I'm currently thinking of getting a new car. Not that I'm not pleased with me Fabia but it's partly my parents' car. And I need my very own!

I have my eye set on a 1999 VW Passat with 1.6l 74kW engine. Now, looking at the market here in Estonia, the car's price is dirt cheap. It has a regular array of electrical goodies in it, tho no air con ( maybe car seller forgot to add it in list ), it looks FABULOUS - all white with light interior and so on( no leather ) and it's speedo shows only 102 300 kilometres. It costs about 3300£ and I'm really really thinking of getting it. I'll go and check it out today in person.

But, I'm still worried: why is it so cheap? Other Passats of the same era cost 4000-5000£ and they're in worse condition. Maybe there could be some typical faults with Passats of that era? Please, give me some advice I'll head off to the car dealer and check out that Passat.

Also a link from which you don't understand a thing but atleast you see pictures

It's a 9 year old petrol low power saloon. If it was the 1.9tdi or 1.8T then maybe it would be more expensive. car prices are falling fast over here at the moment

It's the least desireable engine to have in the Passat of that age. Not powerful enough and not particularily economical.

There are loads of Passats about so if you think it's right for you once you've had a test drive don't be put off.

Don't be surprised if it's worth a lot less than other models when you come to sell it in the future.

HTH.

Maybe its cheap cause he wants a quick sale?

Have a check to see if it's stolen outstanding finance etc..... whatever system is in Estonia

Check the car isnt 2 cars welded to make 1.

Test drive, check everything worls, open shuts as it should.

If all is well and you like the car then buy.

That's a lovely clean looking car, the only issue I see from the pictures that its a 1.6 petrol and it has a tow-hitch attached.:eek:

I'm not sure if that would worry you, but I'd be checking clutch, brakes, electrics for signs of excessive wear or problems as this engine wouldn't be my personal choice as a load-lugger.

Best of luck with it.

Over here that would be a VERY undesireable car. Low powered petrol engine in a big saloon car is never going to win any friends, and its white. It would be worth about £1500 I reckon.

Nothing wrong with a 1999 Passat at all. Common problems are knocking front suspension (quite a complex setup which is expensive to replace), and blocked plenum chamber which can result in water entering the cabin and costing lots of money to fix.

Be weary of any knocking noises from the suspension on the test drive.

Over here that would be a VERY undesireable car. Low powered petrol engine in a big saloon car is never going to win any friends, and its white.

Rule number 1 when getting an opinion on Briskoda or anywhere else is to look in the sig for what the poster is driving before taking on board what is and what isn't "adequate" power :)

74kW is 100bhp - which is more than enough power for lots of folk but Octy vRS and BMW 328i drivers would never be happy with it. Be grateful to them for 1 small thing - their opinions dominate the motoring press and drive down the price of the lower power vehicles to save the rest of us wads of cash - thanks guys :D:D

For the record - mine is a 1.9TDi Octy with a whopping 105bhp

Rule number 1 when getting an opinion on Briskoda or anywhere else is to look in the sig for what the poster is driving before taking on board what is and what isn't "adequate" power :)

74kW is 100bhp - which is more than enough power for lots of folk but Octy vRS and BMW 328i drivers would never be happy with it. Be grateful to them for 1 small thing - their opinions dominate the motoring press and drive down the price of the lower power vehicles to save the rest of us wads of cash - thanks guys :D:D

For the record - mine is a 1.9TDi Octy with a whopping 105bhp

But he also had a 1.9 PD130 TDI passat estate, so he also knows the car.

I think 100bhp wouldn't be enough bearing in mind the low torque of that engine for a fully loaded passat.

Rule number 1 when getting an opinion on Briskoda or anywhere else is to look in the sig for what the poster is driving before taking on board what is and what isn't "adequate" power :)

74kW is 100bhp - which is more than enough power for lots of folk but Octy vRS and BMW 328i drivers would never be happy with it. Be grateful to them for 1 small thing - their opinions dominate the motoring press and drive down the price of the lower power vehicles to save the rest of us wads of cash - thanks guys :D:D

For the record - mine is a 1.9TDi Octy with a whopping 105bhp

Woo, 100bhp in a Passat. In fairness, its not evan a torquey engine (109lbft at 3800rpm), the joys of 8v. About 30mpg too it seems. So maybe not as terrible as we've thought - if its rarely going to be loaded up its probably "adequate".

I did have a Passat, and the PD130 engine went like stink. The PD100 goes nicely too, but its the huge torque of the PD engines that make them excel, something the 1.6 petrol is going to be lacking.

My passat was white too, and it was the best car I've ever had, indeed its the only car I really regret selling. I'd buy another tomorrow if I could afford it.

Just to make it clear, I'm very open minded. My daily hack is a 1.6 Citroen Xsara and while its gutless, its fit for purpose. Whether a 1.6 is suitable for a Passat is the question here, and I have to say its probably just not quite enough.

I gave my opinion on the Passat and I have 2 at the moment, 1 1.9 TDI PD105 and 1 2 litre 16valve TDI PD140.

