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VW Passat Wagons (GL, GLS, GLX & W8)

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Comments

  • rklepperkleppe Member Posts: 2
    Am trying to find a Fresco with grey leather glx 4mo in about a 5 state area and can't. Is there some way I can search the whole country or North America?Anybody know?
  • 03honda03honda Member Posts: 96
    You can ask a local dealer to try to locate one for you...they were able to find our Fresco w/Black leather on a ship on its way over here within 2 days.
  • hiflyerhiflyer Member Posts: 79
    whskvs2,

    (Sorry been away for a while so doing a little catch-up.)

    Based on my experience during the last week, it's quite possible that you did need new brake rotors and pads, but the price of $900 was...(how can I say this delicately?)... a little high. As mentioned in my previous post (#1142)I suspected my car needed a little brake work too and I was right. When I brought my car in earlier this week to a local franchise muffler shop (I know the owner fairly well and he has done right by me in the past) I was told that my car needed new front rotors and pads ASAP although the rear pads could wait a little while. (The shop BTW is in Massachusetts in reference to other posts on this subject.)

    The shop manager was shocked that I got so many miles out of them since most cars like it (he specifically mentioned 3 Series and Volvos) need them replaced by 45,000 miles. He also mentioned that unlike the Golfs and the Jettas which have rotors costing about $30, the Passat's (because it is the "high-line" VW) cost closer to $100. He quoted a price of a little over $300 to do the front rotors and pads, which in hindsight seems quite reasonable. Some may think that the chain-store parts may not be the same quality as OEM, but the time I had the same shop replace all the pads on my previous '94 Integra, they seemed to have performed as well if not better than the originals even when they were new. I'll be running into the shop early next week to get the work done.

    All in all, given who else was with you, I don't have to tell you that you did the right thing.
  • allston2allston2 Member Posts: 2
    I've had a 1997 Passat GLX Wagon for 5 years now and even though I take exquisite care of the car, have found it unreliable: failed heater core; failed alternator; failed AC; check engine light that has illuminated 6 times in the last two years due to problems with failing sensors and hoses; automatic windows have been repaired 7 times (5 times on passenger side, twice on driver side); failed rear hatch struts; radiator leak; peeling door handles (replaced twice, still peeling); and broken latches on rear cargo holder. Most recently, last month the ignition switch went haywire and the car went dead on the freeway on me. (This is the fourth time we've had to have the car towed to a garage due to catastrophic failures.) We've also had problems with the car overheating--but the VW dealer has not been able to identify the source of the problem. Also suffered an incessant oil leak that two VW dealers took 5 tries to repair. We've spent $5000 dollars on repairs to our Passat in the last 3 years (not including normal scheduled maintenance costs and not including repairs that were covered under warranty.) Based on my experiences with my '97 Passat Wagon, I'd recommend looking for something more reliable.
  • hwyhobohwyhobo Member Posts: 265
    Holy smoke, alston2, and I thought my Kia Sephia was crappy.
  • csokicsoki Member Posts: 3
    allston2

    Thanks for the reply. My goodness, you have indeed had your hands full with that wagon. I was looking to find out if 97 was a decent production year for the passat, your experience doesn't fill me with optimism.

    Thanks again.
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    cruddy year for most VW sedans, especially the Passat, Jetta and Golf. The new models beginning in 1999 have absolutely nothing in common with their predecessors except names and a few styling cues. Just look back at Consumer Reports for that period, and the current JD Power ratings of VW reliability (the satisfaction index looks at 5 year-old vehicles.)
  • krzysskrzyss Member Posts: 849
    Passat (is it B4 platform ?)
    I have a Blue Wagon, all options but leather. It has never left me/us stranded but...
    The door handles are peeling (right, rear)
    The door lock died and was replaced (right, rear)
    2 02 sensors replaced, one during 50000 emissions warranty.
    Brakes (rotors) replaced once.
    High voltage wires - replaced (coils ?).
    The car has 96000 miles.

    Krzys

    PS It needed new battery after 2.5 years.
  • csokicsoki Member Posts: 3
    After further research, I will most likely continue my search and look for something newer, with less miles.

