I’m thinking about buying a 2004 Passat and the owner said that I must only use premium gas. Is that true?
Won’t the owner let you read the manual for thirty seconds?
It also needs very expensive oil, a Volkswagen spec, not availble everywhere. Any repairs on this car will be very expensive, a good reason why the present owner is selling it.
You need to see the complete mainteance records, as well as any repairs done. If the maintenance has not been done by the book, walk away. If you are actually thinking of buying it, have a good mechanic check it out completely.
Vokswagens have a long warranty, at the end of which the owners ususally sell them to someone like yourself who will be stuck with those repair bills.
Examples; if timing belt breaks, $3500+, if transmission has not ben properly maintained, $4500+ and so on.
Please buy a copy of the Consumer Reports used car guide, or look it up in the library. It has the comparative reliability and repairs frequency of nearly all cars sold in the US.
VW recommends premium gas .
VW spec 502 oil is widely available - Mobil 1 0-40 and Castrol Syntec 5-40 are often used and meet this spec .
Repairs are expensive - timing belt replacement may cost $1200 or more . Brakes and tires are the same as other cars .
I had a 2002 passat and what an awful car. The turbo 4 needs premium gas. I got a letter from VW extending the warranty because these engines are prone to oil sludge. I bailed on mine at 40k I just got tired of going to the dealer all the time for stupid repairs. I couldn’t tell you how many loaner cars I drove. There are much better choices out there.