Will be looking at a few Passats this week, with a view to buying. Especially got my eye on a 1.9 s tdi, 07 plate with 68k on the clock. Problem is, I'm
mechanically clueless, except for changing a wheel.

Can anyone give me some advice as to what to look out for on Passats, what (if any) are the common faults etc, reliability, just anything you can think of. Cheers

I have had the 1.6 tdi blue motion for around 2 years and its NEVER gone wrong, not even a minor thing.

WTF did I say that for, got to go to Bradford and Hudderfield tomorrow

Is it private or dealer sale?

I've got a '56 plate 2.0l TDi 140 Sport, (chipped to 175) 4Motion estate. It returns an average of 42mpg (the 4wd knocks around 6mpg off the 2wd) but it holds the road as if it's on rails.

There's been cars with injector problems and others with dual-mass flywheel problems. Neither are a cheap fix but they don't seem any more prevalent than any other manufacturer problems.

Get it HPI'd to make sure there's no outstanding finance or insurance problems

Very reliable car . There ain't much goes wrong with them at all . Commonest problems that I have had with them is the EGR valve clogging (remove , clean , and re-fit A cheap job ) . Induction pipes (from the turbo ) and intercoolers splitting , but most often just the pipes which ain't expensive . And finally the turbos don't usually last much more than 80k . New/reconditioned turbo will set you back around £900 fitted . That list of problems is applicable to most modernish TD cars though , so don't worry yourself too much . Just make sure you will be able to afford a new turbo if and when it breaks . Don't spend all your budget on actually purchasing the car .

I've owned and traded VWs for years and never had a turbo problem, no matter what the mileage. My current car has 140k on the clock.

One other point for the OP - if the full VW service history is not available, walk away.

Check the tyre tread too, a full set of boots will set you back £500

Its from a dealer, says it has had 1 owner and full service history ( don't know if it's VW history though.) Reckon, its prob a reps car, which i dont have a prob about.

To protect the turbo, injectors and engine, is it worth using diesel cleaner every 6000 miles instead of 12k?

I've got a 60 plate CC, I've done just over 50K in 14 months. Can honestly say it is the best car I've had. Has posted earlier, check the tyres. Silly as it sounds they will set you back a far bit if you have to shell out for new ones in a couple of months.

I dump a can of Wurth in about every three months and also use top-grade, fully synthetic oil as a matter of course. The major problems with turbo failures are caused by lack of maintenance and poor starting/stopping technique. Turbo bearings are oil-fed, so don't over-rev an engine from cold and don't blip the throttle before switching off.

That's mainly the 170bhp ones and they've just authorised a full VAG (Audi, VW, Skoda & Seat) recall to replace the original Siemens ones .

I understood the problem extended to all VWs with the Siemens piezo injectors - 140 as well as 170

Are you sure it's a recall? If so have you any further info please? I know that they've been replacing all four injectors if you suffer a repeat failure but to take advantage of that, you had to have paid for one to be replaced, about £600 IIRC

Worth noting that alongside checking the tyre tread depth, with 68K miles on the clock it could well be due another set of discs and pads. A £500+ job if needs be. I usually average around 40K miles before they need replacing and that's with very little motorway driving.

It's easy to check how well worn down the discs are, by feeling for the lip created around the edge of the disc by the pad pressing against it.

A full VW history is no guarantee of it having been well looked after . It only tells you it might have been serviced by VW . It does not tell you that it might had it's arriss ripped out by the one very careful owner's offspring every Saturday night down at Maccy D's .There are quite a lot of non-franchised garages that are just as able to service VWs . Besides that . A stamp in a service record is exactly just that . A stamp . It is not proof that the vehicle has ever actually had a spanner raised in it's direction . Trust me on that one . I have had first-hand experience of such matters . There are people that work in dealerships that will stamp your service book for a few beers . (not myself by the way ) I have seen some cars that have had a 'dealership history' that are in a absolutely shocking state of repair . It is usually a good sign if it has dealership stamps in the book , but be careful .
Fleet cars are usually the best buy . The fleet operator can usually provide a printout of everything the vehicle has ever had done to it and is much more difficult to falsify . Although they usually have higher than average indicated mileage they tend to be much better looked after as the vehicle keeper is not the one who has to cough up for maintaing it . Of all vehicles' previous keepers I think the best ones are the Mobility cars . I am not going to divulge why as the reasons could be libellous . But if you can find an ex-mobility car then you are almost guaranteed to be onto a winner .


£500 for a set of tyres ?


There really is no need to spend that kind of money on tyres . Unless you are just wanting a well known brand of tyre then you are better off buying a higher end 'budget' tyre . It will lower the cost to around £300-£350 . I can never understand why people spend such vast amounts on tyres . Even the cheapo bargain basement tyres are more than up to coping with a 70mph speed limit . A set of them could lower the price to around £250 , although it would be worth checking that it won't void your insurance if you were to put a set of tyres on that are only rated to 105mph . There must be a good argument against that . Why should you have to fit tyres that are rated at 150mph ? It is over twice the national speed limit .

£500 for discs and pads ? It didn't cost that much when I recently fitted discs and pads all round on an RS4 . You must be making that one up . And yes it was OEM parts . At 68k miles I would guess that it will have already had at least one set of new brakes . Dealerships are never shy when it comes to breaking the news that you need new brakes . The mrs had a mobility car for three years . During which time a local dealership replaced the brakes twice .They also replaced all the tyres at 7k . It only had 15k on it at the end of the three years . And believe it or not they actually replaced the exhaust . I had checked the car over a time or two and there was nothing at all wrong with the car whe it went in for servicing .