Purchase of Passat B6

[WinDrop]

Hi Guys,

I am lucky to find this forum where all you help everybody else who is interested in buying or already is a happy owner of VW Passat :)

I have a questions. I am currently looking to buy VW Passat B6.

What would you recommend to look out from? What are the common faults with it?
I have heard that 2.0L Engines are really bad and that's why I am looking for 1.9L models only.
Is this true? Should I exclude 2.0L engines from my list or are they as good as 1.9L?

Also, I see that most of the cars have 120K+ miles on the clock. And this is for 2007-2008 year cars. Is that a bit too much?
They are selling for a price between £4,000-£4,500. Just wondering, is it a good price for such a huge mileage?

Hope to hear from you soon.

Thanks.

[armstern3]

I would not exclude the 2.0T engines, the reason people feel that they leave things to be desired is because they required a tad more maintenance. The first thing you should know about these engines is that the high pressure fuel pump is driven by the intake cam, and there is a small part called the cam follower that sits between the two. The cam follower is known to fail and cause damages to the cam itself, if I get this engine that would be the first order of bussiness. The follower is about 50.00 us so it is worth to change out, unless you know for a fact that it has been changed in the past 10K miles.

Another 2.0T affliction is the carbon buildup due to oily waist being recirculated to the intake. This is a bigger deal on these engines because the are direct injection, meaning fuel gets dumped directly in the cylinders. The fuel cannot wash some of the carbon away like it does in others. So the passat needs it's valves cleaned every so often.

Besides the previously stated caveats, this is an awesome engine and pretty responsive. I'm sure more people will chime in to expose other things but as far as I know this are the biggest issues I've encountered.

[Teflon]

All the gripes and grizzles are about the old 2.0 PD engine. You're on much safer ground with a common rail 2.0 engine, which came in mid-2008. Check carefully to make sure that's what the car has, don't believe the joker selling the car.

[Quatrelle]

If you are going to buy a diesel, buy a 1.9, unless you can afford to buy a 2008, or later, car. As Teflon says, the 2.0 PD, 2005-late 2007, are best avoided. How much are you going to spend?

[WinDrop]

Hi Guys,

I am looking to spend a maximum of £4000
I assume that in this case I should look for 2006-2007 1.9L engine as I doubt that I will be able to find something from 2008+ in this price range.
Who will sell 2008 car for £4K? well...unless there is something wrong with it... :)

[Quatrelle]

Yes, I think you've answered your own questions. If you really want a diesel Passat, a 1.9 2006-7 would be the one to go for.

Take your time, there'll be a lot of rubbish available.

[armstern3]

This whole time I thought that you were referring to diesels and 2.0t gas engines. My apologies, I haven't a clue when it comes to 2.0L Diesel engines.

[RichardSEL]

I thought you were giving good advice! Unless OP is planning on doing more than 10k per year, the extra cost £mpg petrol vs diesel (and all the risks, DPF, etc) are just not worth choosing a "bag of spanners". Why take the risk?

[WinDrop]

Hi Guys,

So I have realized that there are not many 1.9L engines near Northampton for sale.
If they are they are very expensive or with like 160K+ miles.

Now, if I am going to look at 2.0L engines what should I check for?
What has to be changed in them every year or so?

As far as I understand water pumps fail on them quite often so that's something that has to be checked have it been changed recently. Right?

Anything else I should check for in the paperwork?

[VwAdy]

Hi Guys,

So I have realized that there are not many 1.9L engines near Northampton for sale.
If they are they are very expensive or with like 160K+ miles.

Now, if I am going to look at 2.0L engines what should I check for?
What has to be changed in them every year or so?

As far as I understand water pumps fail on them quite often so that's something that has to be checked have it been changed recently. Right?

Anything else I should check for in the paperwork?

The 2.0L engines are a bit of a gamble ask anyone on here!!

You have to be prepared to travel to get the right sort of car as I have been there many times..

Have a look at this one not too far from you..

2008 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT 1.9 BlueMotion TDI DPF 5dr | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-VOLKSWAGEN-PASSAT-1-9-BlueMotion-TDI-DPF-5dr-/261415737550?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3cdd9798ce)

I Have had three of these and they are great especially the 1.9 engine in these which are slightly different to the normal 1.9 se and s models.

This is a bluemotion with parking sensors which is a must in these..they have cruise control as standard..and return 60 plus mpg and lower to tax £110.

They sit slightly lower and have a taller 5th gear to give better mpg..(basically six gear gearing)

Don't worry about the mileage as long as the cam belt has been done which this has and no judder in the clutch I would consider this model for sale..

But the only problem I get with these bluemo`s is it bottoming out which happens so often as they sit to low with the soft suspension settings.

This one ticks all the boxes mate..

Ps..Just noticed in the pics that the osf bumper lower wing has a scuff in the pic so you could negotiate the price but for the mileage you would expect a few marks.
Also it has not got factory fitted parking sensors they are custom fitted type front and rear with a push button switch in pic near to the right of the gear knob..For someone to pay to have these fitted might have been a careful owner as it is not cheap to have this done especially the fronts which this has hence the push button switch to operate the fronts..

[WinDrop]

The 2.0L engines are a bit of a gamble ask anyone on here!!

You have to be prepared to travel to get the right sort of car as I have been there many times..

Have a look at this one not too far from you..

2008 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT 1.9 BlueMotion TDI DPF 5dr | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-VOLKSWAGEN-PASSAT-1-9-BlueMotion-TDI-DPF-5dr-/261415737550?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3cdd9798ce)

I Have had three of these and they are great especially the 1.9 engine in these which are slightly different to the normal 1.9 se and s models.

