98 vw passat engine (?) problem

[XsrdX22]

Hey guys. I bought a 1998 Volkswagen Passat in April with about 137k miles on the car, around 70k on the engine. The guy said he had a new engine put in for it daughter, but I think that's bull. The car has (I think) a 1.8 turbo engine, which is standard for most cars of my model from what I hear. My buddy says it's one of the shittiest engines ever built, and I'm starting to agree.
Anyway, the car has been having some trouble lately.
The engine (I'm pretty sure it's coming from there) is extremely loud when I'm driving. It gets so loud, I have to yell to other people in the car just to get over the noise. Any idea what that is?
The car struggles to get past 60mph on highways. It usually takes about a minute to get to the speed limit. That gets pretty annoying and has me worried about the car.
Also, the car shakes terribly on the highway. I'm not too concerned about it because it doesn't affect my driving, but it gets pretty annoying. The interior of the car just vibrates real bad. If it's not an easy/cheap fix and if it's not that important, I'll leave it.
If any of you can let me know what you think is going on with this car, please let me know. I don't know too much about cars, especially VWs.

[weasel497]

Take it to an exhaust shop. Sounds to me like the catalytic converter is clogged up. That would explain the loss of power. Also, if that's the case, it could have build enough force to blow a gasket in a connector of the exhaust, that would explain the noise.

[Mr_Silence]

I know a common problem with vw 1.8 turbo is the fuel injectors will go out pretty quickly and you'll lose alot of power, happened to me when i had a 2003 passat

[fades_to_black07]

Be careful with that engine. my mom has a '02 Passat with that engine and it had a problem with the coolant going into the oil and vice versa. over $3,000 later the car still isn't drivable. it wont even start.

[Alfonso7739]

My sister had the 2000 VW passat and that car was nothing but trouble. Its a German car and they are very expensive to repair. I Dnt know much about the engine being loud but as far as the. Shaking you should get new shocks. The passat actually rides pretty smooth

[hovla]

about shaking thing, your tires might be unbalanced, check pressure and alligment?

[coltonf91]

any smoke visable while driving or idleing? any smells from the exhaust?

[dio1989]

Be careful with that engine. my mom has a '02 Passat with that engine and it had a problem with the coolant going into the oil and vice versa. over $3,000 later the car still isn't drivable. it wont even start.

$3000 to fix a blown head gasket and it's still not drivable? That is what her problem was and your mom got ripped off at a dealership or shop for having it not repaired for $3000. My sister got a new head gasket put in her 2000 Pontiac Montana van (3.5 V6) for less than $600 and it was having the exact same issue yours was having. For $3000 they would have had to get the head gasket for around $100 ( I looked online for the pricing ) and work on it for 24+ hours at $100/hr which is average dealer rates. Should have been fixed in less than 5 hours maybe 6. Deffinetly should have been fixed for less than $1000. Your mom got ripped off big time.