So my 2016 VW Passat SE with 1.8 has just passed 172,000 miles. I have been meticulous in my maintenance since new. I have had Blackstone do regular oil analysis, with no issues found. Had the Transmission drained and filled at 100k, and Blackstone analyzed it and found no issues. Did brake and coolant flushes at 100k as well. Only thing not done is my serpentine belt and tensioner. Damn thing still looks like new. Now after all that back story, how many miles are people getting out of this generation? I love this car, not one to switch once I find something I like. But wondering if I should start thinking about it. I like the Arteon, may be my next option since the Passat is discontinued. Thanks for any advice.
Thoughts on Longevity
- Thread starter meyers
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So if it’s fulfilling everything you need, and want - you may as well just keep a hold of it. I have a 2009 A4 B8 that I bought with 10k on it in January 2010 and it has a smidge under 70k on now. With all its extras; it was a £42,000 car that I bought a year later for £28,000 and has therefore only cost me £2k a year.
With all the uncertainty with EVs, I’m just going to hang on to it. Besides, it’s got three pedals, six cogs and probably one of the last truly mechanical quattro drivetrains, they went to electronic torque vectoring and stuff not much longer after mine. I just like to drive a car, rather than having a tablet thinking it can drive for me.
I can’t speak for that generation of Passat, but my previous 1996 A4 B5 went for over 150k miles on its original clutch and exhaust. I don’t baby my cars but I suppose I have ‘mechanical sympathy’ for them a bit like yourself.
With all the uncertainty with EVs, I’m just going to hang on to it. Besides, it’s got three pedals, six cogs and probably one of the last truly mechanical quattro drivetrains, they went to electronic torque vectoring and stuff not much longer after mine. I just like to drive a car, rather than having a tablet thinking it can drive for me.
I can’t speak for that generation of Passat, but my previous 1996 A4 B5 went for over 150k miles on its original clutch and exhaust. I don’t baby my cars but I suppose I have ‘mechanical sympathy’ for them a bit like yourself.
It has always been my theory that it's cheaper to keep fixing and maintaining an older car than it is to make the payments on a new one. Yeah, you might have a repair big bill every few years, but that it likely won't equal what the the sum of the payments on a new car in between those times would have been.
Now the catch is, if it's your only car and down-time would be a problem for you, or its primary use is long-distance travel where a break-down far from home would be major inconvenience, then it might make sense to trade for a new one once problems start to crop up. But it doesn't sound like you're at at that point yet.
-Uwe-