2012 & 2013 Passat Alignment Discussion

About 2 weeks ago I traded in my 11 JSW and bought a 2013 Passat 6MT. From the day I drove it off the lot I noticed a slight pull to the right and called back the next day and made a appointment to get a warranty alignment.

Today they did the alignment and when they put it on the rack the only two things that were out of spec were the right front caster and the right rear toe.

The front right caster is 7.24 with a acceptable range of 7.25 to 8.25
The rear toe was -0.03 with a acceptable range of 0.10 to 0.00

After the alignment everything was centered pretty much center of spec with the exception of the caster. With the left being perfect at 7.40 deg but the right still at 7.24 deg.

When I asked about the caster they said its non adjustable but doesn't cause wear which I understand. My concern why is a brand new car with less than 1,000 miles have its caster out of alignment?

I saw NateM's post http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.php?p=3902297&postcount=12 about his Passat and also noticed his right caster was off in the same direction as mine.

So could this be a VW manufacturing issue ?

Is this something to worry about or should I just drive more and worry less ?

Could be a manu. issue. But not sure how or why it could happen, could be getting bad or less than avg. suspension parts from their vendors. It would bother me so much, but Im just that picky and anal. Does it still pull to the right after the alignment? if not, then I would just stay on top of getting the alignments done regularly to combat that issue.

with my 2013 sel prem I have to constantly steer left to keep it straight, its at the dealers now

Ex VW Sales manager says steering can't be fixed????

We went and looked at a Toyota Camry hybrid last night. After the test drive we got introduced to a manager and had to deal with the hard sale. After Jeff Vicente found out we had been looking at VWs he went on to explain that he recently worked for VW of Tulsa.

While Jeff said the TDI was an amazing engine, he went on and on and on and on and on (and on) about how the Passat veers the the right and that no one can figure out WTH is going on. To the point that engineers are unbolting the frame and there is a loud 'pop' yet they still can't fix it.

Now, I'm a car guy but uninformed. I just took Jeff's blah blah blah at face value BS that VW = Bad, Toyota = Good, as I haven't seen much of 2012+ Passat issues other than the HPFP....

What say you TDI Club forum? Jeff loading me up with the usual BS of a dealer trying to win a sale?

5624 miles on mine. Bought it new on 31aug and no issues.

Yes, some are reporting this problem and VW unable to resolve. IIRC, only a handful of complaints on the TDI forums. You may want to check Passat and Vortex forums as well, as I'd be surprised if its limited to TDIs.

Fowler in Norman gave me a much better deal on a Se with roof and nav, 29550 out the door, but service after the sale sucks beyond belief. 3 weeks and counting for a broken heater. Had to get the part from Argentina so they say. They can't tell me why they can't just get it in chatanooga where they are built. I loved my passat for the week I had it. The nav is way over rated. A $200 Garmin would be better. Hopefully I will get my car back next week.

11K miles on my car and there are no issues with steering. If you believe everything a salesman says, then you also believe everything a politician says....just saying.

4,000 miles so far, and no issues other than the memory seat....and their fixing that!!

Ours had a pull issue that was corrected by a tire rotation and alignment job.

-J

Mine had a pull to the right, alignment corrected issue. I have read about a few cars that pull to right could not be fixed, looking at alignment numbers folks are guessing that the cars were tightened down too tight for shipping and twisted the body. So far, only HPFP issues with the Passats have been with folks who have put gas in the tank rather than diesel.

I would think that, with 10s of thousands of 2012-2013 Passat having been sold, that this "alignment" problem is exceptionally rare, and agree with the post above from IXLR8, that it may in fact be a shipping issue.
Interesting to note that club member afarfalla heard a "pop" in his right front, IIRC, and then experienced a constant pulling to the right. I'm sure he'll weigh in if he reads this.

We've now got 2 alignment issues going. I hope the moderator can merge them, to make searching easier.
My theory is that there is a shipping issue, cranking down the frame too tight and deforming the frame. This is just NOT a widespread issue, with 10s of thousands of 2012-2013 Passats on the road.

When I initially purchased my TDI SE on March 2nd it also seems to pull to the right. I informed the dealer of the issue and they immediately addressed it (alignment). I later took the car back to the dealer and they installed the H&R spring I purchased and realigned it again. 22k miles later my PASSAT drives perfectly straight even with the cheap Hancooks.

I have 13,700 miles on mine... road warrior. 8 oz. Power Service per fillup. Great car as I expected.

Am I the only one here that thinks the thread title is over-the-top alarmist? It implies that Passats have "steering that can't be fixed", which is far from the truth.

OP: would you please ask the moderator to change the title? Thanks.

Well, this is an election year. So spinning is in season!
Our 2013 SE has no problems with steering, but does ride nicer once we put Michelin MXV4's on.

tdiatlast said:

Am I the only one here that thinks the thread title is over-the-top alarmist? It implies that Passats have "steering that can't be fixed", which is far from the truth.

OP: would you please ask the moderator to change the title? Thanks.

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Uhh.. tdiatlast, that's the point. The ex-VW worker was being alarmist to persuade us away from VW and buy his Toyota.

no issues here either

I have noticed a slight pull to the right. I dismissed it at first thinking it was just the slope of the highway road I was traveling, but found myself applying light "left rudder" constantly for the entire trip. I will be taking it in for alignment soon.

Remember, the guy who said this was a car salesman (sales manager), not a tech. There is no such thing as a problem that cannot be fixed. There are some problems that are too expensive to be worth fixing, but there are none that cannot be fixed. Most salesmen (or women) will say just about anything to get you to buy a car from them. Therefore, everything they say should be taken with a healthy grain of salt. Always consider the source for any information you get. Not everything you are told by a salesman, a politician, or on the internet is always 100% true.

Have Fun!

Don

I had a sales manager do that to me once. " I said that's interesting and I value your experience. You will sell me a car right now if you can come up with a paycheck stub from your previous employer" He told me to get out. People are full of ****, sales people more so.

I doubt the sales manager has an ASE certification nor the proper VW training to work on cars. Ask him why he left VW in the first place... perhaps that could tell you a thing or two about him...

FormerOwner said:

I doubt the sales manager has an ASE certification nor the proper VW training to work on cars. Ask him why he left VW in the first place... perhaps that could tell you a thing or two about him...

Click to expand...

Yeeeeah...he had diarrhea of the mouth and we just wanted to get out of there.

Mike 01Hawk said:

Uhh.. tdiatlast, that's the point. The ex-VW worker was being alarmist to persuade us away from VW and buy his Toyota.

Click to expand...

BUT, your thread title, and your post, don't make it very clear, even after re-reading your initial post, that this is a non-issue.

According to afarfalla, there are now exactly 5 owners here with alignment issues. Of those 5, how many are unresolved?

I would affer that this thread has no real value, for AFAIK, there is no wide-spread alignment issue...other than some sort of back-handed slam at the Toyota salesman.

Fixing to turn over 30k with zero issues. Drives as good (or better) than new with the exception of the noisy Hankooks which I am going to run till they die.


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Call me lucky... I have no steering issues with my 2013.

What about this guy? http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=365293

Our Passat, when new, had a slight pull to the left. The dealership aligned the car and all has been well since then, coming up to 13K miles now. Tracks perfectly true and steers just fine.

Maybe the Passat is a Republican by nature since it pulls to the RIGHT. <Lord, I'm sorry, I apologize...> My Larry the Cable Guy moment...!!!