2006 Passat, what should I know?

I have been hunting down compact SUV's for my wife for months now, and all of a sudden she sees an ad for a 2006 Passat and falls in love. At one point she drove a '97 Jetta Trek and loved the car, now she is a little more grown up and looking for a professional, comfortable vehicle. We don't have a lot of spare cash, the used ads I've seen with about 100,000 Kms are around $11.5K - $14K Canadian. Am I going to need to put lots of money into this to keep her on the road? What is the '06 like for reliability (first model year, yikes!), and have you noticed any problems with the 2.0T and 6-spd auto?

Also, a couple of detailed questions:
1) which is better, the leatherette or the true leather as part of the luxury package?
2) Are the xenon lights any good, or stick with the halogens?

Thanks a million!
Cheers.

Really fine cars. When buying used with high mileage, vehicle maintenance is the big question! Has this or that been done. For newer small cars the interference engines(timing belt) are prone to fail if not maintenanced properly. Here is most likely the main concern with this vehicle.
Check water pump and timing belt. If in doubt on if it has been replaced get her done together! A failed timing belt and water pump will ruin a engine at a tune of $5000 or more!
About $250-$350 in parts and $600 in labor(dealer) but well worth it. Here's a link as to what i'm taking about.
http://www.ecstuning.com/Volkswagen-Passat_B6-FWD-2.0T/Engine/Timing/
Other than that other issues are minimal.
Go with leather. The other is just vinyl.
Xenon lights are brighter and cut fog/rain better.
Try vw vortex for other info.
Franco

Franco, thanks for the response! I'm going to see the car tonight so hoping for the best...will keep the water pump in mind, and plan on taking it to a garage for inspection before purchase. Good note on the Xenons too, will see if I can find a model that includes them.

OK I went to see a 2006 that I saw in the ad - beautiful car, now I know why you guys bought them! Only problem is there are some worn trim pieces - it looks like a child has scratched out the pictographs on some of the dashboard controls (climate control, radio), and some of the high-wear trip pieces on the door are worn out. This is deterring me from buying the car because it looks 'old', but it's a great model at a great price.

If I buy it, is there any way I can replace these buttons and door trim for a fairly reasonable amount of money?

Thanks!

That you will have to research at the dealer. Some parts are high dollar and others are not. My worn New Beetle door handle is about $30, but my glove box handle is $200 because you have to buy the whole door cover ,not just the handle. Go figure!
Franco

Just FYI, talked to the dealer and apparently to fix these buttons they need to replace the whole climate control unit, which seems like a massive waste but it's the way it is. Guess I'll keep looking...

Akboss,
That's just my point. Where something seems easy to fix they make you buy the whole unit all over again. At least GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota don't do this. Frustrating! Good luck on your new search and thanks for the FYI.
Franco