Just bought a 2003 5 series bmw. Keeping the B5 which I think is a great car despite the haters.
The 04 passat has heated seats, homelink, monsoon stereo, gets high mileage, drives great. Had an issues with the balance shaft, fixed it.
The BMW is bare bones- great leather, 5 speed, fast, w/ a crap stereo, no cold weather pkg, no garage remote, but a great car for 'date night' w/ my wife. Looks cool.
The E39 BMW has a million issues, yet their owners love them. Same with the Jag xk8, beautiful car, plenty of issues.
If you think you're torqued about your 04/05 B5 being worth 10k and having to sink 2-3k, imagine paying 50-60, it being worth 10-12k, and having to sink 6-8k in fixes to keep it running. Google E39 Vanos. find the xk8 site, you think you have issues...
the passat issues are modest in comparison, there are plenty of enthusiasts who spend $2k on a set of alloy wheels and another grand on a stereo.
Just my 2 cents, get some persepctive - you thought you bought a flawless car - is there such a thing? The attitude on this forum is so negative it blows my mind. this is my 2nd TDI, 9 years ago the TDI community was so different. Bring back 'Fred's TDI club' !
thanks to all those who post such great detailed DIY info in the original positive spirit of 'Fred's'. The rest -quit complaining and quietly buy yourself a used Altima, no thread or post required, I'm sure they have a great forum somewhere.
The 04 passat has heated seats, homelink, monsoon stereo, gets high mileage, drives great. Had an issues with the balance shaft, fixed it.
The BMW is bare bones- great leather, 5 speed, fast, w/ a crap stereo, no cold weather pkg, no garage remote, but a great car for 'date night' w/ my wife. Looks cool.
The E39 BMW has a million issues, yet their owners love them. Same with the Jag xk8, beautiful car, plenty of issues.
If you think you're torqued about your 04/05 B5 being worth 10k and having to sink 2-3k, imagine paying 50-60, it being worth 10-12k, and having to sink 6-8k in fixes to keep it running. Google E39 Vanos. find the xk8 site, you think you have issues...
the passat issues are modest in comparison, there are plenty of enthusiasts who spend $2k on a set of alloy wheels and another grand on a stereo.
Just my 2 cents, get some persepctive - you thought you bought a flawless car - is there such a thing? The attitude on this forum is so negative it blows my mind. this is my 2nd TDI, 9 years ago the TDI community was so different. Bring back 'Fred's TDI club' !
thanks to all those who post such great detailed DIY info in the original positive spirit of 'Fred's'. The rest -quit complaining and quietly buy yourself a used Altima, no thread or post required, I'm sure they have a great forum somewhere.