good deal? 2013 passat tdi sel premium

[RuneTDI]

hi guys, I'm usually in the b4 forums , but I'm finally upgrading. just hit 300k on the 97. I'm looking at a 13 sel premium auto6. 41k miles, looks and drives great, issues- code po562 for low voltage. seller told me battery was dead from sitting. cel was on but think he erased it. dash shows error for airbag. whats that about? one drl bulb is out. cel did not come back on on my 30 mile test drive where I averaged 44.5 mpg on some hilly interstate at 70 mph. asking 16,500, but they are highly motivated. they're telling me they want the car gone. for me to make an offer. oh, I also have to buy 4 rims and tires because it comes with steelies and studded snows only. I read somewhere here that vw is supposed to make a decision at the end of april. thoughts? thanks, rune

 

[Powersmokin]

If it's any help.
I just bought my '14 SEL for $18,900 from a dealer.
Granted, nothing (that I could find) was wrong with it, unlike yours.
You should still have a factory powertrain warranty and the drivers airbag is under recall for the takata exploding bags. Unsure if you can squeeze a repair into that recall.
Low voltage from sitting, makes sense to me. BUT the code that you listed P0526 is for cooling fan speed sensor failure, not battery.

4 tires, you can expect to pay around $200 each (average price seems to be $170 plus taxes, fees, labor, etc) not sure on wheel price.
But then you have winter tires too.

IMHO, if its nice, and the car seems well taken care of, and you want to get it, make sure you have some money aside for repairs.

And for the dieselgate thing, personally, I dont expect a buyback. I expect a software update that uses massive amounts of DEF and lowers hp, torque, and fuel econ. That can always be tuned back out later.

 

[RuneTDI]

Sorry, the code is 0562. Drove 500 miles yesterday and feeling it now.

 

[Powersmokin]

Well ill tell you this.
Personally, if it wasn't trashed, I would try to get it for 16 straight, and I would probably be happy.

 

[RuneTDI]

I have it down to 15k , and dealer fee of 275

 

[InfoSec Guy]

At that price, I'd do it. The SEL Premium is an excellent package overall.

 

[gncc600]

Maybe your not doing your homework. These things are rolling piles of poorly engineered crap. You will never save enough on fuel to justify owning one due to the poor reliability and maintenance costs. I would never advise anyone to buy one unless its so cheap you can't turn it down.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Maybe your not doing your homework. These things are rolling piles of poorly engineered crap. You will never save enough on fuel to justify owning one due to the poor reliability and maintenance costs. I would never advise anyone to buy one unless its so cheap you can't turn it down.

Bitter, much? OP has a B4, and unhappy owners said similar things about those cars back in the day. Sounds like he knows what he's getting into.

And among the CR TDIs, Passats seem to have fewer issues than the Jetta/Golf. Other than the turbo issue that resulted in an extended warranty, the heater core issue on some cars, (also warrantied), and adblue heaters failing, I can't think of any other common failures on these cars. I've been keeping my eyes open for one, but I want a manual and those are pretty rare.

Regarding the one the OP is looking at, I would wonder what became of the OE wheels and tires, and I'd probably try to get to the original owner and ask. But if they're gone I'd be sure to get 16s instead of the 18s that came on the car. It'll ride much better and tires cost less.

 

[RuneTDI]

Maybe your not doing your homework. These things are rolling piles of poorly engineered crap. You will never save enough on fuel to justify owning one due to the poor reliability and maintenance costs. I would never advise anyone to buy one unless its so cheap you can't turn it down.

But you have one? Problems? Issues? Please do tell.

 

[RuneTDI]

Bitter, much? OP has a B4, and unhappy owners said similar things about those cars back in the day. Sounds like he knows what he's getting into.

And among the CR TDIs, Passats seem to have fewer issues than the Jetta/Golf. Other than the turbo issue that resulted in an extended warranty, the heater core issue on some cars, (also warrantied), and adblue heaters failing, I can't think of any other common failures on these cars. I've been keeping my eyes open for one, but I want a manual and those are pretty rare.

Regarding the one the OP is looking at, I would wonder what became of the OE wheels and tires, and I'd probably try to get to the original owner and ask. But if they're gone I'd be sure to get 16s instead of the 18s that came on the car. It'll ride much better and tires cost less.

I have the same thoughts as you. 18's are out. I was thinking 17 only because I wanted to keep the stock size? Think they're 17 and 18 stock sizes. Can you do 16 with a bigger tire to keep it stock size? I want the speedo to exact.

 

[bubbagumpshrimp]

Steelies instead of 18's that it should have...I'd want $2k or so off that price. My $.02...the 18's is one of the reasons for the premium paid for the SEL. As far as what happened to them...10:1 odds the owner sold them and/or traded for the steelies and snow tires.

