VW Passat or Jetta?

Hi all. I am currently driving a 2004 Avensis Strata 1.6 petrol. I have had it for the past 3 years, but find it not very economical. Costing me the bones of €30-€40 per week on petrol, and I only work 7 miles away. Anyway, I have decided to change cars. Am looking for a bit of advice on what to get.
I know I should be really getting a 1.4 diesel Corolla, for economy alone, but am not that gone on them. Are the Passat's and Jetta's good on diesel? At the moment I'd be getting 39/40 mpg in the Avensis, so I'd be looking to get at least 50mpg in the new car. Hoping to get a 08 either way. Just looking on carzone, and there isn't that much of a price difference between the 2 models. I'd be hoping to spend €9k with my own (hoping to get at least €4k for my own). Thanks in advance.

Atlantic Dawn

You will be lucky to save €10 a week with the miles you are doing, this will mean a saving of €520 a year so if your spending 9k it will take just over 17 years for the saving to break even. I'd keep the Avensis if your sole purpose is to save money.

johnos1984

Driving that distance daily to work and back a diesel will most likely be less economical than a petrol as their efficiency only comes in to play on long journeys after the engine has warmed up.

I'd stick with perol

Bigus

So your current fuel bill is between 1560 and 2080 a year and you're going to spend how much to reduce it by 312 euro per year if you're lucky,

Do the maths ... depreciation is the dearest part of running a car .

If you want to save fuel on short runs buy a plug in block heater, that heats the engine by the mains and could save you 20%, pump your tyres and unload any junk you don't need in the car.

Ok I don't just drive to work. Other journeys too, and herself uses it too. Would average 250 miles a week I guess.

johnos1984

slookie wrote: »

Ok I don't just drive to work. Other journeys too, and herself uses it too. Would average 250 miles a week I guess.

You would still want to be doing more miles per week.

40mpg from an Avensis is good tbh. I bet if you drove carefull that could be improved upon.

I still think a diesel would be a waste of money

MugMugs

40MPG in a 1.6 vvti ?

Eh, I average that in a 2.0 D-4D buddy.

Keep her lit if ye ask me !

firefly08

Ok I don't just drive to work. Other journeys too, and herself uses it too. Would average 250 miles a week I guess.

Doesn't make a blind bit of difference. Here's why:

Costing me the bones of €30-€40 per week on petrol

At the moment I'd be getting 39/40 mpg in the Avensis, so I'd be looking to get at least 50mpg in the new car. Hoping to get a 08 either way. Just looking on carzone, and there isn't that much of a price difference between the 2 models. I'd be hoping to spend €9k with my own (hoping to get at least €4k for my own)

These are the important bits - if you have this info, the number of miles and kind of journeys you do is irrelevant to the question of whether you should change.

If you go from 40mpg to 50mpg, you will be using 20% less fuel. Plus, diesel is about 5% cheaper than petrol, so 40 euro x 80% x 95% = 30.4 euro.

So you'll save 9.60/week at most.

Now, you intend to drop 5K on the car so that means it will take 5000 / 9.6 weeks to break even - that's almost 10 years.

Put another way: to break even in 1 year, you'd have to have been spending 400 euro per week on petrol.

-Corkie-

firefly08 wrote: »

Put another way: to break even in 1 year, you'd have to have been spending 400 euro per week on petrol.

And what if the Passat shorts out an injector or the DMF/DPF decides to go a wall. Not much saving then..:)

HappyHouseWife

^^^
I was wondering how long it'd take for some "well informed" individual to mention the DMF or DPF:rolleyes:
Good God, yiz are a predictable bunch.

MugMugs

There's a rumor going around that somebody will be told by the people of Motors that they should get a Diesel one of these days.

I don't believe it but it will happen !

For Forks Sake

12 posts and not a mention of an O***via (the solution to all motering queries) yet?

Yis are letting standards slip...

MugMugs

For Forks Sake wrote: »

12 posts and not a mention of an O***via (the solution to all motering queries) yet?

Yis are letting standards slip...

