Volkswagen Passat 2005 and earlier

vocus

Funny you should ask that. I am the one who responded about the child seats on the Jetta board. My best friend has 2 kids in car seats, and it's a little bit of a task to load them into the Jetta. Also, the front seats have to be moved forward a little so they are comfortable.

We went out in the Passat loaner last night, and it was great. Didn't have to move the seats up at all, and they had plenty of room. Defintely advise getting the Passat if you have kids/car seats to haul around. Worth the extra money.

lkuav8r

Hi,

I recently test drove a jetta, and brought my infant's child seat. The fit was too tight in the back center. It looked like I would have to move the front seat everytime I took the baby in/out. Comparing notes on the jetta board showed that owners backed this up (too tight). So, I started looking at the passat. Looks more roomy, but after doing the comparison is only 1.7" more legroom. Anybody use this car with a child seat?

Thanks!

vwguild

The paper tag that has the 4 digits is the RadioCode and belongs in the Sound System booklet
with your other manuals...it has nothing to do with changing the tires...

The *Monroney* Sticker should be on your car at the time you take delivery...it should not be
removed until after all of the contracts have been signed and you take title to the car...
It is only then that your sales person should Carefully remove it and give it to you...I stress
carefully because the glue VW is using is like
none I have ever seen...must be one of the rewards
from the Space Program...it is like a spot weld...

Congratulations!!! Welcome to the Volkswagen Family...

outrun

This is the second time I'm posting this, as the first message seemed to have been ignored by Edmunds...

We have an 8 week old,and a 20 month old, so one is forward facing, one is rear facing. I'm 6'3", my wife is 5'0". Car is an '02 Passat GLS 1.8T.

The rear-facing child seat needs the front seat to be pulled up about half way. That's fine if my wife is sitting in front of it, but I'd feel a little uncomfy in the front seat with it half way up.

The front-facing car seat is no problem. I can put him behind me (my seat is about 2-3 click from the back-most position), and he has enough leg room to not kick my seat.

It would be rather uncomfortable (for me) if we had two rear-facing seats in the Passat.

My wife drives an '01 RX300. There is more room for car seats in there, as the rear seat itself moves forward and back.

As a public service reminder, infants must be rear facing until they are 1 year old AND weigh 20 pounds.

-Craig

vocus

Rear-facing seats are a pain in the butt. When I used to go out with my friend when her kids were younger (they are a year apart, 2 and 3 now), I would borrow my mother's Pontiac Bonneville. There was plenty of room in that car for the rear-facing seats. I hated those things though, but I made sure they stayed in them until they were ready to go to the bigger seats.

pkradd

I've had my 2001.5 Passat for almost a year now and have never had squealing tires. I keep them properly inflated (they're Conti's) and try not to corner over 50 mph. My 15" wheels are fine.

caw103

vocus,

Sounds like you have a good dealership. There's only 1 VW dealer conveniently located from my home. Unfortunately it's the kind where you call to schedule a repair, show up and find out they don't have a certain part in stock, part is ordered, show up when part arrives, no one can find said part, reorder, etc. The next closest VW dealer is another 30 min away and not much better.

hoodornament,

I'm not losing any sleep over this, but a reason it's worth noting how Audi and VW shake out is that the company is committed to both brands. They haven't thrown out 2 entries in the car market just to see which one succeeds. If results are bad enough they could end up in financial straits that hinder future products. I doubt it will get that far, but it'll be interesting to follow.

caw103

Sometimes have a rear facing and a forward facing seat at the same time. The seat cannot be extended all the way back as others have said. In some other vehicles the 2 car seats can go side by side leaving a small but useful area by one of the doors. I can't manage this in the passat with my particular seats though. I can only get both in if they are each by the doors, which leaves empty space in the middle that I can't really utilize.

preppy155

it is a silver on black gls with lux, leather, monsoon, and homelink. we got lucky with the dealer and paid at invoice. i hope that everyone was right and there arent any rebates...

