VW Passat & Milege

colettew

Hi, just looking for some advice from those that know!
I'm looking at a VW Passat Highline on Thurs. It's a '04 TDI, 130bhp with all the extras - price is ok but the problem is the mileage - 100,000 miles. Some people told me that as its a diesel car this level of mileage is fine for a '04 but not sure what to believe. All opinions welcome!

bazz26

A well maintained 100k mile car is not a bad buy if your getting it at the right price.

Chances are a 2004 Passat TDi with 100k miles was probably a company rep mobile so it is reasonable to expect that the car comes with a complete service history. Company cars are generally serviced regularly and maintained vigerously as it is usually included in the leasing contract.
If it is the case then examine the service history and ring the garage(s) that serviced the car, they should have it on their computer. Verify mileage and what was done with them at every interval. Also have a good mechanic inspect the current condition of the car.

If there is no service history at all or any discrepancies between the documentation and garage that did the servicing then I would walk away. Otherwise you could potentially be in for a world of pain.

colettew

Thanks Bazz26,
The Dealer says it has a full service history with a VW Garage - it's been brought in from the North or the Uk so will have check out the VW website for Garage no.'s.

Moanin

Get a HPI check done on it also if it is an English import

bazz26

colettew wrote:

Thanks Bazz26,
The Dealer says it has a full service history with a VW Garage - it's been brought in from the North or the Uk so will have check out the VW website for Garage no.'s.

I second getting a UK HPI check done on the car since it is a UK import. This will give you a good comprehensive check of mileage, service history, outstanding finance, MOT failures and any insurance claims made. You will need the UK registration or chassis number of the car for this so make a note of it.

In this instance I reckon if the car was clocked they would not have readjusted it to 100k as this still would be too high but a HPI check doesn't cost a fortune but will definately rule out anything odd.

Check out www.hpicheck.com

Gary ITR

bazz26 wrote:

Chances are a 2004 Passat TDi with 100k miles was probably a company rep mobile so it is reasonable to expect that the car comes with a complete service history. Company cars are generally serviced regularly and maintained vigerously as it is usually included in the leasing contract.

The thing is that it is down to the driver of the vehicle to present the car for service. I know for a fact most of the guys i work with don't bother with servicing the cars. One particular guy put uo 40,000 miles on a 1.4 almera before having it serviced. So make sure it has a fully documented service history

bazz26

Onkle wrote:

The thing is that it is down to the driver of the vehicle to present the car for service. I know for a fact most of the guys i work with don't bother with servicing the cars. One particular guy put uo 40,000 miles on a 1.4 almera before having it serviced. So make sure it has a fully documented service history

I had a company car a few years ago and as part of the leasing agreement the car was scheduled to have a service done every 6 months. The car was prebooked, I received a phone call about 2 weeks before hand from the garage confirming the date.

The company I worked for at the time were very stringent on this as it was in the terms and conditions of the leasing agreement that the company would be financially liable for any repairs to the vehicle as a result of the vehicle not been presented at the agreed scheduled service interval.

ROVER

Onkle wrote:

The thing is that it is down to the driver of the vehicle to present the car for service. I know for a fact most of the guys i work with don't bother with servicing the cars. One particular guy put uo 40,000 miles on a 1.4 almera before having it serviced. So make sure it has a fully documented service history

I would agree with Onkle, if the company owns the cars instead of leasing and the fleet Manager is not stringent in checking service intervals most drivers look on it as too much hassle to get the car serviced after all its not their car!

colettew

Thanks everyone,
Rang the Garage again and got a print out of all the Service History from them, including what was done and at what amount of miles etc. It was a leased car so servicing and records seems to be quite thorough. Last service was at 83,000 though in Sept '06, however there were a few repairs done to it since then, new tyres, coolant change, bulbs replaced etc and it was MOT'd in Jan 07 and passed. Garage man has the MOT certificate too. I'm going to ring the garage in the UK that did the services to verify all the details and get the hpi check done too so think I'll be safe enough once my mechanic looks it over.