Car advice thread? Currently looking at this 2003 Volkswagen Passat wagon. Any comments?

Car advice thread? Currently looking at this 2003 Volkswagen Passat wagon. Any comments?

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sarasota.craigslist.org/search/cto
tampa.craigslist.org/hil/cto/6054206006.html
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It's an Audi underneath, so be prepared for Audi-level maintenance. Front suspension is quite complicated and uses a lot of balljoints which have to be replaced every ~100k miles, and the only way to do that is to replace all 6 control arms.
1.8T has oil sludging issues but massive aftermarket support and is really easy to get power out of, 2.8 V6 is a very solid engine but a bit boring.
AWD system is literally borrowed from Audi as well.
Make sure the timing belt has been changed recently, no matter which engine you get.

What are you going to use the car for?

Thanks. It appears to be well maintained. If I do these things and keep with regular maintenence it won't fuck itself on me and turn into a money pit right?

Daily driving, hauling people and various things around and occasional /out/ings. Hence the wagon

Depends on the mileage. My exs father bought her a well maintained one at 220k and it conked out after 3 months.

Yeah, plenty of people in Europe run these for hundreds of thousands of miles.
Be careful of electronics glitching out though, and again, it's not a Civic or Corolla. It needs more maintenance than your average shitbox and parts will cost more when they break.

It's got 120k

Make sure the front suspension's been done, then.

>vw
Get a Subaru wagon and be done with it. Parts and maintenance are much, much cheaper and they're not a pain in the dick to do literally anything to like a German car. Spark plugs are not hard on a DOHC if you remove the battery, airbox, and washer fluid tank, which is like 6 or 7 bolts. SOHC has the plugs on top of the engine near the intake runners so those are ez pz.

As long as matinence has been regular and well done you shouldn't be in a big money pit. That's my opinion anyways.

Are subarus more reliable? There's an outback in my area with 140k miles for around the same price

WAY MORE RELIABLE

The thing is the Subaru guy wants $200 more which makes it out of my price range. I'd have to talk him down $700 if I got it.

>wagon

I've been looking at Scion Xb's anybody got any pros and cons and is it reliable?

Auto or manual? 1.8t or vr6?

It's boring as shit. Terrible interior. Pigfat compared to the first gen.

My mom had an 02 wagon for 3 years that she bought in like 2009
Looked well maintained and up to date and drove nice but it was a big money pit and she basically sold it for nothing since there was so much wrong with it.
They're a bitch to work on, too.
If you want a decent size wagon just go for an older Subaru or even a Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe

Good car for a commuter. It's a Toyota so it gonna be pretty reliable. Not very exciting and you'll look like you're trying to be hip.

It's a 1.8t
Everyone's saying they're money pits but auto review sites give it a high rating

Alright well do I get this or a Durango? I'm looking at an 02 this weekend with 110k miles. Better than the Passat?

youll end up spending a lot more than 200$ in matinence just in the year following your purchase

It's a great car. It does cost a bit to keep running. You want to buy the nicest manual example you can find that has had a good owner. One with good suspension and tires rides better than a lot of modern cars.

Durango is shit

Why is Durango shit?

the engines are bulletproof, but the durangos had issues with suspension and transmission going

vw can be reliable if the person before you took care of it, performed necessary maintenance when needed and treated it right. pretty much all cars are like that, of course even your basic honda isnt going to be reliable if some dude who changes the oil every 10k miles and never performs maintenance owned it before you. of course european cars are more expensive to maintain but you get what you put into it. still, if youre strapped for cash, go for the subie, itll be cheaper to maintain

Inefficient, shit interior, unreliable transmissions/head gaskets depending on the engine

Someone pls just go on my local Craigslist and help me find a car that isn't shit

>subaru
>reliable

enjoy doing headgaskets every 40k miles

I have $2600

Post your local Craigslist

sarasota.craigslist.org/search/cto

tampa.craigslist.org/hil/cto/6054206006.html