    Thanks for your input.
  • jrivard1jrivard1 Member Posts: 1
    I bought a 2000 Passat GLS V6 Wagon (New "Audi Based" Platform) with all options thinking that the "Bad old Days" were gone, and VW had finally figured out what most Japanese brands worked out 20 ago but apparently, they have not. Just like they said in all magazines, the car is an absolute delight to drive and performs well on all aspects. What the Mags don't tell you about is the ownership experience:

    Check airbag light: worked on 3 times before resolution

    Batteries : 3 (The car has 30,000 miles)

    Dead electrics on left rear door 2 times in the shop before resolution.

    CD Changer: dead 2 months after warranty expired.

    Windshield washer fluid leaking in the tailgate 6 months out of warranty.

    Interior dome light switch: falling off 6 months out of warranty.
    Wooden Shifter handle: cracked 6 months out of warranty.

    When we were shopping I was torn between the Saab 95 wagon and this one, I guess I should have bought the Saab. My 95 Saab convertible has over 100,000 miles and has had none this.

    I guess you could argue that these things are minor and they don't keep you off the road. I think that it is simply inexcusable in a car that stickers at about $30,000.00
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    they are annoying. Too bad about your Passat. Thats not the typical experience with that car, though. Mine's been nearly flawless for 48,000 miles. Overall they have been a bit better than average.
  • vdubyavdubya Member Posts: 2
    My 5month old GLS1.8T has recently

    had the engine cover underneath cracked

    and the clamp for the main front screw for the belly pan(directly under the front grill)

    broken. I've had the engine cover replaced ($160+tax) but the dealer is saying the clamp and 1/2 turn screw cannot be tightened properly because the plastic fitting for the clamp is broken off and is actually part of the radiator housing. Which would mean extensive work to remove the front end to get to it and repair. The wife says she didn't hit anything (yeh, right) but I could see how a good speed bump might give a good whack.

    Interesting thing is, I knew the problems where there and the dealer did an oil change and never brought them to my attention I pointed them out to them. Would they consider it normal wear and tear?


    Anyone have similiar situations or suggestions?

  • quinkiquinki Member Posts: 1
    Hi, I am trying to decide whether to purchase the GLX or W8 2003 Passat wagon. Is the W8 worth the extra 6-7K? What advantages does the W8 really have over the GLX? Opinions please. I am a salesperson and will be driving a lot. Thanks
  • khaleokhaleo Member Posts: 9
    I am thinking of purchasing a vw passat wagon... I found one in a used dealer car lot... its a 1999 and has 28000 miles... it look very clean... any recomendations on this car... he is asking $ 17,900 but he said its negotiable... based on Edmunds blue book is around $15000 -16000. My other option is to wait and buy a new A4 audi station wagon ... its a little out of my range but I love the design... any comments on both cars....
  • angelbugsfangelbugsf Member Posts: 5
    I bought a new '99 Passat wagon and loved it when I first bought it. But then several things made me come to hate it so much I sold it when it was three years old (last spring) and only had 30K miles on it. My main gripe was that I had the 4-cylinder and it was a TOTAL DOG on the freeways if there was any kind of grade. Driving out I-80 from the Bay Area to Sacramento, there's a long, fairly gentle grade through the Coast Ranges and I always had to start heading over for the right lanes when I approached it, because I couldn't even maintain the speed limit going up it. Pitiful. Ditto for going up hills in San Francisco, where I lived the whole time I owned it. I had to manually downshift my automatic to get up the street I lived on, something I never had to do with any other car the entire time I lived there. My secondary gripe was that I never got anywhere near the EPA estimated city mileage. Highway was fine; I got 28 mpg routinely. Unfortunately, during the time I owned the car I drove mostly in the city and rarely got over 13 mpg. On premium gas. Ouch. They are also extremely costly to maintain because they require servicing so often (compared to the Japanese cars I've usually owned). I wouldn't mind that so much if I had a car that performed really well, but to spend that much for a 20K mile service on a car that can barely climb a hill is a real annoyance. So if you want a '99 Passat, I would advise being wary of the 4-cylinder. My neighbor where I live now has a newer 6-cylinder sedan and he loves it.
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    That's odd - That's the ONE complaint I've never heard about the 1.8t. You sure the turbo was functioning properly? Or was it maybe a '98?
  • altair4altair4 Member Posts: 1,469
    Something was definitely wrong with your car...diverter valve shot? I don't pull over into the slow lane on any hill!
  • dudleyrdudleyr Member Posts: 3,469
    If you do a lot of driving consider the 1.8. It will get better mileage, and has more than enough pep on the highway. It costs much less, and the ride is as good as the others.

