The saga continues..

_Kaiser_

So as regular readers will know, I've had a lot of bother with my current 02 1.9TDI VW Passat - enough so that I've decided to get rid of it and start again.

I've thus been looking at the options, and because of the criteria I have (must be an automatic, similarly-sized diesel saloon) the only real option (within my budget) is a newer new-shape Passat. A quick scan of Carzone gives mostly German marques - BMWs, Mercs and VAG cars. I don't want a manual.. I haven't driven one in years and I like the benefits of an auto

Unfortunately getting a 2nd hand one is proving hard so I was in a VW dealer the other day and asked about a trade in against a brand new one (2L 140Bhp DSG Comfortline spec). Although I'm waiting on the word back from the bank, it'd be doable over a 5 year period.

For me, the pluses of this are:
- Brand new so no worries about service history or how the car's been looked after.
- Full VW 2 Year warranty so if anything does go wrong it's their problem (and money) to fix it, not mine.
- It's not as out of reach as I thought it might be. The dealer says the price (€41k before trade-in) should come down a few thousand with the upcoming changes in July and that there's a 10 week order period so I'd get the benefit of this if I went ahead. Can anyone in the know confirm this estimate?
- If I did it right, I could trade it in 2 years with about/under 40k miles on it against a new one, and still get most of the value for it.

But, I was looking on VW Ireland and there's a link to a new "Passat CC" - is this the new 09 version? (Based on recent history, VW seem to be refreshing the model every 4 years?) Would I be better trying to keep my current car then until this is released? The sales guy says the current model won't be changed yet, but then he would wouldn't he?

There's also an option (if you "build your Passat") of a 150Bhp Auto version with about the same spec as the DSG Comfortline, but it works out a few grand cheaper? Assuming the DSG box is the reason, would it be worth foregoing that for a higher spec and larger horsepower car?

Any other thoughts or things I'm missing? Cheers!

Stephen

Passat CC = coupe shaped 4 door passat. Think Merc CLS. Probably not what you're after

WHITE_P

Have you looked here,
http://www.volkswagen.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=modelyear&modelID=283

There are plenty of used B6 Passats available from VW dealers with Auto (DSG) box, I would go for a Highline as the Spec. is excellent. Half leather was standard in the Highline till now.

All new Highline's have full Leather as standard now, as well as dual Zone Climate control, Cruise control, auto wipers, auto lights, etc. the list is fairly long.

The 1.9 diesel is not available with auto / DSG box, but all other engines have it as an option.

The Coupe is intended as a spotier version of the Passat, ala CLS Merc. as posted above.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/spyshots/210931/passat_coup.html

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/214755/vw_passat_cc.html

E92

In July the Passat TDI, like most diesels should be dropping in price. Thge salesman is completely right there. Pre 08 diesels will also have much higher road tax too compared to new ones. So used ones will be a lot cheaper to buy then.

But some are dropping more than others.

I can't for the life of me see why given all the trouble you've had with your current Passat, you still want another Passat, let alone another VW. VW are still living off a reputation they gained in the 80s when they made cars that were nigh on indestructible. Clearly this reputation is working if you want another one.

Ford do a diesel Mondeo automatic, and have done for a few years at this stage. They would definately come in at the cheaper end of the scale, and that's hardly a bad thing since the Mondeo is a cracking car.

As the second link in my sig will confirm, the 320d Auto will be falling in price by at least €5,598. A new one(admittedly it's the fairly basic entry level model) is €45,407 minimum. Now if you could find a used 08 320d Auto in July you should have no trouble finding one for around €42k, if it had a few miles up on the clock. 08 Model Year 320ds are particularly good on all this emissions business(make sure it has EfficientDynamics though, basically it's CO2 and hence VRT and road tax reducing technology), so the pre 08 ones are going to be a lot dearer than the 08 ones for road tax, which makes pre 08 320ds a lot less desirable(and they'd have no EfficientDynamics either). Although BMW electronics can be a bit hairy fairy, and they tend to have suspension problems from time to time(though not for a good few years) the engines are highly unlikely to go wrong, and these problems wouldn't happen any time even remotely close to soon.

The first link in my sig has an estimated price for July(assuming the importers/manufacturers don't start pocketing the VRT difference) for every new car on sale today. Have a good look at that. There are plenty of diesel Autos around the place, not just the ones I've mentioned. Obviously the BMW estimate(and MINI) is now redundant, but that's because they're the only people to show their hand thus far.

There probably will be a facelift for the Passat next year(or maybe even late this year), it will be 4 years old in May next year, so that's well time for a facelift(though the Golf is well over 4 years old and hasn't been facelifted yet, but that's more to do with VWs plan to shorten the Golf's lifecycle than anything else).

leincar

Hi There,

I'm picking up a new Passat 2.0tdi dsg highline tomorrow. I was told the wait would be 8 weeks and its coming in 2 days under the estimate. I bought now as I would not get the same trade in value after July 1.

