2002-2004 Volkswagen Passat W8: Used Car Reminder
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Used Car Reminder on | 21 comments
The Volkswagen Passat is, by all accounts, rather dull. That didn’t stop Motor Trend from calling it Car of the Year in 2012, but then again, this is a magazine that also bestowed that title on the 2001 Chrysler PT Cruiser, a travesty they followed up the next year with the 2002 Ford Thunderbird. Clearly, they can’t be trusted.
But while today’s Passat is rather dull, it wasn’t always that way. There was a time not so long ago when the most powerful midsize sedan was an eight-cylinder Passat with all-wheel drive. And, yes: it came in stick shift.
The Volkswagen Passat W8 came out for the 2002 model year, answering a question that literally no one had asked, except, of course, for Ferdinand Piech. That question was: why isn’t there a family sedan with eight cylinders?
You’ll notice I’m shying away from the term “V8,” and that’s because the Passat didn’t have one. Under its hood were two narrow-angle V4 engines fused together to create the needlessly complex and hopelessly unreliable 4.0-liter W8. Despite offering more cylinders – and, thus, far worse fuel economy – than rivals, the Passat W8 only managed to produce 270 horsepower. This number was later matched by a V6 Toyota Camry, then eclipsed by a four-cylinder Hyundai Sonata.
But they don’t offer three pedals.
For reasons even more unusual than the decision to make the Passat W8 at all, Volkswagen decided to offer it with a manual transmission. Stranger still, they made a wagon version. Then they offered that with a manual, too.
That means somewhere out there lurks a three-pedal, all-wheel drive, eight-cylinder Passat station wagon. If this excites you, start the search. But remember this: from this era, VW wasn’t known for its reliability with four cylinders. Imagine how bad they’ll do with eight.
Used Car Reminder: 2010 Ford Taurus SHO
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Used Car Reminder on | 4 comments
Unless you live in Dearborn, it’s easy to forget about the current Ford Taurus SHO. After all, it’s based on the current Taurus, which – despite Ford’s finest efforts to the contrary – is still only sold to old people who want a big car for trips to the pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions.
The SHO’s biggest problem isn’t image. Instead, it’s price: the SHO starts around $40,000. Add a package and a couple of options, and you’re living in the $45k world. That’s quite pricey for a Ford, even if it does have a 365-horsepower “EcoBoost” V6 under the hood. (By the way, kudos to Ford for managing to somehow trademark turbocharging and direct injection. This is marketing, folks.)
But depreciation has worked its magic on the SHO, as depreciation tends to do, and now things are a little bit different.
Despite being just three years old, the earliest SHOs are now in the low- to mid-$20,000 range. Where it wasn’t attractive at $40,000, the SHO becomes very enticing at twenty-five grand. A lot of the newer ones even have MyFordTouch, which – despite the complaints – is kind of a neat tool to show off to your passengers. Or, at least, to convince them that you didn’t buy the car solely for trips to the pharmacy.
And there’s no need to worry about torque steer, since all Taurus SHO models are all-wheel drive. Think about it: turbocharged 365-horsepower engine; all-wheel drive; $25k. Who needs an Evo?
Mercedes ML55 AMG: Used Car Reminder
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Used Car Reminder on | 8 comments
So you’re looking for a cheap used car. You want something with a little excitement; a little performance. Perhaps you want one of the most sought-after high-performance brand names in the used car world: AMG. Behold, the Mercedes ML55 AMG which, to the surprise of probably everyone who assembled it, does still exist.
The ML55 AMG came out in 2000 and brought the AMG features we knew and loved from the C- and E-Class to the M-Class. That meant large, flat-faced wheels; a bigger engine; and styling modifications that were undetectable to the naked eye but proudly detailed in a 24-page German press release.
Yes, some of them broke. OK, all of them broke. But the ML55 AMG is cool for two reasons. One, it arguably kicked off the high-performance SUV trend, which is generally agreed to be among the most offensive market segments in the car business. Plus, it had red brake calipers.
Each ML55 came lovingly prepared by several factory workers in Alabama, which is exactly who you’d want to build a high-performance German vehicle. They all had a 342-horsepower 5.4-liter V8 that made 376 pound-feet of torque at just 3,000 rpm. It may not sound like much, but it held a 20-horsepower advantage over the S500 of the time.