    Have you thought about a Jetta TDI wagon?
  • khaleokhaleo Member Posts: 9
    thank you - anglebugsf
  • mauislickmauislick Member Posts: 107
    save yourself the trouble BUY NEW get the 4 yr warrenty, the 170 hp 1.8t (99 was 150 hp) and be on your merry way.....I punched in a 03 gls wagon(leather,monsoon,esp, tip) on www.carsdirect and it came up 100.00 under invoice for the santa barbara area........shop ! the economy sucks....the dealers are looking to unload....... the cars have gotten better (well except the "h" series coil packs) look for "J" series
  • khaleokhaleo Member Posts: 9
    thx for the response ... I am not sure what is the difference between the J and h series... could you explain please...
  • altair4altair4 Member Posts: 1,469
    ...the coil packs on the sparkplugs on the engine. The "h" series are proving to have a high failure rate. When they fail, the engine mis-fires, you get a "check engine" light as the car is running on less than all 4 cylinders, and the parts have been known to be on back order at certain times and in certain places.

    The "j" series are the replacement parts, apparently manufactured by another supplier. I've read, but not been able to verify, that most 03's have the "j" series. Don't know what the change-over date was.
  • khaleokhaleo Member Posts: 9
    thx for ur input...So, 1) does that mean I need to check under the hood and or ask the sales person the question is this j or h series....
    2)and do u know if this is also true on the 6 cylinder engines.
    3)what is ur input regarding 4 vs 6 cylinder on the passat.
    thx...
  • khaleokhaleo Member Posts: 9
    Seems like u got a good deal $100 below invoice ... Congratulations then and happy miles... :]
  • nedzelnedzel Member Posts: 787
    You should be able to get a large discount on the W8, as VWOA can't give them away. It will be somewhat faster than the GLX 4-motion, but not a whole lot, and gas mileage will be poor.
  • altair4altair4 Member Posts: 1,469
    Let's go one by one:


    1) Doubt that your salesperson would know what the h*ll you're talking about. If you check on clubb5.com (once there, use the search for coil packs), to see the subtle visual difference. Here's the link (yeah, I started that thread on Clubb5 :-)):


    http://clubb5.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=30923


    But it's not that easy to do, since the engine is under a shroud, under the hood. Coil packs are covered under the warranty; I'm not worrying about it. Autoweek (on line) had an article saying the problem was limited to the 1.8T engine and to model years 2001 and 2002.


    2) No idea if this applies to V-6 as well as 4. I have a 4, so I haven't really been watching for what's happening to the V-6 players. If the Autoweek article (Edmunds wouldn't let me post the link, it's too long) is to be believed, then it's only the 4 cylinder models.


    3) As I said, I have the 4. It's economical, more than sufficiently powerful ( I don't pull over for anyone, if the spirit moves me), less costly than the V-6 to purchase and maintain, and has more aftermarket performance options (due to the ability to modify the engine's chip which controls the engine electronics and the turbo). Personally, the last item doesn't interest me, but it is true. I think you really need to test drive them back to back. Availability may be an issue, I didn't see that many V-6 equipped models when I shopped.


    Take a visit to Clubb5.com and lurk a bit. You'll find a lot of information, a mostly friendly group, and lots of support for the Passat owner (or future owner). I hung out there for almost a year before buying our wagon.