JHMEG

The new Accord diesel will be available with an automatic gearbox. I doubt there will be a more reliable car. The engine is probably the best diesel in its class too.

Stephen

That remains to be seen! Its not out for a few months, although given the quality of the old 2.2 ictdi it should be good alright.

Sandwich

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

So as regular readers will know, I've had a lot of bother with my current 02 1.9TDI VW Passat - enough so that I've decided to get rid of it and start again.

Surprising the amount of trouble you've had. In general that generation were very reliable - you just seemed to have been unlucky. The new model is a far riskier proposition from the reliability aspect. You should find an 05 old model with a bit of searching and patience.

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

For me, the pluses of this are:
- Brand new so no worries about service history or how the car's been looked after.
- Full VW 2 Year warranty so if anything does go wrong it's their problem (and money) to fix it, not mine.
- It's not as out of reach as I thought it might be. The dealer says the price (€41k before trade-in) should come down a few thousand with the upcoming changes in July and that there's a 10 week order period so I'd get the benefit of this if I went ahead. Can anyone in the know confirm this estimate?
- If I did it right, I could trade it in 2 years with about/under 40k miles on it against a new one, and still get most of the value for it.

There is just no way a new car will be as financially atttractive as a used one. New cars are only for those who wish to pay for the newness/numberplate - and it costs dearly. Nothing wrong with making that choice if that what floats your boat, but dont be under any illusion that it will cost you similar money to a used one. And you will never get most of the value of it after two years! About 65% would be good going.

Buying a 2 or 3 year old, from a dealer, with dealer service history, and less that 12k miles/years will likely be as reliable as a new one - if it has no history of gremlins it is probably a better bet even than a new one.

Also, you would have no difficulty getting a one year warranty on a 3 year old from a main delaer.

Yes the price will drop in july. You would also gain on the reduced motor annual tax.
But neither of these would offset the cost of depreciation of a new car compared with a 2nd hand one.

JHMEG

Stephen wrote: »

That remains to be seen! Its not out for a few months, although given the quality of the old 2.2 ictdi it should be good alright.

I'm reading it will be available with a 5-speed auto.

E92

The new Accord i-DTEC will be available with a slush box, or else it'll never have any hope of commercial success in the US if it's only available with a "stick shift"(well strictly speaking the US Accord and our one are completely different cars, though the Acura TSX is the same as our Accord and will have the i-DTEC engine);).

On a different but related note, the manual i-DTEC is not meant to be a whole pile cheaper than the current i-CTDi, what's going on there since the new i-DTEC is good for 16% VRT in manual guise(CO2 is 135 g/km), as opposed to 30% VRT now?

_Kaiser_

Update...

Well after a week of looking I picked this up yesterday from a main dealer:


(taken from Carzone ad.. I'll upload some others when the weather is better)

2006 2.0L TDI 140BHP Auto DSG Comfortline VW Passat.. 35000-ish miles / 56000-ish km
Full VW Service History and 12 month unlimited milage main dealer warranty

Result after 24 hours.. what a machine!

ShayK1

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Result after 24 hours.. what a machine!

hehehe I got a 01 130bhp comfortline passat last week and I'd share your opinion of what a machine. I stepped up from a 99 1.2Litre Clio to a 01 1.9Tdi passat... as you can imagine I don't know myself in it. Still getting use to reversing into parking spaces but other than that... it's all good!!!

PS: Best of luck with the new machine

_Kaiser_

ShayK1 wrote: »

hehehe I got a 01 130bhp comfortline passat last week and I'd share your opinion of what a machine. I stepped up from a 99 1.2Litre Clio to a 01 1.9Tdi passat... as you can imagine I don't know myself in it. Still getting use to reversing into parking spaces but other than that... it's all good!!!

PS: Best of luck with the new machine

Cheers

Yea I had the same model as you and - problems aside - when it was running well, it ran very well. To be fair, she was still running well when I traded it in - save for warning lights on the dash and a tensioner issue that I still have to have a row with my previous dealer for.

You'll get used to reversing it fairly quickly. My new-shape one is longer and rear visibilty isn't great (and the previous one could have been better too as you're no doubt finding) but I did manage to get it parallel parked this evening without embarassing myself!

3 quick questions though for any current owners of the same type:

1. How easy are the headlight bulbs (dipped) to change. I had a brief look the other day and it doesn't look as easy as on the B5 model.

2. The dealer tells me you can't retrofit original foglights onto them. Is this true?

3. The manual makes reference to all sorts of settings that can be changed through the display menus on the (presumably) Highline model through wiper stalk buttons or steering wheel controls. Given the comfortline doesn't have either of these options, can these be accessed in any other way, or would I need to get the VAG COM software to do it? Alternatively, can the enhanced wiper stalk/steering wheel be retrofitted to my car?