BTW- i thought the monsoon sounded great. and yes there is some turbo lag- thats to be expected.

pkradd

Welcome to the club. Is it Tiptronic or manual? Either way enjoy your car. I've had mine (reflex silver with grey cloth, lux, monsoon, homelink) for nearly a year. Just as fun to drive as when I first got it. No rattles, no problems so far.

aditkoff

I have a '92 stanza. My insurance is AMICA and I live iin NH. I investigated insurance premiums for the maxima, accord, camry and the passat.
The accord and the camry were about $200 over the stanza. The maxima was about $430 and the passat was about $480. I hope this infor helps.

spider6

Preppy, how did you manage to pay at invoice? If this blk GLS was an Auto then sticker is
$26880, invoice is $24509 and TMV on Edmunds is $25401. With no rebate and only 2%
dealer hold back, did you only pay $24509? plus extra fees? Port, doc, ad fee..
I can't imagine offer dealer with almost no profit that they would like it go... Did you have a
trade-in? Anyone else have comments on this one? I am totally puzzled..

barkasy1

I'm almost there. I put a $ 1,000.00 deposit on a 2002 GLX V6 Wagon (Variant). Silverstone Grey with Black Interior.

The car is listed as "IN TRANSIT", and was scheduled to go to another dealer. For some reason, my closest dealer couldn't get the car, but a dealer about 50 miles away said that they could. The Sales Manager said that he "got along" with the sales manager that the car was going to.

What a P.I.A. trying to find a Wagon (or is it now Wagen?) with the Silverstone and Black. Must be ugly or something since there are not many out there (lol).

Any last minute tips on getting the 4.9% x 48 months? Is the Finance Manager going to find a way to "Pluke" me? Will they truly be able to get that car? If so, where did I see that checklist? Doh!!

Dave ;^)

subzero206

thanks aditkoff and others for the info. i would still like to hear from others

spider6

Preppy, how did you manage to pay at invoice? If this blk GLS was an Auto then sticker is
$26880, invoice is $24509 and TMV on Edmunds is $25401. With no rebate and only 2%
dealer hold back, did you only pay $24509? plus extra fees? Port, doc, ad fee..
I can't imagine offer dealer with almost no profit that they would like it go... Did you have a
trade-in? Anyone else have comments on this one? I am totally puzzled..

preppy155

we were planning on buying a demo. they were giving us approximately 3750 off MSRP. they said that they would hold it for us, and they sold it out from under us. then, they had another demo they were going to hold for us, and, guess what, they sold that one out from under us. so, we made them sell us a new one at invoice cost. and i got a poster! not a bad deal.

vwguild

*A* Tier Rate is 3.9%/48Months & 4.9%/60Months

markcincinnati

How could a dealer promise one customer the car and then sell it to another? One time would be all I would take that kind of behavior. There must be more to it than that. Had you put any "good faith" money down? Had you signed a P.O.? Well maybe you did and that is why they rolled over for you. Good deal anyway.

Did you lick the door handle to "mark your territory?" (you know, like the commerical?). . .

spider6

vwguild, do you happen to know the 2003 pricing info yet? Since the sunroof is now
standard on the GLS how will the 2002 pricing compared to 2003 GLS? I am trying to
decide when to purchase the Passat. On one hand if I waited til July or August I should be
able to get a really good deal on the 2002 GLS, on the other hand what would I gain
by ordering the 03 GLS in terms of say further refinement or tweaks? So far, other than sunroof and traction control(option), I don't see VW is offering larger wheels on the GLS as standard
or sport package. The accessory wheels on VW site seem to be Audi stuff and inherently
high price. Any advice? Thanks!

irakorn

I have a 99 Passat with bad front wheel bearings. The car has only 33,000 miles and is out of warranty. Anyone have any experience getting non-warranty items covered?

vocus

I still have the Passat V6 loaner, and it's growing on me. I have liked the car since they came out anyway, but never drove one. One part of me kinda wishes I would have gotten a Passat instead of a Jetta, but too late now. This V6 is not as quick to jump as my 180hp turbo though, but it's still got alot of power under its belt. I like the car alot. It has almost 19K on it (from the dealer I guess), and no rattles or squeaks I hear.

vwguild

No pricing info yet, but I do not foresee any
thing significant in that regard...Base Price of 2003 GLS will be the same plus the addition of
$1550 for the Lux. Pkg.

ESP($280)will be available on all VWs...no other
significant changes.

The question of waiting has always presented the
same situation...Regardless of brand, you will
always be presented with the same dilemma..."Do
I get what I want, or do I get what is left over?"

You will, no doubt, save some money, but then you
will also have to be very flexible in your selection...

outrun

I wanted a GLS 1.8T, 5 speed, Lux, Leather, Monsoon, Homelink, Blue Anthracite/Black.

I ended up with a GLS 1.8T, 5 speed, Lux, Leather, Monsoon, Silverstone Gray/Black. I don't miss the Homelink, and I like Silverstone Gray more and more each day.

