Sup Veeky Forums,
I'm in the market for a confortable sedan, whatever powers it doesn't matter much to me. I'm currently looking at a 2003 Passat GLX 4motion with 116k miles on it and I was wondering what the common issues were. I'm also looking for 2009 model with the turbo and noticed they weren't very expensive and wondered why.
I'm also looking for alternative, and open for suggestion for a sedan, rwd fwd or awd that ride quietly and smoothly, with power being the least important factor.
have you considered buying a twingo?
Toyota Avalon
Lexus ES
Lexus LS
Lexus GS
etc
The B5 Passat is a complete maintenance whore, thanks to sharing most of its mechanical bits with the B5 Audi A4 and C5 Audi A6.
The B6 is a bit less wallet-rapey since it uses mostly Golf parts instead.
Honestly, just get a Lexus.
B5.5 Passat is only good with a manual trans and the vr6, 1.8t, or tdi. Just get a v6 camry
Used Buick lacrosses are cheap
B5 being the 2003 model?
I would but the lexus are much more expensive here, like at least double the price.
Are they any reliable?
>B5 being the 2003 model?
Yeah, the B5 ran from 1996 to 2005. The 2003 is one of the facelifted model years, commonly called the B5.5.
Right thanks. Following you advice, i'm looking at Lexus, the GS300 2006, do you have any opinion on it? Reliabilty and shit. It's 8k for under 100k miles which is in my range, given that it's not to much wallet hungry
I drove a 03 passat wagon with the 1.8 turbo engine for awhile.
It was actually pretty reliable for me. Very comfy as well even with the base model cloth seats.
Just bought an 04 1.8t 5 speed. Fucking niceass car. Pray you don't have to wrench on it.
Well I don't want a car that may breakdown on me anytime, I live too far away to use anything but a car and I need it everyday
new vag is shit
passats like pic rel are neigh unkillable, especially that those in the us are propably not clocked, so you essentially get a unkillable 4wd godmachine that doesnt rust and is cheap to repar, if it ever happens
trust me man, we in poland get those with 200k km imported from germany, which is theoretically 500k+ kms because all the dealers roll the odometers backwards so people buy it, yet still people do drive those to hell and back. Passats are truly man's best friend
new ones a shit tho
Those are quite nice, before they went batshit with the styling. Toyota reliability in a big comfy barge.
Well given those complete different opinion, is there some very common issue i should be aware of?
I will call the guy to see to test drive it. Wonder if he'll let me drive it if show up in my beat up vitara
dog bless
Passats don't like neglect. Germans take maintenance seriously.
Also there's probably something about US-market ones being built in Mexico whereas EU-market ones being built in Germany that contributes to reliability.
That seems cheap. Make sure it isn't a salvage title
1.8ts commonly leak oil. Vacuum lines are an issue. Sludge can be a problem. The front suspension is pretty complex and has more ball joints than a normal car. You want to buy the cleanest one you can find with maintenance records and the fewest numbers of owners.
>The front suspension is pretty complex and has more ball joints than a normal car.
It also wears out quicker than on most normal cars, though it handles quite nicely as a result.
Also the 2.8 V6 is probably the easiest one to maintain since there's no finnicky turbos or oil sludging to keep in mind.
Whichever engine you get though, MAKE SURE THE TIMING BELT HAS BEEN DONE. It requires the entire front of the car to come off so getting it done at a dealership or even a regular shop will result in a big bill because of the labor involved.
They seems to be commonly at that price where I live. They are some even lower