[s-cars] Passats

[LL - NY]

Ya know, maybe my friend's car is a 2004.5, its a few years back already,
and can't recall the relative time diff btw it and my (late) 2005 Saabaru.
Lately everything has been flying by so fast so the roughly year diff could
have felt like 2.  As for his Passat, it has been a solid ride for him, his
only real complaint is the lack of adjustability of the manual driver's
seat vs. the power ones in the GLX and his previous C4 100CSQA. He says he
ends up between clicks in the fore-aft position so he's never perfectly
comfortable.

On Thu, Sep 9, 2010 at 6:48 PM, Erik Addy <erikaddy at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I have a 2004.5 Passat 1.8T 4-Motion wagon.  I don't believe there was such
> an
> animal (1.8T and 4-Mo) in 2003, just 2004.5-2005.
>
>
> I really like it.  Yes, it is slow (not chipped, yet), but it sure feels
> lighter
> and more nimble that the Ur-S.  Less nose heavy, much more sophisticated
> front
> suspention.  The car is essentially a streched B5 A4, so pretty much
> anything
> you can do to one of those, you can do to the Passat.
>
> Erik
>
> Message: 8
> Date: Thu, 9 Sep 2010 08:30:32 -0400
> From: LL - NY <larrycleung at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [s-cars] VW Passat 2.8 Experience
> To: AaronT <atay101 at gmail.com>
> Cc: S-Car-List <s-car-list at audifans.com>
> Message-ID:
>     <AANLkTi=ga9oT=CHkWtVye43oi25mo3KWCnqpmDE8YmzG at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> I can chime in on my experience with my Mom's 2001.5 GLX 4mo Wagon (same
> car, for the most part as an '03 I think some features change,
> otherwise it's another post facelift (still B5) car. 2.8 V6 30V).
>
> Beware, the car is of very low miles (Mom doesn't travel much, just local
> driving) and it's been through a number of hits (one fairly severe) as Mom
> also doesn't drive real well.
>
> Overall, competent vehicle, pleasant enough of a drive. For spirited
> driving
> if you're used to UrS thrust, well, it doesn't have it.  It has perfectly
> adequate pull, but the very act of spirited driving highlights it's one
> biggest flaw, Tiptronic.  In regular driving, it's fine, virtually
> transparent. In spirited driving, it's slow to kickdown (even with manual
> selection) fast to shift up, will not hold at redline and it's got a low
> rev
> stall speed (for the weak low down torque, this works against getting a
> good
> launch, say, like trying to get into heavy fast traffic from a side
> street).
> Due to the pedal interlock, you can't LFB.
>
> Problems (car has less than 30K miles), running wise, essentially none.
> Only
> real problem is the stereo head unit, which has now the standard VAG
> issues,
> (display winks out, first it was the backlight, now when the actual display
> goes out) the only control that works is the power switch on the head unit
> and the steering wheel controls. All other head unit controls go AWOL when
> the display is out. You can sometimes restore the display (thus control) by
> pressing on the face of the unit, but this obviously is not going to last
> forever. The unit is a Typhoon, but doesn't have the CD changer out back.
>
> Car has held up fairly well considering that Mom doesn't really care about
> cars at all, and it's condition at any time kind of shows it. A good
> cleaning would bring everything back (i.e. the materials, inside and out
> hold up well except the exterior brightwork, which is getting the VAG
> "milky" patina) except for the dents that have nothing to do with the car.
> As a DD, it's nicer (I think) and a much better drive than say a similar
> vintage Camry.  Still, it doesn't have quite the same verve as the UrS when
> the roads get interesting. I guess the best word I can think of for it was
> the first one I used...competent. And perhaps more reliable than a C4 car.
> It IS much more dependent on diagnostics and system changes on VAG-COM.
>
> My local friend has a 2003 1.8T 5sp 4mo Wagon (rare!) and the only real
> issues he has had (car has well over 100K miles on it now) has been the
> door
> locks, and brakes (although he has a dirt driveway. Mom's car is garaged).
> BOTH cars suffer from the most irritating remote key controls on the
> planet.
> It's like Forrest Gump's box of choclates. You press a button and ya never
> know if it's gonna work. If it were me, and nothing of value was in the
> car,
> I'd leave the damn thing unlocked...oh, you can't.  The stupid hatch will
> lock anyway. It's like the car's remote and locking functions were designed
> by and for...Americans.
>
> HTH,
> On Thu, Sep 9, 2010 at 12:16 AM, AaronT <atay101 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Sorry folks but another non scar question -
> > Anybody have any direct experience with a 2003 VW passat 4Mo wagon
> (2.8v6)?
> > Still looking for a reasonable replacement for my 95S6Avant....
> > Which by the way has been rather trouble free lately - famous last words.
> > Thanks
> > Aaron
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