2002 Volkswagen Passat SE from UK and Ireland - Comments

The Turbo has blown twice.

The Alternator failed at 90,000 miles.

The interior around the gear stick looks shabby.

Generally the car runs well for the amount of miles it has covered, and is very comfortable on a long journey.

I don't think that the pick up is as good as I would expect from a 130 BHP Turbo Diesel. A Mondeo or Vectra seem to leave it trailing behind.

Another gripe I have is that of reliability. I chose a Passat specifically because of the amount of miles I cover, and assumed that reliability would be excellent. Two Turbos and One Alternator leave me a little skeptical about purchasing another VW.

I think the car would benefit from the 150 BHP Diesel engine found in the Mark 4 Golf.

I cannot find fault with the dealer. Excellent service.

The 150bhp engine found in the golf is the same engine as yours, but with a slightly different turbo. The turbo on the 130 engine provides more low down punch than the 150 turbo. People who performance tune these PD TDi engines will always go for a 130bhp engine over the 150bhp as the power gains are greater on the 130.

The vast majority of Passat and Golf PD TDIs have had no turbo problems whatsoever. Are you allowing sufficient time for the turbo to warm up before using full throttle and again allowing time for oil to circulate and cool the turbo down after each journey?

I have seen plenty of these cars covering over 200000 miles and they still drive like they were 20000 mile vehicles. The Passat is synonymous with Quality and Reliability.

Mine isn't. 50,000 miles, just a year out of warranty and it's cost me £1,200 in repairs. Juddering clutch (common fault), water leak around pollen filter (common fault) and one of the turbo pipes split (common fault).

Great for the first three years and 40,000 miles, but now seems to be falling apart around me just as the warranty has run out. To be told by dealer technicians that the fault they're charging you to repair is "common", adds salt into the wounds. The clutch parts alone cost over £700 with VAT! Ferrari wouldn't even charge that much.