Was worth saving a few bucks and have the car now (for me).

-Craig

vocus

The loaner Passat I have (it's an "old style" 2001 GLS V6) is kinda grey looking, but the key tag says blue. What is the official name of this color? Thanks.

vocus

I only wanted the Homelink because it includes the expandable sunvisor. I would love to have that in my Jetta too, because the sun always seems to come back further than the visor will reach. Of course, I am 6'3 as well, and have the seat almost all the way back.

peachtree103

The next time you want to have a VW dealer hold a car for you, the proper procedure is to lick the door handle as others approach : )

Enjoy the Passat.

merckx

that would be anthracite,the color of the(2nd)love of my life,a 2001 Passat GLS.

pkradd

Here in South Florida that would be fine, but I'm afraid it might be a problem in Anchorage, say in February!. I suppose this is the human way of marking. My dog would do it differently!

barkasy1

Thanks, I would have lost a percent (lol). Wish you were here in Florida so I could buy my car from you. You have been nothing but helpful (OK, enough schmoozing).

I know this has been asked, but it didn't concern me before. How long is the max. time in transit to Brunswick, GA ? Any takers?

Craig, how do you like that color combo? It's the same as I'm getting (A a wagen though).

Oh well, now that I know I'm getting it (So the evil dealer says...he he) the wait will probaly kill me.

Is it here yet, is it here yet...

Dave ;^)

pkradd

I was lucky. When I went to my local dealer last April they had just gotten in about 25 2001.5 Passats. We drove over to the storage lot and I picked out mine - Reflex Silver GLS 1.8T Tip and drove it back to the dealer. It still had plastic wrap on it. They took about an hour and a half to prep it and I drove away with the car. No waiting. I had been there 2 days before and they did a credit check in the interim. It was the easiest purchase I ever made. I gave them a check and I was grinning ear to ear as I drove away. I had a '98 Toyota (leased) and had trouble getting a local dealer to take it back. The VW dealer took care of getting it back to Toyota for me.

hener

I agree that most of the posters here seem like first time vw owners. I've had 2 passats a 96 glx and my present 2002 gls, I also had a rabbit diesel. I liked the 96 passat the best which may be a shocker to most folks but it had more soul than my 2002 gls. The 1.8t is a great engine but the 2.8 vr6 was/is very unique, I'd like to drive the "new" vr6 to see the difference. The gls is much more refined and hopefully more reliable than my 96 glx.

vwguild

A couple of weeks from Emden to Brunswick(13-14)
days...If you have an order; get the Commission
Number and we can track it...name of the ship,
departure date, etc...Send me an email...don't
want to fill up this place with a lot of very personal stuff that is of no interest to anyone
else...

tmeframe

They're at dealers in DFW NOW, including Wagons, all with 4Motion.

pkradd

Saw the first commercial on TV last night.

skerner

Just picked up my Passat Glx on tuesday - silverstone w/black interior - enjoying the drive - looks great. Thought it strange that it has continental tires - is that normal?
Also - I've been reading posts about lag in acceleration - it seems kind of "balky" from 0 to a bout 20mph (I have the automatic w/tiptronic) - been reading about alternate chips. oh boy... I just got rid of my 300m and lived with it for 3 years with a dumb programable trani. Did I go from the frying pan into the fire?
I'll let the vw break in before I push it, handles great - any suggestions about the lag, please let me know - thanks.
steve

pkradd

My Passat came with them also. As far as the lag it seems it is part and parcel of the 4 cylinder of many cars. I had the same thing with my '95 and '98 Camry. Someone on this forum said it was a compromise in the computer programming of the Passat to keep gas mileage up. You may want to try manual shifting to get smoother acceleration. I'm used to it after 6 years of 4 bangers. Don't let it get you down, the Passat has much more to offer all around. I've had my 2001.5 for nearly a year now with no problems other then the normal hesitiation an low revs.

vbi4

Last evening, I drove home in my 2002 GLX, black/grey. I had to opt for the black (tied 1st choice) after it proved futile trying to get a blue anthracite/grey other than a factory order. I think that the feeling of owning a new German auto has still not sunk in fully. I am sure it will sink in and the car will begin to grow on me very soon.

I think I got a good deal too - $100 over invoice + $90 doc fee. All other standard charges and I was out of the door under 30K. I also got the 0.9%/24 VW Credit.

Thanks to everyone on this forum who helped me out all along the way these past 3-4 months since I started my research, etc... I am sure this is not going to be my last post in any way.

