Et Turbo Brutus? Ferdinand?

[Donaldo88]

I just test drove a 99 VW Passat 1.8 Turbo, 54K miles. It wasn't advertised to be a Turbo, and that makes me nervous. Ran great, no turbo lag, and I like the car otherwise. What am I in for if I buy it? Consumer Reports gives it a good report on reliability. The only German cars I've had were great driving, as this one is, but couldn't hold a candle to the Japanese cars for reliability. Comments? Thanks.

[dougbfresh]

Search for a VW group, bet there are tons devoted just to Passats, but turbos, in general, are higher maintenence Change the oil RELIGIOUSLY if you get it. I'd rather have a bigger, normally aspirated engine-I still think anything less tan 2 liters in displacement is too small for a car that big, turbo or not.

[olddog]

If you do buy a turbo car, I'm told (by master mechanic for Chrysler - they built bunches of turbo cars) that the best way to get more life out of a turbo is to alway let the engine idle for a minute before shutting it off, and do the same in cold weather when starting it. Never rev the engine and shut if off - this shuts the oil flow off to a high spinning turbo. Never start the engine with you foot on the gas peddle - this revs the tubo before the oil is there.

[dougbfresh]

They make devices to keep the engine running for several minutes after you leave the car in order to cool the turbo.