New Guy.

[richdave]

Hi all.
I am new to the forum, ... I test drove a new 125kw Diesel wagon yesterday. I couldn't believe how much performance it has, the car that I drove was a really bad rattle in the left hand side of the dash. Is this something out of the ordinary, or do VW's have there share of rattles. Its no BMW or Benz but it comes close. I will be going with the woodgrain option with black cloth trim and the granite paint.

Hi baron... I too am a recent convert to the Passat.. and was blown away by the 125kw TDI performance... 1 drive and I had to buy it

My car has NO rattles so far and ifthey do develop I wont be settling for getting used to them... the dealer WILL fix them.

The wife has a BMW and I do admit the VW is not quite in the same league but it is mighty close...

You sure about the woodgrain option!!! IMO thats a move into poor resale teritory... Personally I dislike it but each to their own.. Have a look around the secondhand cars and see how may have woodgrain and compare pricing before you commit to it.

Granite paint looks great

[Lams]

Hi Baron -

The 125kw is a real impressive motor

It wasn't available back in 2006 so we have the 2.0TFSI with the crap tiptronic box. Maybe it's the 18" and the sport suspension but ours rattles like a city bus. It rattles more than our shop's Polo / Golf, more than my mk4 Golf (all with coilover suspensions), more than my 2K Caddy (a commercial vehicle).

Maybe it's part of the deal that the more you pay the more rattles that you get!

[drbass]

Grrrreat engine, the 125 kW.

Mind you, it looks like our "colleagues" in Europe, and most particularly in Germany (where the Passat is rather popular) seem to have some issues.

It appears that at some stage in the life of the engine (between 30k and 60k) buildup of deposits in the PD/injection units leads to a reduction in performance that may result in:
1) reduction in top speed - not an issue for us here in Australia;
2) reduction in actual power output and torque - may be an issue since acceleration will suffer;
3) possibly increase in fuel consumption.

Unlikely that anyone in Australia would have driven this sort of distance since the release of the 125 but certainly something I'll be monitoring carefully.

As mentioned, due to our speed limits this will likely be a non-issue, pretty irrelevant if the car doesn't reach 220 km/h but struggles to "only" 205.

Please mind that this is not intended as scaremongery, just a heads-up. I purchased the car fully aware of this, and I'm extremely happy so far (10 weeks, 6500 km, 6.7 l/100 km overall).

Seeya,
Michael

[baron]

Hi all.
Great to read your replies. I am still in two minds about the woodgrain. If I can't find a Passat to look at the woodgrain would an Audi be the same? as I have seen a few with that trim. I have always loved VW's and I have quite alot of old badges and stuff that I have collected over the years. My dad is 75yo and has always had VW's and his latest one is a Gen 4 golf 1.8 manual that he bought new. He loves it that much, if he could take it to bed with him, he would. I am just working out some final prices, and then I will see how I go. Cheers.

[azza67]

Welcome Baron.

Nice choice of vehicle!! Even though i chose a 125kW sedan, i'd readily agree that the wagon is a very nicely designed vehicle!

Hopefully when you sell your Patrol that the lead time for your wagon is not too long but it will be worth the wait Might pay to check this out with some dealers and see what options willl cause you the longer (or shorter) lead times.

I have been told that you can option sports seats which have more support and also request darker tints of the colours available but the car will tale longer to arrive.

With regard to the woodgrain, i saw a Passat at the recent Melbourne Motor show with this option and i must say it looked good (and different) but its a personal preference obviously.

No rattles in mine and i'm impressed with the quality and torque of the 125 kW engine. To say it goes well is an understatement!!

cheers

Edward

[gregozedobe]

Welcome to the VW world.

The 125Kw TDI has many admirers here and overseas. I don't want to put you off, but it is worth knowing that there have been a (very) few with clogging DPF problems. It seems that if you only ever drive in slow traffic it is difficult to get enough temperature into the DPF to burn off the accumulated soot particles, which then build up and cause check engine codes. If you are able to drive on a freeway or highway every few days it seems OK, so something to consider if your driving is all stop-start stuff in heavy traffic. If you do a search on the various VW forums for clog and DPF you should find some first-hand accounts.