2000 Volkswagen Passat 20V Wagon 1.8T
Summary:
A turd
Faults:
Turbo has a problem.
Water leaks into foot wells.
Interior door panels have fabric coming away.
Paint pealed off the bonnet
'Computer' display in instrument cluster intermittently fails.
Arm rest has broken so lid falls off.
Rear window wiper starts and stops while trying to wipe.
Electric mirror switch joystick broke off.
Dip stick broke.
Rear window washer isn't squirting.
General Comments:
I was given this car free and feel I paid too much. I realise it is a 16 year old car, but is in great condition otherwise, and I am not rough or negligent with cars - quite the opposite.
I like classic cars and have owned many, so expect things to go wrong when cars get past a certain age and I even enjoy fixing them, but the build quality of VWs is appalling in my opinion. My parents had a 2000 Golf wagon that randomly wouldn't start from time to time, leaked, had the joystick mirror break etc, and my brother had a Golf 2.0 hatch when fairly new that had endless problems as well.
They are nice cars to drive and feel solid, but that's about all I would say for them. Go look at VW forums or Youtube and see all the problems with them people are trying to solve. VW = the new British Leyland (and their workers aren't even on strike).
Avoid like the plague, I'm sick of fixing it!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know
Review Date: 28th September, 2016
28th Sep 2016, 21:07
VW build quality seems to be variable. It's good you realise it's a 16 year old car, and I agree it still shouldn't be that bad, but with exception to the water ingress, all other problems you mentioned are reasonable for a car this age.
The turbo problem is disappointing though to hear of - I had a few Passats, all late 90s and early 2000 models, and they were OK and did very high mileages without issue. Turbos lasted the length of the cars (usually 150,000 + miles and 10 years + old before I got rid of mine).
If the rest of this Passat is in general good condition, I'd try and get this one fixed as cheaply as possible and hopefully it will serve you well for many miles to come.