EPM must be busy..... Should we just plug the car for them ?

-Chris-

HappyHouseWife wrote: »

^^^
I was wondering how long it'd take for some "well informed" individual to mention the DMF or DPF:rolleyes:
Good God, yiz are a predictable bunch.

How about you give us your well informed opinion and let us know how likely these issues will be to affect the OP, or if there are other issues they should be concerned with?

Being constructive will help the OP more than being snide.

TestTransmission

For Forks Sake wrote: »

12 posts and not a mention of an O***via (the solution to all motering queries) yet?

Yis are letting standards slip...

I have been secretly deleting all posts which reference the "O" car, nobody has noticed as yet except you which means I will delete this post in 10 minutes and then ban you forever...

EPM

MugMugs wrote: »

EPM must be busy..... Should we just plug the car for them ?

You're confusing me with Vectra again;)

OP, the financials don't stack up on this one. And you're doing really well with the Avensis tbh to get those economy figures. Modern diesel reliability isn't great with usage like yours.

For Forks Sake

TestTransmission wrote: »

I have been secretly deleting all posts which reference the "O" car, nobody has noticed as yet except you which means I will delete this post in 10 minutes and then ban you forever...

-Corkie-

TestTransmission wrote: »

I have been secretly deleting all posts which reference the "O" car, nobody has noticed as yet except you which means I will delete this post in 10 minutes and then ban you forever...

OP buy a Opel Omega....:pac::pac:

Thanks for the replies. Am beginning to think I should get a 09 Avensis, but I'd hardly get the new model for my budget...about €13k. Diesel model btw

HappyHouseWife

-Chris- wrote: »

How about you give us your well informed opinion and let us know how likely these issues will be to affect the OP, or if there are other issues they should be concerned with?

Being constructive will help the OP more than being snide.

I have to laugh at the amount of thanks you got from all the other "chicken littles" who like to run around screaming "the DMF/DPF will fail" when half them probably don't even hold a driving licence!
You know as well as I do that as soon as a VAG Tdi is mentioned the muppets come out of the woodwork banging on about failing DMF's or DPF's. (I refuse to refer to them as DMF/DPF as this implies that they (or their alleged problems) are in some way connected.
We have in our household a total of 5 Skodas, 4 of them with the VAG tdi engine with a million kms between the 4 of them, not a single DMF failure, not a single DPF failure. One single EGR failure at 240k km which cost €120 direct from Skoda.
Maybe we've been lucky or maybe the DMF, DPF myth is just that, a MYTH!

-Chris-

HappyHouseWife wrote: »

We have in our household a total of 5 Skodas, 4 of them with the VAG tdi engine with a million kms between the 4 of them, not a single DMF failure, not a single DPF failure. One single EGR failure at 240k km which cost €120 direct from Skoda.
Maybe we've been lucky or maybe the DMF, DPF myth is just that, a MYTH!

And how do you think your big mileage vehicles compare to what the OP will experience with their relatively low mileage?

I'm not sure about DMFs, but I do know that DPFs have a habit of clogging if the vehicle does a lot of short journeys where it doesn't get hot enough to regenerate (7 miles each way to work, as the OP does, would make it a prime candidate for DPF problems imho).

MugMugs

HappyHouseWife wrote: »

I have to laugh at the amount of thanks you got from all the other "chicken littles" who like to run around screaming "the DMF/DPF will fail" when half them probably don't even hold a driving licence!
You know as well as I do that as soon as a VAG Tdi is mentioned the muppets come out of the woodwork banging on about failing DMF's or DPF's. (I refuse to refer to them as DMF/DPF as this implies that they (or their alleged problems) are in some way connected.
We have in our household a total of 5 Skodas, 4 of them with the VAG tdi engine with a million kms between the 4 of them, not a single DMF failure, not a single DPF failure. One single EGR failure at 240k km which cost €120 direct from Skoda.
Maybe we've been lucky or maybe the DMF, DPF myth is just that, a MYTH!

So your average vehicle mileage is about 200k

Thats not bad and would lead one to believe that they're all well driven and not put through 7 mile commutes daily.

