Will be looking at a few Passats this week, with a view to buying. Especially got my eye on a 1.9 s tdi, 07 plate with 68k on the clock. Problem is, I'm
mechanically clueless, except for changing a wheel.

Can anyone give me some advice as to what to look out for on Passats, what (if any) are the common faults etc, reliability, just anything you can think of. Cheers

I have had the 1.6 tdi blue motion for around 2 years and its NEVER gone wrong, not even a minor thing.

WTF did I say that for, got to go to Bradford and Hudderfield tomorrow

Is it private or dealer sale?

I've got a '56 plate 2.0l TDi 140 Sport, (chipped to 175) 4Motion estate. It returns an average of 42mpg (the 4wd knocks around 6mpg off the 2wd) but it holds the road as if it's on rails.

There's been cars with injector problems and others with dual-mass flywheel problems. Neither are a cheap fix but they don't seem any more prevalent than any other manufacturer problems.

Get it HPI'd to make sure there's no outstanding finance or insurance problems

Very reliable car . There ain't much goes wrong with them at all . Commonest problems that I have had with them is the EGR valve clogging (remove , clean , and re-fit A cheap job ) . Induction pipes (from the turbo ) and intercoolers splitting , but most often just the pipes which ain't expensive . And finally the turbos don't usually last much more than 80k . New/reconditioned turbo will set you back around £900 fitted . That list of problems is applicable to most modernish TD cars though , so don't worry yourself too much . Just make sure you will be able to afford a new turbo if and when it breaks . Don't spend all your budget on actually purchasing the car .

I've owned and traded VWs for years and never had a turbo problem, no matter what the mileage. My current car has 140k on the clock.

One other point for the OP - if the full VW service history is not available, walk away.

Check the tyre tread too, a full set of boots will set you back £500

Its from a dealer, says it has had 1 owner and full service history ( don't know if it's VW history though.) Reckon, its prob a reps car, which i dont have a prob about.

To protect the turbo, injectors and engine, is it worth using diesel cleaner every 6000 miles instead of 12k?

I've got a 60 plate CC, I've done just over 50K in 14 months. Can honestly say it is the best car I've had. Has posted earlier, check the tyres. Silly as it sounds they will set you back a far bit if you have to shell out for new ones in a couple of months.

I dump a can of Wurth in about every three months and also use top-grade, fully synthetic oil as a matter of course. The major problems with turbo failures are caused by lack of maintenance and poor starting/stopping technique. Turbo bearings are oil-fed, so don't over-rev an engine from cold and don't blip the throttle before switching off.

That's mainly the 170bhp ones and they've just authorised a full VAG (Audi, VW, Skoda & Seat) recall to replace the original Siemens ones .

I understood the problem extended to all VWs with the Siemens piezo injectors - 140 as well as 170

Are you sure it's a recall? If so have you any further info please? I know that they've been replacing all four injectors if you suffer a repeat failure but to take advantage of that, you had to have paid for one to be replaced, about £600 IIRC