late 90s Passat

[KenC]

Any one have any experience with a 98 or 99 VW Passat?

[KenC]

I wish I was still a mod so I could delete posts...

[cramer]

Sounds like you're looking at the B5 chassis, what info are you looking for?

btw: http://www.clubb5.com/ (links you to passatworld forums too)

[KenC]

Sounds like you're looking at the B5 chassis, what info are you looking for?

btw: http://www.clubb5.com/ (links you to passatworld forums too)

Reliability info mostly. I'm researching them for a potential purchase, and I don't want to be nickle and dimed to death.

[Charlie]

Diesel Jetta converted to Bio.

C'mon you hippie, get with the program.

-Charlie

[Mike325]

www.carsurvey.org

[parkerbink]

I loved my 2002 & 2005 (same basic car)

[hugh jass]

Reliability info mostly. I'm researching them for a potential purchase, and I don't want to be nickle and dimed to death.

if you're worried about reliability, then don't get a vw. seriously. both my wife and sister in law had 99 vws (one a beetle, the other a jetta). they are the most unreliable pos cars i've ever come across. electrical problems, excessive oil consumption, rattles, fit and finish, shitty automatic trannys, alternators burning up and leaving them stranded. ugh. after those 2 ownership experiences, i will never own or recommend another vw. i would stay far away from a used passat.

[325iCabrio]

^ I have a friend with a 2003 Passat, and she's had nothing but electrical problems with it, similar to some in Hugh Jass's post. I'd stay away from them.

[cramer]

well in contrast I know several friends who have owned or currently own B5 (B5.5 as well) Passats, none with any issues, that's 5 good experiences at least ;)

The V6 is basically the audi motor (really the B5 is more audi then VW anyways) reliable, but nothing special power wise. It is not the VW VR6 like in the previous generations of Passats.

the 20v 1.8T is the motor of choice for most. Easy to get power out of, reliable minus a few issues. Coilpacks like to go out, carry a couple with you just in case (about $12 each IIRC). Some 1.8ts have reported sludge issues, this is an easy fix: change your oil when you should!

and the TDIs, this is probably the most reliable and tough motor VW makes, decent power, you can chip it for a ton of torque and it gets awesome mileage. However, these are going to be in high demand so prices will be up there.

[vivalegreg]

i saw one of those passats today and the garage where my ix was being worked on...owner complaind of it making "noises and clunking sounds"...turned out it pretty much did have motor mounts! my mechanic buddy was like yo check this out, he shifted it in gear and the entire motor rocked back...i was like omfg...then he was like watch this...and reved it and the fucker (motor) straight slammed backwards into the firewall!

dayum...lady thought she just needed new brakes lol


ps dont buy a vdub...if u want a german car then get a bimmer....i had a 97 jetta vr6 nothin but broken window regulators, coil packs, and crappy running issues, it only had 50,000 miles on it too

[Alecs MacDonald]

I'm going to go ahead and throw my 2cents in on this. My mom bought her 99' 1.8t passat in 2000 with roughly 25k miles. In 2005 it developed the oil sludge problem with the largest oil change interval being only 3600 miles.

VW agreed to fix it assuming we could produce all of our oil change receipts. Being the good owners that we are, we had saved them all. Granted, it was running on cheap castrol but I though the point of volkswagens was to be just that, cheap. It now runs on mobil1 5w-40 with a maximum interval of 3k miles.

Other then that, there has been numerous electrical issues and a lot of bad build quality issues. For example, it is common for the protective molding on the rear doors to slowly shift forward untill it becomes caught on the front doors and falls off when the doors are opened. We are on #3 with those. IMO, unless you are one of those vdub nuts who have a thing for economy cars that pretend to be luxury class, skip it.

[KenC]

I'm looking at the 98 or 99 1.8T for sure. TDIs are too expensive, and the V6 isn't worth the extra $ for the power.

I guess I got the reviews I expected. Some hate em, some love em. (I would expect the same sort of replies for any car I guess... not excluding e30s).

[KenC]

economy cars that pretend to be luxury

haha, i was kinda thinking that.

[325iCabrio]

I'm looking at the 98 or 99 1.8T for sure. TDIs are too expensive, and the V6 isn't worth the extra $ for the power.

I guess I got the reviews I expected. Some hate em, some love em. (I would expect the same sort of replies for any car I guess... not excluding e30s).

It sounds like you're set on the Passat. I don't really believe you'd get the same sort of replies with any car, and the newest E30 is thirteen years old, so it's expected to have problems.

Check out this manufacture rating at JD Power; VW's at the bottom in quality: http://www.jdpower.com/autos/brand-ratings/

VWs are nice driving cars, and my friend loves her Passat even though it's had a ton of problems. I wouldn't want the headache, but if you don't mind more problems than the norm, they are pretty cars and they're nice to drive.