2003 VW Passat TDI wagon - thoughts???

Discussion in 'General Station Wagon Discussions' started by patrick80, Jul 13, 2015.

  1. patrick80

    patrick80 Wagonista!

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    A dealer friend of mine sells older used cars and trucks. I've known him since 1997, when I bought my '93 Dodge Cummins dually Club Cab from him. I've bought four trucks from him over the past 18 years. Straight-up guy. I've never had an issue with his cars or his word - a rarity in the used car world!

    He has a very nice '02 Passat TDI for sale for $5K. It has 162K miles, and is a white car with automatic and black M-Tex interior. The timing belt has been replaced, along with the other normal parts with a belt replacement. Runs and drives nice. NADA book for this area is $5,400, so he is close to dealer retail. I can probably get into this for about $4,500. Everything on the car works.

    My question is - does anyone on the forum have experience with the '02 TDI, or the years around that? This is a car I would seriously consider selling the Country Squire for, it's that nice. It is a car that gets 42-45 mpg every day, and have been known to get close to 50 on the highway. I've owned Diesel pickups, but never a Diesel car. This car has some pull with me. I don't want to make it a purchase based on emotion - one never does! - but for whatever reason, this car pushes the right buttons with me. I've read great things about the '95 - '98 Jetta and Passat Diesel wagons, but little on the later cars.

    Anyone here have first-hand knowledge and experience with these? Weak areas? Trouble-prone issues? What's great (other than the room and driveability) about them???:) Pictured is a 2003 Passat wagon - not the very same car my friend has for sale.

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    Last edited: Jul 13, 2015
  2. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Luckily, if you buy this, the belt's been done. One of the few engines my first former shop boss refused to do, because the job requires very expensive tools that are only usable on the TDI engine. Having said that, with excellent care, and the use of full syn oil on this, there's no reason this car cannot be a decent vehicle for you. When I worked for that former boss, we had a customer who had a TDI Jetta, and he took absolutely scrupulously good care of it. In the time I worked on it, he logged over 130+K from new, and it never had any breakdowns. The only thing we didn't do to it was that timing belt, and he understood. What impressed me about the car was that the engine wasn't a rattly bunch of coffee cans, and was smooth and quiet as a comparable gas engine. It was always a pleasure to drive and work on it.
     
  3. patrick80

    patrick80 Wagonista!

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    These are very quiet cars, indeed; with the direct rail injection. You can barely hear them run! It's even quieter than my old '71 IH Perkins truck, or my old '06 Dodge 2500 Cummins...and those were pretty quiet! My '93 and '97 Dodge Cummins trucks, OTOH, were noisy as hell! But I liked that!
     
  4. cammerjeff

    cammerjeff Longroofs Rule!

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    First off I will say they are very nice cars, the one I drove (company car) for a year was Quick fun to drive with the manual trans, and got over 50MPG cruising on the highway.

    The reason I personally would not buy one was the cost of timing belts. I believe the late 90's thru about 2005 have interference engines, and the timing belt should be replaced every 75,000 miles. Our company about had a stroke when the dealer wanted almost $3000 to replace the Timing belt. They ended up buying a "kit" from the dealer for $700 and had me install the kit on company time. Well you almost have to remove the front clip to change the timing belt, and why you are there you should also replace the water pump, Serpentine belt, its tensioner, idler pullies and mounting hardware, camshaft seal, and a few other small items while you have the front of the car off.

    It took me almost 2 full work days to complete the job, I did it by myself, and could probably do it in 1/2 the time now. But I couldn't see any actual cost savings to owning the car figuring in the amount spent on just the timing belt replacement. After doing the job I found the Kits available on line for about 1/2 of what the dealer charged. But still considering I put over 50,000 miles a year on that car I would be doing that job every 18 months or so. No thanks.

    So before doing the trade I would suggest researching the Maintenance costs. I did really enjoy driving the car though.
     
  5. patrick80

    patrick80 Wagonista!

