buynewcar2003

I am going to buy a new car. After shopping arround, I decided to choose from Passat

GLX or Acura TL. Their prices are so close which made me hard to decide. I also read a

lot of post comparing them on Internet. Here are my questions:

1. If I don't mind the driving experience of those cars and I just want to get a

reliable (means I don't have to visit mechenics often), quiet, valueable (good resell

price) car, do you people think if Acura is better than Passat?

2. Since Passat is made in German, I guess it should be relatively hard to get fixed

if something happen. At least some parts have to be ordered from German which will

need a lot of time. Is it true?

2. Between Passat and Acura, which maintance cost is higher?

3. Do you think the transmission problem has been fixed in 2003 Acura model? I heard

2001 Acura had some problems.

4. Did anybody get new 2003 TL recently? May I know the price without tax?

Thanks.

johnnyb_s

I would recommend the Acura...Volkswagens are expensive to repair, Acura's are too, but not as much as Volkswagens, and not as reliable as Acura. Personally, I wouldn't go with Volkswagen anything. If you want quality German engineering, go with BMW...

songoku

European cars have lots of electric problems. Go for Japanese car!!

99LagunaTL

1. Yes
2. No
2. Same (Acura probably slightly less)
3. Tranny problems isolated
4. Don't know.

Jaydef

my girlfriend has a 00 Passat V6, which cost 30k. and it doesnt even have leather. or power seats. IMO, its the biggest peice of shiet ive ever seen. her door handle fell off and her glovebox is permantely closed, with her registration stuck in it! Three of my friends have Jettas and another with a Golf. The Golfs seats recliner knob fell off, and his seat wont recline. The Jettas are both flucked up, one with a stuck glovebox and another with a broken armrest that wont rotate! VWs are awful. I have never had a problem with my TL. My dad has a Cl and used to have a legend, NO problems what so ever. BTW, my girlfriends passat got into an accident, and it took a LONG time, i think a matter of weeks just to replace, it was either the door, or the bumper, bc it had to b shipped form germany, i didnt believe her that it took that long until u just said that they were made in germany. Acuras had good reliability and quality for the $. i cant think of ne other company than Honda/Acura that give u the amount of quality and reliabilty for the $. german cars r a rip off. It could take $60k on a BM to beat my pops $25.5k 02 CL.

Eskimo

Just helped a friend get into a GLS Passat. He had an Accord before. He said he didn't notice much difference in the Passat V-6 over the 1.8T. From all the reviews out there the V6 does not seem to be a very good buy. Most writers have said the 1.8T is pretty good.

In terms of quality of his new Passat he has no complaints. Passats are built in Germany whereas Golf and Jettas are from Mexico.

To get a better balance of biased options you can hop over to: www.clubb5.com

stevebo

I just bought a new passat gls for around $25K. It has the 1.8Turbo with leather, sunroof, monsoon CD, alloy wheels. No HID. Other than the V6 it is fully loaded. I also have an 01 TL. They are both nice. The TL has more HP and more low end grunt. The VW needs to spool up before you feel much acceleration. Once you get to about 2K rpm's it goes pretty well. I Like them both but if I had to pick today i would probably go with the passat. Realize that the passat is only a week old so I am still in the honeymoon stage. As time goes by I will be interested to see the difference.

I expect a few more reliability problems with the VW but I wanted to try something different. Also, I really like the styling of the passat inside and out. Another car to look at is the audi A-4. It looks very nice.

Passats seem to get compared to camry and accord. TL's seem to get compared to the more upscale "near luxury" car. just my .02.

torqueaholic

1. the acura's reliablility is bullet proof due to its flawless build quality. The passat is a sh1tbox, that WILL breakdown on you

2. If some specific parts in the passat broke down, yes you would have to wait for weeks for parts from germany

3. Passat will drain your wallet

4. I have a 2003 acura, and have had no problems

5. I paid 29,000 for my tl-p and I love it!! I've owned the passat before, and it was a GIGANTIC PIECE OF JUNK!! buyer BEWARE!!!!

