Q: Car won't start - 2003 Volkswagen Passat

Hey there. Unless you’ve been experiencing other symptoms, it’s probably not the fuel pump. But that’s easy enough to determine by performing a fuel pressure test. A car that struggles to idle and then dies might have trouble with a vacuum leak or an air leak in the intake system. You probably can’t see much under the hood without removing the plastic covers, but if you did you could look around and see if there are any broken vacuum hoses visible. You haven’t mentioned a Check Engine Light, but it seems to me that there should be some kind of code in the system if the car has shut off repeatedly. If you contact YourMechanic, they will send a technician to your home to diagnose the no-start and move forward with repairs.