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Comments
Speaking of which I've had to replace my battery 3 times on a '99.
Where in Canada are you? I just signed an order for an '03GLX wagon with ESP in Nova Scotia. Did you order or did you find one?
tom
And, like AirBags...really nice to have if you need them...
Also, the included maintenance isn't much more than an oil change every 10,000 miles. That's more like "included semi-maintenance". Plus one is pre-paying it (more or less) in the initial vehicle price.
-Craig
I found the Passat more comfortable than the A4, because the center console in the A4 is very protruding on front leg room (for me, anyway).
The piece with controls snaps apart - change battery.
The current B5.5 (2001.5+) Passat is actually a stiffened version of the previous A4 platform (by about 10%).
-Craig
Personally, I don't think it's final assembly, but I wonder about the quality of outside suppliers.
Does Europe have anything similar to Consumer Reports? It would be fascinating to see what they get for quality on the Golf and Jetta (Bora) compared to our versions.
I think it's the suppliers as well. But look at the window reg problem. VW knew about it back in 1999, and did nothing about it until now (02). That's rediculous. They are going to reimburse people for their expenses, but that's not something I wanna hear if I had to replace 5 or so regulators on my 1999.5 Jetta since I bought it. You know what I mean?
what happened is a driver cut me off and i did what the police said was, "over corrective evasive maneuver", in other words i avoided getting hit on passenger side of the car. there was no fault. anyway i steered off the road and something hit the bottom of the car.
the estimates for the repair: (engine oil pan $150.65 and labor to install $300, replace oil filter and oil $20; total estimate $470.65) (transmission oil pan $248.54, labor to install $200.00, transmission fluid replacement $97.50 total estimate $546.04) the rest will go to the black protective shield which i have the option to replace or not.
(GRAND TOTAL TO REPAIR IS ABOUT $1200+_).
why i hesitate to put a claim on my insurance. i live in texas. i have two claims 1. stolen vehicle claim 2. windshield replacement claim. the next claim my rate increases or i get dropped by my insurance. and besides i have a $500 deductible, that means the insurance will pay about $700 plus rental.
my 2002 passat has no other damage and only has 6091 miles. it should be back on the road in about 10 to 11 working days, if i decide to have it fixed at that dealership.
any other questions or comments will help. thanks
It's worth a shot.
Can anyone tell me a good price for this car not including sales tax, delivery, etc? ANyone bought under $30k?
You should have NO problem getting into a GLX with automatic/tip for under 30k (no 4-wheel drive), I just priced a loaded one on carsdirect.com for $28,700 (including delivery). With tax of 6% you are looking at $30,422. You can even do better, make a dealer an offer, invoice is about $28,100. You can save another grand if you go manual tranny (I prefer), regardless youre in good shape
They located one, on the ship to the states and marked it sold. Whether doing this pushed it through all the checkpoints, we'll never know. But after picking it up for a test drive, 6 times it made a strange grinding noise. Mainly when switching from reverse to drive. It happens after that first initial acceleration and can be felt under the accelerator pedal. It sounds like a pop can being crushed or chains rattling.
Needless to say, I drove it back to the dealer and told them they had a problem. When they called back 3 days later, they told me they couldn't hear anything. Classic answer. I truly loved that car, but how am I to know if this problem isn't the start of things to come?? I can't imagine this is normal. To anyone who has experienced this same problem, have you determined what is causing it?? If I don't find an honest answer, VW may be short a future owner.
I received a call from them last night and as it turns out, they did end up hearing it finally (3 people at the dealership did) and now they are trying to pinpoint the problem and get the go-ahead from VW to replace whatever it may be. They said something about the ABS but I was hoping that if anyone has had this same problem, they may have other ideas because I'm not so sure that is what it is.
They told me if they can't get it fixed, they are going to send the car back and get us a different one.
If the 15" wheels are steel, and you're getting 16" alloys, they MIGHT be lighter. But then you need to figure in more "tire" weight.
Rolling resistence (touring vs performance tires) and tire pressure are also factors in gas mileage.
While your at it, throw in camber and toe-in adjustments to affect gas mileage.
