[Sunroof]

The 1.8 both in the VW's and Audi' share serious sludge issues and if you consider the Passat with the 1.8 YOU MUST have the engine checked out! My son bought a 1999 Audi A4 with the 1.8 at a reputable Audi dealer in Atlanta. The car had 68K on it and he felt the extended warranty for $900 was a bit too pricey. Three months after buying it the engine oil light kept coming on. We took it back to the dealer and they said it has a sludging issue and the engine was toast!! Well short of bringing a megaphone into the showroom and letting customers know what a ***** dealership this was after they refused to do anything on this car it went to my Porsche/Audi mechanic.

Here is the poop on the infamous 1.8.

The oil pickup tube is too small from the pan and with the turbo and cat. converter too close to the engine with excessive heat, the oil will "coke" and block the pickup tube thus reducing needed lubrication. Audi put a band-aid on the problem by placing a heat shield between the cat. converter and engine block. If you researched the "black death" issues with Toyota and Audi/VW regarding sludging, its frightening. A thread ran on this board last year on this issue and it was alarming how many VW/Audi owners were victim of this problem. Its fairly prevalent.

My P mechanic, replaced the oil tube (it was shot) and cleaned out the oil ports and everything is okay for now. He must use Mobil 1 synthetic and the Audi filter. After contacting the Audi headquarters they refused to provide any financial assistance on the repair, but did acknowledge the problem with the engine.

I know their are thousands of Audi's and VW's on the road that have not been vicitms of this engineering "oversight" and many praise the 1.8 as a great engine; however, if you do decide to buy a 1.8 powered Passat please check the maintenance records for this problem and have the engine thoroughly checked out. If the engine checks out, I recommend you use Mobil 1 synthectic oil.

Bob