Hi Nairalanders, I urgently need ur help. Am not experienced when it comes to Autos. Infact, learnt how to drive early this year. My problem now is that I want to buy a car But dont know what to go for. This is actually going to be my first ever car & I love Passat Volkswagen with a passion ever since I was a kid. I can actually afford buying it, but what am not sure of, is the maintenance since am not experienced about Autos generally, some of my colleagues in the office tried to discourage me saying the parts are not readily available and that its maintenance will be costly. they advised that I go for Toyota Camry either 1999 or 2003 model, which to them, costs less to maintain and since its going to be my first car. That I can always go for that later in life.

My problem is that am not sure about what they are telling me, as most of them drive Camry, I felt they just want me to join their league. Moreover, when I went out for market survey, I discovered that the cost of the Passat I want is same as that of the 2003 Camry. so why shouldn't I go 4 my dream car?
I hate a situation where I'll be driving my car whil admiring someone's ride.

So pls nairalanders I need ur opinion on this issue b/4 I even storm the market.

Go ahead and live your dream!
If you feel that badly about the passat, to the point that you may be admiring someone else's car while driving a Camry, please do get the passat.

Only one thing though. You must be sure that:
You have the money to maintain it well. Volkswagen service center and not a road-side mechanic _{as the road-side guys have expertise in japanese cars more}

All the best.

_{NB: I presently drive a Camry, and I look forward to another Camry / Toyota before the end of the year, cos I don't want to be told that any part of my car costs 450,000 Naira to replace,}

broda my 1st car was a passat,and it was a cool nice drive expierience, now if u want my opinion, which is not biased because i have a passat or drive one(i have actually driven all major models of cars,from japan to us,even to kuwait ) go for d Vw Passat, it sure is a better drive and has better handling characteristics than Toyota Camry. sure d maintenance is a bit higher than toyota, but let me ask you,have u hrd of any car that is cheaper to maintain than japanese cars,non, even d japanese cars that come close to GERMAN engineering tend to have serious issues, why, cos they cant even live d dream, not to talk of implementing it. ( dont mind me,i was getting angry and smiling while typing,i am cool now) lets continue,

SIMPLY VW PASSAT IS WHAT U WILL ENJOY POINT BLANK,IMAGINE A TOYOTA, D INTERIOR IS BLAND,HAVE U SEEN A VW PASSAT,BROS ME, I WONT TALK,GOOGLE IT,U WILL BE AMAZED,ITS OVER LOADED FOR A CAR ITS SIZE,AND GUESS WHAT,IT CARRIES IT WELL.

I WOULD NOT LIKE TO GO INTO SERIOUS DETAILS,U CAN ASK ME IF U WANT, BUT ENTHUSIASTS WILL ALWAYS GO GERMAN ENGINEERING BEFORE THEY NEAR JAPANESE ENGINEERING,PLS ENTHUSIASTS DONT MEAN THOSE WITH MONEY OR TOO MUCH MONEY OR EVEN CASH MONEY, COS NEXT THING EVERBODY GO CLAIM ENTHUSIASTS, BUT AM SURE U KNOW WHAT I MEAN.

VW IS LIFE, QED pls fire at me any questions,i willanswer to d best of my knowledge.

for d record,i own a 2002 infiniti qx4 jeep 4wd, i tell u ,if u google comments on d car,u will hear praises from a to z ,few bad stories,i as d owner, i love d car so much, but once i step into my dead 1992 passat, i feel at home and forget d Jeep , now imagine yr difference, not to talk of when i enter my 2002 VW PASSAT, all HAIL,

Nkc said it right. Passat is the best. Talking about the maintenance between passat and camry, ol boy , na the same amount you go spend for the 2, even camry parts dey costly pass passat. For instance, 2003 Camry alternator is around 30k while 2003 passat is 22k, you wan dey talk of the engine wey dey inside passat? Peeps wey dey here go tell you sey na landlord. if u dey drive passat from Lagos to Ibadan, him go still dey tell you sey I need more miles please. I have one 2003 passat, I have been enjoying it for more than a year now, infact na like sey I just buy am whenever I see the baby. Camry na one old fashion, big -without-shape burden. Passat drives very well , fast, balanced, trendy, you want more? Google Passat pictures and features. Compare it with that shapeless camry. Camry started a huge positive turnover in 2005 with a little taste of features and trim lines added to their babies. Camry is bogus! Passat speaks for itself; its quality.

@freshmoney

thanks, did not even know that camry's are getting expensive gradually

nkc, your opinion can not be accepted because everybody know that VWs done give you something chop so you can't say anything bad about them or else them fit withdraw throw you out of the official quarters wey them give you.

