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There is also a Used Vehicle Warranty Law in Massachusetts that requires dealers to provide customers with a written warranty for 60 days or 2500 miles whichever comes first. The warranty requires the dealer to repair any defect that impairs the vehicle use or safety.
At this point in the market, the new one is less expensive. At least this is what my friend at the VW store claims, even though he claims also that used cars USED to be the highest gross profit.
You must do what makes you satisfied with the purchase. I can only repeat what my friend mentioned, and that is the "lower" cost would be with the lease on the new car.
He has no reason to suggest a more expensive alternative, so I put it here for your benefit and hope for the best.
My experience, thus far, tracks with my friend's assertion.
My 1.8T requires 5W40 (I use 0W40 Mobil 1 from short list meeting VW spec). I do not recall what are V6 requirements.
My 1.8T seems to not be using any oil (32000 miles).
Krzys
-- Student;
-- City Driver;
-- > 20 mi/gal needed;
-- 120 mi/day x 5 days/week;
-- minimal downtime/not in shop every other week.
And do you think the $6,250 offer is reasonable for the asking price?
Good luck!!
BTW, hope my post didn't come across as bragging. I was just trying to help the person in the Boston area. I've been to every dealer in Eastern Mass at one point or another and, despite that Quirk has a reputation and probably chews up the uninitiated and unprepared, they can still undercut anyone on a regular basis. Let me restate: It's probably because they're making huge margins on people who can't bargain that they can sell to the Edmund's crowd who knows what's what. Besides, who knows, others may have done better.
Thanks.
Eh, a lot of people on "other" Passat boards have cast a jaundiced eye on that "lifetime" AT fluid. Personally, I think I'm going to have the fluid changed out at 60,000 miles, as a preventative maintenance item. I plan to keep my wagon for 10 years, so this seems to be a relatively inexpensive issue, to me. YMMV.
Question (2) - My rear brake pads are badly worn and I tried to change them yesterday but could not push the caliper piston back into the caliper. On other cars I just crank it back in with a C-Clamp, but this time it wouldn't budge - Do I have to do some thing special to get it back in?
If the rear brakes are like the Passat's rear brakes, you need a brake retracting tool that will rotate as was as compress the piston. You can borrow one from AutoZone.
By the way product planning is VWoA domain and you cannot blame dealers for lack of particular models (i.e. AWD with manual).
I suspect that Euro diesels would not work well on US diesel fuel. You have to wait for low sulphur fuel to be able to use them.
Krzys
PS Who would service your Euro spec engine ? Not to mention that you would need to "federalize" your car (emission requirements must be met).
Thanks a lot for the tip on the brakes - I borrowed a tool from Murray's Discount Auto and it worked just fine. - I had always been able to just use a c-clamp in the past and wasn't aware of this type of arrangement
Well, I've got the 1.8T engine and I'm running 5w-40 Synthetic, year 'round. You posted on the Passat board and that engine (familiarly called the "2.slow" by many) wasn't used in the Passat (at least in North America).
When I had my '87 Golf (with the normally aspirated 1.8), it used a bit of oil between changes at times. I tended to run whatever was the thickest oil listed in the manual for the season on that engine - 20w-50 in summer, for sure. I can't recall what I ran in winter - maybe 10w-30?
I'm glad the tool tip helped you!
The dealer may be using dino 5w-30 because it's cheap, it's available in bulk, and, let's see....oh, yeah, it's cheap. BTW, did I mention it's cheap?
Snap-on (and others) make a special tool for the caliper pistons. Reference: Blue Point Universal Brake Caliper Tool Part # YA 8525. I think I paid about $80 for mine on Ebay.
http://www.europeancarweb.com/tech/0201ec_bigbrakes/
Sounds like you also need to replace your rear rotors. There is a TSB on premature rear brake wear. They know about it, they just won't help you with the cost to repair. (Ref. VW TSB..... Rear brake TSB Group No. 46, Number 00-01, issued Nov 27, 2000 4602-01 APR 02 Brake Pads (Rear) - Apparent Premature Wear)
Another dealer told me that I do not need to change it because the transmission fluid compartment is sealed.
I am confused as I intend to use the car for another two years and do not want the transmission to break on me. Can someone advise me please.
Just out of curiosity, could your unusually high repair costs (you mentioned $500 for new breaks which seems awfully high) be due to the fact that you are in India? (according to your profile anyway)
Just curious
we have a 2001 vw passat that is now in the shop for a broken timing belt and (surprise) they discovered oil sludge (the worst they'd ever seen...right) in the engine. We have provided all the oil change paperwork to the dealership for the extended warranty company and now the warranty company wants us to pay $200 to take off the oil pan and look at the sludge there. What gives? Any advice as to where this is going?