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    All of that has been done on the car, so it should be good for another 80K miles or more. He has the receipts on the parts, and his mechanic has about 20 or so years with Diesel engines in general. He's done work on the Diesel trucks I've owned, so I'm confident that the car is as presented. This car will see between 10K - 12K miles a year, tops. I've owned the '86 Ford for about 20 months and have put 12K on it in that time. So, it'll have a good, long while before any of that work needs repeating.

    I've been over on the tdiclub.com forum, learning more about the '03-earlier cars. Very interesting and enlightening!

    Anyone up for the Ford???
     
  6. Jim 68cuda

    Jim 68cuda Well-Known Member

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    As the owner of a 2002 Passatt wagon, I think I feel comfortable in telling you to "RUN AWAY!!" I hate my Passatt. When it breaks down it is ALWAYS expensive to fix. When it has issues, its usually electrical. Even if its not electrical such as the heater blower motor, its expensive as it requires removal of the front clip to replace (did the timing belt at the same time while it was apart). If its got a factory sunroof, it will get wet inside as the factory drain tubes are so small in diameter that pollen clogs them. When the drain tube clogs, water gets on the floor on the passenger side. When water gets on the floor on the passenger side it gets the transmission module wet, cause they put that under the passenger seat. When that gets wet, its easilly accessible but its an expensive part (figure about $1500 to $2000 for that repair. AC was another expensive fix because the temperature sensor failed and told the ac to shut off because it figured the cabin temp was already -75. Removing the sensor so the ac would work required removing the dash. I am just hoping the Pissant as my mom called it, lasts until I get my Belvedere wagon home from Massachusetts to replace it. I know it will break down again soon, and I know it will be expensive when it does. I just don't know what or when this ticking time bomb will go off. Other than that, the car is a pleasure to drive, and is comfortable. I think the 318 2 bbl 1967 Plymouth wagon will get about the same or better gas mileage. If you are wondering, the 02 Passatt has about 90,000 miles on it and has been severe on the wallet for the last 40,000 miles.
     

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  7. ModelT1

    ModelT1 Still Lost in the 50's

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    I think!

    I know nothing about these cars. But from the first comments I was sold on them. As always there are negative comments on anything. Being a modern vehicle with computers for brains they all scare me.
    For the price this may be worth the gamble but anything used with over 100,000 miles also scares me. Someone traded it in for a reason!
    I loved my Dodge hemi but got scared and traded it after spending $2000 and still not knowing what a TPS or maybe something else would cost. It too may last the next owner 100,000+ but I don't need the extra worry.

    I'd say if you really like this wagon go for it but keep some money in the bank and a towing company on call. But I think I'd pass...it.
     
  8. Jim 68cuda

    Jim 68cuda Well-Known Member

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    Just spend the money to buy the best warranty you can find. Many of the expensive fixes early on were covered by an extended warranty I bought. I should have paid to renew it but didn't.
     
  9. ModelT1

    ModelT1 Still Lost in the 50's

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    Yep, hated to do it after I got the lowest price I could on my next car. But after seeing, driving, and talking about it I spent the extra on the extended warranty covering everything beyond the power train.
    Sad that we now drive computers. I see no real advantage.
    An extended warranty on a used car makes sense.

    I miss my aircooled VW with a reserve fuel lever! ;)
     
  10. patrick80

    patrick80 Wagonista!

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    Jim, is your car a gas or Diesel model???
     
  11. ModelT1

    ModelT1 Still Lost in the 50's

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    Patrick I like how they look. Prices on later models seem higher than I wanted to spend.
     
  12. patrick80

    patrick80 Wagonista!

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    No biggie, it got sold this afternoon. Not to me, however. Oh, well.
     
  13. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Well, now you know.
     
  14. ModelT1

    ModelT1 Still Lost in the 50's

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    I learned the hard way about cars and parts. If you want it and the price is fair don't hesitate.;)
     
  15. goatless

    goatless Pontiac Man

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    I've owned 3 Passat wagons, '99, '03 and an '08. None had any major problems, but they were all gas 2.0T and manual trans. If I could get a new Passat wagon we'd have one, but VW won't sell one in the US. So we've got a 2015 Subaru Outback- not near as fun to drive as the Passats.
     

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