No-start or intermittent start failure on the 2008 Volkswagen Passat
When no-start or intermittent start failure gets reported
Owners of the 2008 Volkswagen Passat report no-start or intermittent start failure at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 85,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles, from 14 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 65,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 130,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 66,000 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.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 65,000 miles | 85,159 miles | 92,000 miles | 128,250 miles | 131,000 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 $200–$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 14 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 15,000 miles, and latest on the 1999 at 155,000 miles.
By volume the 2006 carries the most reports, with 58; the 2008 has 22. 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.
The car was parked and would not start even after a check of the battery. The car had no power whatsoever and could not be placed into neutral to tow. After 4 days in the shop, it was determined that the entire anti-theft system had burned out and fried the ignition as well. How this happened is a complete mystery as there had never been even the slightest indication that something was wrong before this incident.the entire steering column had to be pulled out of the vehicle and the module had to be replaced. I have seen many, many reports of this same issue with this car on the internet as I did some research after this happened. The price to repair the car was $895.00,,,which seems ridiculous to me given that the car only has 45k miles. I tried to get some help from vw customer care given that this seems like a design flaw...it really is upsetting to have to pay so much for a car so lightly used...and could it just happen again? Vw was completely unwilling to work with me in any way. *js
The car was parked and would not start even after a check of the battery. The car had no power whatsoever and could not be placed into neutral to tow-the electronic emergency brake was also locked.the vehicle sat two nights in a shopping center parking lot before a towing company could figure something out. The tow was $106.00 to the vw dealership.the dealer wanted $107 labor charge for each problem. I already looking at a $214.00 bill for the starting issue and brake.I told the technician if the car starts the brake should release according the operators manual-its electronic.how this happened is a complete mystery as there had never been even the slightest indication.I have seen many, many reports of this same issue with this car on the internet as I did some research after this happened. I received a call from the dealership- the steering wheel module was $565 since the dealership had to move the car and try and get it started , ,,which seems ridiculous to me given that the car only has 90,000 miles. I tried to get some help from vw customer care given that this seems like a design flaw...it really is upsetting to have to pay…
The car was parked and would not start even after a check of the battery. The car had no power whatsoever and could not be placed into neutral to tow-the electronic emergency brake was also locked.the vehicle sat two nights in a shopping center parking lot before a towing company could figure something out. The tow was $106.00 to the vw dealership.the dealer wanted $107 labor charge for each problem. I already looking at a $214.00 bill for the starting issue and brake.I told the technician if the car starts the brake should release according the operators manual-its electronic.how this happened is a complete mystery as there had never been even the slightest indication.I have seen many, many reports of this same issue with this car on the internet as I did some research after this happened. I received a call from the dealership- the steering wheel module was $565 since the dealership had to move the car and try and get it started , ,,which seems ridiculous to me given that the car only has 90,000 miles. I tried to get some help from vw customer care given that this seems like a design flaw...it really is upsetting to have to pay…
Also reported on the 2008 Volkswagen Passat
Fuel pump failure
Airbag inflator rupture
Other fuel system problem
Other engine problem
Timing chain, belt or tensioner failure
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 22 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 no-start or intermittent start failure happen on the 2008 Volkswagen Passat?
Across 14 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 85,000 miles and a quarter after 130,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is no-start or intermittent start failure on the 2008 Volkswagen Passat?
22 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.1 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