-Craig
See, we can get along! ;-)
I asked the dealer whether my warranty would get screwed up by putting 18 or 19 inch wheels on it and they said no, but cautioned that it would screw up my odometer readings...is this true? Seems to me the odometer is going to be driven by the axle turning, not the wheels (granted larger wheels would likely take you farther on the same # of revolutions of the axle).
Also, Can the driver's door be locked without using the key fob? I tried using the lock button on the door panel this a.m. and it locked everything but the driver's door.
Thanks
Secondly, the bigger tires will mess up your speedometer, don't know about odometer though.
The driver's door can't be locked without the remote. You can also use the key in the door, but not the button inside. You can, however, use the switch on the passenger door, but it won't activate the alarm.
For storage, the center armrest holds a surprising amount. You have to worry about your stuff being "sloppy" if you leave the armrest up though, and it gets in the way when shifting. I have a Jetta, pretty much the same layout inside. I use the ashtray thing to hold my cell phone when I am in the car. But no place for coins.
18's should be fine.
The odometer should always be be fine, but the speedometer will be off, unless you "upsize" according to the mathematical tire forumla, which I don't know.
But, I do have good news:
http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
Yes, it's a Miata site, but has a great tire calculator.
For example, if you HAD 195/65 15's (GLS standard), and go to 18's, a possible match would be 225/40 18's. It won't tell you the matching sizes - you need to play with the numbers on the new tire side. Stock would be 807 rev/mi. New would be 804 rev/mi. Close enough to not see a difference. 245/35 18's would be 815 rev/mi. Again, close enough. The bottom of the screen explains what's going to happen relating to the speedometer.
-Craig
Thanks again
The other car I am thinking about is the Subaru Legacy which I am sure handles well in the snow given the all-wheel drive.
Hey, regarding the break-in protocol:
The manual says don't use full throttle....logical. But it also says don't exceed 3/4 of the "top speed indicated on your speedometer." As the speedometer goes up to 160mph (which I seriously doubt the little four-banger can hit), does this mean I shouldn't exceed 120mph?????? (Can't be!!!) I have to admit, i'm having a hard time staying away from 80mph on the highway. How is this to be interpreted?
(by the way - what is the supposed top speed of the 1.8 turbo sedan w/ manual transm.?)
You should be fine with the 1.8T/FWD.
-Craig
And they do mean 120mph when talking about the speedo. Remember, these cars are Autobahn bread, where they are driven at that speed on a daily basis.
I think the top speed of the 1.8T is electronically limited to 140mph or something like that. Chip it, and you can easily get up to 150 or so.
The top speed of the 1.8T sedan is around 135mph I believe. Chipped, you're talking almost 150mph.
-Craig
First, if you change wheel size and tires, you may or may not screw up your speedometer and odometer readings. What counts is the rolling diameter of the wheels. Large diameter rims coupled with low profile tires may not make any change at all.
In any event, if you end up with a larger rolling diameter and change nothing else, your speedometer will read lower than your true ground speed and your odometer will read lower than your true distance traveled because both are sensed off the output speed of your transmission. With larger rolling diameter your output shaft speed will read lower for the same ground speed or distance travelled. With todays electronic speed sensing, likely a programming change could be implemented to correct for this. Older mechanical systems required a change in the speedometer/odometer drive gear to correct for this.
The effect on mileage could go a number of ways. Larger rolling diameter means you have slightly changed the effective gear ratio of driven wheels to engine speed. This might give you slightly better mileage. Also, rolling resistance of a larger diameter tire may be reduced. Actual wheel weight may also make a slight difference. The type of tire also makes a difference, so in changing to larger wheels and new tires, the actual effect on mileage is indeterminate. If you do not correct for potential speedometer/odometer error, it may look like your mileage goes down, because your odometer will read too low.
I just had to laugh that the manual seemed to be saying don't exceed 120mph during the break-in period!
Craig, as usual, sound advice...I think I'll keep it under 80 or 85mph for the first 1000 miles and will avoid winding her out. I'm really very impressed at the smoothness of the engine and transmission. Reeks of quality!
I was feeling remorseful yesterday when I traded in my Loaded 99 Grand Cherokee...despite all the bad press about repair records, etc. it really is an awesome vehicle (0-60 in around 6 secs. incredible offroad handling). BUT....I felt much better about it after my commute to Boston through the S turns on route 1 north today in the Passat. It IS a sweet machine.