'02 Passat

who_ru

Hi folks,

was thinking of changing the motor, don't want to spend too much as finances are fairly tight right now.

anyway saw this passat on carzone, seems a reasonable price and might even bargin it down a bit more. would appreciate any input from similaer aged passat owners as to reliability etc. thanks.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=881080

HungryJoey

What are you driving at the moment? Any reasons why you want to change car even though finances are tight ?

Hj

who_ru

hi,

i'm driving a renault megane at the moment, have had it for 4 years now, it's 9 years old now and have had a bit of work done to it lately, new timing belt, also put 4 new tyres on it recently, it has got to do the nct at the end of this month.

it's not worth much now and would like to change but not spend too much on a second hand motor, just thought the passet looked a good deal, if i get 1.5k for my own i think that would be great.

macrubicon

As a private sale you will want to be doubly sure of the service history etc. At 78k it should have had a timing belt done which can be a costly job on the 98-05 varients due to the way the engine is in the bay.

Price wise it seems to be about 3k under the curve for a 2002 1.6 on carzone, so you have to ask why ? Could be that a service is due etc. but as a private sale you have no recourse once the deed is done...

The 1.6 is a bit under powered for the weight of the car it carries. If you are using it as a day car around town it will not be a big issue, but comes to the fore on long trips and overtaking.

Anan1

who_ru wrote: »

hi,

i'm driving a renault megane at the moment, have had it for 4 years now, it's 9 years old now and have had a bit of work done to it lately, new timing belt, also put 4 new tyres on it recently, it has got to do the nct at the end of this month.

it's not worth much now and would like to change but not spend too much on a second hand motor, just thought the passet looked a good deal, if i get 1.5k for my own i think that would be great.

The above are mainly good reasons to keep the car you have, IMO.

CBoy07

I dont have, ever driven/been driven in, sat in or even seen a Passat up close but im gonna give you some general advice, but directed at this car:


date updated: bit far away=some times people forget to take it off the web so it might already be gone

cassette player: some might not mind, you might even have a CD player spare but I couldnt stand that unless i did have a spare

NCT: too close=something might be wrong with it=DANGER

Picture: shows only one side and the bonnet=good chance of something being wrong with the body on the other side=DANGER

Price: a bit too low for the year, added with the two "dangers" above means id be suspicious

type of car: 1.6 Volkswagon=not a hope that a boy racer owned it

looks: no sign (as far as the picture shows) of being done up

private sale: NEVERgo to a garage, they will take you to the cleaners and ring you dry of money! private sale=good

cheap/good on petrol/rather good looking=all good

over-all: nice car, by all means go for it but be ready to walk away, even if the guy/girl is watching you and his wife/ husband is hitting on you, dont be shy...WALK!
take a long walk around the body and dont even talk when you take it for a test drive, just listen for rattles!

who_ru

hi all,

thanks for your words of wisdom and opinions, good to read them.

CBoy07 - i agree with you on the photo - if the car was in good nick i would photo it from all angles so yes there could be a problem with the body. as for the cassette player i have a cd player in my own which i added and still have the original cassette player that came with it so thats not a big issue.

i could use the following people to check out the car from top to bottom and get the best advice on it -http://www.carcheckireland.com/default.php

if i thought that the car was dodgy i'd leave it no question.

as to the other posters thoughtds re: timing belt etc that could well be an issue maybe thats why it's rougly 3k below the normal price. anyway i'm gonna give the owner a buzz soon and see what the story is.

thanks again for all your thoughts.

ballooba

I sold my '02 back in March '07 for €9.5k private sale.

Pretty much identical spec except it had alloys and a Pioneer iPod stereo.

This seems cheap.

who_ru

ballooba wrote: »

I sold my '02 back in March '07 for €9.5k private sale.

Pretty much identical spec except it had alloys and a Pioneer iPod stereo.

This seems cheap.

hi ballooba - what were your experiences with your passat?

spoke to the owner on the phone - he told me the timing belt was replaced at 60k miles. he said it was his wife's motor and they bought a newer passat - he sounded ok.

maybe the price reflects the fact that it has to go through the nct soon? who knows. the only way to find out is go see it and take it for a run.

Tipsy Mac

The 1.6 Passat is a poor poor engine for the weight of the car, I would avoid it, get the 1.9tdi or 1.8 petrol instead.

bazz26

There could be any number of genuine reasons why that car appears to be cheap. For example, the owner may not be entirely aware of the market value of the car he/she is selling or may just simply want a quick sale asap. Rare I know but not unheard of.

Have a qualified mechanic check the car out in detail.

cianclarke

Selling a 00' passat myself, 1.6 as well.
Fantastic car, couldn't fault it. Although the engine is small it's most certainly not underpowered by any means. You might be interested in mine too, it's a tidy sum cheaper - but that said, the 02 does seem to be very good value.

ballooba

who_ru wrote: »

hi ballooba - what were your experiences with your passat?

spoke to the owner on the phone - he told me the timing belt was replaced at 60k miles. he said it was his wife's motor and they bought a newer passat - he sounded ok.

maybe the price reflects the fact that it has to go through the nct soon? who knows. the only way to find out is go see it and take it for a run.

Great car. Loved it. The only time it ever felt underpowered was when I had five of us 6ft+ hunks in it. Never any trouble with it. Timing belt changes are expensive though.