At one time, both my door handles were broken so I had to go through the trunk to get in. Ouch. Ok, I suddenly feel a little better ....
If we lived in Germany, I don't think we would be having this discussion. Very true. That's basically where this is at.
I own a '99 VW Jetta which we bought new and the lease is up in less than three months. NEVER had a single problem with it in the four years we've had it ...
Andrew, I don't want to rain on your parade, a new Passat is going to be one hell of a fun car. But .... just let me tell you ... there is NO comparison between maintaining a Jetta and maintaining a Passat. Having owned both and my parents still have theirs ... there is just no comparison in terms of supply of parts and cost of parts. Plus the Jetta is much less overengineered. You have a hope of doing some of the work yourself. The Passat ... forget it. If I own another VW it will be a Jetta.
keep in mind that you bought a USED car Yes I know. I went with a Passat because I was betting on the flagship VW to not have the same reliability issues that had been plaguing me in the past. But I made a bad bet in my case. I wish I could have $35k lying around so I could get into a new vehicle ... but I don't.
about $500 a year and to me is completely acceptable
Yes I agree that is a perfectly acceptable amount. $4000 per year isn't acceptable. Unless we're talking about a Ferrari or a very high end Porsche.
What is VW's warrantee up to these days? Didn't they just "double" it to a whopping two years? When just about every other manufacturer is more like 4 years or up, forgive my cynicism, but doesn't that say something? Maybe I'm just soured right now.
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As for options right now, I'm looking at a tranny out of a G60 for about $1300. I can get a tranny out of another Passat (from ICBC) for about $2300. The G60 tranny will fit, but it's geared differently. More torque on the lower end, so basically a faster acceleration and a lower top end. Since I don't ever drive 200kph anyways, I find myself considering the G60 tranny. It has the added bonus that if it's a little more torquey then I'm actually better off because I sometimes pull my Hobie behind me. Am I crazy to think about this??? What are the downsides? What I'm particularly afraid of, is if I spend $2k (once labour and GST and all are taken into account), what guarantees do I have that the new tranny is any better than my old tranny?
After making a few calls yesterday it sounds like these tranny's are not rebuildable at all. So my choice so far, replace, or live with it. I can't sell the car as it is, so living with it is not really an option.
Am I nuts to consider the G60 tranny?