buying a v6 tdi today need advice urgantly

[littleump]

hi all after selling my audi a4 fsi rubbish mpg , ive decided to buy a 03 passat v6 tdi 63000 miles full history all belts been changed ect for the asking price of £5500 , can anyone please tell me the known faults and what to look for and avoid when i look at this and also is this a fair price thanks

[adamss24]

Get a mechanic with you...there are so many things that could go wrong with a v6 tdi and thats been covered before. Do a search for it...

[snapdragon]

There's not much to check really specifically for the V6, other than it runs fine, as when things go wrong it is usually things you couldn't check beforehand like camshaft wear (or earlier models (<2000) than yours I would say). Other than that, just check the usual Passat stuff. Also, you may find the V6 TDi mpg rubbish, consider a 1.9 130 and chip it is probably going to be better.

[littleump]

thanks for the reply , any idea of the realistic mpg around town on this and can you be more specific on the potential faults, ive been into cars for years and know a thing or two but, as ive never had a passat it isnt until ive had it a bit that ill know my way around it totally, sorry to be a pain but ive searched for ages before postig this but coundnt find any info :o

[Hex69]

Main potential faults;



plenum chamber fills with water and floods cabin, wrecking CCM under passenger seat, which controls c/l, e/w, etc
suspension bushes/arms wear.
MAFs fail leaving car in limp mode.

Otherwise a fantastic car.:biglaugh: If you can get one with no faults, you won't regret it.

[littleump]

cheers hex69......the bushes i can check and replace no bother, the maf ...well when it goes and if no one can check but the plenum chamber , ? what the heck where is it and how do i check it other than look for water marks in the footwell for past problems, reading the 1st posts i was leaning away from the passat but it maybe back on track agai.......mpg on this anyone and anymore for or againsts ?

[Hex69]

plenum chamber , ? what the heck where is it and how do i check it other than look for water marks in the footwell for past problems,

to check do the following;



check everything electrical works OK (stating the obvious I know)
check under the bonnet where the battery lives, should be dry in there (there's 2 grommets, 1 under the battery, 1 under the brake servo that become blocked, the water doesn't drain and it works its way under the pollen filter into the cabin.
check the front passenger footwell carpet's dry.

Hope this helps, as for mpg, this is from Parkers (http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/equipment/Detail.aspx?deriv=25487)

[richard@thebrae]

MPG V6 TDI
I have run a V6 TDI (automatic tiptronic)(manual should be better on mpg) from new Sept 2001, has 102,000 on the clock all by me, always regulary serviced ( VW up untill 64k local garage after that) and I get 37-40mpg on long motorway runs, 35mpg on work journey of 15 miles either way. (these figs have not changed from new)
I avoid journey's of 1-2 miles as mpg drops to around 28.
Never had any major fault other than fair wear or tear, and I am off on a continental journey of 2000 miles with confidence.
As previous posts check for the leak to the passenger well and that all conveniance electrics ar ok (central locking, alarm,widow raise lower )
If you do buy one then do some preventative maintenance, around the plenum chamber and pollen filter. (strip it down and renew the gaskets if it has not already been done).
Good Luck Richard
note the cam belts should not have been done untill 84,000 so if it was done at 65,000, find out why? as it is around £800 + for this job!

[Hex69]

MPG V6 TDI
I have run a V6 TDI (automatic tiptronic)(manual should be better on mpg) from new Sept 2001, has 102,000 on the clock all by me, always regulary serviced ( VW up untill 64k local garage after that) and I get 37-40mpg on long motorway runs, 35mpg on work journey of 15 miles either way. (these figs have not changed from new)
I avoid journey's of 1-2 miles as mpg drops to around 28.
Never had any major fault other than fair wear or tear, and I am off on a continental journey of 2000 miles with confidence.
As previous posts check for the leak to the passenger well and that all conveniance electrics ar ok (central locking, alarm,widow raise lower )
If you do buy one then do some preventative maintenance, around the plenum chamber and pollen filter. (strip it down and renew the gaskets if it has not already been done).
Good Luck Richard
note the cam belts should not have been done untill 84,000 so if it was done at 65,000, find out why? as it is around £800 + for this job!

The cambelts could have been done at 65k as a precautionary measure, I know VAG used to recommend 80k, but I think most people wouldn't trust the belt to last that long.

[littleump]

heres the car im going for what do you guys think ?
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/646799.htm

[littleump]

only thing i can make out is that if its a cherished car why is there no car mats, dont know about you but this is the small details i look for and like in a car i own

[Hex69]

looks ok, but as with all these things go in with your eyes open.