VW is not necessarily going to do anything the end of April. If they show up 4/21 with no agreement...the judge is going to kick the can down the road till July for a trial. If you're wanting this car one way or another...buy it. Personally, I wouldn't be buying one of these cars till this is resolved, but you feel free to do what you do.

 

[gncc600]

But you have one? Problems? Issues? Please do tell.

Nothing some mechanical breakdown insurance from Geico hasn't fixed. They should include an extended warranty on all these Passat TDI's. I can't think of a car with more expensive mechanical pattern failures in this segment of the market. This may be a bad place to make my opinion known but the apologists on here will defend VW while ignoring the facts. And I'm not even talking about dieselgate. I think its a blessing to hopefully get some people out of their junk before the warranties run out and the repairs are on their dime.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Gasser Passats came with 16s. You can size tires to get the overall diameter exactly correct.

And gncc600 can you be more specific? What issues have you had with your Passat?

 

[jrm]

215/60R16 is the exact size of stock 18's and I prefer them over the 18" bristials as the road noise is a quarter of that with the 18's I picked up some 2010 Jetta wheels for next to nothing off craigslist and use them from October to May.

 

[VeeDubTDI]

Sounds like a good deal, but be prepared to invest money into repairs and maintenance, especially if the CEL is coming on intermittently. P0562 is for low electrical system voltage, which could be due to a bad battery - Passats seem to have an appetite for batteries.

 

[BPofMD]

I don't know about that! My '12 is just about 4 years old now.... battery still in great shape. Most batteries are good for about...5 years. If the vehicle sat for long periods with being run, I'd agree that it is prob a battery replacement problem. HOWEVER, let the buyer beware!

I would NOT say that Passat's have any more of a battery problem than any other vehicle.

 

[RuneTDI]

I just put a new h8 in my 97. Guess where I'm getting a new one for the 13?

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Many of us were spoiled by the OE Varta batteries in the older TDIs. 10 year life was not uncommon. The new cars have smaller batteries from a different manufacturer and life seems to be about half that.

 

[yatzee]

Batteries up here, in many makes (not only VW), seem to rarely last 4 years. The Wagen's batt lasted just over 4 years.

It's apparently due to the constant temperature changes - batteries that are mounted in the front of the car can range 50c in temp in a given day. Batteries which are mounted in the rear of the cars tend to last longer.

 

[jrm]

explains why the AGM battery's in my bikes and quads last decades enjoying life in my heated garage.

 

[RuneTDI]

got the car for 15k, no dealer fee. picking it up on Friday. very happy with that. thanks to all who helped here. rune

 

[kr70]

I have a 2013 se. Have 91000 and not 1 problem. If they buy them back at some unbelievable deal I will be sad.

 

[Powersmokin]

got the car for 15k, no dealer fee. picking it up on Friday. very happy with that. thanks to all who helped here. rune

Let us know how you like it after a couple hundred miles

 

[Ares]

Try to find out if the 40k service was done. If not, do it ASAP. Pay attention to the fuel filter for water and any metal. The HPFP is an issue on these cars. If the previous owner neglected the car, ran cheap diesel, let is sit, I'd run an injector/fuel/tank cleaner additive and consider changing the filter a second time after.

If you want a set of VW rims, look up aaaautoparts on eBay. I picked up a mint 17" to replace a rim I curbed (now my full sized spare). $160 shipped.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

The HPFP is an issue on these cars.

Really? How many have failed in Passats? I can't recall hearing of more than one.

 

[Ares]

Really? How many have failed in Passats? I can't recall hearing of more than one.

Funny, I searched this forum, and there are 11 pages of threads with HPFP. All that from 1 failure? Maybe if I provide links to 2 failures, I won't have to argue on the internet? Nah, won't waste my time.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

Those failures are on Golf/Jetta, not Passats. Fuel system design and pressures are different on the Passats. Failures are close to non-existent.

 

[rahman20k]

I'll sell you my 2012 Passat TDI SEL Tungsten Silver Metallic with a black leather interior 64k miles, for right around 20k . Includes CPO warranty, have about 12,000 remaining on that.

 

[251]

I'll sell you my 2012 Passat TDI SEL Tungsten Silver Metallic with a black leather interior 64k miles, for right around 20k . Includes CPO warranty, have about 12,000 remaining on that.

I paid under $20K for my 2014 SEL with 20K miles from a dealer. Based on that you are asking too much for yours as it's older and has more miles.

 

[rahman20k]

I paid under $20K for my 2014 SEL with 20K miles from a dealer. Based on that you are asking too much for yours as it's older and has more miles.

That's true , but if you look above to what people have been paying recently based off of this threads conversation, they've been paying TOO much for what they are currently worth at the moment. That's why i chose to throw out that price , considering the vehicle is still under warranty.