It’s about time I got a new car, and since I finally had enough money to get one I went out hunting last weekend. I knew that I wanted a VW Passat for some time. 2 of my friends have got them and they’re highly reliable. Nobody else I know who has or has had one had much of a problem with them. I visited a few garages and saw a couple of them but this one caught mine and my friends eye.

Upon closer inspection it’s pristine in pretty much every way, both inside and out. One of my friends told me I’d be stupid not to go for it. For the price of £4690, ~92,000mi on the clock and made in 2005 it was a great deal. A little older than I wanted but despite that still pretty good. We had checked the usual stuff out and it was all good. It had a full service history indicating a new cambelt 5k ago and services throughout it’s life by VW. You couldn’t get any better than that.

I did a test drive (I mean who wouldn’t?) and I loved it as soon as it left the forecourt. We drove on a variety of roads and by god does it shift! So much better than the Peugeot 306! The 2.0L TDi engine produces around 140bhp and 250+ lb/ft of torque (much better than the 92bhp/155 lb/ft from the 306) and it shows too.

When we got back after the drive we headed to the pub next door and mulled over the cost and various other factors. After some persuasion by my friends I decided to put down a deposit on it. We sorted out the finance that I would need (1/2 of the price) and off I trotted eagerly awaiting the results from the finance company. Two days later (Monday) I heard back that I had got the finance (Woohoo!) and I could drive it away the following Saturday (today).

A few removals from the Peugeot (bits and bobs from the boot, the tracker and the radio), and it was ready to part exchange. They offered me £350 for it which was a great deal considering I paid £500 for it 3 1/2 years ago! I couldn’t say no. So today I picked it up and paid the remaining money on top of the deposit to pay for half the costs. Within 20 minutes I drove away a happy person!

We immediately went to the first garage and I filled up £50. Guess how much the needle showed after that… Can’t guess? Half a tank! HALF! Bloody expensive to fill that’s for sure. A day of random driving enjoying my new purchase shows an average of 44mpg or so which is mostly down driving. On the motorway I would expect I’d get a fair bit more, closer to 50 or higher.

Now this car is modern, which means a lot of things are electronic from the throttle to the very dodgy parking brake. I should point out by the way the parking brake has already failed once! It wouldn’t disengage after I wanted to drive away and told me to consult the manual. I did, and found nothing. I decided to play the old “turn it off and on again” tactic. What can I say except it worked. It retried itself and it disengaged. It’s been fine since, but I expect this won’t be the last time it will happen. We live and learn I suppose.

The other thing is the air con not working, but I suspect this is a simple fault that can be rectified (low gas, blown fuse, etc). I will contact the car centre as soon as I can to report the problem. Everything else is pretty flawless.

So do I like it? I love it! The power is a nice change, and the low end torque is immense but it does hesitate a little on the low RPM’s. That’s to be expected because of the hybrid turbo. It does judder a bit but I’ve been told at low RPM this is to be expected, however despite that I’m going to research it just to be sure since it doesn’t sound normal.

Anyway, I’ve posted some pictures on my gallery and I will add more as and when I get them. I’ve spent most of the day driving around so I never got chance to take pictures!