    There's also vwvortex.com, which deals with all models of VW's, not just the Passat. The Passat board is not as active as Clubb5, but still some interesting stuff.


    By the way, you'll see a number of the people from here on one or both of these other sites.


    Good luck!

  • khaleokhaleo Member Posts: 9
    Hey thx for all of your input... I think I will go test drive both cars the 4 and the 6.... The link is great.... ty...I still need to linguer some more though....wishing you all happy holidays...
  • mauislickmauislick Member Posts: 107
    Im afraid I didn't pay that that's just what came up on cars direct for the SB area.....I'm paying more here in hawaii, unfortunatly but still great my car is in san diego waiting to go throught the port process......hopefully will see in in mid jan
  • wolfwoodwolfwood Member Posts: 8
    Wow, that was good deal. I wish I knew this before. I just bought 03 GLX wagon $500 above the invoice, I thought even this deal was good.

    Anyway, that is OK, since I love my car so far, except my radio which does not accept safety code. I have been waiting for about a week to replace it...
  • folksw2002folksw2002 Member Posts: 1
    Hi guys,
    I’m shopping around for GLS 2003 with ESP, Monsoon and leather package.
    Different dealers have shown their Invoice prices for this type of vehicles
    and I can see these figures are dissimilar.
    Could anybody advise me what is the Real Invoice price for this car?
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    The question is does the one they show you contain the ad fee, destination charge, doc fees, etc.? Show them the invoice you have and ask them to break theirs down. All of these are legitimate and not necessarily negotiable.

    A better approach is to do your research and determine the out-the-door price you want to buy at and offer that, specifying what is included (e.g., I'll offer $23,500 including all charges except state fees and taxes.) That way you don't have to worry with the dealer's cost on the car.
  • wolfwoodwolfwood Member Posts: 8
    I also saw invoice prices at dealers different from invoice prices on some web sites. Finally, I requested the dealer I bough from to show me the document of their purchase from manufacturer. Then I agreed to give them $500...

    So, you might be able to ask for the same document too.
  • markjennmarkjenn Member Posts: 1,142
    A word of caution: When someone says they paid "$100 over invoice" you often don't know the true basis of "invoice". Some dealers add regional advertising fees, other marketing fees, doc charges, port fees, or do other things to get the invoice price up and get people to think they're paying a lower amount over invoice. And they often trade in a car so the math gets real fuzzy depending on the true value of the trade-in.

    And markets vary from region to region and even day to day.

    Bottom line: Don't obsess over hitting some target $x over invoice that you heard someone get over the internet. You probably don't have a good basis to be using other deals as hard-core benchmarks for your deal. Get a general idea of the market to set expectations, but the key to getting the best price in YOUR market is negotiationing with two or more dealers simultaneously. And if a dealer treats you well in the sales process and is offering a reasonable deal, just take it! Folks get very hung up on getting the absolutely lowest price, but getting that last $100 may not be worth the effort.

    - Mark
  • altair4altair4 Member Posts: 1,469
    I'd agree that some people really enjoy digging for that last "c" note. I think it comes from the feeling that many people have that they've been abused by a car salesman at some point in their lives and if they get the chance, they'll give the screw back.

    I researched my numbers, made what I considered a reasonable offer, they countered, I countered and a deal was reached. 75% of this I did through e-mail with my local dealer. We all left feeling okay about the deal. I don't see any point in spending hours trying for that last $100. Geez, your time has some value to it, as well.
  • wolfwoodwolfwood Member Posts: 8
    Thanks for the good info. I will research more carefully next time...

