VW Passat Diesel

C

car buyer

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Hi,
I'm looking for a second opinion.......
I'm considering buying a used VW Passat Diesel 1.9 '01 or '02 but I'm not very mechanically minded. Is the Passat a good buy? Is it true that the front wheels, ie. bearings, drives etc. etc. give a lot of trouble and have to be replaced regularly ?
What's the difference between a Comfortline model and a '' Red i '' model ? What's the average m.p.g.?
Any positive and negative comments from experienced Passat drivers / mechanics etc. would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I will be buying privately.

Thanks folks.
 
I drive a '98 Passat and I would highly reccomend them. In '98 there were three 1.9 TDI engines, 90bhp, 110bhp (signified by a red-i in the TDI) and 130bhp (signified by a red D and a red I in the TDI) - the latest engines have slightly different power specs. I drive a 110bhp. It does 5 litres/100km consistently (I drive to and from Dublin city centre most days). Base/Comfortline/Trendline are the spec levels - trendline will probably have A/C, CD player rear electic windows, mahogany dash which the base model won't. One negative is that there can be some wind noise when travelling at motorway speeds. Check out the VW website for more details on engines/spec levels.
 
A read of might be useful.

Alan's reference to [broken link removed] in thread might be useful also.

thread has some good links too.
 
Passat

Depends what you need

Maybe you are not to pushed

I looked at one years ago and BACK THEN I decided

- boot did not open enough ( I ended up with a Hatch style car )

- Rear seats were not split & ( IIRC ) didnt fold down

- No ABS ( could this have been true ? )

- No sunroof ( or A/C - I wanted S/R )

- Poverty spec interior ( no E/W & poor radio IIRC )

- Turning circle not great ( I do a lot of town driving )

I dare say a lot has changed since the mid '90s so just my 2p worth

( I ended up importing a diesel from the north - I use it to this day )

eDog
 
Re: Passat

A Skoda Octavia Diesel contains the VW Passat engine along with many other Passat components. Very high quality at around 75% the cost of a Passat. The Octavia rated 3rd overall in owner satisfaction in Top Gear's recent poll, only beaten by a Jag and the Toyota Yaris.

I don't drive one by the way,

Mike
 
Re Passat

I purchased an Octavia in 1999 after lengthly comparision with the VW. I bought new at the time and the Skoda was about £4.500 cheaper than Passat. You could do a lot with 4.5K. I kept the car for four years (trouble free)and on selling it on had no problem selling it and it retained its value. MPG returns were 55-60 mpg depending how you drove. I now have a Superb 2.5 TDI V6 and its an absolute pleasure to drive.
Regards,
Horse.
 
Octavia

Write up on 2nd hand Octavia in motoring supplement of Irish Times today.
 
Passat

Somwhat related to a Passat...

I have a 01 Golf 115 BHP, red DI and Highline spec, 43K miles and apart from the handling, I'd recommend them. The diesel engine is great to drive and I'd get over 50MPG in mixed driving. Build quality is also very good.

I do think that there is something funny with the bearings but both a main dealer and another garage said that there was no problem.

Handling is not so good but I've driven Passats and they are much better.
 
I have a passat diesel 90 bhp comfortline. I am getting 600 miles for 45 euros, give or take.
I find it an excellent car and very comfortable for long journeys. It’s also very responsive, for a diesel compared to some petrol cars I drove. I would love to try a red ‘i’ to see if there is much difference.

A small thing is the cassette player but that’s minor in the scale of things.
 
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