Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure on the 2004 Volkswagen Passat
When fuel tank, filler or evap failure gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Volkswagen Passat report fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure at a median of 95,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 55,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 160,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 103,675 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
7% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56,300 miles | 70,250 miles | 97,000 miles | 142,500 miles | 159,975 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 $250–$1,800 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 8 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2013, at a median of 15,000 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 135,000 miles.
By volume the 2002 carries the most reports, with 27; the 2004 has 16. 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.
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen passat. The contact noticed rust had formed in the filler neck of the fuel system. The dealer stated that this was not covered under warranty and was unable to determine the cause of failure. The current mileage is 40,000 and failure mileage was 24,000.
2004 vw passat 4-motion wagon with 1.8t engine. Top of fuel tank is leaking at the point where a breather hose connects (which is under the left rear seat). Replaced breather hose. Gas continues to leak out. The connection point itself is cracked and a new fuel tank is required. This must be a design flaw or defect. The car has little over 71,000 miles. Car is out of warranty. I am original owner. No unusual or hard impacts to the car (it has only scrapes from anonymous, unscrupulous bad drivers in parking lots). Vw of america refuses to cover the cost for replacement (conversation with customer care department representative "nina" on july 6, 2010). This is a very dangerous defect or flaw. Raw gas should not spill out of car -- particularly in this location, under a passenger's seat. Volkswagen should post a recall and replace this part with a safer tank. *tr
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 volkswagen passat. While driving 60 MPH he smelled fumes in the interior of the vehicle and the check engine light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to local mechanic who tested the vehicle leaks and found that the fuel tank ventilation valve was leaking due to a fracture. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that NHTSA recall #08v15600; fuel system, gasoline: delivery and vwoa recall no. 26e5/r5 were related to the failure; yet, his VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 57,000.
Also reported on the 2004 Volkswagen Passat
Other engine problem
Other body or interior problem
Control module (ECM/PCM/BCM) failure
Other powertrain problem
Other fuel system problem
Fuel pump failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 16 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 fuel tank, filler or evap failure happen on the 2004 Volkswagen Passat?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 95,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 145,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel tank, filler or evap failure on the 2004 Volkswagen Passat?
16 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.5 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