That said, I also have a passat and thats after having driven japanese cars. Infact my firts car was japanese. And I can tell you, there is nothing to compare with the German brands. VW, BMW and MB

Forget all those pure water camry people (I am a staunch TOYOTA HATER ) who tell you it is cheaper to maintain!! Thats a lie of the devil also.

Fact is they are at the mechanice almost every weekend changing shaft, lower arm, bushing etc for peanuts while you will go to the mechanic for the same work once every 5 years and end up spending even less than all their peanuts put together.

So yes the individual parts might be cheaper, but they are not cost effective.

Now for availability of parts; what kind of Passat do you have in mind. Some models are more demanding than others. I know my 1.8T really required patience as does my 1.9 TDI but I will never go back on them.

I will suggest you steer clear of complex models (the ones with turbo chargers) and deal with the 2.0 or the V6 (not VR6 OO!!!)

Also note that the passats are not for the road side mechanic!!! like the camries are. You know say asewo dey go for short time but chick dey go hotel. Same theory with the Passat and Camry

@foto

well said, d official quarter's na die

Volkswagen Passat, no question.

The Toyota Camry's also a good car, but more of a "repmobile".
Over here in the UK, the equivalent, the 2008 Toyota Avensis are more often used as taxi cabs, and resale value is poor.

@siena

if those wey get toyota catch you eh, just call me

A Toyota catching me in an Audi RS4?

Siena:

A Toyota catching me in an Audi RS4?

Impossibility raised to power infinity, except i'm using gear 1 an the person in the toyota is using gear 6.


Volvo = Powerful !,

Volks/Audi = Fantastico!!,

BMW = Excellente!!!!,


M. Benz = The Grand Master!!!!!!!

Omo men go for the Toyota Cmary. Passat almost ran me down. Spare part too cost. In such I will always runaway for German cars. Though I've been lucky with the present BMW I'm driving

And why on earth are Toyotas so over-priced?
They are to the german cars (VW, BMW, Mercedes Benz)
what the Hyundais and Kias are to them.
I honestly think the Passat is prefarable to the Camry anyday!
My opinion ,

@siena

my bad, it can never ever ever(infinity) catch u

well i used to think only japanese cars are fuel efficient until i got an Audi and i was blown away with the fuel efficiency
the handling, the performance, the sharpness

well i have always luved german cars right from BENZ my dad use to have to my new craze now for BMW

if u perform a simple mathematics

u visit the road side mechanic 5 times in 3 months with ur camry and u change parts u think r cheap, compare it to 1 time visit in 3 months for a vw and probably the next time u would go to a mechanic would be another 3 months

u would observe on the long run the VW becomes cheaper

please take note Honda Accord and Toyota camry r not cheap i repeat are not cheap to maintain

for a camry and honda accord to change ur top gasket cost btw 7k to 10k and mind u, u have to buy double gasket so ur spending about 14k to 20k

meanwhile for a Nissan blue bird gasket cos about 500Naira.

ur decision of buying a car should be based on integrity of the car, year of the car, and strength of the car

I think in Nigeria personally toyotas and Hondas are highly highly over priced

if u can try and buy a new car of any brand and u have peace of mind for the next 3 to 5 years irrespective of brand

and u wont think of road side mechanics. cos to me i think al cars are becoming more and more advance and most of our mechanics are not updating themselves

Looks, driving, handling, for young guys Passat! BUT very very expensive to maintain. Be ready to pay 3 or more times for parts and labour compare to camry. Example, spare keys: Passat $400, Camry $29

PASSAT IS NOT FOR THE POOR

prince_onx:

Looks, driving, handling, for young guys Passat! BUT very very expensive to maintain. Be ready to pay 3 or more times for parts and labour compare to camry. Example, spare keys: Passat $400, Camry $29

Why do people always compare like with unlike

The 400 dollar key is that price cause its got a transponder in it and is actually linked to the security system of the car. An ordinary key with the same cut but without the transpoder will cost less than 30usd. So what are we talking about. A MODERN camry with a transponder key has a cost similar to the VW's.

Its not VW 's fault if they have incorporated security in their cars and made it a standard feature since the late 90s while you can still hot wire a cheap toyota because theres no real security.

VWs, Too good.

If i read this 2 months ago I would have bought the 2006 Jetta rather than the 03 Camry.

I think this comes down to a preference for superior driving dynamics to easier and cheaper maintenance. Coming from a user who has driven both German and Asian cars, Asian cars will not burn a hole in your pocket. But then again, it will not give you anything to be excited about.

German cars require good funds to maintain so if you you have a problem with liquidity, you are better off with an Asian car. If you can afford it, a German car will give you something to rave about.

My 2 cents...