Passat TDI 100k miles - good idea??

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Mon 15 Dec 2003 00:39
Passat TDI 100k miles - good idea?? - Jason
I was looking around at some cars this weekend (a garage that deals in high mileage ex-lease cars, all with FSH), with the intention of perhaps going for a 2000 - X-reg Mondeo 2.0 Zetec with 78k miles. However, I also saw an S-reg Passat TDI Sport with 100k miles. The Mondeo felt like it had done 78k miles but the Passat could have passed for 20k miles, such was the condition. It just seemed so much better screwed together. But the Passat was £1000 more!!

My questions are:- Is the Passat a good proposition with 100k miles and based on anybody's practical experience, what do I need to look out for (will it last another 4 years, 50,000 miles with nothing major going wrong)?

Looking forward to your replies.

Thanks

Jason
P.S. Is the Vectra such a bad car? Garage was selling diesel Vectra (2.0 DTI) T-reg for £1000 less than Passat with same miles.
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Mon 15 Dec 2003 11:17
Passat TDI 100k miles - good idea?? - Paul Robinson
It depends what you mean by 'good idea'. If you like this car much more than any other you have seen and are confident you would get a lot of pleasure from driving a Passat TDI for the next four years (even if you have some problems), then I'd say it's a good Idea.

If you mean - is this the most cost efficient choice or the most trouble free choice then I'm not so sure. If you run any car from 100K to 150K over four years it will be a gamble. Gambling is all about odds, if your aim is not to have the trouble of a major fault then the odds are best if as previously advised you should choose one of the Japanese options. If your aim is to keep to a tight budget then it gets more complicated because as well as considering the odds of a major problem you need to consider the relative costs of repairs.

50K miles in four years is not a big mileage (12.5k pa). Currently by taking the diesel option you save about £300 pa in fuel costs, but will need one extra service per year, so with your mileage the cost savings will be marginal. Any eight year old 150K car will be of little worth so residual value is not an issue. If a fuel pump or even a battery fails on the diesel option it will be much more expensive.

You will get a much more and newer for your budget if you take the petrol option. That's what I would do.
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