2002 Volkswagen Passat GLS review from North America

The car is now in the shop for the second time in four days. Both times the check engine light came on right after starting the engine, per the users manual, I drove the car operating at 1/2 power and shaking the whole way to the dealership. Thankfully, I was within 25 miles of the dealership both times it happened.

To the dealers credit they get me in as quickly as possible (the first time) and returned the car to me within a few hours - to their discredit, I put the car back in the shop last night. The first time they fixed the ignition coil. Either I got two bad coils in a row or they didn't solve the problem the first time. We'll see what they say later today.

I'm feeling a little bit used by our good friends at Volkswagen. I spent what I would consider a good chunk of change on this car, which is highly touted for reliability, and am finding that the used Dodge Neon I had in college was actually more reliable. Hell, I could buy 2 or 3 neons for what I paid for this car.