[Spridgets] paging Peter C

[Bud Osbourne]

Thanks, Peter (and the rest of you guys, too).  That's good information to 
have.
Actually, we had very good luck with our '99, which we bought (literally) 
right off the showroom floor in December or '98.  We put over 155K miles on 
it with minimal problems....and the really big ones (ABS control unit and a 
few MAF units) were covered by the warranty.  We had only one coil failure, 
at about 130K miles, and one or two control arm bushing issues.  Other than 
the usual Bosch electrical problems (annoying but not disabling), the car 
was great.  Always had the same dealer mechanic work on it, which helps a 
lot.  I go with dealer service because I want someone who works on VWs all 
day, every day instead of just every now and then.
Oh, yeah......the car was demolished yesterday morning when my wife lost 
control on a very snowy,  icy, off-camber turn, but at low speed. 
Unfortunately, there was a panel van coming the other way and....... 
Luckily, no one was hurt.......except our poor old Passat.
Bud Osbourne
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Peter Caldwell" <peter at nosimport.com>
To: "Bud Osbourne" <abcoz at hky.com>
Cc: "spridgets" <spridgets at autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 11:59 AM
Subject: Re: [Spridgets] paging Peter C


> Bud,
>         I wanted to ask a few local mechanics before I responded..... they 
> all said take the bullet!
>
>         No, really, the newer-than-02's FWD 4-cylinder models are MUCH 
> improved over the earlier ones. You know the problems with the early ones. 
> They've gotten better. Apparently the ECU is no longer stored under water. 
> The brakes seem to work now. The spindly dozen or so control arms though 
> fragile, are inexpensive. The engine management system involves more 
> coils, but they seem to last more than 30K this time.
>
>         I recommend first that you take the "Passat" emblem from the dead 
> one, and glue it on a Toyota, but, failing that, get the model you like. 
> The 1.8T Auto is a good choice.
>         I also recommend heated seats... works great for bringing pizza 
> home:-)
>
> Peter
> ==
> At 08:41 AM 1/5/2010, you wrote:
>>Peter,
>>I'm going to be buying another of your most favorite cars: A VW Passat.  I
>>know the Passats have had some, ahhh....."issues".  Due to my doubts about
>>this so-called economic recovery having the legs to sustain itself, I've
>>decided not to buy a new one.  I'll probably look for an 02 through 06 
>>model
>>(or wherever the cut-off from 1.8T to 2.0T lies), non-AWD, 1.8T automatic.
>>I'd really rather get a series 4 Jetta w/2.0, non-turbo, gas engine but my
>>wife is really upset about the "death" of her beloved '99 Passat, 
>>yesterday.
>>What can I say?  I'm putty in her hands ;)
>>If someone were to hold a gun to your head and tell you that you MUST buy 
>>a
>>Passat or have your brains blown out, which model would you choose (and 
>>you're
>>not allowed to pick .357 Magnum)?
>>Thanks, Peter.
>>Bud Osbourne