Perhaps that's your saving grace.

nessan22

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

You will be lucky to save €10 a week with the miles you are doing, this will mean a saving of €520 a year so if your spending 9k it will take just over 17 years for the saving to break even. I'd keep the Avensis if your sole purpose is to save money.

and if not just money is the reason for you changing car, i would suggest going for Jetta, economical once bought.

HappyHouseWife

-Chris- wrote: »

And how do you think your big mileage vehicles compare to what the OP will experience with their relatively low mileage?

I'm not sure about DMFs, but I do know that DPFs have a habit of clogging if the vehicle does a lot of short journeys where it doesn't get hot enough to regenerate (7 miles each way to work, as the OP does, would make it a prime candidate for DPF problems imho).

Ok, we won't descend into he says/she says arguing but all of our cars have clocked up 99% of that mileage in Dublin city with cars rarely getting above 2-2500rpm.
As I said, they come out of the woodwork when a VAG diesel is mentioned:)

MugMugs

HappyHouseWife wrote: »

Ok, we won't descend into he says/she says arguing but all of our cars have clocked up 99% of that mileage in Dublin city with cars rarely getting above 2-2500rpm.
As I said, they come out of the woodwork when a VAG diesel is mentioned:)

Why are you avoiding the point ?

HappyHouseWife

MugMugs wrote: »

So your average vehicle mileage is about 200k

Thats not bad and would lead one to believe that they're all well driven and not put through 7 mile commutes daily.

Perhaps that's your saving grace.

Average for the four diesels is 250k a piece! the 5th one (petrol) "only" has 160k on her.

HappyHouseWife

MugMugs wrote: »

Why are you avoiding the point ?

Sorry, did I miss something? what point? Thought I'd answered it above.

johnos1984

HappyHouseWife wrote: »

We have in our household a total of 5 Skodas, 4 of them with the VAG tdi engine

What model and what year? And are they 1.9TDI or 2.0TDI?

EPM

HappyHouseWife wrote: »

I have to laugh at the amount of thanks you got from all the other "chicken littles" who like to run around screaming "the DMF/DPF will fail" when half them probably don't even hold a driving licence!
You know as well as I do that as soon as a VAG Tdi is mentioned the muppets come out of the woodwork banging on about failing DMF's or DPF's. (I refuse to refer to them as DMF/DPF as this implies that they (or their alleged problems) are in some way connected.
We have in our household a total of 5 Skodas, 4 of them with the VAG tdi engine with a million kms between the 4 of them, not a single DMF failure, not a single DPF failure. One single EGR failure at 240k km which cost €120 direct from Skoda.
Maybe we've been lucky or maybe the DMF, DPF myth is just that, a MYTH!

I've had a dpf fail on a Skoda at 44k km. Myth? I dont think so.

Nonoperational

In fairness I do agree that it's ridiculous that a large percentage of times people come on saying they want to change their car the standard response seems to be 1) Don't waste your money and 2) Don't buy a diesel (especially a VAG). It may make some sense but I've no doubt the problems are overplayed too.

L-M

I think what we're missing here is that the OP, like most people at some point, wants to change up for a newer car, false economy it may be, but still.

And no OP, you won't get a 09 Avensis diesel for €9k and your Avensis! Unless you buy one with massive mileage, that is.

At last someone replies to the original topic! Are you a dealer Limerick Man? So if it came down to it, would you go with a Passat, Jetta or maybe even a Corolla 1.4 diesel?

Nonoperational

If it was me I'd drive the 3 of them if they are the 3 cars you like. One might stand out for you.

L-M

slookie wrote: »

At last someone replies to the original topic! Are you a dealer Limerick Man? So if it came down to it, would you go with a Passat, Jetta or maybe even a Corolla 1.4 diesel?

Depends on what you like, if you're buying 08 buy a 1.9TDI either Passat or Jetta, they're pretty much the same thing bar one is smaller. I've heard/seen lots of bad stories about the 2.0 TDI.

