Would anyone take a chance on this?

NOTE: THIS IS NOT MY VEHICLE. CONTACT OWNER LISTED IN THE AD FOR MORE INFO.
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2003 VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT W8 WAGON, 148K miles, $4,800 (Price reduced from $5,299) Long Beach, CA

2003 VW Passat W8 Wagon AWD - $4800 (Long Beach)

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/4255583103.html

"I have a Black/Gray leather Interior 2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 (V8 Motor) Wagon with 4-Motion (4 wheel drive/All wheel drive) automatic transmission for sale. This is not your regular 1.8T or V6 Passat. This is the top of the line car during its time using a W8 motor, similar to a V8 and the W12 that Bentley uses. This cost $40k when it first released, nearly double of what a 1.8T cost. It's quiet, smooth, fast and composed. It came with a lot of upgrades over the other models, such as HID's, auto folding side mirrors, chrome roof rack, real leather, different gauge cluster, etc. Very solid car for family or work. Original everything with original owners manuals. 148,xxx miles. Clean title with pink slip on hand. Clean CarFax. This car has been taken good care of with routine maintenance.


Car runs amazing. Passed smog a year ago with no issues. New battery. No leaks, no weird sounds. Ice cold A/C, hot heater. New fluid in ttransmission and differential. New brakes (rotors and pads) all the way around. Clean interior, no rips.


$5299 obo


Call, text or email me. (Text preferred) (562) 682-534O"




More pics with the ad......

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I've heard these are VERY expensive to repair....

 

My ex-wife had a 2001 VW Beetle when we were married. While the drivetrain didn't give us any problems, the rest of the car was falling apart around it at only 70,000 miles. She drove it for a couple more years, but had many problems. I have a buddy who is a VW tech and he said you couldn't give him a VW.

 

When the Beetle died the real VW died too! Even my VW squareback was a lemon.

 

Wow a W8! That's a RARE car. On the upside, it's rare and highly sought-after in VW circles. On the downside, these were not terribly reliable and parts are both scarce and EXPENSIVE....and many places will not even work on a W8.

I've read that people with the Phaeton W8's can only get them serviced reliably by going to Audi dealers. That's $$$$

This would be a neat/FAST/rare car, and when it's working right, would be a total riot to drive, but I'd constantly be worried (what's next) when I was driving it.

That's my 2-cents!

-Mike

 

Run like hell from any VW W8 engine! It's not worth considering, unless you are a VW specialist and have the specialty tools to work on it.

Example - This engine has not one, not two, but EIGHT O2 sensors - one for each cylinder! To remove any of them, the engine must be removed from the car, or at least removed far enough to access the sensor. Oh, and they are $550 EACH, plus one full day labor @125.00/hr. So, you might as well replace all eight at one time ($4,400), plus the $1,000 labor charge, plus whatever they find that is broken. So, $5,400 plus change, just for oxygen sensor replacement!

Nice cars, just one of the absolute worst designs in modern automotive history, in terms of actual useability, service, and overall value. Keep it.

 

Here's a curbside classic on it. The engine is pretty wild!

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog...w8-half-a-bugatti-veyron-engine-for-only-40k/

 

Well Patrick, I believe that answered my original question.
$40k new in 2003, now worth $4,800. That's pretty astounding depreciation.
This seems kinda like my decision to buy the 2000 Audi A6 Avant in 2003 - had something like 68k on the odometer. Looked beautiful, paid $14k for it. Wifey didn't want me to buy it - women's intuition............

 

....and here I thought the VR6 in my brother's Jetta was hard to work on....

-Mike

 

Oh, the engine is friggin' motor-porn, it's a work of art! Unfortunately, Art was drunk when they designed this in terms of longevity and the reasons I mentioned earlier!

 

Maybe it's me, but is that a huge dent on the back door?....so much for "taken care of"

 

I missed that. With all the other things you would have to worry about on this one, a dented liftgate is the least of your problems!

 

Were I to own a Passat wagon, the ONLY one I'd consider would be a Diesel 5-speed. I know of a '99 in the FL Panhandle that will go a thousand miles on a tank of fuel - 51 mpg with a 25-gallon tank. They did have an optional 31-gallon tank!

 

Those crazy Germans, always trying something different.

 

I broke my daughters heart when I refused to buy her a bug. Every review I read anyone I talked to told me that the cost of matanance was way to high.

 

VW maintenance compare

Young miss I worked w/ had a newer bug & knew an excellent mechanic w/ his own shop (labour rate 1/2 that of dealer). After a number of moderately expensive minor repairs the $2,000 clutch replacement was too much; she took a beating on trade in. I don't think it had 100K km on it, not abused; she took care of it. By comparison, clutch on our Civic (@240K km) was less than $100 but had to install myself.