on the turnpike, when I heard a big bang and I could not shift gears anymore. I had some trouble to get my car through the traffic from the high-speed left lane to a safe spot and called the towing service. I was about 140 miles away from home and the cost, after the roadside insurance paid its part, was $400. As it turns out, the pressure plate of the clutch broke into 3 pieces. I was very lucky, and so were the drivers around me, that the problem happened at low speed since the broken pieces could have easily turned into missiles, not to mention the inability to control the car in heavy traffic. Although the car is out of warranty, since the mileage is still very low, I believe that the defect is so unusual and the potential effects of such a failure are so dangerous that manufacturer does bear a continued responsibility. On 2/18/03 I informed the manufacturer that I expected them to confirm reimbursing me fully for the $400 towing cost and to bear at least half of the cost of $912 for replacing the clutch, $456. I also offered to send copies of the receipts. The broken parts can also be inspected…
At just under 60k miles the clutch on my 1999 volkswagon gls v6 passat blew. There was no sign of the impending difficulty. This car was towed to the volkswagon dealer where purchased. On the high end the cost of the repair has been estimated at $2,200.00 as the blown clutch may have also caused damage to the flywheel wich is a $750.00 plus part. The volkswagon dealer will offer a 20% discount on the repair as this vehicle was just purchased in 2/03 with less than 52k miles. Volkswagon of america will offer no assistance whatsoever as the clutch is deemed a wear-and- tear item.
While turning a corner, the front drivers side wheel separated from the vehicle. Also while driving 20 MPH the vehicle stalled without warning. The dealer claims that a bolt sheared off into the transmission. The dealer refused to repair any of the problems associated with this vehicle. *nm
Also reported on the 1999 Volkswagen Passat
ABS module or sensor failure
Control arm, ball joint or bushing failure
Steering rack, gear or tie rod failure
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Other engine problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 11 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 11 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does other powertrain problem happen on the 1999 Volkswagen Passat?
Across 3 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 40,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 1999 Volkswagen Passat?
11 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.4 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed