My brother is in the market for a newer car and asked me about this car:
1998 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8T.
I know SAABs fairly well but next to nothing about VWs aside from the sludge issues (like SAAB). Is there anything in perticular I need to be looking for?
Also I will probably be doing most of the maint on whatever he buys, are there good VW forums?
Thanks
1: Run
2: Run faster
3: Run motherfather RUN!
The B5 Pieceofssat is a horrid car. A great idea screwed up by bean counters and black market engineering. Outside of the oiling issues you have a bad front suspension, frequent electrical issues and typical 1990s VW build quality.
Suggest a 2001.5 and newer B5.5 model instead. for similar money you can get rid of quite a few of (but not all of) the stupid headaches.
Mobil1 or Castrol Syntec ONLY. VW filters ONLY. LOF services every 5K RELIGIOUSLY. Replace the thermostat, coolant temp sensor, timing belt, tensioners, PCV valve and oil return line when you buy the car and you should be golden.
I didnt expect Mr. Browns response.
GoAPR to get a reprogramed computer.
ECS Tuning for some much need parts for the 10+ year old VW.
Not a fanboi, just a dealer employee.
APR is an awesome supplier.
I don't know if I'd call it a "horrid" car... but many of JB's points are valid... the quality of a used, late-model VW is quite "maintenance dependant". If the car has been cared for by a loving owner, and includes full service records, it may be a good buy... But...
"We're taking an awlful risk Vader... this had better work... " and then the Death Star exploded... 
Thanks for the responses, that is what I figured for the most part. We will go check it out but I am hoping he goes with a different car, he is VERY hard on cars.
It is really too bad, I have always liked the way they look
John Brown wrote: 1: Run 2: Run faster 3: Run motherfather RUN! The B5 Pieceofssat is a horrid car. A great idea screwed up by bean counters and black market engineering. Outside of the oiling issues you have a bad front suspension, frequent electrical issues and typical 1990s VW build quality. Suggest a 2001.5 and newer B5.5 model instead. for similar money you can get rid of quite a few of (but not all of) the stupid headaches. Mobil1 or Castrol Syntec ONLY. VW filters ONLY. LOF services every 5K RELIGIOUSLY. Replace the thermostat, coolant temp sensor, timing belt, tensioners, PCV valve and oil return line when you buy the car and you should be golden.
I have a 99 VW PieceofE36 M3at.
RUUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN! like John says.
The stupid E36 M3 that designed the front suspension should have to go to every owners house and replace every last one.
Random Electrical failures are nice too. I like opening the trunk and poping the fuel tank cover manually, even though it has a button by the front seats.
What is wrong with the front suspension?
Hm. I had a '98 for ~ 3 years; purchased at ~120K and sold at ~185.
At 120, the engine had never been cracked - I had the timing belt, water pump, etc replaced by a good VW guy nearby.
Sunroof was occasionally unreliable (it tried to tip up when tucked in and hung up, but I was able to get it out and it worked afterwards).
ABS died. I ignored that :)
Yes - go full synthetic and use the larger filter (the original filter is long and narrow; they superceded that with one that would suit a small truck). There's a tech note for that. I used NAPA Gold / WIX filters, but the car got to 120K on Frams. Changed the oil every 5k.
When I sold it, the suspension should have been rebushed and I think I had to get a couple replaced to pass inspection in the 3rd year I had it. Maintenance issues were minimal after that initial 120K service...
So the front suspension's in the Passat, A4, A6 and A8 are all crap? From what I've found they are mostly the same.
YaNi wrote: What is wrong with the front suspension?
It is made up of 4 individual aluminum control arms per side. They are not serviceable and once one starts to wear it quickly takes the others with it. I only got 60,000 kms (37,000 miles) out of my last rebuild.
This time I bought the full Meyle kit instead of no-name e-Bay parts. The kit was just under $700 US and fortunately I bought it last year when the $CAN was at par. The full kit at the dealer is over $1400 CAN and that does not include installation. Try doing $2500 front end rebuilds every 3 years and see if that doesn't tick you off. Fortunately I am able to do the work myself. You also have to lower the front subframe to get all the bolts out. My 95 Golf had nice simple steel control arms with replaceable parts that never had to have any work done in the entire 180,000 kms I put on it.
GSmith wrote: Hm. I had a '98 for ~ 3 years; purchased at ~120K and sold at ~185. At 120, the engine had never been cracked - I had the timing belt, water pump, etc replaced by a good VW guy nearby. Yes - go full synthetic and use the larger filter (the original filter is long and narrow; they superceded that with one that would suit a small truck). There's a tech note for that. I used NAPA Gold / WIX filters, but the car got to 120K on Frams. Changed the oil every 5k.
The factory timing belts are supposed to go 160,000 kms (100,000 miles), but the tensioners let go at about 120,000 kms (75,000 miles) resulting in lunched motors. Make sure you replace them early. The first one is expensive because they have to upgrade tensioner and replace everything. Mine was about $1000.
The filters that are now spec'd for the 1.8T are the same filter that my old TD Golf used, much larger. Always sythetic Mobil 1 or Castrol as noted above.
