The 2012 Passat TDI as a company car

I have a job where I drive to a lot of locations around the state and need a new car. For me a typical day is about 4 hours of city driving and 5 hours of highway. A friend suggested the '12 TDI for sale at the local dealership. 80k miles and they're asking 10.4. Black leather, looks good, sounds fair. Although I've done most of my own auto work over the last 20 years diesel engines are something I don't have a lot of experience with. So here's what I'm wondering.

1 - Generally, how well would this TDI stand up to being a much used company car?

2 - How much trouble would it be for a decent amateur mechanic to take care of one of these?

3 - I've seen it described as dependable, but not so much as the Accord. How well is this car built to last?

4 - At what mileage will this car begin to get expensive to own?

5 - Historically, which has given the lowest cost per mile, diesel or gas?

Thanks for the help

Welcome aboard! My 2013 has been a pretty great car and you are in luck that we have some great folks around us that can help. I'm a 170,000 miles on my passat and have only had a leaking injector. Just got some suspension work done and feel so much better.
Bruce and Eric Bowling in Versailles have been my go to for a long time
Fast Enough here in town can get some of the bigger work done (more expensive but i trust them to know what they are doing)
Luke in Louisville has a full time job but is a great resource.

1. From my signature you can tell i have done almost a million miles in TDI and have been really great in terms of cost per mile
2. Not too much... i do the basics, oil and fuel changes but leave most everything else to people who know a lot more than I. DSG will be a bit more to maintain (my jettas were manuals) but seem to hold up well
3. I dont believe i've ever been actually left stranded in any VW i've had
4. I dont mind paying for work that continues to give me worry free miles, the way i see it is based on price per mile of ownership and its been fractional over the years. I'd still be driving the 2001 jetta but had to have room for the car seats, thats when i bought a used 2013 at 30,000 miles and have had it ever since.
5. Diesel price have made this tougher, historically fuel was much closer together, now some of the gas cars get amazing mileage. But I believe the Diesel just runs on the highway better. I havent seen too many people push 2,3, or 500,000 miles in many of the gassers.

That sounds like a good entry price... BUT you might want to study the addition of an adblue system to the 2012. start in 2013 they came standard, my understanding is the 2012 and earlier were retrofitted. Should be an additional 120,000 mile warranty to the emissions system which is pretty helpful.

If you ever want to meet up let me know... happy to chat.

Lex, the Adblue was not a retrofit in 2012. It was standard.

Bradley,

I would suggest checking autotrader.

There is a 2015 TDI SE that is for sale for $12k with only 60k miles. You would have 100k more miles under warranty thanks to the "Dieselgate" extended warranty.

10.4K seems too $$$, after all it's a 2012. We had a 13SE we sold back and bought a NOS 15 SEL, it's a nicer ride + it has the 11yr 162K emission/engine warranty.

If you don't need one really soon keep looking, the SEL is worth a few extra $ over the SE to my thinking. Get one with less miles if possible.

Maybe for a couple $K less it might be worth it. What is the remaining emission warranty?

1 no issues, very comfortable ride

2 obviously brakes etc the same as a gasser. oil and filters not hard, inside the engine it can get $$ if you screw up.

3 It's a VW so some items like interior, suspension etc MIGHT be a bit less reliable

4 can't tell as our NMS were trouble free but the 13 only had 40K when we turned it in. We had 1997 B4 variant TDI that went 330K but after 250k or so it needed some work. The engine never was a problem but it did get rusty.

5 Diesel used to be cheaper but now I'd say it's a wash....one advantage to the TDI is less time at the filling station, we normally get 700-800mile/tank.

good luck

cost per mile, a used honda civic won't be beat.

Highway queen and mile after mile of cruising pleasure is where the TDI will shine.

I'd say as soon as it hits 200K or close to its second TB job the repairs may start to get steep.

740GLE said:

cost per mile, a used honda civic won't be beat.

Highway queen and mile after mile of cruising pleasure is where the TDI will shine.

I'd say as soon as it hits 200K or close to its second TB job the repairs may start to get steep.

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That might be true but i've sat and driven a civic... and for what would turn out to be fractions of a cent over tend or hundreds of thousands of miles i would take the passat all day long.

And i look at things differently than most... Timing belt job is under $1000, for every 120,000 miles, that adds .01 per mile. DSQ change is $400 bucks but again .01 per mile over 40,000 miles. Oil and fuel changes are cheap and there really isnt much thats gone wrong...
Quick breakdown (mine will be different since i did recoup $5grand for the fix)
cost of car (bought used in 2014) and all repairs - reimbursement from VW / 130,000 miles = .12 per mile plus .08 per mile for fuel so i am at .20 after everything and it will continue downward from here...

I get reimbursed .40 per mile so i bank that additional money and save up to pay cash for my next car, avg $5 grand per year

That's why when everyone was rushing to cash out of their car on the buyback i took a much longer term approach because even if you came out ahead on the vw deal most went out and purchased cars where the deprecation is going to take all that extra vw gave you anyway... The most important thing is to get the best deal you can on the purchase.

Sorry to ramble... just things i consider.

Lex that's great we're in the same area. Would you be able to get me some contact info for Bruce and Eric? Found a '15 Passat SEL TDI w/ 95k miles here in town and they're asking something like $12,900. Need to get it looked it.


Does this price sound reasonable? It's at a dealership and I believe it's got some kind of warranty left.

find out what the remaining VW emission warranty is. How are the tires, brakes etc? Sounds like a better deal then the 12 for $10.4K. If you can find one that was sold as NOS it should have the remainder of 162K 11yr emission/engine warranty.



Saw one here in NH for $17.5 with 19K on the odo.

bradleyheathhays said:

Lex that's great we're in the same area. Would you be able to get me some contact info for Bruce and Eric? Found a '15 Passat SEL TDI w/ 95k miles here in town and they're asking something like $12,900. Need to get it looked it.


Does this price sound reasonable? It's at a dealership and I believe it's got some kind of warranty left.

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Left their contact info on your private message...