Advised my mate to buy a Passat Estate, should I move house

[lancashireclamper]

A bit late to seek advice perhaps but was hoping for a bit of retrospective advice,

One of the lads at work mentioned last week that an elderly relative of his, who lives 130 miles away was not in the best of health and needed help clearing a large house of 60+ years of junk, thinking it would take a couple of sundays off he goes, only to realize that the house is stuffed full of junk (apparently almost of a Mr. Trebus nature) and the couple of trips to the tip turn into a long term project, he goes onto ask would it be a stupid idea to buy an old estate car for maybe £800 with a few months tax and test, work it to death and punt it on.

Anyway a trawl through evilbay and autwatrader turns up a few possibilities, an N reg Carina estate, at a back street garage £800 with a full test 20 miles away, would I mind going with him to look it over, (He's considerably richer than me and hasn't bought a cheap car in years, I have a Rover 25......... Need I say more) anyway, Carina is a complete dog got no hope of a straight MOT without much expenditure, no probs, a BMW 318 tourer, slushbox, 1996 full test rears its head only 5 miles from home, I thought it looked ok but increasingly fussy mate doesn't like the couple of scratches on the bonnet and zero service history, I'm starting to wonder what he expects for this kind of money and going home looks attractive.

We try a couple of local garages, nothing doing and as a last resort go to a top end type place, nothing for less than £4995 with the forlorn hope there maybe something round the back, lo and behold theres a 99 on a T Passat Estate 1.9tdi, 117k 6 months T&T, we inquire and are told it only came in half an hour ago and is probably sold, anyway, bloke who did the deal on it says he's got a punter lined up but first come first served, he's asking 1600, we poke and prod it a bit and it seems ok, climate control works, all the electircs function, drives really well, eventually offer 1200, bit of Mike Brewer type ping pong and mate buys it for 1350, its currently sat on my drive till he gets it insured and I'm just wondering, A, has he been ripped off, B, are these things as bulletproof as everyone reckons, C, at 117k with very little service history does it need a cambelt tensioner waterpump etc, D, is he likely to get any money back on it in a few months and last but not least, should I change my name, emigrate and NEVER give advice on cars again as I'm totally clueless?

Any thoughts advice, names of good plastic surgeons etc much appreciated.

[Pillock]

Seems fair to me. The diesels always fetch bigger money even though, and I will happily be corrected, a T-plate will have the non-PD engine. It's essentially older tech, but unless your mate wanted to chip it to a bazillion horsepower and always carry a spare clutch, it's fine. These engines seem to have less issues with sensors/actuators/valves than the PD ones.

It's done hardly any miles at all which is good, I'd only be getting a twitchy bum at 200k+.

I'd do a service anyway and include the belts just for peace of mind, especially since at that price the dealer won't want to.

Got a couple of mates who run these as second/weekend/moving house cars and they're good workhorses, no major issues. He'll get a half decent price back, keep it for a year and maybe even make a zero pound loss.

[barrett]

Dunno, i'm just fantasising about the complete run of C&SCs and NOS Reanult 14 bits that are almost definitely hidden in neo-Trebus' house.

Trigger had a passat until it got written off and he rated it very highly. I've never heard any real horror stories about them.

Tell you what though, I'd like to be in a position to jump from an £800 budget to a £1400 one, but I doubt i'd buy anything with a VW badge if I could.

[VWPowered]

our 97 passat has now clocked 490,000kms, only changed gearbox and afew hoses, still drives well, just had a 2600km trip to/up and over the mountains...

 

does a great job

[Cavcraft]

First thing I'd be checking is the heater works (the bushes go, about £6.00 in parts and glovebox out job to replace) and that the footwell behind the driver isn't full of water or damp. The pollen filter seal packs up (common fault) and the 'exit' for this is under the driver's seat. If it's gone in the past the whole footwell can fill with water (and you won't believe how much!) and cause electrical problems, so check stuff like window motors, central locking, lights etc.

[Pete-M]

I don't believe the VW hype but the Passat isn't a bad car.

 

The problem with them tends to be when they've been owned by people who do believe the "VWs don't break" hype, and don't look after them. When they appear on the market after being owned by someone who thinks an MOT is a service they tend to be a hugely unreliable pain in the arse. This is the same with pretty much any car, but Jap stuff and VWs seem to suffer more than most.

 

Just check the stuff Billy said about water leaks, and check all the central locking and door related stuff works. If you can find someone with VAG-COM or Snap-On diagnostic gear the car will tell you more about itself than any number of hours prodding and poking ever will.

[lancashireclamper]

Thanks muchly for the comments chaps, have just been out and tentatively fired it up and all seems well,

 

I did have an idea that water leaks could be a problem on these, didn't VW refuse to admit there was a problem despite hundreds of owners suffering the same symptoms? Didn't know it was due to the pollen filter though, thanks Cav, it seems bone dry inside and all elec windows remote locking work as they should and the heater is nice and toasty, it appears quite a likeable old thing and I'll be interested to see how it copes with its new starring role in Steptoe and Son the musical, just between ourselves if all goes to plan and its up for grabs in a few months, might even bid him for it.

 

Thanks again to all who replied, I'm going to look like the most knowledgeable vdubber in the North West tomorrow morning

[trigger]

Mine was a W plate with the later PD engine but it was a great old thing, If it wasn't for the crash I'd still have it now.

 

I can't really give you any tips what to look for as mine was faultless, I know it had a new central locking system fitted when nearly new but that was about it, £1350 sounds about the right price, the diesels do hold a premium still over the petrols and you'll never have any problems selling it and getting your money back as everyone is after an estate model as long as your mate doesn't trash it whilst loading it up with tat.

[messerschmitt owner]

if there are any old postcards, photos and such like, I'd be interested in buying them from this 'house clearance'.

 

I will pay cash for decent old postcards and ephemera.

 

And get him to buy a cheap van - or a Xantia estate

[lancashireclamper]

Thanks Trigger,

Apparently this one is the PD engine but is 115bhp as opposed to a 90 making it a Red I or something like,

Its booked in for a service at a local VW specialist wednesday but seems sound enough.

 

Have asked about postcards etc MO but it seems that hardly anything salvageable seems present at the house being cleared,

I haven't pried too much but it seems that the lady involved was quite independant well into her 80's but went down hill very quickly following a nasty fall and seems to have become a little eccentric, nobody is really sure where all the stuff she has accumilated came from but none of it seems of any interest, the house has suffered from damp, minor flooding and such like recently so think its a case of scoop it up and tip it, the old van idea was mooted but dismissed as the local tip charge anyone in a commercial vehicle a small fortune per visit, whilst fly tipping is at a record high, it baffles me!