Looking at buying one, but have been reading they cost a fortune to maintain. I know the parts cost more but one with lowish km's shouldn't need constant repairs. Anyone owned one!
mugenb20b,
Dec 25, 9:53pm
Never owned one, worked on a few, parts are cheap, nice to drive but are known to give problems, like electrical issues and auto transmissions.
intrade,
Dec 25, 9:54pm
just buy a manual.
supernova2,
Dec 25, 10:11pm
Like anything not mainstream (Toyota, nissan, holden, ford etc) you will find nay sayers who say "dson't go near it".If you like the car buy it but just be aware that not everyr corner garage is going to want to fix it if it breaks.likewise bits and pieces are not in every wreckers.
00quattro00,
Dec 25, 11:17pm
They are mechanicaly the same as the a4. The audi is a much nicer car
sw20,
Dec 25, 11:41pm
Drove an A4 1.8T. Couldn't actually believe it was turbo with how slow it was.
00quattro00,
Dec 25, 11:48pm
Have you seen the size of the turbo! They are only 150hp std, there is 182hp versions but its only software that is different
MTM did a stg3, had a bigger turbo, air box, exh and tuning, made 286hp
kazbanz,
Dec 25, 11:56pm
Mon tis a pity you aint up here.I have a99 manual a3 1.8 turbo here and it goes pretty darn well.
mark.52,
Dec 26, 12:27am
Driving a Polo 1.8 turbo. Can't believe how quick it is.
The engine is reputed to be bulletproof; they can stand a much higher state of tune than standard. Standard mine is 192nm and 143Kw. Quite adequate for the small body. One chip "up" and they're good for around 180Kw and 215nm. I have read that VW will still honour the new car warranty with this chipset, too. (Rather tempted.)
ryanm2,
Dec 26, 12:58am
owned 2 Passat 1.8T wagons. One was excellent and the other not so good. They certainly have their electrical issues but if you have half a brain and can type your complaint to Google then you should be able to solve it cheaply. My first Passat ( red 20V model , top spec) just had the indicator regulator fail, bought one off here for $20 and its a simple replacement. The other one I had had central locking, air con and transmission issues. That was the plain old 1.8T model.
Wised I had kept the first Passat but I will buy another one day. Probably the facelift v5.
mitsiboy69,
Dec 26, 6:56am
Yeah, but ideally I want an auto and the passat's seem to be cheaper.
00quattro00,
Dec 26, 7:09am
There is allways the 2.4 and 2.8 v6 as well in the audi and 2.8 is the only v6 for the passat
ryanm2,
Dec 26, 7:27am
Much nicer car! Why!
ryanm2,
Dec 26, 7:28am
buy the Passat - try and find the 20V model. Not to be confused with the 20V engine as they all have that.
mitsiboy69,
Dec 26, 7:36am
I'm only keen on sedans. What's the difference for the 20V model! Haven't seen that on any sedans.
00quattro00,
Dec 26, 8:28am
WTF are you on, "they all have the 20v engine", lol are you a retard!
The 20v is a 5cyl with 4 valves per cyl, and also early models were only 2 valve per cyl (chain driven so no cambelt, but if it needs replacing its an engine out job, might aswell have the more powerful v6 as there is nothing in it for fuel consumption)
the 1.8t is a 4cyl with 5 valves per cyl, (good allrounder, go well and are cheap to run)
2.0l 4cyl with 2 valves per cyl, (gutless, even more so than the 1.8 below because they are a very old design)
1.8 non turbo 4cyl with 5 valves, (gutless, cheap to run though)
1.9tdi 2 valve, (these go extremely well and are super cheap to run)
then there is the 2.8 v6 with 5 valves per cyl, (nice engine, very reliable and quite economical)
and 2.5tdi v6 4 valve. (avoid these as they have a habbit of eating their camshafts and will cost a fortune to replace)
Then there is also the w8 engine, 8cyl 4 valve ( They are realy well specced but when the camchain tensioners fail and it will its engine out, huge pain in the ass, and they are not that powerful, for the price you could have a nice audi a6 4.2 v8)
So in my opinion having owned and worked on them I would reccomend the 1.8t or 2.8 v6, pref manual but if you get an auto have the trans serviced by someone that knows how to do it properly and use the correct fluid
mitsiboy69,
Dec 26, 8:53am
Thanks for all the info, if I were to buy an audi or vw variant of the b5 1.8t with 100-150,000 k's should I expect high maintenance!
00quattro00,
Dec 26, 9:00am
I would be expecting to be replacing some suspension bushes, try and find one thats had the cambelt done, will save you a bit, and make sure everything works, and that it has been serviced, there is alot of them out there so getting parts is easy and finding a decent one wont be hard
00quattro00,
Dec 26, 9:37am
Also you will find on the passats, usualy on the v6 only here a syncro or 4motion badge, this is what vw calls quattro
mitsiboy69,
Dec 26, 9:44am
Yea I noticed all of the 1.8t's are not 4wd. Only thing I don't like about the passat's are the bigger size and weight.
00quattro00,
Dec 26, 9:51am
Yep, im pretty sure they did not make the passat 4wd with anything other than the v6 and w8.
I think the a4 is a nicer car, although you will not find an auto 1.8t quattro, but you can get a 2.4 v6, nice little engine, uses only slightly more gas than the 1.8t
mitsiboy69,
Dec 26, 9:54am
Yea I wouldn't mind a manual quattro. They are priced a bit too high for me at the moment though.
00quattro00,
Dec 26, 10:18am
How much are you spending! 1.8t quattros can be had for $3.5k
ryanm2,
Dec 26, 6:59pm
The dude stated he wanted a passat 1.8T. which has 20 valves, 5 per cylinder. You then list every engine from the last 20 years for some strange reason. Car dealers even get confused with VW strange model numbers as ive stated, 1.8T , silver 20V and red 20v. Then there was the EX which were NZ new.
ryanm2,
Dec 26, 7:01pm
You can get the 1.8T with 4motion - not many about though. Ive actually never seen a sedan for sale on here with 4motion and the 1.8T, few wagons over the past.
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