chimaera

Using the vehicle jack to get a car onto stands is not ideal. Without a central jacking point on the car, it needs to be lifted one side at a time and the car can shift sideways quite a bit during this process, more so as the height is increased. There is a very real risk of this sideways movement unsettling the jack and dropping the car off it, particularly getting it onto the second axle stand. I have a McAnax 3 tonne trolley jack with about 50 cm max lift, and more often than not if I'm jacking to higher positions, I'll have to go back to the first side and lift it a little again to get the axle stand solid on all three legs. The distance the jack moves during jacking is certainly enough to make the vehicle jack unstable if I were using that rather than the trolley jack.

Only on some facelift models.

Not legal: 92 is the minimum type approved load index for the Superb 2.

And the tyres must be able to cope with the max DGVW, which makes the OP's concerns about 2 tonnes valid.

Read this thread:

DGVW for the combi is 2.1 tonnes.

They're height adjustable - if they're set too high, you'll have trouble shutting the boot properly.

If it's not latching, check the bump stops at the edges of the boot lid. If they're tight, you'll have trouble closing the boot properly.

If your car has stop-start then it should be an AGM battery. Otherwise any good regular battery should suffice. I have a Bosch S5 in my car.

No, but that's not to say that clued in individuals at dealerships wouldn't have made that recommendation to customers. From a customer perspective, the dealer is Volkswagen - they're not going to know or care that there's a difference between a VW TPI and a knowledgeable dealer tech's own recommendation.

I get the impression that OP's Passat was older than 2010, and 5W-40 was more commonly used on cars of that era. There was certainly a school of thought back then that 5W-30 was not good enough to avoid serious cam/camshaft wear and that 5W-40 was a better option.

Then it should be the 7 speed dry clutch unit. It's easy to check anyway by keeping an eye on the gear position readout on the dash display. These 'boxes are not dry sump, they're dry clutch, which means the clutch packs are outside the gear case instead of inside like on the 6 speed wet clutch design. The wet clutch unit uses a different type of fluid & gets worked much harder by having to handle the chitals, hence the 60000 km change interval on those. There was a service campaign on some of the 7 speed dry clutch units but I don't know if it applies to your car. Others will probably be able to tell you more.

What engine does the car have?

Probably VAG enforcing their trademarks. Something similar happened in the US about 10 years ago.

In Ireland at least the Trust Building Measure is still active. The EGR valve on my car threw a fault code and put the car in limp mode two weeks outside the 2-year period at the start of this year. Skoda agreed to pay 90 % of the replacement cost with little or no argument. I've never noticed any driveability issues since having the update done. If anything, it's punchier at low revs than before the update. The DPF does regenerate more frequently but at the mileage I do, I'll be surprised if I have to replace it before I get rid of it. One thing I've found interesting is the accounts of owners whose cars were updated unknown to them and never noticed any difference

I think I read somewhere that dental floss is good for peeling badges off paintwork. Work it side-to-side under the badge sort of like a cheese wire.

Dealer is probably the most straightforward option.

I'd try jiggling the release lever up and down while trying to push in the button. If you want to hit something with a hammer, I'd go for hitting the bottom of the towball under where it inserts into the towbar. If it hasn't been removed in a long time, the locking mechanism in there could be a bit stuck and a nudge with a hammer might help it release.

The OE towbar is made by Prof Svar. You push in the knob and press on the handle to release it. The key stays in the towball once it's been removed.

You're not giving us much to go on. Did you make any changes to the car? Any other problems happen around the same time? What have you already tried to solve the problem?

Beware trying to check pin outputs at the socket if it is OE electrics. The connection to them is only activated if it detects that a trailer is connected. Have you checked the 5 fuses I listed above?

So, if it's OE, there will be a control module behind the boot trim on the passenger side. Check fuses 8, 9, 43, 44, 45. The control module can be scanned for faults if you have VCDS. Don't rule out the trailer as the cause either. Make sure all bulbs and wires are ok.

What electrical kit is fitted?

The main visible difference from 3984 to 5238 is nicer graphics for the parking sensor display. Not 100 % sure what else it does. @Rustynuts will know.