I'm not much of a VW person and this thing popped up on my local craigslist I've been try to find something AWD for my fiancé to drive.

Its got the 2.8L v6 auto trans and 4 motion all wheel drive system. 13xxxx miles and a salvage title due to hail damage. They're asking $3500 but already said they'd go a little lower. What should I look out for any known problems with the engine transmission etc.

The thing looks spotless in the pictures and they're claiming the hail is the only reason the people traded it off. I can't see any damage in the pictures but I'm going to see it in person this weekend. Not really concerned about the body damage she's been driving a focus with 200K and the passenger side caved in for the last 2 years. About anything else would be an upgrade I just want something that's reliable she puts on about 60 miles a day.

Thanks in advance for any input I know there's a lot of VW people here

Looks like a pretty nice ride.
http://lincoln.cra...td/3968427650.html

Find out if the timing belt and water pump have been replaced already if you can. Its just past the recommended mileage and it is a $$$$$$$$$ bill to have a shop do this.

are you/they absolutely positive it was only hail damage that caused the salvage title?

it had no damage to the frame or air bag deployment in its past?

The price seems a little bit steep, especially with a salvage title.

Keep in mind what Cavemonkey said about the T-Belt and water pump.

The V6 isn't bad, just watch for oil leaks (cam chain tensioners usually) and if the tranny shifts well at this mileage, you should be just fine for quite a while.

You know what? That front end has been changed... so the salvage title may be a bit more serious than hail damage. The B5 Passat was facelifted in '01 and that's the '98-'00 headlights and front bumper/grille.

The name rez and Ali totally turns me off to it. They likely bought it from a wholesale auction for ins co. Totaled cars, fixed it and listed it for sale. Not that there's anything wrong with this but I think your better off if u want a good reliable car to buy something Japanese. Think accord, camry etc. that's my personal opinion other than the fact that it's too pricey Volkswagens of this era are moneypits and parts are (for some reason) expensive. I know I'll catch flack for this but I'm an auto tech (who owns 2vws btw) and see it all to often what kind of junk u can buy.

u want AWD? buy a Subaru.

Posted by Samurai u want AWD? buy a Subaru.

AGREE

Posted by bandi You know what? That front end has been changed... so the salvage title may be a bit more serious than hail damage. The B5 Passat was facelifted in '01 and that's the '98-'00 headlights and front bumper/grille.

^^^^
That's the exact reason I posted it here its little things like I'd never catch.


I appreciate everyone's input I may still go look more out of curiosity now. Also I'll ask them about the timing belt and water pump. But if that's not the stock front end obliviously they are lying about the salvage title being hail related only. That's not really starting off on the right foot to say the least and used car salesmen always seem pull this on women who they assume know nothing about cars.

My fiancé` had been talking with them about it and then asked me to call them about the hail damage yesterday to make sure it was worth going to look (its a 2 hour drive one way) and I quizzed them about the salvage title. I wouldn't have had a clue about the front clip being off though even seeing it in person unless it was really poorly done.

I'll report back after the weekend. Thanks again everyone.

Posted by Samurai u want AWD? buy a Subaru.

Posted by sleeperspirit AGREE

I'd like one but 99% of the subaru's around here are wagons which she does not want.

If you decide you like the car, take it to a reputable machanics shop and have someone look at it and do a pre buy check over. It will cost 25-40 bux but will save you from buying a piece of shit. Don't trust anything those salesman say and if they don't let u take it and have someone check it out just walk.... Or run away.

Posted by sleeperspirit If you decide you like the car, take it to a reputable machanics shop and have someone look at it and do a pre buy check over. It will cost 25-40 bux but will save you from buying a piece of shit. Don't trust anything those salesman say and if they don't let u take it and have someone check it out just walk.... Or run away.

Well I was a diesel mechanic for 5 years so I'm not worried about that I can check it over myself but things like that front clip I'd have never known the difference. And I don't trust any used car salesmen any farther than I can throw them.

Posted by bandi You know what? That front end has been changed... so the salvage title may be a bit more serious than hail damage. The B5 Passat was facelifted in '01 and that's the '98-'00 headlights and front bumper/grille.

The back end of the car also matches the B5 generation. VW did release the B5.5 in 2001, but this could be 2001 B5, which would make the front and back correct, unless they installed both front and back bumpers/lights/hood/trunk lids on a B5.5, which sounds like an awful lot of work.

Posted by Uzi- Well I was a diesel mechanic for 5 years so I'm not worried about that I can check it over myself but things like that front clip I'd have never known the difference. And I don't trust any used car salesmen any farther than I can throw them.

Just lookin out

Posted by sleeperspirit If you decide you like the car, take it to a reputable machanics shop and have someone look at it and do a pre buy check over. It will cost 25-40 bux but will save you from buying a piece of shit. Don't trust anything those salesman say and if they don't let u take it and have someone check it out just walk.... Or run away.

a friend of mine went through this with a 98 GTi VR6... it was a year old, he wanted it, never really looked at closely, just WANTED it. First oil change, i got under it and noticed that the floorpan had taken a massive amount of damage and repaired (Which explained why it seemed to eat through tires). Always look it over closely.

I actually quite like when these come through my shop. I like picking cars apart and if there junk I tell both parties my opinion of the car. Sometimes I get some real nice cars but most of the time they're shit

I do have to say- as much as I prefer smaller VWs, this generation of Passat is a really nice car to drive. Feels like something that costs a lot more, especially with the manual tranny. Would I own one? Well, probably not, cuz it just isn't my style. But for a full size car, they drive like something much smaller.

I went and drove it Sunday morning and left it at the dealer. It ran nice and drove well but the check engine light came on 10 mins into the drive. Said something about emissions workshop. AC wasn't very cold, tint was coming off all the widows, leather was coming un-stitched on the seats and the interior in general wasn't in that great of shape.

I couldn't see anything telling me it had been wrecked or see any signs of a botched repair job on the front end so I'm not sure why the headlights/grill didn't match up. Also didn't have any service records for the timing belt/water pump and I didn't want to buy and then have to stick more money/time into doing that.

We're going to keep looking for something else.

Posted by Uzi- I went and drove it Sunday morning and left it at the dealer. It ran nice and drove well but the check engine light came on 10 mins into the drive. Said something about emissions workshop. AC wasn't very cold, tint was coming off all the widows, leather was coming un-stitched on the seats and the interior in general wasn't in that great of shape. I couldn't see anything telling me it had been wrecked or see any signs of a botched repair job on the front end so I'm not sure why the headlights/grill didn't match up. Also didn't have any service records for the timing belt/water pump and I didn't want to buy and then have to stick more money/time into doing that. We're going to keep looking for something else.

not all AWD Subaru's are wagons... both the Legacy and Impreza's were offered as sedan models AND those sedans were easy on the eyes.