Passat R36 - i want one BUT......

[d3m0n]

Another what car thread.....well sort of

I'm in the market for a new car as my 2005 A6 Avant gearbox went bang (again) on the way to work a couple of weeks ago. I have a few needs though;
1) I'm not interested in a boring/economical driver just enabling me to get a -> b as I've been doing that since I got the Audi.
2) Must be an estate as I'm a carp fisherman, so need to carry a ton of gear to and from the lakes
3) Should be handle well and be fairly spirited when it needs to
4) Don't want anything that's got a crap gearbox as I've had two go bang on me in the past two years (Ford semi auto and recently the Audi Multitronic) - however I've just purchased the missus a 2016 Golf GTD with the new 6 speed DSG in and am loving that one so far - yet to see the reliability of it as its only done 2k so far
5) Budget isn't great after just having a wedding and the missus new car (£12k)

These questions led me to the Passat R36, I do have a slight concern on these, though, how reliable is that 3.6 it uses as there don't appear to be any other VWs that use these same engines? Are parts a swine to get if it goes wrong? - (does it go wrong?) I've been eyeing up a couple of R36's on Autotrader and in the classifieds on here, both have similar mileage and service histories but they do appear to be a very rare beast in a couple of weeks I've been looking I've only seen 3 different ones for sale.

Has anyone on here had one or any experience with the motor?

Anything else that is reliable and won't fall apart (like my Audi did over the years I had it) but meets the criteria above?

[spookly]

d3m0n said:

Another what car thread.....well sort of

I'm in the market for a new car as my 2005 A6 Avant gearbox went bang (again) on the way to work a couple of weeks ago. I have a few needs though;
1) I'm not interested in a boring/economical driver just enabling me to get a -> b as I've been doing that since I got the Audi.
2) Must be an estate as I'm a carp fisherman, so need to carry a ton of gear to and from the lakes
3) Should be handle well and be fairly spirited when it needs to
4) Don't want anything that's got a crap gearbox as I've had two go bang on me in the past two years (Ford semi auto and recently the Audi Multitronic) - however I've just purchased the missus a 2016 Golf GTD with the new 6 speed DSG in and am loving that one so far - yet to see the reliability of it as its only done 2k so far
5) Budget isn't great after just having a wedding and the missus new car (£12k)

These questions led me to the Passat R36, I do have a slight concern on these, though, how reliable is that 3.6 it uses as there don't appear to be any other VWs that use these same engines? Are parts a swine to get if it goes wrong? - (does it go wrong?) I've been eyeing up a couple of R36's on Autotrader and in the classifieds on here, both have similar mileage and service histories but they do appear to be a very rare beast in a couple of weeks I've been looking I've only seen 3 different ones for sale.

Has anyone on here had one or any experience with the motor?

Anything else that is reliable and won't fall apart (like my Audi did over the years I had it) but meets the criteria above?

Lease a new Golf R Estate?
1) not boring
2) is an estate
3) Handles well and is fairly brisk
4) has DSG
5) Lease deals recently were £1500 up front and 23 payments of £215 - total £6445 for 2 years.

[va1o]

Skoda Superb and Passat CC with same engine are worth a look too. Both a little newer so benefit from a more modern interior although possibly look a bit more ordinary

This for example looks an absolute bargain if you could stretch the budget to £13.9k - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

EDIT: sorry just realised I missed the bit about it needing to be an Estate

Edited by va1o on Sunday 24th July 21:09

[Butter Face]

Have a look at the Renault Laguna Tourer. Get a late GT Line with 180bhp, 4WS and loads of spec and have enough left over for a Caribbean holiday

[d3m0n]

va1o said:

Skoda Superb and Passat CC with same engine are worth a look too. Both a little newer so benefit from a more modern interior although possibly look a bit more ordinary

This for example looks an absolute bargain if you could stretch the budget to £13.9k - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

EDIT: sorry just realised I missed the bit about it needing to be an Estate

Edited by va1o on Sunday 24th July 21:09

Good to know there is something else out there with the same running gear im a bit happier, need to look to see if they do an estate with it!

