1.9 tdi estate automatic (tiptronic)

The best car I have ever owned!

I bought this car to replace a Passat saloon that had been written off in an accident. I needed a diesel because I was commuting from Hampshire to Heathrow every day and it had to be an automatic because I am disabled and find a manual gearbox and clutch tricky.
Initially I did all the routine servicing except for the cambelt, but since retirement, I take it to a local, non franchised garage, it has always been serviced with a view to keeping it well into old age - both me and the car! It has covered nearly 150k miles and still uses no oil between services and the coolant also requires very infrequent top ups. I have had the transmission fluid changed twice and that works perfectly, although I did have a fault with it around the 120k mile mark, it needed a sensor that only VW could supply and fit, I believe it cost a total of about £200. The only other expenses were a belt tensioner for the power steering pump (quite expensive, just over £300) and a vacuum hose for the turbo. I believe the garage used standard vacuum or fuel hose cut to length and fixed with hose clips (jubilees?) - not too expensive. These faults all seemed to occur around the 120k mark, but since then, dead reliable, I drove to the South of France last year and at least 1500 miles in a week, on my return, I didn't even have to top up oil or coolant!
I'm getting around 40 mpg on average, I now live in rural Norfolk and use the Passat for about 9 or 10 thousand miles a year, mainly shopping, visiting friends and family, and trips to the nearby coast. My car transportable mobility scooter is normally kept in the back of the car unless we travel to France to stock up on vin ordinaire. Long may it continue to run well!

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