BLEXV6

I have never been a VW fan, but IMHO the TL is much nicer. It all comes down to what YOU prefer.

dimsumo

Acura has more style than the WW

buynewcar2003

Thank you all for answering my question! You folks are so warmhearted.

torqueaholic -- May I ask that you paid 29000$ including tax or not?

I have made a quote on Internet and got a price of $28460 + tax. I am living Philadelphia, PA.

And can you guys predict that if I wait for a while, will Acura promote lower APR or something?

Thanks again.

dean078

i don't think i ever saw an incentives or special apr on acura models.

i'm sure the $29k torquaholic mentioned was not including tax/title/etc because it's pretty much implied that the tax varies from state to state so it's not included unless explicity stated.

i think that the current '02/'03 (facelifted model) has been out long enough that you can negotiate a decent price. if you wait longer (closer to the intro of the new tl) you can probably get really good prices.

billyvader

You'll be really Pa...issed when you see what that VW is worth in 3 years! Maybe about 38% of original cost compared to the TL @ 58% of original cost! A no brainer as far as I'm concerned.

billyvader

Acura has never had an Incentive on there cars ever. Why would they? Just to be nice? There product is not distressed merchandise. You want an incentive then go buy a VW, Audi,Infiniti, and or an American car.

stevebo

Where did you get this data? This is some good info if valid. I always like to think of the cost of the car factoring in the depreciation verses just the initial price. In this manner you could say that a more expensive car is actually cheaper over time than a cheaper car.

jps

I owned two V6 Passat's prior to my TL-S. EXCELLENT car and great value.

It is more comfortable than the TL, and some of the features are nicer (like the trip computer, mileage thingy).

Not nearly as quick as the TL, and the newer ones don't handle as well as the TL. My '95 VR6 Passat was a riot to drive and handled exceptionally well, but my '99 Passat (Audi assembly line, drivetrain and chassis) was slushy and not as quick. The Tiptronic transmission is smarter than our SS on the TL, maybe too smart and shifts for you too early.

The VW's love to go fast though...

I'd say the quality of the new Passat is better than the older model, but its kind of had the edge taken off in terms of performance and handling. If you put some decent tires/wheels on and "chip" it the Passat might be a competitor for the TL.

If you want performance the TL wins. Comfort I prefered the Passat.

-- p.s. the '95 Passat was the most fun car I've ever owned.

aepiua

Tough call. I am in the same position as my lease is nearing its end on my 2000 TL. The 2003 TL is nice, but next year there is a complete remake of the car. I say go with the Passat because you get free regular maintenance for 50,000 miles.

buynewcar2003

Is this true that Passat still has free regular maintanance? I thought after they changed the policy to 4 year/50000 miles warranty, free maintenance was gone.

stevebo

I don't think we do get free maintenance on the passat. I drove the TL to work today after a week in the passat. That TL is pretty darned nice. A much different feel than the VW. Smoother, more low end grunt. Remember that I have the 4cyl VW. It is a hard call. I think that if you drove both back to back you would see what I mean.

The VW I love the night inside dash lights, the trip computer, and the outside look.

torqueaholic

Yo newcarbuyer, before you buy a passat, hit the link below to find out what where vw ranks, in the car industry:

http://www.jdpa.com/presspass/pr/images/01102afull.gif

if you can't be convinced by the evidence, then enjoy your
:yack: Passat GLS

OC-TL

Yet some more input (may duiplicate). We test drove both cars in late December. The most significant reasons we didn't go with the Passat is that it was tighter, visabilty was poorer, the ride rougher, acceleration more unstable, and less comfortable than the TL. We went in thinking we'd buy a Passat after reading so much about it. The TL has to be the most under rated car.

Drive both on the same day and you should notice the same things we did.

billyvader

This process is actually quite simple. Just ask VW what there 3 year 12,000 mile residual is. Acura's is 58%! The lower the residual gives you an indication what the manufactuer thinks there car will be worth in that amount of time and with that amount of miles. Acura has the highest residuals on planet earth which means you can purchase an Acura weather it be leased or financed and get the highest re sale. Haven't you ever heard the funny saying about the Infinitis? G 20. Gee I lost $20,000. I 30, Now I lost $30,000 and soon to be added to the list the all new G 35. G Now I lost $ $35,000! LOL!