Yikes. I would never even consider a VW again after my bad experience with one but after reading this thread I don't think I will even walk next to one anymore. I will arc around them and avoid all eye contact. Geeeez, what happened to VW?
Thanks again. It looks like he is leaning toward a 04 Matrix now.
I usually take what I read about with a grain of salt, case in point at 185K my 99 9-3 has been rock solid, I just wanted to know what to look for.
Lots of info here:
http://www.passatworld.com/
Buy it. I like them. They look good and if you get the GIAC (or similar product) chip it will be FAST! Just make sure you do all the recommended work (fuel pressure increases, etc.) before you install the chip so that the engine gets plenty of fuel.
A neighbor of mine had one for a little while. It was an auto, it was lowered, had 17" TSW wheels--it looked good. I'll post a picture. Here's a list of his problems.
The 240 hp that he was putting down through the five speed auto was apparently too much for that transmission. He sold it before he killed it, but it would clunk into fifth gear from time to time. Manuals are more stout if I recall correctly. This was almost certainly a product of nearly tripling his boost pressure from the turbo. 
He killed MAF sensors like it was his job. Again, almost certainly due to the huge volume of air that was shooting through that thing.
The seats apparently kill specific airbag sensors when you move them throughout their lives. If you're buying a 98, this problem is probably just around the corner.
He got all sorts of CEL codes. This, again, was almost certainly due to the chip and all the other engine work he had done to the car.
Moral of the story: if your brother wants the car, he should definitely buy it. But he should have some maintenance performed (like everyone recommended above). Also, if he wants to keep the CEL (check engine light) off, he should refrain from changing things on the engine. However, if he doesn't mind ignoring the CEL, the car can be made to generate huge amounts of power and 150 mph runs are not out of the question.
www.vwforum.com (or maybe it's plural and www.vwforums.com - I can't remember). That's a pretty good forum. It's not like this one (you get flamed a lot if you don't use the search function), but it's full of generally good people. I knew a lot of them for a while.
The front suspension is WAY stupid. Just replaced another control arm on my Audi. The whole front kit can be had for about $300 wholesale, if you can get it under $400 you're getting a good deal. Shop around.
Paul_VR6 wrote: The front suspension is WAY stupid. Just replaced another control arm on my Audi. The whole front kit can be had for about $300 wholesale, if you can get it under $400 you're getting a good deal. Shop around.
On-line or only in stores?
There's no way you'll touch it at either price without knowing someone who will wholesale it to you..
The problem with the front suspension is that most people don't know how to install the arms correctly, even at the factory. If your dealer or mechanic ever read the factory service manual they would know that it's important to install the upper arms and tighten them down at a specific angle since you can't get to the bolts with the car on the ground.
Leave the lower bolts loose and put the car down on it's wheels. Bounce the suspension a bit and then tighten the bolts that pass through the bushings.
If you don't follow these procedures (like tightening the inner joints of the arms with the car in the air) the bushing ends up twisted and will not last very long. Most dealers don't know this and some cars left the factory with twisted bushings.
When I sold my car it had 75K on it, three track days, and four different suspension setups had been tried. My sister in law still has it with nearly 150K and no problems with the front suspension arms. She just had a coil pack go out and that's been the only problem. I always used M1 synthetic due to the small size of the turbo.
Find one that has had regular oil changes, be prepared for coil packs to die, and read the factory shop manual. I'd probably recenter the bushings on the front control arms while you were at it just in case someone suffering from rectal cranial inversion worked on the car.
I was a VW service manager at the time those things were new. I second John Brown: RUN LIKE HELL. 
They are junk from one end to the other. Their only redeeming quality was that they were pretty damn quick. Problem was, they usually didn't stay running long enough to be able to prove it.
My wife bought a new 2000 1.8T 5-spd Passat brand new. At the time, VW offered a 10 yr/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and a 2yr/24,000 mile bumper-to-bumper. We LOVED the car at first, then almost like some evil-genius, German engineering, planned obsolescence time-bomb, at 24,000 miles, EVERYTHING started going to hell. I mean things that I didn't have happen on 200K mile '70's vehicles I have owned. The straw that broke the camel's back was when we turned on the defroster one day and white smoke started POURING out of the vents (this was at the ripe old age of 50K miles). I reached down and the floor was soaked with antifreeze. This was a car that was babied and only driven by my wife from home to work and back again. We unloaded that lemon shortly thereafter. I will NEVER buy another VAG product... .
Maybe there are some problems with the bushing for the control arms.In fact A4,A6,and Passat B5 use the same suspension arms.I think VW is much better than some Japanese cars.Many Japanese cars' control arms are iron steel,they are not as good as VW.
I've found poly bushings for the all the control arms on ebay. I checked on an audi forum and I couldnt find anyone that had used them. Dont know how well those stock rubber ones press out and how well the poly ones press into the CAs, though.
John Brown wrote: Mobil1 or Castrol Syntec ONLY. VW filters ONLY. LOF services every 5K RELIGIOUSLY. Replace the thermostat, coolant temp sensor, timing belt, tensioners, PCV valve and oil return line when you buy the car and you should be golden.
+1
From personal experience.
Also, get used to the "check engine light" - it stays on all the time to tell you the car is running 
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