Buying a 2008 Passat Automatic

BlackWizard · 11-05-2015 11:59am #1

I've been living in the bike world for so long that I now find myself afraid of buying a car.

I'm looking at a 2008 Passat 140 2.0 Diesel. It's automatic and has no hand brake.

What should I be looking out for? It drove well but I couldn't figure the handbrake out. I reckon it just works without me knowing.

When these cars first came out I remember boards.ie having threads about steering problems and handbrake issues. Have they all been resolved at this year?

bazz26 · 11-05-2015 3:31pm

It does have a handbrake, it's just that it is an electronic push button instead of the conventional lever type. It's easy enough to use, press to engage the parking brake and press it again to disengage.On early Passats the electronic parking brake can give trouble which can range from a cheap fix faulty switch to a more expensive caliper. 2008 was sort of the year when alot of these issues were supposed to be addressed.

Not sure if the 08 Passat had it but later ones have an auto hill hold button too which when enabled prevents the car from rolling back as soon as the car becomes stationery and you take your foot off the foot brake. It works really well with the DSG auto gear box too.

_Kaiser_ · 11-05-2015 9:04pm

bazz26 wrote: »

Not sure if the 08 Passat had it but later ones have an auto hill hold button too which when enabled prevents the car from rolling back as soon as the car becomes stationery and you take your foot off the foot brake. It works really well with the DSG auto gear box too.

Hill hold was an option.. my 06 DSG version had it

but I rarely used it to be honest.. never really needed to.

08+ is probably the year to go for alright as it should also have the newer Common Rail engine which doesn't suffer the injector issues of the earlier 2.0 (which to be fair VW did eventually issue a recall for).

The DSG box is great and the 2.0 is a lot better suited to the car than the 1.9. Check to see if the flywheel has been done at any stage or if you hear a rattling/scraping sound at idle as if you do it's probably on the way out (and expensive!)

Comfortline or above is what you want as retrofitting options (Bluetooth/Multi-function steering wheel/Xenon lights etc later on is similarly expensive if you want the factory-look.

All in all though they're a great car with a well-wearing interior and perfect for eating the miles. Huge boot and plenty of rear legroom as well.

BlackWizard · 12-05-2015 9:48pm

thanks guys. I took it for another drive today and I still don't understand the hand brake. But it does come on. I have to put the car into P anyway so there's no risk of it rolling when I park it.

The engine developed an exhaust warning light. So the dealer said he would fix it.

I have a deposit on it the car so I'll post a pic up the car is ready. The boot is HUGE. Big ass boot.

bazz26 · 12-05-2015 11:56pm

Exhaust fault could be DPF related or something else. Just make sure to give the car another good test drive in the event the dealer just cleared the fault rather than actually diagnosed and fixed it. If it was just cleared but the fault still remains then the fault will reappear again after a few miles of driving.

mylesm · 14-05-2015 4:41pm

bazz26 wrote: »

Exhaust fault could be DPF related or something else. Just make sure to give the car another good test drive in the event the dealer just cleared the fault rather than actually diagnosed and fixed it. If it was just cleared but the fault still remains then the fault will reappear again after a few miles of driving.

Be careful as this says any fault light coming on should be a walk away scenario there are lots of cars and DPF is expensive

bazz26 · 14-05-2015 7:09pm

I wouldn't walk away at that stage as it could easily be just a dodgy sensor but I would have the car inspected properly including having the ECU scanned for stored faults by a garage with the correct diagnostic software.

mylesm · 15-05-2015 7:12am

bazz26 wrote: »

I wouldn't walk away at that stage as it could easily be just a dodgy sensor but I would have the car inspected properly including having the ECU scanned for stored faults by a garage with the correct diagnostic software.

I know and you are right it could be diagnosed and fixed but for me there are lots of cars and I want to buy one that I could feel confident in This would bother me after I bought it but thats just me

BlackWizard · 15-05-2015 11:23am

I don't think the garage was willing to even look into the fault until they had someone buying it.

So I put down a deposit on it and I'm waiting to hear back from them. It's been a few days now.

bazz26 · 15-05-2015 12:37pm

That doesn't inspire me with confidence at all. I can understand a garage not putting a car through the NCT until it is sold but it doesn't give me a good first impression when a potential buyer starts the car up and sees a warning light on the dash. Things like this imo should be sorted as part of the preparation for resale after they take the car in.

BlackWizard · 21-05-2015 4:12pm

The garaged fixed the engine problem. They had to replace some part of the inlet manifold.. maybe a motor or something.

I don't understand the trip display. Can I change it so it tells me my MPG or how many KMs I have left?

Right now it doesn't really show much. I can't find a button anywhere to change the display mode on it.

bazz26 · 21-05-2015 8:14pm

The should be a button on the end of one of the stalks that allows you to search through the on-board computer settings that are displayed on the screen between the speedometer and rev counter clocks.

BlackWizard · 23-05-2015 3:41pm

Crap! Looks like this car doesn't have a computer display that show fuel consumption. I read the car manual and it says it was an extra.

bazz26 · 23-05-2015 4:17pm

Bumper, I would have thought that was standard on most cars in that class for the last decade or so.

Buying a 2008 Passat Automatic

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