Easy thing to do is to go and change oil. Use the proper one. Mobil 1 0w40 (AutoZone or Walmart should have it) is good one. Have next oil change sooner than recomended 5000 miles (2500?).
Krzys
The Passat is outstanding in safety features (both active and passive), crashworthiness, and real-world safety performance. (A big study the IIHS just did of fatalities for the 2002 year found the Passat THE safest non-luxury car, by a wide margin.)
The Sonata is average or marginal. And unlike the Passat (or Camry) it doesn't offer the safety features that, according to research, make a huge difference- electronic skid control and head-curtain airbags (both of which VW offers for little extra money). My conclusion: if safety is a key concern, the Sonata's not a good choice yet. In the low-20s range, Passat and Camry are excellent.
Is this a common issue with Passats? 20k for new brakes, and the rears wearing first, with no option to turn rotors seems very short. The dealer stated this is typical wear for Passat rear brakes.
I am used to 30k to 40k on pads with rotors going 60k to 80k on previous cars, and fronts wearing first.
Any experience or information is appreciated. Also, is $411 reasonable for this service?
i'm really new to the VW passat scene and was wondering - does buying a higher end passat (i.e. the GLX over the GLS, etc.) mean the car will be safer? what difference does it make (i.e. why would consumer reports rank GLXs better than lower line models) also, what are the pros and cons to buying diesel vs. regular gas passat?
thanks!
The problem could be addressed by your dealer; $300-500 is unfortunately a common figure. Alternately, an indepdendent shop with a good reputation might be asked to use non-OEM parts of a longer life for $200-350. I am not there yet (2004 GLS wagon with 8K miles), but will consider it seriously.
To put this in perspective, my father's 1995 Lincoln had similarly thin rotors: the approach has become more common among manufacturers than any consumer might like.
I did want to clarify part of my original inquiry regarding the uselessness of any warranties. I was implying that without the documentation of the service check-ups being done, the remaining 4 year/50,000 warranty, the 8-year extended warranty offered by Volkswagen, and the Comprehensive Extended Warranty I purchased would not have paid for a replacement engine should the engine seize up. So, they are literally useless for insuring me against this specific issue if it occurred. Now that I have the Maintenance Manual stamped, they all should be effective and valid if the engine seizes up.
Just as a warning, the Service Manager at the dealership where I bought the car tried to tell me he was "pretty sure" that Volkswagen couldn't possibly expect me to have those service records and he was "pretty certain" that Volkswagen would still validate the 8-year extended warranty even without those records if something happened. When I called Volkswagen on the spot, the Customer Service Rep told me three things 1) She could not say for sure that VW would NOT validate the warranty 2) She could tell me that Volkswagen WAS requiring documentation for service check-ups and 3) She couldn't tell me what the dealership where I bought my car would do if the engine seized up. When I pressed the Salesman about whether this car was "Certified" and if they'd be backing up their sale if the engine did seize up, all he would say is that the car passed their "Certified Pre-Owed" inspection and that it was as good as it gets. But he wouldn't say the car was "Certified" or that if the engine seized up, they would replace it at no cost to me.
So, I'll call the Volkswagen Customer Relations line tomorrow and let you all know what happens next. Thank you!
I’m assuming that the reason it’s higher is the warm weather – we got up to 70 degrees today, whereas it was around 0 when the oil change happened. Presumably the oil (when the car’s been sitting in the sun all day) is warmer, and so the volume has expanded. I guess. (Is that right? The weather certainly explains why I had to let air out of the tires.)
But my real question: is this a problem? I know that overfilling oil can wreck an engine, but when does that happen – I would assume there would have to be A LOT ofextra oil to hurt it, not just a little, but I wanted to double check before my next trip.
Thanks. (BTW, it's Mobil 0w40, and the filter is the newer, larger one.)
Thanks.
You wrote:
"Actually, it is above the second bend - which is what the crosshatch pattern goes up to."
Then your dipstick is different from most. Mine has the upper bend, a small section without crosshatch, then the crosshatch.
The owner's manual shows a picture of it with a note that indicates that it is okay if the oil reaches into the smooth area between the upper bend and the crosshatch area, but not above the upper bend.
Anyway, look at both sides of the dipstick to determine the actual level of oil in the engine.
Any thoughts on whether I should buy it or give it back? I am more concerned with issues about maintenance/repair costs and reliability as opposed to the terms on the deal.
What should I look for prior to buying? What are the common problems that occur at what miles/age? Is a third party warranty a good idea/which company and type? Any suggestions, information or experience is appreciated.
Any information from anyone who has also bought off-lease from VW Credit would be appreciated, i.e. negotiation tactics or items, experience, etc...