Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I'm going to see this after work:

Well, it's fast. And an estate.

R36?

Yep.

Nice.

Word of warning - if it's at all important to you - VW has the worst tech system (by a country mile) of any premium and sub-premium manufacturer. SatNav is slow, inaccurate and doesn't auto-update. Playing music from your phone is a challenge at best and impossible at worst. Telephone connectivity and in-cabin audio is total shit.

Would you say better or worse than a 22 year old Volvo?

Honestly, I would say worse because it has stuff that is supposed to work.

The Volvo never claimed to have satnav or a connection to play music through your phone.

Hah, true. Well, I'll see - if I hate it when I see it tonight I'll look for something else.

How much do they want? It's POA on the site...

It's not that one, I just grabbed the pic, it's this one: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201802043408524?transmission=Automatic&minimum-badge-engine-size=3.5&model=PASSAT&sort=sponsored&radius=1500&maximum-badge-engine-size=4.0&fuel-type=Petrol&advertising-location=at_cars&make=VOLKSWAGEN&body-type=Estate&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&postcode=l259pq&page=1

~17k p.a. "weekend miles" ?

? I make it 9,600 miles pa.

Ah sorry, only read the description and assumed he was the first owner - didn’t check the actual age of car...

I've got a pal from Hong Kong who has one and he loves it so much he had it shipped to Australia when he moved for work. By all accounts a great car.

Well, the chap who said he'd buy the 850 on Saturday just shot me a note saying "actually I'm looking at a V70R tomorrow".

I could be completey wrong, but i seem to remeber reading something about the older version of the DSG boxes on those Mk6 performance golfs having issues after 75k miles. I think the Mk 7 DSG box is a completley new design? It was awhile ago now though, so memeory is hazy. I was looking at a Mk6 Golf gti Edition 35 with 70k ish on the clock that I walked away from after a bit of research. I'm pretty sure it was something to do with the DSG box. Might have been GTi specific though.

I'd be nervous of the high mileage on that, especially on the older 3.6 R36 engines, but thats just me. Also seems quite pricey for 87k miles? Also, black wheels can GTFO. Especially when your GF is as bad at parking as mine.

Cool wagon for sure though!

Can you not just get in touch with the guy that offered you £8.7k for it a while ago, and see if he still wants it? Sure the recent work youve done on it will be a sweetener?

Playing music from your phone is a challenge at best and impossible at worst. Telephone connectivity and in-cabin audio is total shit.

I'd disagree with this (as long as software is up to date). Spotify from an android device does need to be done in the right order though - ie if you're listing to music when you get in and then connect your phone, it can be inconsistent. Never had any problems with the phone stuff - I like that you can use the steering wheel controls to dial numbers as well.

No experience with the satnav tho.

(all on similar era of VW Golf)

DSG box. Might have been GTi specific though.

Pretty sure the internet chat covers all cars of that period with the DSG regardless of model / version.

It's hard to know how big of an issue these things really are though, especially on high volume cars.

To add to the apprehension, my mate's passat (cng version but still) basically fell apart after 130,000 kms. Gearbox, all the cng stuff, exhaust, leaky head etc. He'd bought it new in 2012 and isn't exactly a rally car driver.

Just on the train back from seeing the car, two owners, first owner bought it from the VW dealer who had it as the area demo car so it has almost every option. I really liked it, if my 850 sells on Saturday I will buy this on Sunday.

I kinda like reading of all your back n forth neil and from what i can understand that porsche will be pretty damn sweet when its done. Kinda thinking you now are more of a car guy than a bike guy ? :

I hope i never truly become a car guy tho seems exhausting .)

I’m still riding and building bikes, but that’s a lot more straightforward than cars!

become a car guy tho seems exhausting

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Good luck, hope it all falls into place. I'm surprised at the cost if the r36 in the UK. I've been looking at them over here and they are all under 20k AUD. Considering their cost when new they are a bargain. The engines sound mental when pushed.
From my reading the r36 had a much stronger version of the 6 speed dsg. And a car of that age may well of had a fix done under a recall, otherwise it should be good.
There's plenty still on the road out here with big miles which is always a good sign.

Also, not sure if the same there but there is also a passat called the v6 fsi highline. It's essentially the same as the r36 but with newer interior and tech and without the r36 body kit. They made those into 2014 or so so you can get a much newer car.