    Anyway, since I love my car, I don't care too much if I paid only a little more than somebody. That price was the reasonable "value" of the car to me.
  • 4petite4petite Member Posts: 30
    I am considering the Passat GLS wagon and have a question about the child tethers. I noticed they are located on the backs of the rear, fold-down seats. So my question is when you have large cargo that requires you to fold down the rear seats, do the tethers get in the way when you need to slide something in or have something large (e.g. table top) that wants to lay flat?
  • vwguildvwguild Member Posts: 1,620
    The Back seats split 60/40...Table on one side
    Child seat on the other...
  • 4petite4petite Member Posts: 30
    Last week in the paper (SF area) a dealership posted $2777 under MSRP for all wagons. I e-mailed and verified the price. It comes to around $900 under invoice. I was wondering if anyone knows about any incentives these dealers are getting and if others are finding similar deals?
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    The tethers have never bothered us. We travel often with the seats down and the back filled with camping gear etc. If I were carrying furniture I would throw a blanket down under it anyway to protect the wood surface.
  • sschilfsschilf Member Posts: 63
    What was the dealer in the SF area with this deal? Thanks
  • 4petite4petite Member Posts: 30
    The ad was from Dirito VW, but I think it was only good for last weekend. Also I noticed on the base model the savings is more like $600, not $900, off dealer invoice. I also had other dealers match it so I'd check in the paper and take the lowest price you find to any dealer. Let me know what you find.

    Is there a review of the plain old FWD GLS model? Everything I find is for either a 4motion or GLX V6.
  • mauislickmauislick Member Posts: 107
    gls review......get one.......I will be getting my second one (first one totaled in rear ender) in a couple of weeks.......couldn't find anything else that was decent in the price range....the 1.8t has 170hp and it was plenty fast for me ( island driving no freeways) if you need more juice you can chip it......decent gas milage ( around 24 for me) I guess better on the hiways......get the wagon
    for the other poster the child seat tethers weren's a problem as I put good old cardboard down to protect the cargo floor...I will be getting a "car box" mat for the new car It is designed to cover all WITH the seat folded down
  • 4petite4petite Member Posts: 30
    Easy question... I was reading through the car reviews and realized the cruise control buttons are on the steering wheel for leather interior models. Is it the same for the base, cloth interior model or are the located elsewhere? I can't remember from my test drive nor can I find an interior photo of a non-leather Passat.

    Also, what's a good place to look at accessories, such as a rubber cargo mat, for Passat wagons? I'd like to get an idea of what's available and the prices.

    Thanks.
  • tamkinstamkins Member Posts: 8
    In my GLS, the cruise control buttons are on the turn signal lever.

    A few times lately, while driving in town, my car makes a chime sound (a fairly pleasant one). It just does this once, and the outside temperature display blinks for a little while. Does anyone know what this means?
  • altair4altair4 Member Posts: 1,469
    Yep, the temperature outside your car is now cool enough to generate black ice on the roadway. I believe the chime comes on at 39 degree F. It's a warning for you to be careful. There's a section in the owner's manual that details this feature.
  • mauislickmauislick Member Posts: 107
    weathertech car mats can be had at o'neill automotive,...punch in "weathertech" and their site should come up...

    also www.mats4less.com for a variety of mats including the german "car box" brand.....

    www.vwparts.com

    for the MB cargo net(fits the passat wagon nicely and only 25 bucks) I think it's www.claireparts.com
    check out www.clubB5.com and vwvortex.com for more info on aftermarket stuff....
    with leater seats cruise control on stem and steering wheel.....
  • altair4altair4 Member Posts: 1,469
    Claireparts.com didn't work for me...but I found this one:


    http://store.yahoo.com/parkplacemotorcars/elfloorcarne.html


    $29 US plus I think $3.50 shipping.

  • tamkinstamkins Member Posts: 8
    Thanks for the explanation for the chime. I had noticed it always flashed 39 degrees at that time, but I wasn't sure if the chime indicated a thermometer malfunction, the border between each ten degrees, or what. (I did read the manual, but not with that chime in mind, and I must have missed it.)
  • alfoxalfox Member Posts: 708
    I think at 29 degrees (when snow melt will begin to freeze on an otherwise warm road road) and yet again at 23 (when road salt begins to lose effect.)
  • altair4altair4 Member Posts: 1,469
    I dunno about it sounding again at 29 degrees. I know that the snowflake icon disappears if the temperature drops below a certain point...low twenties, I think?

    Found it! The range is about 4 degrees C to -4 degrees C, or about 39 degrees F to 23 degress F. Then the snowflake disappears.
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