1997 Passat TDI Station wagon (B4V)

Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
SOLD!!!
I'm changing up the fleet a little and will be selling my B4V and or Golf. I'm located south of Boston in MA.
My B4V (AKA "The Family Waggin") is Windsor Blue with Sahara (tan) Cloth int. It has the moonroof and is of course a 5spd as they all were. It has 15" alloy wheels and wears 195-65-15 tires. It has ~180K on it. This car has had a lot of love in my ownership but it needs more. This has been my FL roadtrip vehicle of choice for the last 3 yrs. It's using more oil than it should (1qt ~500mi) so I'd want the buyer to be aware of that. While on my last roadtrip in FL, I had the turbo replaced thinking it was bad turbo seals. So, it has a new from Idparts Turbo in it ~2500mi ago.

Known issues:
Oil consumption
Temp gauge inop (Temp OK via Vag Com)
Driver window sometimes flakey (regulator OK)
Rear wiper inop (tries to work but nope)
Noise/vibration from front (wheel bearing?)not terrible but there.

All other electrics, windows, door handles, central locking, cruise cont. etc. work well.

It has the following mods:
RC3 chip in the FA ECU, 5 Brakelight mod, Turn signal repeaters in the frt fenders, Has the fog position headlight switch (no fogs yet), and of course ventectomy.

The VIN# is WVWHG83A6VE012584. I'm the 3rd owner and I bought it in 2009 w 155K on it. I've done some of the work to it and it has also been worked on by local TDI Gurus. I've bought parts almost exclusively from www.idparts.com so I'm confident about quality. I don't have every record for it, but there's a lot. I'll try to list the major work that's been done from most recent. It got filters and such as needed.

Late 2011, early 2012
Rear Tires In MD after a sidewall failure
Turbo Replaced, Supply/Return lines insp.
Bilstein TC frt struts, mounts, dust boots, and an alignment
Frt rotors (warped)

Late 2010
Frt & Rr brake pads and rotors. Rear also got new calipers and wheel bearings.
A/C condenser replaced (Radiator Classics) and system charged (Blows Cold)

Early to mid 2010 The trials and tribulations starts around post #12 here http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=267569
With a great amount of help from a New England crew Guru and from From Idparts, The head was removed, reworked and reinstalled. GP#4 got new threads. The intake was cleaned. The GP's and Harness were also done as I had GP issues since day one. Post# 94-98 here http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=204372
The Timing belt and related components (harmonic balancer too) was replaced a second time when the head was R&R. The crank D pulley was checked (OK) and a new bolt was used.
New front tires (Sidewall fail)

2009
Timing Belt kit done right by a B4 Guru
Clutch master and Slave cylinders replaced
Injector#3 replaced with a used one due to the needle lift solenoid failing.
Rear steel brake-line replaced (the one that goes from left to right over the suitcase muffler) due to corrosion failure (Common issue with these)

Major repairs from the previous owner were The downpipe and Catalytic converter, radiator, and Battery
I'll be asking for $3900 for it and will edit this thread with full info and pics as I work on it.

This is a pic from 09 in Florida
 
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Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
I took these late in the day today after a quick wash and dry. Please note the scaley type surface rust on the doors. Also there's minor damage on the lower 2 driver side doors due to a light sideswipe last Nov. There is a small amount of bubbling paint around the windshield as well. That should or will be repaired when the cracked window is replaced.















This is a pic from 09 in Florida
 
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Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
How is it using this oil? What would one have to do to fix it? Burning? Leaking?
My recommendation to whomever buys it would be to plan for the worst (probably rings) and hope for the best. The car runs fine and may very well run like that for a long time as long as the oil level is closely monitored. We all knows what happens when they run out of oil. I drove it back from Florida, nowadays It's a daily driver back and forth to work etc. .
 

Redress

Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2012
Location
Hubert, NC
TDI
2010 Jetta, 2001 Golf 2003 Jetta Wagoon
Is this wagon still for sale and if so,how much are you asking? Tony Austin
 

Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
Is this wagon still for sale and if so,how much are you asking? Tony Austin
I did respnd to your PM, it's the second one with text in it.
I've priced it at $3900 mostly due to the new turbo and all of the other work it has had.
 

Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
Mufflerectomy today, still has the suitcase muffler though.
 

Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
I picked up the buyer yesterday morning at the airport and they drove it home.
"The Family Waggin" now lives in North Carolina.
 

tdidieselbobny

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Location
Stafford,NY (WNY)
TDI
'03 Galactic Blue Jetta TDI, '15 Silk Blue Golf Sportwagen TDI
Hope the new owner figures out the oil consumption issue-I hope he posts if he does find the cause out. Did you ever check the intercooler after you installed the new turbo?
 

Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
Hope the new owner figures out the oil consumption issue-I hope he posts if he does find the cause out.
Me too, the general consensus seems to point at rings and it definitely should have a compression/leakdown test. With all of the top-end work that the motor had, it may be worth it for the right person to rebuild the lower half. The new owner mentioned using the motor out of a crashed car eventually. The motor in it may very well run for many more miles as long as the oil level is watched. I did tell them about TDI club and it would be great to see some follow-up about "The Family Waggin" in the B4 forums.
Did you ever check the intercooler after you installed the new turbo?
I didn't since there wasn't hardly any oil in it prior to the new turbo. If I wasn't in Florida when this happened, the car would have had a better diagnostic by MA TDI Guru prior to the new turbo.
With the fleet culled, I can now focus on "I-Red, The Passat Formerly Known as Harlequin" :)
 

