New car

On the Friday of the last Bank Holiday weekend Suzie & I took a trip over to Stafford Volkswagen to have a look at a VW Passat that I’d seen on the web, via VW UK. The trip over confirmed that even with all the recent work Andy had put into the Mercedes, that while it was now running as I’d always expected a Mercedes should, it still wasn’t and riding as it should, still a suspension clunk or two along the way. Too bad, it had tried my patience and stretched my bank account once too often and I wanted rid of it.

The car we went to see was a Passat B6 model, 2.0 TDi SE saloon in my preferred colour of Iron Grey and when we got there we were not disappointed – definitely the best pre-owned Passat we’d seen to date. The test drive was quite generous as Tim (the salesman) had been busy and wanted a bit of time to relax. On returning to the dealership Sue and I had a private chat and decided that if I could get the “right deal” then I’d be it’s next owner. And so it is. I collected it on 01-Sept after finishing work and was more than happy to leave the Merc with them for them to put it through the auctions, but not before it threw one last tantrum resulting in me having to fit a new anti-roll link rod to the n/s/f suspension when that collapsed on Saturday morning. At least that finally got rid of the last of the suspension clunks.


VW Passat 2.0 TDi SE saloon, B6 model from May 2007.

So after just over a week with the Passat, how is our relationship developing? Quite nicely, as it happens. One of the central air vents in the dashboard needs replacing, the steering wheel isn’t on straight when driving in the dead-ahead and the chunky rear tyres make some strange noises on some road surfaces. The vent and tracking will be covered by the warranty (one year asit’s an approved used VW) and the tyres I can live with. At the weekend I won a set of genuine VW mats on eBay and I fitted them when they arrived yesterday morning. I’m very impressed with the ride, handling and pulling power. Acceleration is very good in any/all of the 6 gears and while it’s not an automatic, the torque from the engine means you don’t have to be fussy about which gear you select, there’s usually enough urge to get you going as quickly as you wish.

As far as I’m concerned the Passat is the quality of car that I thought I’d bought when I got the Mercedes