VW Passat B5.5 PD 130
Discussion
The Spruce goose said:
the thing is there are loads of views that the 6 is stronger. I personally take each car as I find it. a gearbox fail is pretty rare anyway in the scheme of things. they both seem pretty good combined with the engine offer longevity over other cars.
It is indeed a stronger gearbox when it is working and the diff bearing are not failing. Sadly it is a very common and expensive fault on the in-house VW built 6 speed boxes. The earlier Getrag built 6's are good though.
The five speed does not suffer from this.
Take as long as you like I said, I'm in no rush!j4ck100 said:
Trabi601 said:
No mention of the B5 Superb, I see.
A B5 Passat for Chinese executives - the V6 would be a very amusing car to own.
Any idea of the key differences between the two?A B5 Passat for Chinese executives - the V6 would be a very amusing car to own.
The top spec. Laurin & Klement with the 2.8 V6 petrol and tiptronic box would be a great barge to own. You could get them for a number of years after VW B5 production had ended, too.
My dad has just bought a 55 plate Passat highline with the 130PD engine. 110k on the clock and he's going to use it as his workhorse for his gardening sideline. I hope it's a good one.
I took a 110 version in part exchange once. 280k on the clock and still running pretty well. Bought for £50, sold 2 months later for £350.
I took a 110 version in part exchange once. 280k on the clock and still running pretty well. Bought for £50, sold 2 months later for £350.
Sadly my six speed 130 b5 passat had the gearbox issue. It went at 7 months out of warranty too with 72000 miles on it. My wife had a 150pd golf too at the time. Perfect up until 100k then came the camshaft issue plus intercooler problems.
Then in 2013 i had a transporter t5. This was final straw for vw with me. Was in garage every other month. Spent over 2k on repairs in 18 months. Still like them but never again. I now drive 8th gen honda accord ex gt estate and have not had to spend a penny in nearly two years driving. Vws imo look good and the plastics and trim are nice but mechanically not a patch on lexus toyota or Hondas in my experience.
Not trying to be provacative and maybe bad luck on me. My vw t5 after spending 600 on a service broke down on the chap who bought it on his drive home. Couldnt believe it 😣
Then in 2013 i had a transporter t5. This was final straw for vw with me. Was in garage every other month. Spent over 2k on repairs in 18 months. Still like them but never again. I now drive 8th gen honda accord ex gt estate and have not had to spend a penny in nearly two years driving. Vws imo look good and the plastics and trim are nice but mechanically not a patch on lexus toyota or Hondas in my experience.
Not trying to be provacative and maybe bad luck on me. My vw t5 after spending 600 on a service broke down on the chap who bought it on his drive home. Couldnt believe it 😣
Never expected this appreciation thread, but while its going on ... my 2002 180k 'PD130 Sport' that has been excellent all round. Apart from normal scheduled work, it has needed a new cam at 175k that suddenly had heavy wear on the front cylinder and fuel injector cam. Then a tailgate release solenoid: eBay pattern part lasted a month, so got a VAG part for not much more (lesson learned) Apart from that, everything has worked without any niggles (touching wood).
Original clutch lasted til 160k, gearbox is still fine. I do tend to be easy on it and double de-clutch down the gears to give 2nd gear an easy life especially.
Its worthwhile replacing the headlights too, cos the plastic 'lens' does deteriorate as you get to 10yrs. Makes the car look fresher too, as well seeing where you're going
When washed and all glass is sparkling, it genuinely still looks great! Despite a Q5 coming and going, this one stayed in the fleet - no question
Doing what it does best for sprints/hills/trackday duty - pulls 700kg all-up very nicely at 40mpg:
Original clutch lasted til 160k, gearbox is still fine. I do tend to be easy on it and double de-clutch down the gears to give 2nd gear an easy life especially.
Its worthwhile replacing the headlights too, cos the plastic 'lens' does deteriorate as you get to 10yrs. Makes the car look fresher too, as well seeing where you're going
When washed and all glass is sparkling, it genuinely still looks great! Despite a Q5 coming and going, this one stayed in the fleet - no question Doing what it does best for sprints/hills/trackday duty - pulls 700kg all-up very nicely at 40mpg:
Edited by ggdrew on Friday 20th January 21:45
Edited by ggdrew on Friday 20th January 22:03
Sold my 51 plate 130 Sport estate with 203k on it in 2014, god I miss that car, I replaced it with a Civic Diesel, that was an even bigger mistake and now I have B6 140 Highline estate, the engine is more refined but it just doesn't have the character of the PD lump. Clutch lasted till 155k and shocks until 180k, the suspension arm bushes on the strange multi link front suspension were just starting to go when I got rid of it. According to the online checks it's still taxed and had 220k on it at its last MOT in February last year, be interested to see if it gets another one this year. If anyone is looking for one it's worth looking at the Seat Exeo, same Longitudinally mounted PD engine but built up to 2010. 
Edited by ShaneBarnard on Monday 23 January 09:19
Just looking what b5's are about and came across this 1 with some pretty big mileage.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/vw-...
https://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/vw-...
Fastchas said:
The 1.9 130Tdi PD engine is better than the 2.0 140TDi it preceded, IMO.
I agree, my sister had a 1.9 PD105 Leon which she unfortunately wrote off on ice and replaced it with another Leon with a 2.0 140 engine, I spent many hours last summer under the bonnet off the 140 trying to stop the bloody dashboard continuously showing 'emissions workshop' (it's working now, touch wood!), the only time I raised a spanner to the PD was when I serviced it. Also, considering the PD was only a baby 105 it didn't feel at all slow.
And someone mentioned the noise, my neighbor opposite has a PD130 Passat B5.5 estate and as a result I don't need an alarm clock 'cause when it's started in the morning I am then very much awake! To be fair though it does have over 230k on it.
Edited by njw1 on Thursday 2nd February 21:22
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