So ive been looking to replace my octy2 vrs with something abit cheaper to run as looking at buying a house in not too distant future and being posted further away from "home".

So i came across this 4 miles away from me:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201311220077767/sort/locasc/postcode/sn35eb/radius/1500/make/VOLKSWAGEN/model/passat/price-to/5000/page/1

Seems abit cheap compared to others advertised on autotrader but im gonna go with an open mind and view tomorrow although suspicious lol

Would you bother? Also anyone got any good info on these passats?

Cheers

Glynn

Ive not overlyvresearched similar but its not a desirable interior colour or gd choice with wood trim and its not the newer shape (2 shapes newer now i believe) all of which will impact over a black interior with nicer colour trim

I like the interior

Looks nice enough. I like the interior well enough, I might not choose that colour because I've a little 'un who would mark it.

 

I'm maybe paranoid but the front grill and bonnet looks too good for nearly 80k. Hard to tell from a picture but I'd be checking for cat D or other front accident damage.

The wood is different lol but i like it.

Yeah im going to get my head right into it tomorrow if it looks good enough I will HPI it and go from there.

Hoping they might do a straight swap for my vrs as they should still get a reasonable profit but we shall see!

Believe it is the same 170 derv from the octy vrs?

Didnt the Passats have problems with the electric parking brakes around that time.

Yep, take a look at Honest John.

05-07 Passat 2.0TDIs best avoided due to oil pump drive failures.

Failed electric parking brakes almosr inevitable.

I know i heard of plenty of failed parking brakes around then. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but think its best to go in with your eyes open! Best of luck.

Cheers for the info jungle, will keep an eye out for the parking brake. Any quick way of telling if the oil pump is on its last legs?

I couldnt tell you. But it could be a case of the oil pump seeming to be fine, then suddenly failing on you in a year or 2.

Id take it for a long test drive to check the parking brake. But even then, it may just go on you after you have purchased it. A lot of people complained that is was proving unreliable. So perhaps not a complete failure, but every now and again, it wouldnt release.

Rightyo ill have a gander but going by the price and what youve brought to light, it could be a lemon lol we shall see.

Cheers though dude

Oil pump failure was a problem on the 2.0 PD models (especially as fitted to the Mk I Skoda Superbs - see forum for info.) , not on the 2.0 CR 170's as fitted to the later Octavias, Superbs or Passats.

 

I'm not sure which engine this is - if the dealer can't confirm it is a CR NOT a PD - walk away (I have been lucky with my PD engine so far, many haven't)

Glynn, have you checked the Honest John site? Ive checked again, under the 'good/ bad' section, and the list of faults is extremely large. Admittedly some may be one off that people have experienced, but a lot seem to be regular things. Thankfully it isnt a DSG, as that has been another source of problems.

They are nice cars inside, but the build quality seems to be something else.

Check the HJ site, and take a print out with you. Then anything that is possible to check, you can. For example the recalls! They seem to have had problems with the injectors at some point. Didnt Skoda's suffer exactly same problem as well? Piezo Siemens injectors failing and causing car to lose all power (fun on the motorway!)

Oh and my 80k bmw has about 3 stone chips

All depends what sort of driving has been done

Ah yes sorry, a lot of problems do mention the PD units. My apologies.

A lot of stuff seemingly affecting all models though, Namely quality of trim etc.

Bjm- its an 07 i dont think they changed to CR until 08 but id like to think they could tell me!

Jungle- Just read the honest john review.........Wow! Although like you said alot seem to be single issues, copy and pasted off a forum?

Im still going to have a gander just a very sceptical one at that

We were going to look at a Merc which looked too good to be true when my son needed a change. It WAS too good to be true, they would only sell on HP, huge interest rates and penalties for early payoff made the car overly expensive.

Check that this garage is not linked to the shysters we found - I think they were over the other ( wrong) side of the Severn Bridge ;-) )

Glynn, HJ gets his reports from people emailing him. He reports on most things people tell him, hence why a lot often seem to be one off problems. If he gets a lot of the same problem, he usually mentions this.

Beware this vehicle also has a DPF, and done a fair few miles. Make sure the DPF light isnt lit.

05-07 Passat 2.0TDIs best avoided due to oil pump drive failures.

Absolutely this, can't stress it enough!

Bosses son had an A4 with a 2.0 TDI and the oil pump drive failed, ended up getting a new turbo.

It's getting to about the right mileage to be coming close, or even worse, already had it go wrong and they've bodged it up for a sale.

My advice, steer well clear.

Well people i went to view it..... jesus christ!!

They gave me the keys I unlocked the car pulled the handle...... nothing ummmm ok then maybe it didnt unlock? No my missus is in the passenger seat so she opens the door from the inside.

So we are not off to the best start. I have a mooch around the interior pretty shocking to be honest!! Ive seen 97yr old grannies with tighter skin than those leather seats!! I think it was blood stains down the o/s passenger seat belt! (Bearing in mind cream interior).

Right one last chance ill have a looksie under bonnet, reach down to grab the handle....... its missing :-|

Icing on the cake i left at that point.

So to answer the title question yeah definatly too good to be true, i wouldnt even give them half the asking price for that car!!

Oh well, plenty other cars out there.    I would have given half the asking price BTW and fixed the problems.

oh also it was was parked in gear took out of gear it rolled so elec brake obviously shagged and the boot release on the keys didnt work either...

Soot1e true and true but fixing all them snags would of been a right mare plus knowig my luck the notorious oil pump would of gone after i fixed it all lol

Plenty of them about Glynn and you wouldn't regret going for the 170. A little thirsty if you're heavy on the right foot but a crushingly capable motor. Oil pump failures were an issue by my understanding has always been it affected pre 07 models. Check the handbrake is my advice as there is a habit of the electric motor seizing on the caliper (most often off-side). Its a relatively cheap and easy fix but best avoid paying more out in the short term.  
DPF is also worth a check too, its not hard to keep them in order but if you go for a car with less than average mileage or such you run the risk of it being more of a local run-around rather than having sufficient journies to re-gen the DPF. 

Sorry to hear it wasnt that good.

As for fixing all the problems. Well it seems as though these cars suffer from plenty of problems. A lot down to the quality of the trim. How would you fix rattles/ squeaks? Also, no doubt as time went on you would have noticed more and more problems.

I think you are best off keeping clear of Passats around that age full stop. But hey, thats just me. I once went to test drive a 2nd hand Passat of around that age (and this was a few years back itself now). Went to unlock the car. Nothing happened. Turns out the battery was flat. Lovely car to drive, but it makes you think when the battery is flat to start with.

I've been to a few cars like that.

 

"Is it clean?","oh aye very good looked after" etc etc

 

They you see it and if you took a **** in the back seat it would probably add £50 to it.

Theres always a bum car when your searching so not too bothered.

Im not just focusing on a 170 passat im just looking for a octavia size diesel as im buying a house soon and my vrs is a bit too thirsty on the commute.

Aslong as it gives good mpg, can overtake without a 3mile run up, fits my nieces in with pushchairs and is between £4-5k. Not asking too much am i? Haha

In that case you'll find the Octavia right up your street. Rear leg room is a little tight but 60mpg and in 130 diesel guise should be quite peppy. 

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201312280713363/sort/default/usedcars/radius/1500/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-mileage/up_to_60000_miles/model/octavia/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/price-to/5000/make/skoda/postcode/st163jg/engine-size-cars/1-7l_to_1-9l/page/1?logcode=p