yugomike,
We initially desired a B4 TDI wagon so I set to search for one on the `net. I would check autotrader.com every few days, it was a task that could take an hour or more at a time so it became difficult to do. It seemed everytime I would find one from amidst the few hundred Passats you have to search through, I would call to find it had already been taken. This, you may imagine, became very frustrating.
After about six months of this we decide to either wait for the Jetta TDI wagon to arrive or go for a Golf GLS. Not wanting to wait for who knows how long for the Jetta wagon (although since then it appears that they may arrive by this fall, and we might have waited had we known that then) we opted to go for the Golf. We located a Golf 800 miles away and just before I was about to fly out and pick it up I decided to try autotrader once more for the Passat wagon. Within the next few hours I was making arrangements to transport our `96 TDI B4 variant, white on beige (just what we would have ordered!), 79K miles, garage kept, from Texas to Maryland.
All I can say is that if we win the $10 million dollar Lotto tomorrow we will still be driving this wonderful vehicle. It was worth the long wait and we are well aware of how funtunate we are to be one of the only 750 people to own one of these cars in all of North America.
If you want one they are out there, you just have to have tenacity, patience and maybe a little luck. Minemapper found one 200 miles away in only a few days I believe, and got a great price also. I would stick with an all out attack on the search mode and I bet you`ll get one. Narrow the search to the `96 and `97 which is the only year Passats came in a TDI. As of then, there was no way to further narrow the search for a wagon or a TDI, you just had to go through all of the 96-97 Passats. And keep a tuned eye out here at Fred`s too, as I`m sure you have been. You also have to be willing to go far afield to obtain one I believe, there are many ways to deal with getting it to you of course.
Good luck on your quest my friend. Post a picture of your prize when you find it. Here is something to look at and think about.
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96 TDI Passat Wagon, PC Cone, Upsolutely Chipped and TB`d
89 Ford F250 Diesel
Biodiesel Powered
[This message has been edited by RC (edited March 19, 2001).]