This must mean judging by other posts that my opinion means more than someone with a faster car:rofl: I don't think so, just because you have a certain car now doesn't say anything about your previous car history.

There may only be 5bhp difference in power between the 1.6 petrol and the diesel equivalent but the torque is very different. I wouldn't want anything slower than the 1.9 Passat we have, it's fine and does the job I need it for but it's no flying machine.

Same 100bhp engine that was in my first Octy then

I thought it drove fine in the Octy, not massively economical though, best average I got was 43mpg, normally 35ish mpg. Not a flying machine, but it was fast enough. It was a sight faster than the 1.8 petrol in the 406 estate my Dad had at the time

Yes, I think it is a derivative of the 1.6 AEE as found in the Polo/Fabia/Golf/Octavia etc.

Yes, I think it is a derivative of the 1.6 AEE as found in the Polo/Fabia/Golf/Octavia etc.

No, the AEE is a small block engine based on the 1.4/1.6

The 1.6 in the Passat is the large block engine the same as what was fitted in my Polo, thats a smaller capacity large block engine like the 1.8/2.0.

Cheers for clearing that up Ross.

No probs matey

Ok. I saw the car, I tried it and I have some doubts even though I liked it very much overall.

The car is sold by a company that imports cars from Germany and sells them quick. That partly justifies a cheaper price: quick sale. It's mileage should also be ok. I had a brief drive: no knocks or sounds caught my ear, brakes worked very well ( I almost threw myself in windshield - belt saved me ), brand new winter tires!!! and it looked very clean. I also have no complaints about the engine. It felt much more powerful than my 1.4 MPI in Fabia ( :lol: ) and I can live with that very well. It's also impossible to go over 70 MPH here for 2 reasons: 1) roads suck monkey's privates and 2) cops everywhere.

But some doubts also came in my mind. The clutch felt very awkward. It was a bit stiff and it's bite point was very high up. Seems like a busted clutch or is it just the personality of Passat? Didn't exactly seem anything wrong with it, it just bite very high up. So does it seem like a busted clutch or is it just the personality of Passat? Also it had had a small fender bender: front bumper has been either changed completely or it has had a dent, some work done and then respray.

If it's gets to a point of deal ( if ), I'll definitely have it go through inspection to see if there's anything wrong with the car. But at this point, there seemed to be nothing wrong.

I had a 1.6 Bora and the clutch felt very wierd compared to any other car I've had. Very high biting point but I had it checked and the garage seemed to think it was fine. It might just be a characteristic of VW clutches on the 1.6.

Any doubts at all get them checked or walk away until the right car comes along.

Ok. I saw the car, I tried it and I have some doubts even though I liked it very much overall.

The car is sold by a company that imports cars from Germany and sells them quick. That partly justifies a cheaper price: quick sale. It's mileage should also be ok. I had a brief drive: no knocks or sounds caught my ear, brakes worked very well ( I almost threw myself in windshield - belt saved me ), brand new winter tires!!! and it looked very clean. I also have no complaints about the engine. It felt much more powerful than my 1.4 MPI in Fabia ( :lol: ) and I can live with that very well. It's also impossible to go over 70 MPH here for 2 reasons: 1) roads suck monkey's privates and 2) cops everywhere.

But some doubts also came in my mind. The clutch felt very awkward. It was a bit stiff and it's bite point was very high up. Seems like a busted clutch or is it just the personality of Passat? Didn't exactly seem anything wrong with it, it just bite very high up. So does it seem like a busted clutch or is it just the personality of Passat? Also it had had a small fender bender: front bumper has been either changed completely or it has had a dent, some work done and then respray.

If it's gets to a point of deal ( if ), I'll definitely have it go through inspection to see if there's anything wrong with the car. But at this point, there seemed to be nothing wrong.

I have highlighted the bit that worries me..... i know nothing about the second hand car market in Estonia, but this set alarm bells ringing.... for me anyway....

Used car market here is like that:

Rich schmucks get their cars brand new and then in few years time trade their cars and their old ones get sold. Like usual.

People with medium income then buy those used cars and are happy to have a car.

Poor schmucks ( me ) get a used car which is either from Germany or on a 3rd or even 4th round on local market.

But people really prefer to get German cars since in Germany roads are all fine, people have money to take care of their cars and they are usually in pretty good condition some examples aside. Local cars on the other hand are often pretty busted up and even with lower mileage their running parts are in worse condition than cars from Germany. Also our winters are pretty bad: salt on roads, crappy roads, crappy weather, people don't wash their cars during winter saying: "What's the point" and bodywork gets messed up pretty bad. I've seen 6-7 year old cars rusting worse than my dad's 18 years old Ford Escort.

So, yeah. German cars are good thing here.

I wouldn't touch a 1.6 Passat, even the 2.0 petrol feels a bit gutless. Everyone wants the Diesels so that probably explains the low price.

It's the lowest powered engine, not very economical, and it's what the trade here call "death white".

It is in good nick though from the photos.