Possible New-to-me vehicle purchase

D-Cup

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2017
Location
San Antonio TX
TDI
2010 Jetta TDI Cup Edition, 2003 Jetta GLS, 2000 Jetta GLS, 2012 JSW
If I could get a minivan that had stow-n-go seating, diesel powered, manual transmission, & all wheel drive....ahhhhh
Sprinter vans might be close, but I’ve never really been in them much less driven one.
Maybe I should look into one.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
I love my Sprinter. There is nothing "mini" about it however. Although it does use less fuel than even my little first gen 4cyl Odyssey did.
 

TDICube

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 15, 2006
Do not want to hijack thread but OilHammer I have a couple Chevrolet Traveese common issue questions:
1. The steering system is a known issue. Is this a common issue with other brands? I have never had a vehicle that needed steering replacement.
2. We had automatic transmission replacement under extended warranty. The vehicle will go backwards on a hill in DRIVE. Do other vehicles go backwards in drive? Is it bad for transmission?
I did not realize you had a history with so many brands. ?
I do not know if I would recommend a 2009 Traverse to the OP.
 

bizzle

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2013
Location
Southern California
TDI
2015 GSW SEL (totaled), 2013 Touareg Executive
D-Cup, I looked at the ChryCo variants pretty heavily but for all the reasons Oilhammer mentioned, I'm shying away from them. I actually work for FCA, so I could get the employee discount on a new one but I'm holding to my strict budget of $20k all in, after catch up maint, taxes, registration and everything. Also the ChryCo version in my budget range means a Caravan/T&C, which do not score well in crash tests and the car seat rating aren't stellar either.
I just want to be clear on your budget because you started with an $8K ask that has now more than doubled based on expected maintenance and all the paperwork associated with buying the car.

Based on a budget of $20K, however, I don't understand why you haven't been testing a Passat TDI. Last time I was looking with purpose, which was at the beginning of this year, CPOs with less than 20K miles were going for $18-20K. With taxes you'd be either hitting right at or just barely going over your budget, but with damn near a brand new car with a few hundred thousand mile warranty (IIRC, CPO has an even longer warranty).

Have you tried a 2015 GSW or Golf? I'm trying to remember the specifics but I think the newer platform has more adult legroom at the expense of the cargo area (the overall dimensions are essentially the same). That said, my 6' 7" buddy almost passed on the Golf I got him into for the Passat because there wasn't any legroom for passengers with the seat all the way back. He ultimately chose the Golf after I asked him if he was buying the car for him and his dog or for his buddies and family members he might take to dinner and a movie one day, but I suspect it'd be a tight fit for a carseat. I can check in a day or so if you're at all interested.

I'm 5' 11" and the rear facing seats in our GSW are a tight fit. Not uncomfortably so, but questionable if I had another 6" somewhere. In the bug I had to sit straight up or maybe a little leaning toward the steering wheel :D

The Passat is a larger class of car than the Golf. If you haven't compared them back to back, the difference is obvious between the compact and mid-sized.
 

JDSwan87

Black Swamp Thing
Joined
Feb 9, 2014
Location
Michigan near Toledo
TDI
2001 Jetta TDI, 5 speed Lagoon Blue Metallic(sold); 2005 Jetta TDI Wagon auto
I just want to be clear on your budget because you started with an $8K ask that has now more than doubled based on expected maintenance and all the paperwork associated with buying the car.

Based on a budget of $20K, however, I don't understand why you haven't been testing a Passat TDI. Last time I was looking with purpose, which was at the beginning of this year, CPOs with less than 20K miles were going for $18-20K. With taxes you'd be either hitting right at or just barely going over your budget, but with damn near a brand new car with a few hundred thousand mile warranty (IIRC, CPO has an even longer warranty).

Have you tried a 2015 GSW or Golf? I'm trying to remember the specifics but I think the newer platform has more adult legroom at the expense of the cargo area (the overall dimensions are essentially the same). That said, my 6' 7" buddy almost passed on the Golf I got him into for the Passat because there wasn't any legroom for passengers with the seat all the way back. He ultimately chose the Golf after I asked him if he was buying the car for him and his dog or for his buddies and family members he might take to dinner and a movie one day, but I suspect it'd be a tight fit for a carseat. I can check in a day or so if you're at all interested.

I'm 5' 11" and the rear facing seats in our GSW are a tight fit. Not uncomfortably so, but questionable if I had another 6" somewhere. In the bug I had to sit straight up or maybe a little leaning toward the steering wheel :D

The Passat is a larger class of car than the Golf. If you haven't compared them back to back, the difference is obvious between the compact and mid-sized.
My original budget was $8k. However, once I started looking at what I was getting for $8k, I decided I would simply save some more money and wait a little longer. I don't like buying new-to- me vehicles and this one I fully intend to keep for another 8-10 years until both kids are out of booster seats etc.

