First car - looking for a saloon

Hey,

I am in the process of buying a car and I am looking for opinions on what to buy. I have been a named driver on my parent's car and in the years have driven a Mitsubishi Space Star & Nissan Note. I am not really a fan of hatchbacks, I am tall enough and don't feel comfortable in small cars.

I have a budget of 10k, I have been looking at a 2011/2012 VW Passat 1.6 Bluemotion with < 160,00 Km. The insurance is not too bad for it either I am looking at 1.1k p/y (23 y/o, 3y driving).

For those who have a Passat, are they good? reliable? How much is maintenance p/y?

Do you guys have any other cars you would recommend? I am not set on saloons but just no hatchbacks haha.

Thanks,

Andy

_Brian

I’ve driven VW mostly for last 25 years and can honestly say their reliability is more reputation than fact now with repairs being expensive. My wife has had a number of fords in that time and currently they are more reliable.

You should look at a Mondeo, we ran one for three years there and it was economic, reliable and very spacious. Well equipped models are reasonably priced.

She traded up to a Kuga which is also a great car to run. Was talking to the new owner of our old Mondeo amd it sailed through its recent NCT.

colm_mcm

I would definately have reservations about a 1.6 TDI of that era.

colm_mcm

colm_mcm wrote: »

I would definately have reservations about a 1.6 TDI of that era.

How come?

bazz26

1.6 TDi in a car the weight of a Passat is fairly under powered too.

bazz26

bazz26 wrote: »

1.6 TDi in a car the weight of a Passat is fairly under powered too.

Would you recommend a 2011 with a 2L? Not sure if it’s true but I heard someone said don’t get a car the year it’s released due to issues?

bazz26

You can get them in 2.0 litre, it's a better performer but they are less common. And that model Passat was a heavily modified version of the car that was launched back in 2005. VW usually upgrade them over the entire life of the car rather than just with facelifts. Most of the running gear in the Passat would have been established by the time the Passat was modified in 2011.

bazz26

bazz26 wrote: »

You can get them in 2.0 litre, it's a better performer but they are less common. And that model Passat was a heavily modified version of the car that was launched back in 2005. VW usually upgrade them over the entire life of the car rather than just with facelifts. Most of the running gear in the Passat would have been established by the time the Passat was modified in 2011.

Grand! Thanks Bass, would you recommend the Passat in terms of reliability?

Cee-Jay-Cee

Do you need a diesel car? What would be your approximate annual mileage?