This is a bluemotion with parking sensors which is a must in these..they have cruise control as standard..and return 60 plus mpg and lower to tax £110.

They sit slightly lower and have a taller 5th gear to give better mpg..(basically six gear gearing)

Don't worry about the mileage as long as the cam belt has been done which this has and no judder in the clutch I would consider this model for sale..

But the only problem I get with these bluemo`s is it bottoming out which happens so often as they sit to low with the soft suspension settings.

This one ticks all the boxes mate..

Hi Mate,

Thanks for the suggestion but I am looking for a saloon car.
Estate is way too long for me.

I have seen quite a few cars with like 160K+ miles.
Would you recommend to even look at them? Is it worth the time and effort?
I understand that cambelt, water pump and clutch are most expensive things to change but what about rest of the engine?
I know that 1.9L engines are one of the best ones VW have, specially if you compare them to 2.0L engines. But I am not sure how badly they wore out over time.

The problem is that my budget is not that huge. It's only £4,000 and my wife is completely against VW Gold although they are nice little runners.

Would you recommend me to look at something else or still stick to the VW Passat but just be patience and take my time?

Also, couple of things I would like to ask about engine in VW.

I looked at one 1.9L Passat Year 2007.
When I took out dipstick I saw quite a bit of white smoke coming out of it. I think that this has something to do with head gasket. Like antifreeze getting into oil bay or something like that...
Also, had two cars with another problem.

I started it up and I could hear some weird metallic knocking noise.
I did a test drive and clutch seemed to be fine. All the gears were fine, no problem in changing them.
But once I parked and opened the bonnet it started again.
Can this be clutch? Flywheel?
One of the cars was at 138K other one at 111K
I assume that this is the right time to change clutch and that might be the reason why it was knocking but then why I was able to switch gears smoothly?

Sorry if my English doesn't make any sense. It's not my first language.
Also, sorry for such a huge amount of questions.
£4,000 is quite huge amount of money for myself and I want to make sure that I buy the right car for this price.

Thanks.

[VwAdy]

The saloon is the same length and the estates hold there money better..And looks better but that's my opinion.
The estate is a great all-rounder..

You seam to know what to look for and the above car sounds like it going to give problems..
The knocking noise was possibly the expensive DMF (flywheel) £600-£900 bill.
Honestly the bluemotions are great .
I had a 1.9s and when I changed to 1.9 bluemotion it drove better was quieter as the lower gearing and has all the niggles sorted as this was the last of the updated models using the 1.9 engine (Diff turbo and engine maps)

[WinDrop]

The saloon is the same length and the estates hold there money better..And looks better but that's my opinion.
The estate is a great all-rounder..

You seam to know what to look for and the above car sounds like it going to give problems..
The knocking noise was possibly the expensive DMF (flywheel) £600-£900 bill.
Honestly the bluemotions are great .
I had a 1.9s and when I changed to 1.9 bluemotion it drove better was quieter as the lower gearing and has all the niggles sorted as this was the last of the updated models using the 1.9 engine (Diff turbo and engine maps)

Yeah, I have heard quite a few nice things about Bluemotion engines.
Less CO2 which results in less tax.
Also quite better MPG and performance on them.
The only problem is that they started to release them in 2008+ hence the price on saloons will be like £5.5K+ which I unfortunately don't have :(

I cannot say that I know what I am looking for...I have had fixed quite a few things in my own car but I am nowhere near to actually understand all the bits and peaces that I need to look for when I buy a new one hence I always try to get my friend with me who is an actual mechanic. However he is not always available and that's the reason why I would like to know as much as I can about these cars so that I don't make a terrible mistake buying something that will fall apart after a month or two.

I agree that estates are awesome but for some reason I just don't like them. As you said, saloons look better :)
They do seem to be a little bit longer then saloon cars and I'm afraid that it will be hard to drive it for first couple of weeks as at the moment I'm driving little ford focus hatchback :)

Thanks for all advises.
Will just keep looking and hopefully will find something worthily soon enough :)

[VwAdy]

Local to you..
VW PASSAT VERY GOOD CAR | Alum Rock | Gumtree (http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/vw-passat-very-good-car/1054739578)
Very low mileage might be a typo error..

[Imran]

Id like to add, if you see a car you like, ring VW up themselves and ask for the history of the car, they will need the plate. I saw a 07 plate 1.9tdi in birmingham, which has 80k on the clock, very good condition and a few optional extras, rang vw up, last time they had it in the car, had done 140k miles!!!!! so seller was selling a clocked car, it was via auto trader, I rang him back made small talk and asked him to confirm how long hes had the vehicle and mileage, he confirmed 80k miles genuine, but didnt have all the paperwork lol, when I said vw have said its done 140k phone went dead!

Without wishing to sterotype anyone (IM ASIAN ASWELL!) I wouldnt buy a car from an asian! :Blush: It took me 3 months of daily searching before I found mine (and my dad nagging me to give his car back) :D

[WinDrop]

Omg, I would of never thought about something like that.
Thank you for the advice.
Will definitely consider calling VW in case if car will look too suspicious.

By the way, did you just called your local VW dealer or any specific number?

[Imran]

I rang my local jct vw dealership, and asked them for the number for vw headquarters, cant remember the number now, but if you cant get it, reply here and will ring my local dealer and get the number.

You can also text the plate to number 83600 on your mobile, i think it costs £1.50 but gives you information such as how many owners, any colour changes, if its been stolen, and if its been in a accident. Definetly worth doing that, if you see say 3 or 4 cars on autotrader, text the plate numbers and if its been in an accident move on :)