How are 1997 Passat's?

[Hatterasguy]

I have the chance to get one for free, my dads friend tried to charge me $100 for it but I refused to pay for a VW so I talked him down to a 6 pack. I told him if it was a Camry or an Accord, you know a good car I'd be willing to pay for it. Anyway its in really good shape with a straight body, clean shiney silver paint, and a pretty clean black leather interior. The whole car is actualy pretty clean. It needs a battery and a major service; brakes and tires are fresh. Also all of the door handles are broke, except for one? Don't know why that is, they work from the inside just not from the outside, its like some linkage failed. I don't know the mileage probably about 100k, and it has the V6 or R6 whatever they call it. Does it have a timing belt? Changing the serp belt which is cracking looks like a nightmare! Their is like 1/4 of clearance on that side!


The only problem is that some plastic thing broke on the drivers side of the engine puking the coolant out. Hopefully the engine is still good. It may have happend in the PO's driveway in that case its probably fine. The oil looks pretty clean.

My dads friends family jumped on the VW band wagon about 5 years ago, so I have a choice between this and another Jetta. They are dumping them now like their is no tomarrow.

What kind of fuel mileage is this R6 thing going to get? Its a regular sized car which I like, actualy I kind of like this one I may keep it for a bit. I was originaly going to drive it from November-April of next winter then Ebay it, but if it runs good I may keep it for a second winter. This car is much more my comfortable than the Jetta.

[PaulC]

Hattie, instead of buying this car, just find the one door that can be opened and slam it shut on your fingers. Same amount of pleasure as 10-year-old VW ownership, but obtained more quickly.

[Hatterasguy]

Well its either this or spending $2k on a W126. I rather keep the $2k in the bank and suffer in VW ownership again. The Jetta hasn't failed me yet! The oil is black as tar, yet it still runs!

[t walgamuth]

I bet low to mid twenties for a v6 highway. I don't know....just guessing.

I bet something happened that locked all the doors and then they broke all the handles trying to get in.

Tom W

[123c]

I think it has the same engine that they put in the Audi's of that vintage, I know the earlier versions of that engine were prone to head gasket failure, not sure if they had the problems fixed by that time or not. Gas mileage should be in the low 20s for the city/highway. The horsepower rating is somewhere around 180.

[TylerH860]

your sig says it all.

Free is always good. Easy 2-3 grand to sell.

[Angel]

You said it has the VR6 ?

You will be as happy with this as you are your jetta. I know that the "more smarter" VW minds will chime in here, but I'll lead the way.

The VR6 has timing chains, 3 of them, and you need to pull the motor away from the trans (out of the car really) to change them (they are in the transmission side of the motor- draw your own conclusions here =). I think the replacement interval is every 80k or 120k. I'm not sure if they are interference or not (not sure if you bend valves from broken chains or not)

97 was the last year of that body style (they sold a few 97 Passat TDI's, I'd ebay my soul for one...) so thats good, but I'd expect the construction to be of the same quality as the Jetta. MAF/engine sensors will be more expensinve than your 2.0 Jetta. Mileage will be 20 to 26 mpg if everything is working ok. 123c is good on the HP numbers, for some reason 176hp out of a stock VR6. You could really rice this thing if you wanted to.

It is, like you said, a bigger car, and the VR6 models got all the options (leather, ABS, bells and whistles) so if that makes a difference to you...

IIRC the 97 passats with a 6cyl only had the VR6, I don't think that any audi model shipped with that motor. (I thought that audi had their own 60deg. V6 that they used for 6cyl applicaitons - I've never seen a VR6 motor mounted longitudinal.)

Free ? yeah, drive it till it dies, but that might be soon. I'm debating leaving my Jetta and getting back into a W123, 124 or W126.

-John

[catmandoo62]

the door handles are a common problem.if you find one that doesn't have any broke you just hit the lottery.

[Zeus]

Hey Hattie -

My wife has a 1997 Jetta, the 2.0L Trek edition and it has been a fantastic car mechanically. Haven't had to do a thing to the engine. It needed a new tranny when we bought it, but in the 7 years or so we've owned it, it has been great.

VWs do suffer from a lot of small failures though. Door locks is one, window motors and regulators always fail. Alarm problems. Side moudling peels off the doors (too heavy). Etc.

Wife's sister has a newer Jetta with the VR6. It's a nice engine, it drives kind of like a subdued 3-series Bimmer. IIRC, it gets very good mileage. Fast as well. Not sure how it would feel in the Passat which is a bigger chassis I think.

Free is good though. Good luck.

[Hatterasguy]

If I get it I'll just drive it for 6 months or until it blows, whatever comes first. I like the car better because its larger, bigger is good. If I had the money I'd buy my friends S320 for $10k and just be done with these junk cars. Being in school and broke sux.