Just buying

[paynes1]

Hi everyone, just joined the forum to help me find out info on the new car. I'm in the process of buying a 2006 Passat 2.0 Sport TDi (41,000 miles) to replace my Omega towcar that I've owned for 12 years.

Is there anything I should watch out for? I realise that there may be an issue with injectors, but I gather that VW will now replace them when necessary thanks to good work by various people.

Also, the car already has a towbar that was used to tow a small trailer a few times. I am getting the second (grey) socket fitted, but should I be getting the dealer to check on the wiring of the original (black) socket as some info on the internet says that there may be an issue with the ESP?

From the posts that I have read on the forum there appears to be a wealth of knowledge and I look forward to replies to this and any other infromation that I can find.

[BenR]

At 41,000 miles the rear tyres should be droning nicely as they will have worn away on their inside edges due to slight mis-alignment of the wheels, within factory tolerances, meaning that the wheels will have been "fighting" each other. You should be able to see a distinct reduction in tread thickness about a third of the way in from the inside edges with a sawtooth pattern at the edge of the higher part of the tread. If you make enough fuss you might be able to get VW to align the rear wheels at cost; I did and they did, I fitted new tyres but now it's at 87,500 miles and the droning has started again, not as bad as last time but still noticeable. Passat rear wheels have a slight inwards camber, meaning that they run harder on their inside edges. You can see it if you sight along the wheels when following a Passat on the road.

[zilspeed]

A little rear toe in works wonders for stability, but this is the trade off.
The same applies to the negative camber discussed above too.
Under cornering, the tread is presented more evenly to the road, the trade off being increased wear to the inner tread when running in a straight line.
41,000 miles doesn't sound unfair though. :-)

[paynes1]

Thanks for the replies so far.

Fortunately, the car has got new tyres all round, and, I got them to change the cam belt as part of the deal.

Just got to check on the injectors with VW now. I phoned customer services today and said that I was buying the car and that although I wasn't aware of any problems with the car, I was concerned about reports of injectors failing with the associated hazards. I was told to phone back on Friday after I get the car and they would look into sending the car to the local VW dealer to find out 'if the injectors were the type that would need changing' (their words).