Re the edit: Dont worry mate it is Sunday after all....

Butter Face said:

Have a look at the Renault Laguna Tourer. Get a late GT Line with 180bhp, 4WS and loads of spec and have enough left over for a Caribbean holiday

French? Ive always avoided anything French or Italian

Are they anygood?

[RogerExplosion]

I'm 2 weeks into being an R36 Wagon owner. I bought it dirt cheap knowing it may have had some issues and I've already put close to 2,000 KMs on it trouble free (apart from being sent off from the auction house with a dead battery) I've had two seperate mechanics take a look at it and all seems fine. One said maybe look at the timing chain next service.
It seems a little rough from 1st to 2nd gear and the TPMS is bung and needs to be fixed or disconnected. It's certainly not a super quick car but has a very pleasing amount of power. The seats and gadgets are bloody brilliant too. My beloved Alfa 159 went into the classifieds last night The R36 is staying.

We took it to the snow last weekend.


Here is a little bit more about my purchase.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[Shakermaker]

Same engine as an (early) Porsche Cayenne....

[Butter Face]

d3m0n said:

French? Ive always avoided anything French or Italian

Are they anygood?

They are very good. The Laguna 3 was a great car, and the GT Line 180 is superb. You get a lot of spec and if you want a bit more power a 200bhp remap is easy. My boss has got one and refuses to get rid as there's nothing he can replace it with.

[MDMA .]

Shakermaker said:

Same engine as an (early) Porsche Cayenne....

Cayenne was the R32 engine ( 3.2 )

[ModernAndy]

MDMA . said:

Shakermaker said:

Same engine as an (early) Porsche Cayenne....

Cayenne was the R32 engine ( 3.2 )

It was available with a 3.6 from 2007 but I think in other markets it may have had the 3.6 earlier. I think the middle east markets got a 3.6 fairly early on but I could be wrong. There's 3.6 Cayenne's all over the UAE anyway.

[CaptainSensib1e]

As an alternative, would you consider an Audi S4? Seems to tick most of your boxes, and not a rare as hen's teeth.

[d3m0n]

RogerExplosion said:

I'm 2 weeks into being an R36 Wagon owner. I bought it dirt cheap knowing it may have had some issues and I've already put close to 2,000 KMs on it trouble free (apart from being sent off from the auction house with a dead battery) I've had two seperate mechanics take a look at it and all seems fine. One said maybe look at the timing chain next service.
It seems a little rough from 1st to 2nd gear and the TPMS is bung and needs to be fixed or disconnected. It's certainly not a super quick car but has a very pleasing amount of power. The seats and gadgets are bloody brilliant too. My beloved Alfa 159 went into the classifieds last night The R36 is staying.

We took it to the snow last weekend.


Here is a little bit more about my purchase.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Looks good, snow i assume you are on the opposite side of the globe to us or up in the mountains?

CaptainSensib1e said:

As an alternative, would you consider an Audi S4? Seems to tick most of your boxes, and not a rare as hen's teeth.

I would prefer to avoid the Audi as ive had a lot of issues with mine

[CaptainSensib1e]

d3m0n said:

I would prefer to avoid the Audi as ive had a lot of issues with mine

Fair enough, although I'm sure you realise VW/Audi share a ton of components, so if you are prejudiced agaisnt Audi then by extnesion you must be prejusudced against VW. They are very similar cars underneath the badge.

[ModernAndy]

CaptainSensib1e said:

d3m0n said:

I would prefer to avoid the Audi as ive had a lot of issues with mine

Fair enough, although I'm sure you realise VW/Audi share a ton of components, so if you are prejudiced agaisnt Audi then by extnesion you must be prejusudced against VW. They are very similar cars underneath the badge.

The B7 S4's (which I presume is the one in mind) main problems tend to come from the way the engine is positioned in the bay and its own specific set of issues. The VR6 engines are much easier to work on. In this case at least, they're Audi issues and not VW ones.