Stunningly, ML55 quality was poor and most of them have broken down by now. The remaining ones will probably break soon. But who cares when you look so subtly good?
Saleen Explorer XP8: Used Car Reminder
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Used Car Reminder on | 6 comments
Surely, you’re familiar with Saleen Mustangs. You know: big wheels, loud exhaust, owners have beards.
And surely, you’re familiar with the second-generation Ford Explorer. Especially if you run a transmission shop.
But did you know at one point the two were combined?
Behold the Saleen Explorer XP8, which has an Explorer engine and transmission along with styling upgrades from Saleen. These upgrades are no longer available, so don’t go wrecking a Saleen Explorer. All seven members of the Saleen Explorer forums will be crestfallen.
Apparently, Saleen and Ford collaborated to make around 125 of these in the late 1990s. They all had the Explorer’s 5.0-liter V8, which produced a midsize sedan-like 222 horsepower yet returned a Mack Truck-like 14 mpg city. Some got a supercharged V8, which brought muscle up to a claimed 286 horses. Eighty extra horses on a stock drivetrain: this is the stuff AAMCO’s dreams are made of.
If this isn’t strange enough, read on.
At some point, Saleen ordered a new batch of Explorers to convert into XP8s. Ford quality control being what it was, legend has it that V6 Explorers were shipped instead. Rather than send them back, Saleen had an idea: keep them and create the Explorer XP6! So, a few of these “high performance” SUVs use a 4.0-liter V6 that made only 160 horsepower. Losing the 50 horsepower had a profound effect on fuel economy, which jumped to an EPA-rated 15 mpg. Nice.
Market prices on these vary significantly based on two factors. One is the supercharger. Apparently 0-to-60 in 8.5 commands a four-figure premium over 0-to-60 in 9. Two is whether the seller knows the SUV’s rarity. Saleen Explorer enthusiasts – both of them – dream of finding one tucked away in a garage where a little old lady is growing a little tired of getting 14 miles per gallon in her white Explorer with white wheels.
Fast Pickups: Used Car Reminder
Posted by Doug DeMuro in Used Car Reminder on | 3 comments
Let’s say you’re the kind of person who likes pickup trucks. You probably enjoy haulin’ stuff, going to tractor pulls, and drawing dicks on your friends’ faces when they pass out drunk. In other words, you’re a classy, classy individual.
Now, let’s say you also like sports cars. And for some reason you decide you want to combine these polar opposites, kind of like when they came out with wild cherry M&Ms. Yes, that exists. For the two people reading this who are inexplicably nodding in excitement, the latest Used Car Reminder is for you.
Let’s start with the GMC Syclone, which was a hotted-up version of the compact GMC Sonoma made in 1991 (and very briefly in 1992). At a time when no one was making anything exciting and the S-Class had 228 horsepower, the Syclone had all-wheel drive, boy-racer ground effects, and an interior that may have looked cheap but was actually very Superleggera. It also required 4.3 liters and a turbocharger to produce 280 horsepower.
But for all its flaws, the Syclone could hit 60 in the low 4s and run the quarter in 13 flat, which makes it better than most modern BMW M cars. Not bad for a 20-year-old truck with a four-speed automatic that was designed by people whose previous sports car experience involved making a GMC Safari with fog lights.
Crazy though the Syclone was, it would be out-absurded ten years later by Dodge, who pulled the 8.3-liter V10 out of its Viper sports car to create the Dodge Ram SRT-10. Not only did they make a 500-horsepower pickup, but they gave it a stick shift. And then they did a Crew Cab version, so you could carry around your friends as you cruised for chicks coming out of the tattoo shops on the main streets of Tennessee. Somehow, this thing also did 0-to-60 in around 4 seconds, probably thanks to a shift lever that looked and felt like a baseball bat jammed into the truck’s floor.
These days, a nice Syclone runs about $10k, while a Ram SRT-10 is available in the mid-$20k range. Both would make an entrance at the tractor pull. Just don’t pass out near any friends with access to Sharpies.
