There are several things to know, but the main things are the balance shaft, which should be deleted or converted to geared, then the camshaft is another common problem. Make sure to flush the transmission every 60k miles, or as soon as you get it, since it's probably never been done on most cars. I drive a b5.5 wagon and really like it. It's got plenty of power and gets decent fuel economy, but not as much as an alh. Also, there's the problems with sunroof drains, which should be cleaned, and the drains for the battery tray.
Thank you, so the car has 160k on it and it’s a one owner, it’s been Vw dealer maintained it’s entire life. The car hasn’t even left the state of Florida so rust or corrosion isn’t an issue. How much of a pain would the balance shaft delete be can it be done with the engine in the car?
If You look in the B5 Passat section, there's a how to. It's a fairly involved job, but can be done with the engine in the car. There are also shops that know how to do it and do it often, depending on your mechanical abilities. Not sure who up your direction, but there's also a list of shops in the B5 section of the forum
I’am trying she’s getting better but not confident on her own...
I know how that is. My wife drives the Passat, because it's an automatic. When we first got married, I only had stick shifts, and she made do, but didn't want to go into town on her own.