Any opinions on VW 1.6 TDI Passat 2010-2012

[Albanach]

Currently looking at one of these as the main family car. It will mainly be used for town driving with very occasional motorway/dual carriageway use and will definitely do under 10,000 miles a year. So anyone got one or had one with any good and bad things to say?

 

[Lord Tyrion]

I can't talk about the Passat directly but I have driven two cars, Volvo V60 and VW Golf Estate, that both used 1.6d engines, more modern than the one you are looking at. If you live and drive in Norfolk then they are fine. If you do any distance driving or go up hills then they are gutless and there is a constant whine of the engine working hard to keep up. Basically the car is too big for the engine so the engine has to work overtime to move it. This gets wearing for the driver and also kills the claimed high mpg that these cars are supposed to do.

Also remember that if you are doing low miles then this engine could have DPF issues as you are not doing good enough distances often enough to clear it out.

For your pattern of journeys I would suggest you keep to a petrol engine.

The Passat as a car is a fine car, tried and tested and ideal for family use. I would just avoid getting it in a 1.6 full stop and for your need I would avoid any type of diesel.

 

[Foxholer]

Currently looking at one of these as the main family car. It will mainly be used for town driving with very occasional motorway/dual carriageway use and will definitely do under 10,000 miles a year. So anyone got one or had one with any good and bad things to say?

Apart from being pretty gutless?

Unless low emissions are absolutely essential, go for the 2.0D. Real world consumption will likely be pretty much the same and you won't gt RSI from changing gear all the time!

 

[Hobbit]

Been running the Passat 2.0 tdi as fleet cars for years. Great motor. A couple of the engineers opted for the 1.6 to save on company car tax, and cried for 3 yrs. Loaded up they're deader than a dead thing on a very dead day. Solid car, and will run for ever, but just not very quickly.

 

[Albanach]

Excuse my ignorance but I assume the 2 litre has a DPF as well? There is an alternative route to her fathers that could include dual carriageway whom she visits almost daily - would this be enough to clean the DPF or does it need extended long runs?

 

[Hobbit]

Excuse my ignorance but I assume the 2 litre has a DPF as well? There is an alternative route to her fathers that could include dual carriageway whom she visits almost daily - would this be enough to clean the DPF or does it need extended long runs?

Lot depends on whether its an active filter or passive. If it has one, and its active it doesn't matter how short the trip is.

 

[Paul77]

The DPF can be a pain. My other half has a polo blue motion and the DPF is clearly audible when it's clearing itself out. She hardly does any miles in it at all and really needs a petrol car. She once was charged £450 for the pleasure of clearing it out by VW when the emissions light came on. Now we just run it in 3rd gear down the motorway for 25 mins. I pretty much need to ragdoll it to clear it out. 1st gen DPF are a pain. My BMW DPF hardly ever bothers me and I never need to do such things but I do 250 miles a week.

A company we work with all use Passats in the engineers cars and they swear by them. Also used a lot by taxi drivers. Although some would argue that the Octavia is better but that's just a long wheelbase Golf and the Skoda Superb is based in the Passat chassis. An Audi A4 is essentially a Passat underneath too. They are good cars and I'd certainly buy one again. The Passat CC is a beautiful car.

So less miles get a petrol, and for long haul journeys get the diesel. Too mauch hassle and costs doing it the other way round.

 

[Robster59]

I have the Skoda Superb Greenline II which I believe uses the same engine. It's not as bad as you think in terms of power. I do about 30k miles a year in it and average well in excess of 60mpg with it.
OK it's never going to win any blasts from the traffic lights but it is nippier than you think and cruises all day at motorway speeds.
Modern engines are far more efficient per litre than the old models and the other good thing is car tax is £20 per annum.

 

[DCB]

Check the mileage, the timing chain/ belt needs changed at 60k and could be a hefty charge if it hasn' t already been done.

If you're doing a lot of town driving and under 13k miles a year then diesel isn't what you really need.

 

[bladeplayer]

Decent enough car , EGR valves are giving serious bother on them otherwise they are decent enough.
You will have DPF probs with that driving, 15min spin on an open road will sort that you need to be able to drive at a constant speed to regenerate it . can b costly to get it computer regenerated .

As others have said that mileage you realy aint going to save enough on fuel to balance out the extra outlay on a diesel .

Depending on what car your currently driving engine size wise you might find it a bit sluggish but they are safe and comfortable ..

Jetta is a fab car also

 

[Albanach]

Cheers guys.
The current car is a SAAB 9-3 TDI saloon so it will be a drop in power. I understand the diesel versus petrol situation but the petrol version is pretty rare over here in Ireland but I'll definitely investigate further.
4 or 5 times a week it will get 20 minutes on a dual carriageway @ 60-65 mph sob that might be sufficient for the DPF.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

It should be. The real trouble is people doing 5-10 minute journeys all the time, going to the shops and back. 20 minutes should be okay to get up to speed and burn it off. If you ever get home and hear what sounds like the fan working hard still then get back in the car, onto the dual carriageway and drive in 3rd/4th for a little longer as that is the regen is progress.