Mind you, being a fairly recent model VW you'll probably get a tan from a permanent check engine light sooner or later, but a Phaeton for less that $5k?
Mind you, being a fairly recent model VW you'll probably get a tan from a permanent check engine light sooner or later, but a Phaeton for less that $5k?
is it still running?
It's a shame that the bulbs in Volkswagen Check Engine lights don't burn out as frequently as the ones in the headlights and taillights do.
Fueled by Caffeine wrote: is it still running?
Not for long.
A8s can be had for simiar money and are a fair bit lighter since they're aluminum, whereas Phaetons are steel bodied.
Ignore the naysayers whose only experience with VW are low-rent Jettas and A4s that were neglected from birth. These cars are solid.
Werent those things something like $85k new?
I don't remember the exact price but yes, they were a lot of money when they were new.
If you were patient you could pick up a V8 model for $60k or so since people for some reason didn't want to pay that much for a VW when they could get the Audi for practically the same price. They sat on dealer lots forever.
That price might actually be higher than book value, depending on mileage. If it's got 200k on it, kbb says its sub 4K.
Those are sexy trunk hinges though...
The 8's were mid 60's and the 12 was $93k
I had a 2005 that didn't have quite as many options. Honestly a stunning car. The attention to detail was just astonishing all around. Unfortunately it was the little things that would grind you down owning one. The computers are all German circa 2001 (due to product development cycles). Just not as reliable as you'd hope.
OTOH, it was the most "autobahn" car I've ever owned or driven. It wasn't by any means a dragster or sports car but for motoring down the road at 120+ (governed in the US to 130, sigh) in silence and comfort, just perfect.
5,000 lbs AWD and loaded with stability controls, about as unstoppable in snowy conditions and if things go bad......it's probably the safest car ever built. Like it makes Volvos and Saabs look like early 80's Japanese tin by comparison.
"i have zee great idea, gentlemen"
"vhat is zhat, Adolph?"
"vee shall build zee finest luxury automobile ever made, and it shall look like zee jetta ate anozer jetta!"
patgizz wrote: "i have zee great idea, gentlemen" "vhat is zhat, Adolph?" "vee shall build zee finest luxury automobile ever made, and it shall look like zee jetta ate anozer jetta!"
I knew someone who called his Phaeton the "VW Fox Value Package".
A car review said that the interior was designed and assembled with the same German meticulous attention to detail that prevented them from winning two world wars.
my parents still have one of these that they bought new. Thing is pampered, heated and A/C in the garage, meticulously maintained, has only like 50k miles. It currently has only 2 idiot lights on. They have replaced basically every computer under the dashboard since they got it (under warranty). It's a fabulous car to use, but now that it's not under warranty they are a bit hesitant to get anything on it fixed. half of the repairs are going to be more than the car is worth.
Man look at those trunk hinges!
Knurled wrote: A car review said that the interior was designed and assembled with the same German meticulous attention to detail that prevented them from winning two world wars.
Holy trunk hinges Batman!
A 12 year old car that has depreciated to 7% of it's original value. And it's German? What could possibly go wrong?
One more comment on the trunk hinges, just because they are so ridiculously over the top and I'm not entirely sure what the point of such a complicated design was. Like "let's reinvent something that works perfectly well and never breaks, except let's make it far more complicated so that it actually WILL break at some point" mwuhahahah
I doubt the hinges will ever break, they are so ridiculously overbuilt i bet they could serve as a car lift. They are truly beefy in real life. The only breakable part is probably the electrical components, as they were built by the same people who built the rest of the electrical components.
Ok, yeah, i bet they will break.
irish44j wrote: One more comment on the trunk hinges, just because they are so ridiculously over the top and I'm not entirely sure what the point of such a complicated design was. Like "let's reinvent something that works perfectly well and never breaks, except let's make it far more complicated so that it actually WILL break at some point" mwuhahahah
Everything uses that kind of trunk hinge now. My Volvo uses it and it's an older design. I saw it recently on some low-end compact. It doesn't impose on trunk space and you can get a low liftover height AND swing the decklid up out of the way so you don't bonk your head on it.
None of the cars have hinges that have such a bold appearance, though. Phaetons were art and nobody wanted to buy art with a VW badge.
The entire ad avoids mention of mileage, and all photos save this one artfully avoid the odometer. Is that a 1 and a 6 I see at the beginning?
In reply to jstein77:
The odometer probably quit years ago but have you seen the berkeleying trunk hinges?
Apparently they are made by Campagnolo. So they will be stiff and clunky for the first 20,000 miles, at which point they will just be clunky, but you won't care because they look so good. If bike hardware is anything to go by.
By the time I finally got around to checking out the trunk hinges, I was kind of disappointed in them.
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