4MyTDI

New member
Joined
Apr 19, 2012
Location
Chicago
TDI
1996 Passat
Looks like it is back on Craigslist again.
I was interested in this wagon but wasn't going to have money available until this weekend and so I was hoping it would last until I could get there. I have been searching all over for one of these in this price range to call my own. I am very interested in a wagon to haul my larger model airplanes around in but now it looks like I am going to have to settle for a 1996 Passat sedan that a friend of mine has decided to sell. Here are a few pictures taken trying to see if the sedan will be big enough to do the job.
Photo1
Photo2
Photo3
 

Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
Wow that didn't take long.
Looks like he's flipping it. I hope he tells potential buyers about the oil consumption. He has the steel wheels/stock hubcaps as well so you may see it with those on it eventually
 
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JBjunior

Veteran Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2007
Location
WA/NC
TDI
05 Passat Wagon/05 Passat Sedan/03 Jetta Wagon
Wow, that is dirty. "i (sic) dont really want to sell it but im jumping to the new station wagon tdi." It is perfectly fine if he wants to flip it but he is acting like he has had it forever. "Very solid transportation." I flagged it, someone is going to get screwed.
 

tdidieselbobny

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Location
Stafford,NY (WNY)
TDI
'03 Galactic Blue Jetta TDI, '15 Silk Blue Golf Sportwagen TDI
Never been in an accident-must've drove so fast back to NC that the wind pulled the dents out:rolleyes:..... maybe people should call and ask him how much oil was used on trip from Mass. to NC...... have you got your plates back yet Kevin?
 

kiva822

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Location
Chico, CA
TDI
'03 Wagon
maybe post an ad on the Raleigh CL outing the guy? Not that hard to do. Then, it would come up in all TDI searches...
 

Abacus

That helpful B4 guy
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Location
Relocated from Maine to Dewey, AZ
TDI
Only the B4V left
I see the ad was "flagged for removal", but he relisted it, only now it's a V4 and has new 'chocks'. Still no mention of the oil consumption.

Curious as to what the other ad was flagged as for removal. I see no mention of exclusions or things not mentioned.

Now this guy is just pissing me off since the omission is intentional. I hate unscrupulous people.
 
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kiva822

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2010
Location
Chico, CA
TDI
'03 Wagon
I see the ad was "flagged for removal", but he relisted it, only now it's a V4 and has new 'chocks'. Still no mention of the oil consumption.

Curious as to what the other ad was flagged as for removal. I see no mention of exclusions or things not mentioned.

Now this guy is just pissing me off since the omission is intentional. I hate unscrupulous people.
I for one, flagged it 'cause this is BS...maybe others are doing the same.

I have a CL account and can easily post an add telling the details of the situation in the same city. At least the potential buyer would have the chance to find it in a search string...but, as I'm not directly involved, won't do so without a quorum ;)
 

Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
Now this guy is just pissing me off since the omission is intentional. I hate unscrupulous people.
Me too
I hope to have my plate/registration back today even though I should have gotten them back no later than last Friday :rolleyes:. My first phone inquiry about it went unanswered. My second message informed him that the plate will be reported stolen if it's not in my possession when I go to the RMV.
 

tdidieselbobny

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Location
Stafford,NY (WNY)
TDI
'03 Galactic Blue Jetta TDI, '15 Silk Blue Golf Sportwagen TDI
The one that was "relisted" is a Storm Grey B4v and has 200k,unlike Kevin's which had under 180k. Looks like this guy buys B4V's that have issues and flips them.....It will be funny if he doesn't return the plate back to Kevin and it gets reported stolen:cool:.....Kevin was nice enough to let him use his plate/insurance to drive home. I mailed the plates back the next day the Post Office was open.
 

Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
I hate to use names yet but his intials are "Robert Alicki" and the number in his CL ads is different than the one he gave me. if you use the phone number in his ad in the search box, 3 or 4 other cars come up with the same number.
 
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Mcgink

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 15, 2004
Location
South of Boston MA
TDI
I-Red,"The Passat formerly known as Harlequin" 97 B4, a non VW GTDI too
An Update
I got the plate back via UPS this afternoon. On Tuesday the 24th, The buyer called me and we had a heated discussion that got downright impolite. I was accused of running the counter ad on Craigslist. I assured him emphatically that if/when "I" run a *&^%$# counter ad, that I would post pics with it. I told him that it was NOT!!! my intention to see this car get dumped on an unsuspecting TDI newby without disclosure of it's history. He says that the car has been fixed, painted, and the rims were refinished, all to the tune of ~$1600. I quized him as to how all of that work got done between picking it up in MA @ ~11AM on the 17th, driving back to NC, and his CL post on the 18th which had the following text in it and pics of the car with my plate still on the back of it. :rolleyes:

97 vw passat tdi wagon 5speed 'great condition'' 52mpg VERY RARE 170k - $5700 (RALEIGH)

Date: 2012-04-18, 10:39PM EDT
Reply to: r9tqg-2966421173@sale.craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
im selling my tdi wagon in excellent conditon 5 speed, 52mpg excellent fuel economy, 1200 miles in full tank, never been in accident , very solid transportation, ac cold , heat, original radio, station wagon this is very rare car, is no the many out there , i dont really want to sell it but im jumping to the new station wagon tdi , you must come see it and drive it, everything works, only has 170k miles, clean record, has a new head assembly, new timing belt, new glow plugs, well maintainance call me for more information,
(phone)number-deleted..............for now

It's a real shame that this went this way. Other than being played a little about the buyers intentions ("I've wanted to have a wagon Blah Blah Blah") with the car and the delay in the plate return (should've been next day expess-mailed per verbal agreement), The buyer payed, and showed up promptly. I have no issue with him trying to make a little honest $ on it and I hope that he did actually fix it all up. Proof of that will be fairly obvious if it gets posted again with pics and more accurate facts (52 MPG :rolleyes:)
Keep a look-out for it boys and girls in the usual sites.


 
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