My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t. Is there anything she should know?

Grand Admiral Thrawn · 2001-11-29

Anyone have any issues so far? Sorry bigjim.

passaturge

· #2 · Nov 30, 2001

Re: My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t.

aside from a defective speaker, no problems except for the unwillingness to want to leave the car alone

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zolik

· #3 · Nov 30, 2001

Re: My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t. (passaturge)

You guys who post for your friends and gather data for their purchases are really great friends. I can't think of one friend who would post for me on any site and help me with this type of research. Surprised she doesn't ask the questions.
Based on my 20k mile, year and a half experience, all I can say is that the car exceeded all my expectations in every way. I would buy another in a heart beat. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif

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Paul6506

· #4 · Nov 30, 2001

Re: My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t. (zolik)

My wife loves her 2002 GLS 1.8T 5 spd.......Our only complaint is that its really difficult breaking the car in. Keeping the revs down and speed under 65 is a PAIN. The car is actually smoother to drive/shift with a little more revs and throttle. When you baby it through the gears the shift points and turbo boost coincide making the ride feel a bit jerky. Just tip into the throttle a bit more and enjoy the ride.

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AlphaPepper

· #5 · Nov 30, 2001

Re: My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t.

My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t. Is there anything she should know?
She should know how to drive a 5 speed

..Alpha

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fnando

· #6 · Nov 30, 2001

Re: My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t. (passaturge)

quote:[HR][/HR]aside from a defective speaker, no problems except for the unwillingness to want to leave the car alone

[HR][/HR]

My Rear Passenger side speaker on my 2000 Gls Passat went out how did you get this fixed? It just sounded as though it was busted then it just stopped working. Is this covered in the Manufactures Warranty?

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passaturge

· #7 · Dec 1, 2001

Re: My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t. (fnando)

My car had a grand total of 18 miles on it when I heard that the speaker was acting funky. Just called the dealership, told them the speaker wasn't working right, they made an appointment to have me bring it in, no questions asked. Mine's a '02, so I would assume it will be covered under warranty. B2B isn't good for much if they charge me for the part

Hasn't been fixed yet, but the appointment is on Monday. I don't anticipate any problems...the service at the dealer I bought the car from has been excellent.

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ajchenmph

· #8 · Dec 1, 2001

Re: My Friend is gonna buy a B5.5, 5 speed 1.8t. (fnando)

quote:[HR][/HR]My Rear Passenger side speaker on my 2000 Gls Passat went out how did you get this fixed? It just sounded as though it was busted then it just stopped working. Is this covered in the Manufactures Warranty?

[HR][/HR]

If you're still under 2/24, yes. Otherwise, you're SOL -- sorry. I'd try Crutchfield to get a replacement speaker, or maybe you can just upgrade your speakers while you're at it.
Thrawn -- a Star Wars lover, eh?

Do your friend a favor and point her directly here as well as to Club B5, she'll be able to really look at all the different issues with the B5.5's. She needs to know that her B5.5 (what we designate the 2001.5+ Passats) will never be quite as reliable as a Honda or a Toyota, but she'll definitely get many more smiles per hour behind the wheel.

[Modified by ajchenmph, 11:19 AM 12-1-2001]

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mulfomi

· #9 · Dec 1, 2001

She should know she is going to thoroughly enjoy driving a very fine car. I have had mine for 6 months and 9M miles and I have no complaints. Had to replace a headlight but that was no big deal. One thing I found was that just about anyone can fit behind the wheal. Im 6-5 while my wife is 5-2 and we are both comfortable behind the wheel. Thank God she knew how to drive a stick. Just make sure she buys from a good dealership that has good service as that is life of the car issue and may ruin a perfectly good ownership experience.

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jmatero

· #10 · Dec 2, 2001

Check out the service department...

My only advice would be for her to spend a half hour in the service department waiting room listening to customers complaints and how they are treated. Should she have problems with her new purchase, the service department (VW's have a BAD rep as a whole) could make the difference between a good and bad ownership experience. Even a simple speaker failure could become a nightmare if the service is bad.

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matt007

· #11 · Dec 3, 2001

Re: Check out the service department... (jmatero)

Tell her to buy a good radar detector (read: Valentine 1)
The Passat is a bit misleading..It feels like 55mph @ 110mph

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PhilHVW

· #12 · Dec 3, 2001

Re: Check out the service department... (jmatero)

quote:[HR][/HR]My only advice would be for her to spend a half hour in the service department waiting room listening to customers complaints and how they are treated.[HR][/HR]

The more I go to my dealer, the less I like them. (I've only been there three times so far). More of my work is going to our friendly, trusted, independent foreign car mechanic in the future.

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