VW Passat

[carrowsboy]

I think I'm buying one this morning, a 2001 model (GLS 1.8T).

Anyone care to share their experiences with these cars?

I'm very excited.

[St. Jarvitude]

1. I've never owned a VW personally

But every one of my friends who does speaks very highly of them. They are apparently extremely reliable cars. Handle like a dream.

The Passat is the best choice if you're planning on taking more than one person with you in the car regularly. Despite how great the Jetta and Golf are, I've found that there is no way to maintain comfortable leg room in the front and back seats - one row will almost invariably get the shaft.

VWs are dann beautiful too :)

[bigendian]

2. congrats!

I'm looking at Jetta's. Enjoy the drive.

[Tripper11]

3. Being a former VW owner...it's a special thing.

There's just something about it. I had an '82 VW Scirocco..I loved that car. Over 200,000kms on it and it still kept going and going.
All I ever did for it was routine maintenance. Oil changes, brakes, the clutch a couple times....but for what I paid for it, I got my money's worth and more.
I drove that sucker from Vancouver to San Fransisco to Boulder CO, and back to Vancouver in 10 days and the only thing that went wrong, ME, I ran out of gas money and had to have some wired to me.
VW's rock!! :headbang:

[welshTerrier2]

4. Passat 2002 Wagon

i have a passat 2002 wagon with the gls 1.8T ... it's a great car ...

if i "milk" it, i can get about 33 miles per gallon ... i only have 18K miles ...

there have been a few issues with recalls ... i think the recall had something to do with the car's ignition coil that could cause damage to the catalytic converter if not repaired ... probably worth checking this out before you buy one ...

other than that, i love the car ... someone described the interior as "cavernous" ... it has tons of passenger space ...

my vote: go for it ...

[PDittie]

5. excellent car for the money

I've ridden in the newer Jetta and Passat models and find they compare favorably with my Lexus IS 300 (which is about 10K more).

[Tiberius]

6. I have a 98 Passat

... overall it's been very reliable. VW did have a well-publicized problem with the ignition coil on the '01, I believe. You may want to ask about that and see if the work was done.

I've owned mine from 75k miles to 120k miles. The most annoying thing was a problem with the front control arms that lead to squeaking. I did the front right a year ago and just had to do the front left this week, at $500 a pop. I'm sure you're a long way from having to deal with that though.

The only other problem I had was mine's got a Tiptronix (sp?) that busted, and I never bothered to fix it.

Overall though I'm very happy.

[carrowsboy]

7. well damn

I was all set & ready to buy a VW Passat this morning and the salesman had promised me a 4.9% interest rate with a $1000 down.

Today I go to finalize everything & the credit manager comes out and says that my rating is 630 out of 850 and that I'll need a co-signer and my interest rate could be between 15-30%! He brought up my prior auto loan from over 7 years ago where I was a sophmore in college & was late with a few payments (yes, I know this was my fault & I accept responsibility).

My credit union through work guaranteed me an $18K auto loan last July with a 7.5% interest rate. Since then my credit has only improved as I have paid off any remaining collections and was granted a personal loan, which I paid off early.

I told the VW credit manager this morning that I would simply go through my credit union again for the loan since this was the best that VW could offer. He then said that he contacted my credit union and I had been denied, which I find odd since my credit union is only open Mon-Fri 8am-5pm.

He told me to wait til Monday & he could see what strings he could pull for me.

Was I nearly scammed into accepting a high interest rate?

[cosmicdot]

9. bait-and-switch

a friend owns a Passat ... not sure of the year ... but, it has major leg room for those sitting in the backseat ...

[pagerbear]

10. Yes, you were nearly scammed

Never, never, ever believe what a salesman tells you! Or anyone working for a car dealership!

[jburton]

11. total BS

This is the oldest trick in the book. Have the "Credit Manager" or whoever come out and play bad cop.

Glad you didn't fall for it.

Did you settle on a price first? Price negotiation should be completely seperate from financing/trade-in negotiation.

This place sounds exceptionally bad (saying he called your credit union).

[carrowsboy]

12. price

yes, we settled on 17K for a 2001 GLS 1.8T and I have a 50K mile/5 year warranty.

Car looks and runs great & everythign was fine...up until i was ready to take it home.

[PVnRT]

16. You believed a car salesman???

n/t

[aquaman]

8. I have a 2001 Passat also

Best car I have ever owned, have had no problems with it since purchasing it. I will always own VW vehicles. I also have a 1972 VW superbeetle.

[carrowsboy]

13. I GOT IT!!!

Well almost...

I got the loan through my credit union for 5.25% and I even got the dealer to drop the price to match the Blue Book recommendation.

I pick it up Wednesday evening!

I'm so excited.

[ZenLefty]

17. Congrats - they are great cars

:thumbsup:

[soleft]

14. I miss my Jetta!

I sold my beautiful 2001 Jetta in Nov. I hope it's living a good life in California.

[bif]

15. I owned a Golf

And I loved that car. Good luck!

[MAlibdem]

18. i just got a used 97 jetta

b/c i couldn't get the pimp mobile.

anyways, i like it, handles well, but it doesn't have great acceleration