So my wife drove by a car and sent me some pics. A little bit of rust - as is to be expected in New Rustshire - but overall she said it looked good. Five speed, wagon, VR6. $895 I know nothing about VW's but have always been intrigued. As I didn't get out of work until late tonight I didn't drive by it but will be driving by tomorrow. What do I need to look for? What is this? Do I want it? My budget cap is around $2200 so this is well within my range, including minor repairs. This will be for a daily commuter and hopefully challenge car entrant some day.
NGTD
Dork
4/14/12 8:34 p.m.
B4 Passat's are supposed to be pretty good. Look carefully for rust. I have had VW's that looked pretty good on the outside, but were pretty nasty.
Probably has lots o miles!
Lots o miles are ok with me - as long as there's no giant monster repair rearing it's ugly head around the corner. Any information that will help me avoid said repair monster before I purchase this would be greatly appreciated.
Timing chain guide wear, electrical problems...If chains hace been done and theres no glowing lights it might be a good deal.
Header = Win on VR motors. They sound SOOOO good.
Paul_VR6 wrote:
Timing chain guide wear, electrical problems...If chains hace been done and theres no glowing lights it might be a good deal.
What kind of electrical problems?
chknhwk wrote:
Paul_VR6 wrote:
Timing chain guide wear, electrical problems...If chains hace been done and theres no glowing lights it might be a good deal.
What kind of electrical problems?
All of them you've ever heard of, and some you haven't.
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:
All of them you've ever heard of, and some you haven't.
Quoted for truth. When my best friend in high school told me his Jetta's OEM deck played tapes backwards, I told him he was full of E36 M3. Next time I got a ride with him, in went The Cure. Not only did Disintegration play backwards, but the tape eject release broke on that very ride - which meant when the stereo was on, you heard reversed goth rock, which was pretty scary. The car blew a head gasket 2 months later and got scrapped. It probably deserved it.
SlickDizzy wrote:
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:
All of them you've ever heard of, and some you haven't.
the tape eject release broke on that very ride - which meant when the stereo was on, you heard reversed goth rock, which was pretty scary. The car blew a head gasket 2 months later and got scrapped. It probably deserved it.
that is awesome lol. my wife bought a tape player from goodwill and a prince tape. Popped the tape in and it played so slow and distorted that it sounded like a demon. coolest prince tape ever
Almost every header is junk for power on them though. Spent too much figuring that out. Pm me and I will give you my number and you can call for advice while looking at it.
mndsm
UberDork
4/15/12 12:51 a.m.
Slap a set of sweet rims on it and proceed. Looks like a poor mans b5 a4.
Heck yeah! But don't go too blingy on wheels, something tasteful.
Those look good. Lately I've really been falling in love with some of the smaller Konigs and Rotas.
Coil packs go as well. There is a company that sells a coil pack spacer to allow it to cool a bit. Others swap Mustang coil packs on it. Also, heater cores - pain...
chknhwk
HalfDork
4/16/12 10:19 p.m.
I passed on the wagon. It had, um, issues. The battery (and I'm kicking myself I didn't get a picture of this) was sealed by duct tape. Evidently the PO lost the caps to the battery and sealed it with silver duct tape. Awesome. Either way the thing was leaking oil like a bastard and they couldn't get it to start. If I could get it for about $200-300 I'd consider it for a challenge car but it needs a lot of work.
So I bought a 1993 Honda Accord LX coupe. 
This thing is awesome! I can't believe how solid this car is for how old it is and having 289,000 miles. It literally rides better than my 2011 Accent. Needs a wheel bearing, tires, tranny fluid checked and has a rough idle. Pretty sweet ride, pics to come.
slefain
SuperDork
4/17/12 8:49 a.m.
chknhwk wrote:
I passed on the wagon. It had, um, issues. The battery (and I'm kicking myself I didn't get a picture of this) was sealed by duct tape. Evidently the PO lost the caps to the battery and sealed it with silver duct tape. Awesome. Either way the thing was leaking oil like a bastard and they couldn't get it to start. If I could get it for about $200-300 I'd consider it for a challenge car but it needs a lot of work.
So I bought a 1993 Honda Accord LX coupe. This thing is awesome! I can't believe how solid this car is for how old it is and having 289,000 miles. It literally rides better than my 2011 Accent. Needs a wheel bearing, tires, tranny fluid checked and has a rough idle. Pretty sweet ride, pics to come.
I sold my exact duplicate VW wagon to Duke for basically scrap value and still feel like I came out ahead on the deal. Duke managed to trade it for something else and escape the horror. The only time I felt better about selling a car was when my wife's 2005 Beetle convertible drove away with a new owner.
SlickDizzy wrote:
...you heard reversed goth rock...
The Cure is Goth Rock? I am somehow offended by that, but can't actually deny it either.
slefain wrote:
chknhwk wrote:
I passed on the wagon. It had, um, issues. The battery (and I'm kicking myself I didn't get a picture of this) was sealed by duct tape. Evidently the PO lost the caps to the battery and sealed it with silver duct tape. Awesome. Either way the thing was leaking oil like a bastard and they couldn't get it to start. If I could get it for about $200-300 I'd consider it for a challenge car but it needs a lot of work.
So I bought a 1993 Honda Accord LX coupe. This thing is awesome! I can't believe how solid this car is for how old it is and having 289,000 miles. It literally rides better than my 2011 Accent. Needs a wheel bearing, tires, tranny fluid checked and has a rough idle. Pretty sweet ride, pics to come.
I sold my exact duplicate VW wagon to Duke for basically scrap value and still feel like I came out ahead on the deal. Duke managed to trade it for something else and escape the horror. The only time I felt better about selling a car was when my wife's 2005 Beetle convertible drove away with a new owner.
The car wasnt bad at all. Had tons of power, roomy, comfortable. I traded it to a kid for his Mk1 Cabby Pick up and Mk4 1.8t Jetta Wolfsburg. He had it for about 3 weeks until he got rear ended in it. His insurance company totalled it. He was totally crushed because he was looking high and low for a Passat Wagon for years. If I had the chance, I would buy another one, though I would have to say I would buy a B3 Passat Wagon with a 16 valve in it.
J308
Reader
4/17/12 10:13 a.m.
pinchvalve wrote:
SlickDizzy wrote:
...you heard reversed goth rock...
The Cure is Goth Rock? I am somehow offended by that, but can't actually deny it either.
If they are, they are the fathers of it. The cure was about 20 years before Goth.
Also, this thread is hilarious, and true.
