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Most VW dealers have very minimal training on TDI's and I'm guessing many of the techs sleep through it. There are some good dealers out there, but finding one can be a project in itself. It's the biggest short-fall of the TDI...a poor dealer support network. I don't recommend a TDI to anyone that's not capable of doing their own maintenance/repairs. They're actually pretty easy to work on if you research the problem properly and follow the factory repair manual. But dealers get paid very little to diagnose warranty problems and a set amount to repalce parts, so it's easy to just throw parts at it and hope something sticks.
If you're going to keep the car, you have three choices. (a) Research and find a very good dealer that knows what they're doing and use them. (b) Find a good TDI specialist that can do the repair and you'll have to pay for it. (c) Research/diagnose the problem yourself and fix it or steer the dealership to what you believe it needs. tdiclub.com is a good place to start trouble-shooting.
I ended up taking to West Houston VW dealership. Dropped it off on Friday night after hours. They got it done by 1:30 PM on Saturday and the cost was $1300.45. To their credit, they gave me 2-3 things to keep an eye on on the Passat ... leaky engine mounts, suspension control arms and front brake pads. No hard sell on their part for additiona services.
Altogether a relatively pleasant experience ... if you ignore the $1300 part ;-)
My main requirements are comfortable seating for 4, power seats with lumbar support, no sunroof and a stick shift. I would like to have leather or vinyl.
Right now this configuration is pretty hard to come by. An Accord SE would be perfect but it is automatic only. Maybe they will offer something with the redesign.
Love the huge back seats in the Passat and the great mileage. It is definitely near the top of my list. Nissan and Toyota are out since they dropped the stick. Honda may be in the game depending how things shake up with the redesign. Ford will have a stick on the Fusion, but not too crazy about the 1.6 ecoboost - seems like it would be high strung and mpg is no better than 2.5 liter Altima, so what is the point of the tiny engine.
So I am hoping reliability is at least a little above average for the Passat.
Things I think VW can improve on.... I get a really sore tail bone every time I drive it for more than an hour. - seats need some improvement.
There is a surge of power when accelerating from a stop light....(abnormal surge) like you either accelerate really slow or spin the tires.... type thing.
when letting off the gas at a slow speed there is a "putting the brakes on slightly" feeling that is too aggressive.
Those are my only faults with the car. otherwise we love it so far... have owned it for a little over a month.
I have actually only used the sport mode once... it was fun! I should use it more!
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Wow, it has been a long time since anyone posted. We just got my wife a 2014, and this is a great car. It accelerates and handles extremely well, the DSG transmission is really neat, the handling is nimble (and like a much smaller car), the ride is great, and the rear seat room won over the kids immediately. This is a great car. For such a small engine, it really pulls well at every speed we've tried.
Hope everyone is having better luck than we have. We bought a TDI new a little over a year ago. It has been in the shop 3 times so far and we had to pay for a new battery besides those times. It is in the shop again for the last few days after the dash lit up like a christmas tree with every warning light on. (Did you know the battery is only warrantied for 25k miles?) If I wouldn't lose so much money I would get rid of this car. I had hoped when I bought it that VW had fixed their quality issues but it doesn't appear that way.
I do not currently have a 14/15 Passat TDI, but it would be on my list, if I was in the market for a TDI.
I would give VW Customer Care a shout out and a shot !!
Just bought a 2014 Passat TDI SEL Premium - my previous 2013 Prius v5 was rear ended and totaled. Bummed about buying a new car because I did like the Prius v, but the Passat TDI was on my list before I bought the Prius in April 2013. Since a new car purchase was the farthest thing from my mind, even though the Passat was roughly the same price as the Prius v, I of course won't recoup the depreciation so it felt like money taken out of my pocket by the other driver's insurance company.
Every car I've owned had something that had to be corrected right after purchase or a part went bad during warranty. I had a battery go dead on a 4 mo old Honda Accord - replaced free of course. I had two Prius's before and had to have the steering wheel straightened on both - it's an odd shape doesn't look right if it's not straight. Love the MPG's I'm getting, nearly as good as the Prius v - reason why I bought - and it's a top safety pick which the Prius v was not.
Considering a 2014 Passat TDi with sunroof and nav. MSRP is 31430. Dealer is showing a sale price of 26,865. I qualify for the zero percent, but was told by the dealer that $750 goes back into the price of vehicle if I take zero percent interest. Is this correct?
tax rate is 8.25%. plus destination fee of $820. plus reg fees of about $300. monthly payments are $527. Does this sound good?