[littleump]

scary.....but at the moment its a buyers market out there ..think ill have a look anyway and see it from cold hopefully itll be a good one thanks for the help chaps:beerchug:

[snapdragon]

I would say the the car looks fine, price is about as high as I have seen for this. I have automatic and get about the same as previously said, but this plummets to 25mpg when stuck in rush hour.

The front suspension is like an metal octpopus and is expensive if work need carrying out. As stated, the worst problem, is the plenum chamber, this also causes brake servo to rust and fill up with water resulting in £700ish bill and brake problems. Check the brake pedal doesn't make wheezing/squelching noises before or anfter you start the engine. MAFs are bullet-proof Japanese HITATCHI units on the V6 and don't give the trouble of the BOSCH units on other models. Exhausts last as long as the car.
The ride may be a bit hard on 17" wheels.

[garysanderson]

Hello,

I've got an 02 which I've had for 3 years - put 60k on it and think it's a terrific motor. If you've stood next to one when it's idling, you'll notice it has quite noisy engine but this is the same of all the 2.5 V6 VAG engines - same as in the 2.5 Audi A6 - they all sound quite rough/harsh even when they're new (when compared to a 1.9 TDI).

The only problems I've had with mine were front suspension springs - both snapped within a month of each other (£150 a time from VW dealer) and a new battery. Other than that, just usual servicing costs - still have mine serviced every 10k at VW dealer (102k now and expect another 100k from it). Sweet as a nut.

MPG wise. I once squeezed 40mpg out of it on a 4 hr round trip across Cambridge/Newmarket way but usually it hovers around 31.5-33.5 avg - I' don't hang about however...

The one you're thinking of buying there has the 17" Phoenix alloys on which really set it apart from the millions of 1.9 TDI's floating about out there.

Enjoy!

[minty0_10]

i would say buy my tdi 130 sport its identical to that car and cheaper:biglaugh:

[littleump]

[quote=garysanderson;220767]Hello,

I've got an 02 which I've had for 3 years - put 60k on it and think it's a terrific motor. If you've stood next to one when it's idling, you'll notice it has quite noisy engine but this is the same of all the 2.5 V6 VAG engines - same as in the 2.5 Audi A6 - they all sound quite rough/harsh even when they're new (when compared to a 1.9 TDI).

your not wrong mate , it sounds like a tank which is taking a bit to get used to but im loving the mpg compared to the 25 mpg i was getting with my audi a fsi around town the trip is showing a return of 40.2 which is helped by the ecu upgradeit had a while back, happy days it makes a change someone else spending money instead of me.

[richard@thebrae]

Tell us more about the ECU Upgrade please. Richard

[littleump]

no worries im still getting clued up on this myself this is what he said to me " recommend there ECU’s to anyone who owns a turbo diesel, massively more efficient, better low down torque makes driving much better and economical, but costs around £300."

and heres where it was done www.upsolute.com/content/view/227/1/lang,en/ (http://www.upsolute.com/content/view/227/1/lang,en/)

[adamss24]

no worries im still getting clued up on this myself this is what he said to me " recommend there ECU’s to anyone who owns a turbo diesel, massively more efficient, better low down torque makes driving much better and economical, but costs around £300."

and heres where it was done www.upsolute.com/content/view/227/1/lang,en/ (http://www.upsolute.com/content/view/227/1/lang,en/)



Thats called a remap mate and ussualy does a lot of harm to the car...ie strips gearboxes, clutch starts to slip , damagges the dual mass flywheel, general engine wear is accentuated by a remap, even if/when its done propperly... Its wise to switch to fully synthetic oil and replace more often and ONLY accelerate hard when in high gear and over 1800 rpm !

[littleump]

cheers mate, i suppose thats why the service has been done every year instead of every 2, although are remaps better than tunning boxes in the long run if done correctly?

[adamss24]

Not neccesary, if its not on longlife intervals it will be on the fixed sevice intervals wich means its distance/time...With that engine, there are no cheap tunning boxes availlable as the signal is digital from the pump ECU to the main ECU. Good tunning boxes cost over 300 quid and they do make a difference...I used to have my a4 remapped but i did not felt as quick or powerfull like with the PSI Motorsport chip it had ! Many tunners limit/keep the torque close to factory spec, so the engine does not break driveshafts or strips gears ! In te real world Bhp sell cars and torque wins races !