If you liked the Corolla, it's probably the best option. A friend of mine has a 1.4 diesel and it's an absolute and utter miser on juice.

Ya it's the 1.9 TDI I'd be getting anyway. Is there much of a difference economy wise between the 2? I assume the corolla would be the best of the 3 on juice.

HappyHouseWife

EPM wrote: »

I've had a dpf fail on a Skoda at 44k km. Myth? I dont think so.

Sorry EPM, I'm not saying that DMF or DPF failure is completely outside the realms of possibility, I'm saying that the standard mantra of "oh the VAG Tdi, yeah, the DPM/DPF will definitely fail/ give trouble" that is sh1ted out on this forum is a myth.

L-M

slookie wrote: »

Ya it's the 1.9 TDI I'd be getting anyway. Is there much of a difference economy wise between the 2? I assume the corolla would be the best of the 3 on juice.

You would assume right! For your kinda of driving anyway!

run_Forrest_run

thanks firefly08 for ending my petrol v diesel dilemma!
I have a similar commute to the OP definitely don't even do over 150 miles in a typical week..petrol for me

ofcork

I have seen over 50mpg on my 04 1.6 avensis keeping between 50 to 60mph but would be in the 30s normally.

johnos1984

HappyHouseWife wrote: »

Sorry EPM, I'm not saying that DMF or DPF failure is completely outside the realms of possibility, I'm saying that the standard mantra of "oh the VAG Tdi, yeah, the DPM/DPF will definitely fail/ give trouble" that is sh1ted out on this forum is a myth.

You avoided my simple question about what TDI engine, model and year your 4 diesel Skodas are.

It wouldgive us a clue as to why you never had any of the issues with DMF's and DPF's.

Or do you know why I'm asking

bazz26

Presuming HappyHouseWife is referring to owning Octavias. Majority of Octavias sold here were the 1.9TDi model (before it was replaced with the 1.6 TDi) which didn't have a DPF to fail. Plus it is an old design of an engine which were alot more reliable than the modern stuff we have today.

Also I had to replace a DPF on a 2006 Volvo S40 diesel at 85k miles, cost me almost €1000. Believe it or not most regular posters here are not making this stuff up.

Poulgorm

johnos1984 wrote: »

You avoided my simple question about what TDI engine, model and year your 4 diesel Skodas are.

It wouldgive us a clue as to why you never had any of the issues with DMF's and DPF's.

Or do you know why I'm asking

Probably don't have DPFs. No wonder they have not given trouble!

L-M

bazz26 wrote: »

Presuming HappyHouseWife is referring to owning Octavias. Majority of Octavias sold here were the 1.9TDi model (before it was replaced with the 1.6 TDi) which didn't have a DPF to fail. Plus it is an old design of an engine which were alot more reliable than the modern stuff we have today.

Also I had to replace a DPF on a 2006 Volvo S40 diesel at 85k miles, cost me almost €1000. Believe it or not most regular posters here are not making this stuff up.

Ouch! Could you not of had it removed instead? I've heard of alot of folk doing it recently? That's a nice dent in your yearly budget.

MugMugs

Limerick man wrote: »

Ouch! Could you not of had it removed instead? I've heard of alot of folk doing it recently? That's a nice dent in your yearly budget.

Would that no cause issues come NCT ?

bazz26

Limerick man wrote: »

Ouch! Could you not of had it removed instead? I've heard of alot of folk doing it recently? That's a nice dent in your yearly budget.

To be honest I didn't do enough research into getting it removed and I needed the car back on the road asap. I rang a few places already but didn't exactly get a vote of confidence from the people I was speaking to. Ended up selling the car privately about 5 months later and got good money for it anyway.

MugMugs wrote: »

Would that no cause issues come NCT ?

Afaik a car will not fail the NCT for having it's DPF removed.

MugMugs

bazz26 wrote: »

Afaik a car will not fail the NCT for having it's DPF removed.

Just assumed they'd be calling bluffs on the co2 motors next year.

You're taxed for ex output and with your DPF gone your smoke test reads wrong.

Kudos