Thinking of buying a b6

[andy pen]

Hi all ,having been without a passatb as my daily for 2 years now I'm thinking of getting a B6 on a 06 plate.
Now my old B5 was brilliant and so I wondered if the b6 is as good and generally as reliable as the old B5's are.
The same dealer has a B5.5 130 both are one owner cars so thought I'd ask you owners what you really think of them.!!!

[VwAdy]

Well put it this way..
I wish I had the body work of the B6 and the mechanics of the B.5.5
Avoid the 2.0 tdi diesels on the 06 plates because of the oil pump design fault and go for the 1.9 tdi which is the same engine in the B5.5 but 105bhp not 130bhp.
Just sold my 06 1.9 B6 with 210000 miles on clock for a 1.9 Bluemotion B6 and would have easy done 100,000 miles more..
Check for clutch judder if mileage around 100,000 & Cambelt done & check inside rear tyres tread for wear as the B6 is terrible for this..
What is your budget as you could get a 1.9 bluemotion for £4500/£5500 with 100,000 miles plus.. Ignore the mileage as most of these are motorway miles.
I got four of these for my business and all of them are now well over 100,000 miles and ALL drive like new with 55mpg average which is great as fuel is now £7.00 a gallon..:zx11:


Hi all ,having been without a passatb as my daily for 2 years now I'm thinking of getting a B6 on a 06 plate.
Now my old B5 was brilliant and so I wondered if the b6 is as good and generally as reliable as the old B5's are.
The same dealer has a B5.5 130 both are one owner cars so thought I'd ask you owners what you really think of them.!!!

[Dave_Bounce]

As said above the Passat B6 1.9TDI is a far more reliable car compared to the 2.0TDI. There is a big difference in power though the 1.9 being 105bhp while the 2.0 is 140, if power doesn't mean a whole lot to you then definately go for the 1.9 (even if power did mean alot you could always get the car remapped bringing it up to 130 or 140bhp).

I myself have a 2.0 TDI but the infamous injectors had been replaced a few months beforehand with new wiring looms by Volkswagen. I wouldn't touch a 2.0TDI that hasn't this done!!!

Check for the Dual Mass Flywheel as they give trouble in alot of the diesel Passats both 1.9 & 2.0 (including mine :zx11:) , listening for extra vibration or knocking coming from the engine bay and check the clutch pedal for vibration.

Test out the handbrake which is automatic as they can be know to give trouble also.

After that check things like CV boots but these aren't particularly costly to fix in comparison to the above. After that then check the usual others you would as with any other car.

Hope this helps ;)

[andy pen]

Thanks for the replies,the one I'm looking at is a 2.0 TDI 170.One owner and has had the injectors done under warrenty in 2011, with 112,000 miles on the clock.
I really like the look of these and the reviews seam to be a mixed bag ! But as with most reviews and forums you tend to hear mostly the bad,and after two years of a peugeot expert van I want something nice again. I dont need the van any more so was really interested in this car. He's asking £4400 which seams about right so going to have a look over the weekend and see what the history is like.
Thanks again for the replies I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
He's also got a 03 B5.5 estate PD130 SE 130,000 one owner so see what the B6 is like to drive and if any issues might just go for the B5.5 as that is much the same as my old 1998 B5 100 AFN I had and loved untill I needed the van. Decisions Decisions :D

[KN006]

Stay away from it as far as possible.
i have one' 2006 plate' 2.0 tdi 140 bhp. I have had it for about 2 yrs now, prior to that it belonged to a family member so i new the history of the car hence i bought it. But not impressed with it at all. injector problems, fuel pump replaced, airbag sensors conststantly coming on when i clean the car because connector is under the seat' other sensors popping on, rear tyres wearing abnormally on the inside, replaced 3 cv boots in the last year, clip that holds it cuts into it. shock absorbers changed........the list goes on. fuel consumption is not good compared to other makes such as a honda accord of similar age n mileage.
this is my first and last vw car. i had a honda accord b4 this and i have spent more money on this in a year than i had on honda in 4 years

[andy pen]

Hi KN thanks for the reply, keep hearing this although have been told that after 07 they are better but have now decided that I will probably look at a different make as I need reliability . Great sham as I think they look really stunning.
Been looking at X type jags but all sem very thread-bear in my price range locally so now looking at b5.5 passats instead of the newer ones as they are very close to my old B5. So the search goes on.

[Mike McKinstry]

Andy pen,
Like yourself have been looking for a while to change old B5.5 (200K) and would like another Passat but cannot afford the rear parking brake to leave me stranded somewhere(abroad)and have been looking at A4 avants which equally have dash pod issues ,egr issues,locking issues etc .Could only afford up to 07 B6 Passat so am likely to still have Passat EPB faults.
So what do you buy.............??Weird we are actually looking at going back years to find some reliability!!!!

