Long term Passat issues?

I'm at that funny stage when I'm considering trading my 2004 1.8 Passat.
44,000 miles 5 speed. I may buy a Hybrid. What are the long term costs of
keep the Passat? I've read that repairs as they age can be annoying and
expensive.
Thanks in advance.
David

In article >,
"D&LBusch" > wrote:

> I'm at that funny stage when I'm considering trading my 2004 1.8 Passat.
> 44,000 miles 5 speed. I may buy a Hybrid. What are the long term costs of
> keep the Passat? I've read that repairs as they age can be annoying and
> expensive.
> Thanks in advance.
> David

2003 Passat wagon, 1.8 turbo with tiptronic.

Check engine light - replaced secondary vacuum valve and hose at 43,000
miles, $250.
Vibrating warped rear rotors and lining $410.
Replaced dip stick (broken plastic pull handle!!!) $20.
Noisy left front wheel bearing replaced at 47,000 miles, $600.
And the wiper blades wear out about every six months and I can't find
the cheap refills at Walmart anymore, so I have to buy the full
replacement from the dealer.

Repairs aren't quite as frequent as on my wife's 2000 Beetle, but the
Passat seems to be working on catching up...

In
Donald Prevett > wrote:

> And the wiper blades wear out about every six months and I can't find
> the cheap refills at Walmart anymore, so I have to buy the full
> replacement from the dealer.
>

For my '02 (pre-aero blades) I just buy the rubber inserts and spend a
few minutes at the workbench sliding the old ones out and sliding the
new ones in. They're cheap.

According to this http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1118806 you
can do essentially the same with the aero blades.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

In article >,
Donald Prevett > wrote:
>In article >,
> "D&LBusch" > wrote:
>
>> I'm at that funny stage when I'm considering trading my 2004 1.8 Passat.
>> 44,000 miles 5 speed. I may buy a Hybrid. What are the long term costs of
>> keep the Passat? I've read that repairs as they age can be annoying and
>> expensive.
>> Thanks in advance.
>> David
>
>2003 Passat wagon, 1.8 turbo with tiptronic.
>
>Check engine light - replaced secondary vacuum valve and hose at 43,000
>miles, $250.
>Vibrating warped rear rotors and lining $410.
>Replaced dip stick (broken plastic pull handle!!!) $20.
>Noisy left front wheel bearing replaced at 47,000 miles, $600.
>And the wiper blades wear out about every six months and I can't find
>the cheap refills at Walmart anymore, so I have to buy the full
>replacement from the dealer.
>
>Repairs aren't quite as frequent as on my wife's 2000 Beetle, but the
>Passat seems to be working on catching up...

The bigger the VW the quicker the standard designed parts wear out.
VW always had a habit of designing a vehicle from existing designs and
trying to make the hardware work in heavier VWs. The lighter the weight
of a VW the longer they last. Most people on RAMVW have older smaller
DIY vehicles and the OP question is out of the scope of this group if
you know what I mean. He needs to find the "what car should I get next
after my warranty runs out" group.






--
Jeeps and dubs and everything's nice...

So David,
What do YOU want? :-)
A Hybrid may give you the economy you want in mpg and is definitely
different than your Passat. You may even get a rebate for buying one too!
I think more Hybrid owners drive differently than Passat owners though so
expect to change your driving habits. <g>

You probably have a ways to go before your Passat gets "too expensive" to
maintain.
Expect:
.....Brakes =Normal around 40K or a little longer depending on usage
.....Timing Belt = not bad at around 100k miles but will include water pump,
thermostat and misc. items
.....Front Suspension replacement = not cheap and maybe at 100K miles or a
little longer.
.....Turbo maybe after 120-140K miles maybe
.....CV Joint Boots

If you use the correct synthetic oil and let that turbo cool down after a
spirited run you can hopefully keep them both in tip-top condition.
I am trying to learn about these cars and engines, so these are just some of
my observations and opinions. ;-)
--
later,
dave
(One out of many daves)

"D&LBusch" > wrote in message
...
> I'm at that funny stage when I'm considering trading my 2004 1.8 Passat.
> 44,000 miles 5 speed. I may buy a Hybrid. What are the long term costs
> of keep the Passat? I've read that repairs as they age can be annoying
> and expensive.
> Thanks in advance.
> David
>

In article >,
Bert Hyman > wrote:
>
> For my '02 (pre-aero blades) I just buy the rubber inserts and spend a
> few minutes at the workbench sliding the old ones out and sliding the
> new ones in. They're cheap.
>
> According to this http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1118806 you
> can do essentially the same with the aero blades.

The vwvortex procedure was what I was doing, but as stated in one of the
posts, Walmart stopped carrying the refills last year. The alternate
Trico refills aren't carried in any of my local parts stores. Good news
is the dealer price for the complete replacement blades has come down a
little, but still much more expensive than the refills. And since I'm
there so often (reference my original post), at least its not overly
inconvenient...

A major criteria for selecting my two VWs was crash test ratings and
safety equipment. When I bought them, antilock brakes, side torso
airbags (2000 Beetle), and side curtain airbags (2003 Passat) were not
generally available. In 2008, most manufacturers make them available
and there are many models with good crash test ratings.

On Sat, 19 Jan 2008 22:51:30 -0600, Donald Prevett
> wrote:

>In article >,
> Bert Hyman > wrote:
>>
>> For my '02 (pre-aero blades) I just buy the rubber inserts and spend a
>> few minutes at the workbench sliding the old ones out and sliding the
>> new ones in. They're cheap.
>>
>> According to this http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1118806 you
>> can do essentially the same with the aero blades.
>
>The vwvortex procedure was what I was doing, but as stated in one of the
>posts, Walmart stopped carrying the refills last year. The alternate
>Trico refills aren't carried in any of my local parts stores. Good news
>is the dealer price for the complete replacement blades has come down a
>little, but still much more expensive than the refills. And since I'm
>there so often (reference my original post), at least its not overly
>inconvenient...
>
>A major criteria for selecting my two VWs was crash test ratings and
>safety equipment. When I bought them, antilock brakes, side torso
>airbags (2000 Beetle), and side curtain airbags (2003 Passat) were not
>generally available. In 2008, most manufacturers make them available
>and there are many models with good crash test ratings.