One last piece of business to take care of is to now to sell my '91 Camry LE (103K miles).... any takers

preppy155

What kind of leather care do youll use on your cars. i have black leather and i want to protect them, but i dont want the dreaded shiny seats. what have youll used. thanks.

vwguild

Go with good ole saddle soap...

husker_fan

Does anyone know how much it cost to get another Switchblade key fob with the keyless entry programmed? Also, i only got one with the car, is this normal?

frescovw

I just negotiated with my local dealer for the 2002 passat GLX and paid the TMV in Edmond's calculator. Should I have gone lower? Did those of you who bought the GLX pay extra for the tiptronic transmission? I did. The VW promotional booklet listed it as an option costing a bit over $1,000. The Edmond's calculator didn't mention it but did seem to include it judging from the price estimated.

vbi4

husker_fan.. you should ask your dealer for the second key. The PDI lists it as 2 + valet. You definitely should have been given 2 sets of keys and a valet key.

I am also curious to know what it costs to add a 3rd key.. the user manual says that one can have upto 4 programmed keys.

frescovw... I don't know which part of the country you live and how many VW dealers are competing for your business. Most dealers will take Edmunds TMV without any fuss. You can definitely do better. I live in NJ and if you read my earlier post from y'day, I just drove home my GLX for $100 over invoice (invoice is 27187 + port prep + floor plan + ad fees + dest charges = 27954) + $90 doc fee. This is almost $450 below TMV. With the 2003 models due to arrive shortly, if you shop around, you may be able to save a few hundred dollars. But you may have to hurry else you will have only the left overs to choose from. Yes, automatic + tiptronic costs $1000+ more.

vwguild

What do think about the CD Player?

itchmay

Hello everyone, I'm a first time visitor to the group, thinking of unloading an old C280 and replacing it with a Passat. Years ago, the idea of trading in a Mercedes for a VW would be a complete joke, but it is a testament to how far VW has come to say it's no big deal today. Anyway, I've scrolled down a hundred messages or so, and maybe I've missed a discussion on this, does anybody know more about the 2003 V8 model? Is this a time-tested engine that I need not worry about? Any links or "spy" photos, etc.?

Best regards to all, and thanks.

peachtree103

I'm not a regular here, but I did sit in a Passat W8 last week.

First off, it's a W8, not a V8. I believe, but will be quickly corrected if I'm wrong, that this is an engineering feat of welding two I-4's together. It definitely fills up the Passat's engine bay. Pricing is about $37K. It's arriving at dealers now. The dealer I was visiting had received 4 by last week. I didn't drive it, but it did look nice, and appeared to have interior upgrades over the base Passats, but, again, I'm no expert on these. Good Luck.

vwguild

You are 1/2 right...It is a W8, but it is actually
two 15 degree VR6 engines(short 2 on each) conjoined to create a W...Putting a great deal
of engine in a very small space...

Mitchell, if you go to www.VWVortex.com you will
discover Volkswagen heaven...lots of info on the
W8 and some interesting exchanges on the subject
in the *FORUMS* Tab under PASSAT(B5)...

Enjoy!

peachtree103

...I knew you'd have my back.

outrun

I absolutely love the color combo of Silverstone on Black leather. Although I do find Blue Anthracite a little classier, the Silverstone is a great second choice. Plus it hides dirt better.

-Craig

markcincinnati

Has been updated with a W8 configurator -- the only thing I thought that is missing is a 17" wheel/tire option.

The car looks great -- as much as I am Audi-biased, I still think this thing will sell like the proverbial hot cakes and it is THE BARGAIN of the year thus far.

I hope to drive one soon -- this car is very good for the marketplace, although somewhat confusing perhaps to some A4 and A6 shoppers who may feel the W8 is a bargain that is just too good to pass up.

With only 5,000 of these babies coming to the US, I can only assume they will be gone in a flash.

Thanks again to VW for the W8 Passat -- VW/Audi have "given" gifts to the market several times now -- the 1.8t engine, the 2.7T engine and now the Passat W8!

jake101

I am looking at the 1.8T Passat Auto and the sticker on the lot shows $25,705. It has the luxury pack.,cold weather, monsoon, and homelink. What kind of price can I give these guys and still be saving myself some money. I have NEVER bought a new car and need all the help I can get. Also, VW credit is running a .9% int rate till the end of april. Does anyone have any idea what kind of godlike credit one must have to be approved for this interest rate? Thanks for the help

Corey