Volkswagen Passat good or bad!

i am looking to buy a vw passat 1996-2004 what should i know

wait for it.

I hope he likes to read a lot.

Get a jappa. Jappa good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch!v=nb8t3Lt8iJw&feature=related

Message board = Motoring
Keyword or member = Passat
Date posted = Last year

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LOL
Dare I post or not!

Bobin, in general a great car at a pretty good price.
What else you need to know probably depends a lot on your budget and whether you are after power/economy or a nice mix of the two. So fill us on on that if you can.

If you also tell us what you are going to use it for i.e towing a caravan, dropping kids to school, big road trips, driving in snow etc we can probably give you some more tailored advice.

They were good cars, some people call them unreliable but i really can't see why.
Also the old "european cars cost a fortune to service" line is just a myth, it depends where you go, I used to just take mine to the local mechanic like any other car and they were fine with it. Take it to some fancy european car yard and yes you will pay dearly.
The only things i have seen go wrong with them are the odd suspension repairs and adjustments when they get a bit older and the factory immobilizers like to play up sometimes, also whatever you do DONT lose the key, try get one with two they cost alot to replace.

Someone??

*Tag*
Any other wives tales you would like to share with the group!

FWIW a mate has had a late 90s Passat 1.8 turbo for several years. It has done at least 200k and still drives nicely and feels tight. He has spent alot to keep it going though. It had a blown turbo, possibly due to lack of oil changes or the wrong oil by a previous owner overseas, suspension bushes and suchlike replaced a few times, climate control module and airbag modules repaired / replaced due to faults (big $$$). Engine and gearbox (apart from the turbo) have been great.
He has now bought a later model NZ new (2007) I think and its lovely. That had the aircon compressor die at about 80,000kms but VW NZ came to the party for most of the repair cost (2.5k) even though the car is out of warranty.

from experance they are pretty good and reliable they have problems but what car doesn't. it depends what engine your looking at and if its 4 motion or not as what goes wrong but the main things i see are waterpump impellers falling off and the motor over heating at about 120000ks due to lack of cambelt changes or people not replacing them when the cambelt is done but do note that i have never done a head or anything like that due to this problem. they have ect sensor problems that develop randomly but its a cheap easy fix, they v6 motors develop oil leaks from the vvt soilinoid and top cover gaskets.

Have you actually driven a passat!
Last thing i would call them is boring, they are alot of fun to drive.
Smooth ride, awesome handling.
Especially the W8 they were mean machines.
Anything out of japan doesn't even come close.

I reckon a Lexus IS-F or a TT Legacy would come pretty close!

But yeah, this thread has enough trash talk in it already.

Agree on the lexus though, they are rather nice.

First i would like to say thankyou all for your feedback , i am looking at a 1999 -v6 - 2.8 with 122 ks

Those are a lovely engine. The key thing to know about with that setup is that its belt driven. If you are handy with tools you can do the major service yourself which is probably due. (Just trying to remember the time frame on those. I think its something like 5 years or 120K whichever comes first but look it up to be sure.

They are nice and easy to do the big service on as the whole front undoes and slides to the side giving you supurb access to everything so while it takes a little extra time to undo the front it makes DIY really straight foward.

Parts are cheap and easy to source both in NZ and online. Qualitat in Auckland is a good 3rd party importer who can supply genuine parts for a good price. FCP Groton is a well respected supplier of parts online.

If you just want to pay someone to do the service shop around. Qualitat from memory will do the job properly and very competitivly. I seem to remember something like $1200 + GST from them but don't quote me.

When doing the big service you should do timing belt, tensioners, thermostat and waterpump. Don't skimp on any of those and if it has been serviced but they have not done the waterpump do the service again in case its running one of the old waterpumps that can disintegrate snapping the timing belt in the process.

The only slightly unusual thing to be wary of when checking it out is to make sure the air con is working. There is a valve that can fail on it and its very time consuming to get to and can cost a lot as a result to fix. Assuming its all good just make sure you run your air con regually to keep things in good going order, but you should do that with any car anyway.

They are a very solid and reliable car and a lot of quality car for the money. Obviously the V6 will use a bit of fuel but its actually pretty economical for an engine of its size, they really are a supurb engine.

You occasionally get one thats been neglected that has a few niggly issues to sort but again thats any car really.

Anything else you want to know just ask. Happy shopping, I think you are making a great choice!

BTW, if that dosn't work out consider an Audi A6 as well which is the same engine/transmission in a slightly higher spec slightly larger bodyshell. They go cheap too now and then so worth keeping on the bargain radar too.

While I think about it the 99 will be pre-facelift so don't pay too much for it. The facelift model does offer more than just different lights so make sure you are not paying facelift money for the older version.

I have been driving a passat 1.8t made 1998 since 2007. I would not buy a VW ever in my life.