sell or keep my 2005 passat wagon?

Hello everyone, long time lurker first time poster. i have a 2005 tdi passat wagon that i am debating selling or keeping. i bought it 5000 miles ago and the auto transmission just went out and i am having it replaced. it has ~240k on it so i was worried about that happening but the previous owner had the transmission out and in the shop just before i purchased it. the reverse gear had gone out and while it was open the trasmission shop (mzf bayer inc in san francisco) looked through it and determined it was in good working order so i bought it. i travel a lot for work and need a reliable vehicle and love vw diesels, though i am new to them. i would like to keep this car thinking that now that the transmission failure and injectors are out of the way i can get many many miles without issue. my wife thinks sell. the previous owner was the manager of a vw authorized repair shop and it was very well cared for. the interior might as well be new and the exterior looks great except for a few small chips at the front of the hood. no leaks anywhere and the dealer said it was the cleanest car they had ever seen with that milage. it has all new HD bilstein suspension, cv joints and boots, the balanced shaft update, new timing belt, tow package, malone tune, led interior lights, new water pump, mud flaps, new motor mounts, new fan, new glow plugs, new injectors, remanufactured transmission, new transmission radiator/oil cooler/hoses, premium tint, 18" audi rims as well as stock 16" rims both with good tires, and a diesel geek aluminum skid plate. i paid almost 5k for the injectors and transmission. any advice on keep it (it will be reliable) vs sell it(time bomb) or possible resale value? KBB seems too low especially considering the new parts etc. not sure how to make the pics smaller... thank you for looking.

Did you rebuild your transmission or buy a refurbished one from VW?

The transmission, camshaft and the balancer shaft are the big issues with this car.

Very few transmission shops know how to correctly and properly remanufacture this
ZF transmission setup. I hope for your sake, you purchased a completely
remanufactured unit with a new torque converter from a VW dealership or ZF factory shop.
Only new ZF parts should be used when one of these transmissions is remanufactured.

Was the camshaft replaced ? Geared Balancer Shaft or Balancer Shaft Delete ?

If you just replaced the transmission, why get rid of it now?

geared balanced shaft if i read the service record correctly, the transmission is being completely remanufactured by a zf factory shop. they did not have a core on hand so they arranged shipping to and from them for my transmission. as for the cams the injectors are being pulled right now and i will know about them soon. the concern is that even with the new transmission and injectors (which were surprisingly expensive) the turbo is next, and maybe i need cams, and really between the tranny, injectors, and brakes(forgot to mention new brakes) ive already spent what i bought the car for. again, i want to keep it and think it would last a lot longer with maybe a turbo and cams but my wife is right in pointing out at that point i am halfway to the cost of our new tdi. we have not decided yet and i am still trying to figure out which would be more responsible.

So you bought the car for $5000 and have put approximately $5000 more into it and want to know if you should turn around and get rid of it now? If you were going to walk away you should have done it when you realized that the initial tranny repair did work. If you sell it, you won't get much of that $5000 back. You might as well run it until the wheels fall off.

Finish it up. Replace the cam with a new Colt camshaft , replace the transmission and drive it out. The stock Garrett turbo has a reputation for being very durable.

I have a B5 Variant with 249,000 miles on it. Front end wreck = insurance totalled it. I took salvage title and car, insurance paid me off $5,xxx.xx after MUCH haggling.
Had the car repaired for right at $3000. Did a Cat delete and DarkSide downpipe and Stage 2 chip. Still get 44 MPG on the highway and 740 miles to a tank.
PRIOR to the wreck, I had the balance shaft delete, water pump, etc... at around 160,000 miles. I have a new TC. I will keep this car until the bearings catch fire.
I am so happy with salvaging this car and tweaking it; last week from Charlotte to ATL on I-85, I was going at 75 MPH on the left lane of a 2 lane freeway, passing an 18 wheeler that was probably doing around 65-70. Out of my rear view mirror I saw a BMW show up and was on my tail in like nothing flat. I pushed the throttle to get out of the way and the BMW floored it to pass me. Turns out to be a new 435. I thought I'd have a little fun and stepped on the pedal. My car did not downshift and was able to keep up with the 435 until we reached 120. At that point my age began to catch up with my poor judgement so I lifted and slowed down. The torque from my motor from 2000-3500 is unreal.
Keep your car.

Wiz, That is a heartwarming story, I mean that.

I was wondering if 180,000 miles on mine was too old to add the BV43 turbo from Hans, but now I'm leaning more that way. Effin A!

Thank you for the responses and wiz for the success story. i do want to keep it, this is kind of a gut check to make sure i am not being an idiot because i love the car. the transmission in the shop right now and still waiting on word re the injectors and cams. as long as i am replacing injectors would you stay stock or go bigger? cams oem or stage 2? seems like i should upgrade as long as i am replacing but i am new to tdi's and may not be a very effective troubleshooter. also it looks like kermatdi or partsplaceinc are recommended sources for parts, does anyone have another favorite to check for injectors or cams?

I plan top go with a Colt camshaft in my project car
( BTW you only have 1 camshaft ) and I would ask a guru about the injectors / nozzles .

Lots of sources for parts -- Kerma, Dieselgeek, 1stVWparts.com, Bora, World Impex, etc.

auntulna said:

Wiz, That is a heartwarming story, I mean that.

I was wondering if 180,000 miles on mine was too old to add the BV43 turbo from Hans, but now I'm leaning more that way. Effin A!

Click to expand...

I hope you meant Frans

I mean the bigger of the two, he seems more believable on TV