I changed my wiper blades on my 2003 Jetta 2 months ago. Those blades
were installed in June of 2002. I bought another set of really
over-priced Bosch blades from the local national parts store(Autozone)
in hopes that they might last a long time. It seems that the blades
from the factory seem to last a long time but after that I have not
had a pair last more than 6-12 months.

In
Donald Prevett > wrote:

> In article >,
> Bert Hyman > wrote:
>>
>> For my '02 (pre-aero blades) I just buy the rubber inserts and spend
>> a few minutes at the workbench sliding the old ones out and sliding
>> the new ones in. They're cheap.
>>
>> According to this http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1118806
>> you can do essentially the same with the aero blades.
>
> The vwvortex procedure was what I was doing, but as stated in one of
> the posts, Walmart stopped carrying the refills last year.

I buy mine from the dealer's parts department; they're still only a few
bucks a pair.

They used to come in boxes of two, but now I just get handed the rubber
strips. That's handy because I no longer have to buy 4 at a time just to
have one for the rear wiper.

--
Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN

PP's sarcasm aside, I appreciate the comments. This is not a warranty
issue - although it would seem that PP portends to know. Vehicles reach a
stage when the Trade in Value is still relatively high and the debate
sometimes occurs about trading or keeping it. Due to the nature of VW
electrics and computer systems I'm trying to weigh my options.
David
"Peter Parker" > wrote in message
...
> In article
> >,
> Donald Prevett > wrote:
>>In article >,
>> "D&LBusch" > wrote:
>>
>>> I'm at that funny stage when I'm considering trading my 2004 1.8 Passat.
>>> 44,000 miles 5 speed. I may buy a Hybrid. What are the long term costs
>>> of
>>> keep the Passat? I've read that repairs as they age can be annoying and
>>> expensive.
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>> David
>>
>>2003 Passat wagon, 1.8 turbo with tiptronic.
>>
>>Check engine light - replaced secondary vacuum valve and hose at 43,000
>>miles, $250.
>>Vibrating warped rear rotors and lining $410.
>>Replaced dip stick (broken plastic pull handle!!!) $20.
>>Noisy left front wheel bearing replaced at 47,000 miles, $600.
>>And the wiper blades wear out about every six months and I can't find
>>the cheap refills at Walmart anymore, so I have to buy the full
>>replacement from the dealer.
>>
>>Repairs aren't quite as frequent as on my wife's 2000 Beetle, but the
>>Passat seems to be working on catching up...
>
> The bigger the VW the quicker the standard designed parts wear out.
> VW always had a habit of designing a vehicle from existing designs and
> trying to make the hardware work in heavier VWs. The lighter the weight
> of a VW the longer they last. Most people on RAMVW have older smaller
> DIY vehicles and the OP question is out of the scope of this group if
> you know what I mean. He needs to find the "what car should I get next
> after my warranty runs out" group.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Jeeps and dubs and everything's nice...

Didn't that car come with some sort of warranty? My 2003 had a 50,000
mile 4 year warranty. Maybe a few more miles for the engine. I thought
that at least in the US they emissions system had to have a 50,000
mile warranty. I had a few minor things taken care of just under that
60,000 mile mark. Although I guess maybe the 4 year time window has
gone for your car.

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:27:37 GMT, "D&LBusch" >
wrote:

>PP's sarcasm aside, I appreciate the comments. This is not a warranty
>issue - although it would seem that PP portends to know. Vehicles reach a
>stage when the Trade in Value is still relatively high and the debate
>sometimes occurs about trading or keeping it. Due to the nature of VW
>electrics and computer systems I'm trying to weigh my options.
>David
>"Peter Parker" > wrote in message
...
>> In article
>> >,
>> Donald Prevett > wrote:
>>>In article >,
>>> "D&LBusch" > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm at that funny stage when I'm considering trading my 2004 1.8 Passat.
>>>> 44,000 miles 5 speed. I may buy a Hybrid. What are the long term costs
>>>> of
>>>> keep the Passat? I've read that repairs as they age can be annoying and
>>>> expensive.
>>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>> David
>>>
>>>2003 Passat wagon, 1.8 turbo with tiptronic.
>>>
>>>Check engine light - replaced secondary vacuum valve and hose at 43,000
>>>miles, $250.
>>>Vibrating warped rear rotors and lining $410.
>>>Replaced dip stick (broken plastic pull handle!!!) $20.
>>>Noisy left front wheel bearing replaced at 47,000 miles, $600.
>>>And the wiper blades wear out about every six months and I can't find
>>>the cheap refills at Walmart anymore, so I have to buy the full
>>>replacement from the dealer.
>>>
>>>Repairs aren't quite as frequent as on my wife's 2000 Beetle, but the
>>>Passat seems to be working on catching up...
>>
>> The bigger the VW the quicker the standard designed parts wear out.
>> VW always had a habit of designing a vehicle from existing designs and
>> trying to make the hardware work in heavier VWs. The lighter the weight
>> of a VW the longer they last. Most people on RAMVW have older smaller
>> DIY vehicles and the OP question is out of the scope of this group if
>> you know what I mean. He needs to find the "what car should I get next
>> after my warranty runs out" group.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jeeps and dubs and everything's nice...
>