2004 Volkswagen Passat Sport review from UK and Ireland

Service indicator went faulty very early on and had to be replaced.

Intercooler pipework popped off on the M3, reducing performance to a crawl.

Intermittent "ticking" noise from top end of engine. Dealer noted it at service time, but hasn't managed to trace it and fix it yet.

A new one this week - temperature gauge has gone faulty. It works fine for about half an hour, and then the needle drops slowly back to zero until the ignition is switched off and back on again.

A very nice car in a lot of ways. It has a good quality interior, and the excellent 130 TDI engine and six speed box give very lively acceleration. It's also a refined, smooth drive, and in my opinion is still a good looking car.

What it isn't is either particularly reliable, or particularly enjoyable to drive. I estimate 95% of my driving is on motorways or major A-roads, and in this environment, the Passat excels. Noise levels are low, the tall 6th gear gives lazy cruising ability, the engine's torque makes overtaking effortless, and the seat comfort is excellent. However, on a recent run down to Cornwall which forced me onto the smaller, twistier roads, the Passat was no fun at all. It bounced and floated over uneven roads like a 250,000 mile minicab, and this combined with brakes and steering that have way too much assistance make it hard work and unrewarding in the lanes. Yet, the second you get back on dual carriageways and motorways, it returns to being smooth effortless transport again. For those who think that the Passat is just a family car and shouldn't be fun to drive, I did the same route in the (then 110,000 mile) Focus last year and came back grinning.

Reliability hasn't been horrendous, but neither has it been particularly good. Abnormal engine noise was picked up by the dealer at service time, but they could find no physical reason for it. It seems to perform okay, so fingers crossed. The intercooler pipework falling off was just embarrassing and smacks of poor quality control (it wasn't tightened properly at the factory apparently), and the temperature gauge can no longer be relied upon.

The Focus wasn't a paragon of reliability, but it was better than this in its first year. I still like the Passat, but its weaknesses are very frustrating.