VW Passat TDI... thougths...

BigClay

BigClay

Knower of useless ZJ things
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Location
Winston-Salem
Thinking about getting the wife a mid 2000's Passat TDI, I wanted to know what you guys thought about these cars, especially about the engine.
 
I used to own 02 jetta tdi, and help work on the passats. If the timing belt has been taken care of and regular maintence those engine are great engines. pretty easy to work on. there is a book called a bentley manual for these cars and it is about as good as having the factory service manual very good. The transmission is something to look at. if it is a manual then no worries. Some of the early automatics 99-02 are not the most reliable at least for the jettas. i can not remember about the passats. Tdiclub.com is a very good website to get connected with and there are many great guy in the area that can help out.
 
as mentioned above if all maintance and timing belt have been done than no worries. as far as then tranny the passat does not give that many issues aslong as no one has tried to flush it or mess with it in anyway. there a life time fill and require no maintance and ive seen them last over 400k miles.
 
Cool guys, thanks for the info.
 
My Dad has an 01 Jetta TDI 5spd with right at 300k on it. Just had a junkyard motor dropped in b/c it needed a turbo, head, exhaust manifold, timing belt, and a few other odds and ends. If he kept up with the maintenance, it probably wouldn't have needed the head or the manifold, but the junkyard motor was cheaper (and had 200k fewer miles) than the one in the car.

Mechanic said the car is good for another 200k, easy.
 
Anyone know of one for sale? They seem to be far and few inbetween.
 
If you are willing to travel a little bit you can find one. check the tdiclub for sale ads. Usually they are sold by member that have been taking care of them.
 
DO IT!!!!!!!!
I've got an 04 TDI Passat, and I love it. I get 40mpg pretty much everywhere. Its reasonably quick, nice, and has been pretty low maintenance in the 80k miles I've owned it (bought at 70k, now over 150k). You are welcome to come drive mine to see how you like em, but I'm a little ways away. I wish it were not FWD and auto, but thats the only option if you want a TDI passat. In the 4 years and 80k miles, I've changed both CV axles, 1 wheel bearing, and 4 sets of tires. There are a few quirky small issues, but if I had it all to do over again, wouldn't change a thing. I recommend getting the higher end model with sunroof, heated seats, leather, and steering wheel controls for the radio. If you don't, you'll wish you did. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions, or give me a call 704-678-4223.
 
Also, on the engine...
I haven't done anything except change the oil every 10k miles and the fuel filter every 20k miles. It cranks right up and runs like a champ, even when its 10degrees outside. It definitely likes warm weather better, and gets better mileage in the summer because of the heat.
 
Fairly good cars but good luck trying to find one that isn't run into the ground and the price through the roof.

I've been on/off looking for a diesel Jetta for a while now and despite older age and high mileage, the price of these vehicles haven't dropped.

Mainly search used car lots and such. The cars will be clean (I always wonder why people trying to sell a car won't ever clean it), any trim that is crap will be fixed and will have at least had a once over. Also they won't be asking $4k than what the car is said to be worth. To a car lot, its a car...that has to sell. To TDI owners, its a solid piece of gold in their driveway.

TDI club is a GREAT resource but don't bother looking in the "for sale" section. Usually overpriced and ones that aren't are on the other side of the US.

Timing belts and water pumps apparently are a concern with these engines. However if replaced at every 100k, its fine.

Look into filter replacements, I think I remember something about recommended filter replacements.

Look into "coolant creep". Basically, somehow coolant was blowing through a sensor and into the wiring harness on VWs. Yes, this sucks quite heavily.

X2 on the auto transmissions but while I hear about it on the internet, I know a number of high mileage jettas with autos that haven't had a problem, so...

Keep em out of the water. Friend of mine just flooded out her VW when her street flooded. Of course I think that applies to more than just VWs :lol:.

Wheel bearings do go out in these things. Once again, kinda 100k type stuff but just be aware.

They take special kind of VW coolant. Not a complaint, just a heads up.

Like I said, good luck with your search. I never could find one that was in acceptable condition and not overpriced significantly.
 
In all honesty I have given up the TDI Passat search. I have been doing a lot of reading on the TDIclub forum, and once these Passats (not necessarily the same for Jettas) get over 100k there is some pretty expensive maintenance that must take place or you risk catastrophic failure. Everyone knows about the timing belt and water pump problems, but these passats have a chain driven balance shaft module (BSM), which can also fail. To do the timing belt and BSM reapir I would be looking at over $3k, so that is a little more change than I want to put into a car that is already selling for a premium.

Matt, check out the TDIclub Passat section and you will see what to look out for.

Thanks everyone for the info... guess I am back to looking for a honda or camry :(
 
You can get with some of the local guys on TDIclub for one their gtg and the cost to do the job would be next to nothing just the cost of the parts, and I would pick a half dozen of those guys on that site over any dealership. Jettas, golfs, and beetle are much easier and cheaper than the passats.
 
I was also looking for a tdi but found a Honda instead I got a 98 civic ex 5 speed. About 1/3 the price of purchasing. Super easy to work on, parts are cheap and I get 38-40 mpg.
 
BigClay said:
Matt, check out the TDIclub Passat section and you will see what to look out for.
Click to expand...
Been on there many times. A lot of good info, and a lot of internet cool guy speculation about how everything is going to blow up because you didn't use the right style of torque wrench or other BS. I've driven the piss out of my car for 80k miles now and had no major problems.

I babied my car for a few weeks, got over 50mpg average on the tank (902 miles, 17.9 gallons). On a 20 mile trip, I managed to get 67mpg average, and averaged almost 50mph too! There is something wonderfully unquantifiable about the Passat when compared to the Civic. But to each his own...
 
oh dont get me wrong matt i wanted a tdi just couldnt see paying 8k for a car with over 200k on it. 67 mpg is sweet.
 
Well Matt, you are making me reconsider haha, I am looking at a TDI Passat Monday :D
 
we had a 2003 passant. what a lemon. front bumper fell off randomly going down the highway at 3000k miles (no prior accidents). called the dealer, and get this they said 'yeah that happens sometimes, that'll be $800 please. constantly threw engine codes that that the dealer couldnt fix. then the taillights constantly went out, good luck getting the right bulb on first 10 trips to the dealer. got so bad they gave me a huge sack of bulbs and basically told me to leave and never come back. NEVER AGAIN.
 
I will say that is one importatnat thing to know. NEVER take a VW to a Stealership. they are usually pretty good on saling them, but their service departments consist of pirates. I have seen 1st hand some of the sabatage and other underhanded things that give mechanics in general a bad name.
 
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