VW Passat or Jetta?

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slookie

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Hi all. I am currently driving a 2004 Avensis Strata 1.6 petrol. I have had it for the past 3 years, but find it not very economical. Costing me the bones of €30-€40 per week on petrol, and I only work 7 miles away. Anyway, I have decided to change cars. Am looking for a bit of advice on what to get.
I know I should be really getting a 1.4 diesel Corolla, for economy alone, but am not that gone on them. Are the Passat's and Jetta's good on diesel? At the moment I'd be getting 39/40 mpg in the Avensis, so I'd be looking to get at least 50mpg in the new car. Hoping to get a 08 either way. Just looking on carzone, and there isn't that much of a price difference between the 2 models. I'd be hoping to spend €9k with my own (hoping to get at least €4k for my own). Thanks in advance.
 
You do 5 x 2 x 7 = 70 miles at 39-40 mpg which uses say two gallons wit ha little running around.

Taking petrol at €1.54 per litre and approx 4.5 litres per gallon thats

1.54 x 2 x 4.5 = € 13.86

Two thirds of your fuel bill does not relate to work.

I ran a petrol '00 Passat for five years - 33-35 mpg 40 on a long trip.

Good car. Problems with the electronic handbrake on one of the later models. Deisel injectors need replacement at 90,000 miles on earlier model.
 
I have a 09n Passat 2.0TDi Highline. Very economical to run and comfy to drive. Had an issue with a part on teh turbo but otherwise very happy with the car
 
I have an 05 Passat (new Shape) 1.9TDI with 137,000 miles. Great car and haven't had any major problems with it once it's serviced regularily. It does like an oil top up every 5000 miles so you have to keep a litre of oil onboard.

I do know that some people speak of turbo and electric handbrake issues on some of these but I've had no such problems.
 
I had a Passat for 3 long years (2001 model). It was by far the most boring car I have ever owned. Solid and well built but boring as hell to drive. Mind you if the alternative is a Corolla... go for the Passat. Have you looked at anything else?
 
slookie said:
Hi all. I am currently driving a 2004 Avensis Strata 1.6 petrol. I have had it for the past 3 years, but find it not very economical. Costing me the bones of €30-€40 per week on petrol, and I only work 7 miles away. Anyway, I have decided to change cars. Am looking for a bit of advice on what to get.
I know I should be really getting a 1.4 diesel Corolla, for economy alone, but am not that gone on them. Are the Passat's and Jetta's good on diesel? At the moment I'd be getting 39/40 mpg in the Avensis, so I'd be looking to get at least 50mpg in the new car. Hoping to get a 08 either way. Just looking on carzone, and there isn't that much of a price difference between the 2 models. I'd be hoping to spend €9k with my own (hoping to get at least €4k for my own). Thanks in advance.
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Be warned, if you are only doing 7 miles each way to work, you'd be better off not getting a modern diesel car. With only 7 miles run to work, your engine & cat will barely get up to normal running temperature. Modern diesels have diesel particulate filters (DPFs) which need to need to be regenerated by hot exhaust gas to burn off soot particles. IIRC both the Jetta and the Passat have DPF's.

DPF’s don’t suit short trips or city driving because the exhaust temperature doesn’t get hot enough. The DPF’s get clogged and will require regular ‘regeneration’ at you dealer garage at a cost of hundreds of Euro per cycle. If you ignore the ‘DPF’ warning light and don’t regenerate in time you may need a new DPF filter which can cost about €1,500 before having it fitted.

The only way to keep the DPF clear is to take the car out on an open road regularly and to drive/rev the nuts off the engine, in order to get the exhaust gases hot enough to burn off the excess soot. By driving in that manner, you’ll be obtaining low MPG’s and probably obtaining penalty points too!

Diesel cars with DPF's for city/short journey driving are a false economy in the long run.
 
slookie said:
Are the Passat's and Jetta's good on diesel? At the moment I'd be getting 39/40 mpg in the Avensis, so I'd be looking to get at least 50mpg in the new car. Hoping to get a 08 either way
Click to expand...

Also bear in mind that with city driving you'll never get good MPG's.

Jetta 1.9 105 bhp model does 42.2mpg urban, 58.9mpg extra urban and 54.3mpg combined. The 138bhp is pretty much the same.

Passat 1.9 105 bhp model does 38.7mpg urban, 64.2mpg extra urban and 49.6mpg combined.

Passat 2.0 140bhp model does 36.2mpg urban, 58.9mpg extra urban and 48.7mpg combined.
 
You're not doing near enough miles to warrant the cost of ownership of a diesel car IMHO........

As an FYI, I have a 2005 1.9TDI Passat (not the new model) and anytime I tested it I got an average of 47mpg. This is a mixture of open road and town driving. I had a 1.8 1998 Avensis before that and it was a much nicer car to drive......
 
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