BMW?

[KN006]

Hi Andy...... the b5 were a lot better, the b6 has really ruined VW reputation. i have a new problem with mine now' the yellow engine light has come on, looked in the manual and it says drive above 40mph for 15 mins to clear the DPF......browsed the internet and found that this model hasnt got a DPF.( passat 56 plate 2.0 tdi , BKP engine). some say it could b MAF, some say EGR ...... Last time it happened few weeks a go drove it around and the light went off, so i am gona try the same method again' see what happens. if any body has the same problem let me know how u solved it........ getting tired of this car.

[andy pen]

Hi KN006, took the day off yesterday to look at a few cars and good what some people call very good look like a dogs dinner half eaten to me, or in one case broke down on test drive !!!. So that exhausted the local X types and avensis so as if to tempt me again an 07 plate black se 140 passat turns up only 20 miles away.Do I go and look at the weekend and risk it or steer clear,as i am not sure when the better EPB units where fitted and will obviously be looking at the service history for injectors and oil pump and fuel pump and the more I write this the more I think I should just stop thinging about black B6's but I can't !! I think I need help

[Mike McKinstry]

Have seen a4 I like sound of but 128miles away-black B6 30 miles away-likelihood of EPB failure/steering column issues ?

[KN006]

If its only 20 miles away... Go n have a look, see wat u think, there's no harm in looking, it will give you some idea what they are like. They r nice cars to drive when they r in good working order, but when they start giving u problems( which is very likely) they r a pain in backside or should I say pocket...lol

[fat controller]

Hi KN thanks for the reply, keep hearing this although have been told that after 07 they are better but have now decided that I will probably look at a different make as I need reliability . Great sham as I think they look really stunning.
Been looking at X type jags but all sem very thread-bear in my price range locally so now looking at b5.5 passats instead of the newer ones as they are very close to my old B5. So the search goes on.

I used to have an X-Type - lovely car, but not without their issues. The petrols (2.5V6 and 3.0V6) are all wheel drive, and the tranfer boxes are known to fail, which is actually what made me get shot of mine. The diesels seem to be OK as they are front wheel drive only, and the engine is to all intents and purposes the Ford TDCi unit. Once thing to bear in mind however, the design of the car harks back to 1999/2000, and didn't really change all that much through its lifespan (barring cosmetic facelifts really), so good as they are, you can get better ride and handling from a newer design of vehicle.

[andy pen]

Well the problems really scared me off and even the good looks couldnt change my mind in the end so I'm now the owner of an X Type jaguar estate fully loaded and a very nice drive picking up over easter.
The long list of problems just put me off in the end so now the only VW will be our sharan and that has forgotten its supposed to have remote central locking and I cant find out whats stopped working !!!

[andy pen]

well the searching is over a the car is bought and now sitting at home and it is a ...................................
Well an X Type jaguar estate se fully loaded with all the toys.50+mpg on the run home and to be honest I love it.There dont seam to be any major problems with these and after lots of test drives in all sorts it is one of the nicest cars I have driven and for the age and mileage it looks lovely and a bit different too.I still like the looks of the B6 but I cant afford for it to let me down and they do seam to be a bag full of problems unless you are really lucky and I ai'nt so the Jag has won this one.
Thanks for all the replies and help but after the test drives the Jag was just the better car for me.

[DSG4ME]

well the searching is over a the car is bought and now sitting at home and it is a ...................................
Well an X Type jaguar estate se fully loaded with all the toys.50+mpg on the run home and to be honest I love it.There dont seam to be any major problems with these and after lots of test drives in all sorts it is one of the nicest cars I have driven and for the age and mileage it looks lovely and a bit different too.I still like the looks of the B6 but I cant afford for it to let me down and they do seam to be a bag full of problems unless you are really lucky and I ai'nt so the Jag has won this one.
Thanks for all the replies and help but after the test drives the Jag was just the better car for me.


It's a Mondeo in drag so you can expect it to have no more problems nor be any more expensive to fix than the Ford, I quite like the X myself fwiw.

[andy pen]

It's a Mondeo in drag so you can expect it to have no more problems nor be any more expensive to fix than the Ford, I quite like the X myself fwiw.

Prefer the mondeo in a dinner suite saying and I have driven a few ford mondeo's this is much nicer place to be and apparently its only 20% mondeo but that wont stop every one taking the p***. I love it (so far) an awful lot of car for small money and looks much better than a mondeo so unfortuntaly for VW I have changed camp Still got the sharan though;)