My buddy has a 2015 GSW and I placed the FF car seat behind the drivers seat and I was not comfortable. Could I fit and drive for an hour, absolutely. However, I do not want a vehicle where I can't be comfortable for a couple (2) hours in a stint.

My wife has a 2010 Journey that has both car seats in it. I drive her Journey with the kids but same thing, I'm simply not comfortable for more than an hour. My knees are 1" from the lower dash and I'm squished to say the least.

As for the Passats, I have not test drove one of those yet. I like them and they are (now) within my budget but again we circle back to the car seats. When I test drove the Odyssey, I actually took a car seat with me, boy did I get strange looks. I don't need a *wider* car, I just need a *longer* car if that makes sense. I will take a second look at the Passats...
 

Lightflyer1

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Location
Round Rock, Texas
TDI
2015 Beetle tdi dsg
I was amazed at the rear seat room in my 2013 Passat. My daughter just bought a 2015 Passat tdi SEL, about 20k miles for $17k, not long ago.
 

IndigoBlueWagon

TDIClub Enthusiast, Principal IDParts, Vendor , w/
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Location
South of Boston
TDI
'97 Passat, '99.5 Golf, '02 Jetta Wagon, '15 GSW
I was talking with the owner of our local dealer the other day and we were commenting on how there aren't as many Passats coming available from the buy back as other models. Perhaps it's because it doesn't include manual transmission cars (except 2015). But they're out there if you want a diesel.
 

Jetta SS

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2006
Location
Grand Bay, AL
TDI
'98 Jetta
Back when I faced the problem of a growing family my solution was to go all out and get a Conversion Van. I wanted the one with the TV, fridge and bed in the back so that I could kick back and let the wife drive.

Seemed all the ones I looked at were elderly owned, maintained good and very reasonable.

Never could get my wife onboard for the purchase though. Ended up with a quad cab pickup that never quite had enough room anyway.
 

bizzle

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2013
Location
Southern California
TDI
2015 GSW SEL (totaled), 2013 Touareg Executive
My original budget was $8k. However, once I started looking at what I was getting for $8k, I decided I would simply save some more money and wait a little longer. I don't like buying new-to- me vehicles and this one I fully intend to keep for another 8-10 years until both kids are out of booster seats etc.
My buddy has a 2015 GSW and I placed the FF car seat behind the drivers seat and I was not comfortable. Could I fit and drive for an hour, absolutely. However, I do not want a vehicle where I can't be comfortable for a couple (2) hours in a stint.
My wife has a 2010 Journey that has both car seats in it. I drive her Journey with the kids but same thing, I'm simply not comfortable for more than an hour. My knees are 1" from the lower dash and I'm squished to say the least.
As for the Passats, I have not test drove one of those yet. I like them and they are (now) within my budget but again we circle back to the car seats. When I test drove the Odyssey, I actually took a car seat with me, boy did I get strange looks. I don't need a *wider* car, I just need a *longer* car if that makes sense. I will take a second look at the Passats...
Yeah, that's what I thought. Based on how my 6' 7" buddy sprawls out in his Golf I don't think you'd be "comfortable" even without the seats (or rather, your kids wouldn't have any room in the back seat even when they are sitting without carseats). He pretty much has to slide the seat all the way back to the rear.

But for me, I wanted the wagon over the golf (and sedan of the passat) so I'm dealing with the snug fit for the next couple years until the kids are out of carseats but at 5' "11 I have much more room.

The Passats are true five adult sized cars. The insides are cavernous and the car seats won't have any issue. You could load a Passat up with at least 4 basketball players and consider the cabin "roomy."

I think the reason there aren't as many coming back is that people are either keeping them or VW isn't refurbishing as many under the expectation that sedan demand is going down in the US. But either way when I do see them for sale they are very nice, low mileage models that are inexpensive for what are basically brand new vehicles. I think you'll be very happy with that choice so let us know once you get to check one out in person.
 

tdidieselbobny

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Apr 4, 2005
Location
Stafford,NY (WNY)
TDI
'03 Galactic Blue Jetta TDI, '15 Silk Blue Golf Sportwagen TDI
We were looking at a '15 Passat this past summer-it's amazing how much space there is between the back of drivers seat and the bottom cushion of back seat, along with how huge the trunk is, I'd suggest to go look at one, you can't beat the warranty. The one we were looking at had only 29k and was right around $15k....
 

06bluebeetletdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2012
Location
Middlesex, NC
TDI
'14 Passat TDI SEL and '13 Beetle TDI
I would also recommend the passat, the back seat is huge! I love mine, NO regrets, other than not getting one sooner. My brother is 6'2", he was in the driver's seat, i am 5'9" and had tons of room behind him.

As far as the diesels, remember the '12-14 passats were off the market while they "improved" the fix.
 
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