Hi guys, I am planning to buy a used 2004 VW Passat 1.8 . I have always heard of potential problems in passats and jettas over the past couple of years. I'd appreciate if anyone can tell me what to watch out for before buying one (any specific things to be checked which may give a big problem later on). Your feedback would be highly appreciated.
Dealer or private party purchase? look under the valve cover for sludge buildup. The former owner may have "cheated" on oil changes. Buy an extended warranty.
You won't detect the "sludging" problems in the VW 1.8T motors by looking at the top end. These engines don't "sludge," they actually "coke" non-synthetic oil causing "turbo turds" (carbonized oil) to clog the oil pump inlet screen/pickup tube, causing major engine damage due to oil starvation. In most cases, by the time you get the oil warning message, the damage has been done. The fix? A new engine. .
Check the service records to ensure the oil has been changed every 5K miles and the larger VW filter and synthetic oil has been used (its a design problem caused by mounting the motor longitudinally in these models and the corresponding Audi models, which reduced the oil sump capacity to about 3.7 quarts, versus almost 5 quarts when the engine is mounted transversely in other VW models). Absent the oil service info, stay away, unless you're willing to have the oil pressure checked before buying or drop the pan and check the oil pump inlet screen (not that easy).
Other problems:
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