2004 Volkswagen Passat GL review from North America

2004 VW Passat GL, 1.8T with 5-speed manual transmission.

I bought my Passat in March of 2004 and I have put about 40000 miles on it within the first 13 months. During this time I learned some things about this car that may be of interest to current or future owners of these fine vehicles or even people whom have anything to do with their production.

Let me begin with the styling and interior design, of which I believe are of the highest quality you can get for the money. The exterior design is very pleasing, sophisticated and classy, confirming the fact that you do not need to spend serious money to get a good looking car. I would almost go as far as to state that Passats may be the best looking cars in the price range up to $30,000. Blinkers in the side view mirrors, xenon headlights and the antenna in the middle above the rear window are a nice touch on any car.

Interior is also well designed and manufactured. It feels as if it was taken out of a much more expansive vehicle. It looks rich, the dash components are easy to find and clear to read. Everything is reachable from the driver’s position without significant effort. The only thing that puzzled me a little was the finish on the interior door handles. After a few months it started getting scratched and peel in a strange way. Now, after 13 months the handles do not look that great (and I only touch them to get out of the car). Seats are comfortable, well supported and proportioned. Enough storage throughout enhances the usability and utility of the car. Mirrors in both visors, shade screen in the back window and sophisticated tint in the windows makes it look classy, but not over the top.

In conclusion of this part, all I can say is that if you sat in the car at the dealer’s show room you’d think there’s nothing better (for the money). Car feels and looks great! …..and that’s what made me buy it.

The annoyance starts when you drive it for a while. My particular vehicle is equipped with a great 1.8 liter four-banger with Turbo system. You don’t need to hold your RPM’s high for turbo to kick in. It comes in smoothly and it’s a huge help in higher speeds or while passing other cars on the highway. However, this beautiful little engine is brutally assassinated by a 5-speed manual transmission (automatic is even worse). First and second gears are way too short and the engine gets ahead of the gear too often and you can’t help it, but notice every time. You really need to take your time to get pass the first two gears. All that is made worse by the electronic regulation of the RPM’s, which makes them climb and descend very slowly. (Just try to rapidly rev up your engine; it’s not going to happen). You should also avoid quick downshifts. It makes you feel like you’re in a dream, running in the water, you just don’t wake up until you stop the car. If you want to drive this car in accordance with the feeling it gives you when you just sit in it, you’re out of luck. Basically, you should adopt driving habits of an 80-year old and you’ll be fine. By then, however, you may be going insane while every Corolla-man laughs at you as you’re trying to beat him from the red light. (You’ll return the favor 300 feet later, as soon as you’re in the third gear.)

Speaking of the third gear- a great thing! As well as the forth and the fifth gear. Actually the fifth gear performs beautifully in high speeds and nicely compliments the agility and turbo power and performance of the engine.

Another thing that you’ll despise if you like to drive the car instead of just riding in one, is the ASR system. I spoke to one VW sales rep who admitted that he turns it off every time it rains or snows. I do the same thing, each and every time. Too bad you can’t switch it off permanently (it turns on automatically every time you start the car.). It kicks in every time you drive over some shallow pot holes (of which there’s quite a deal on our highways), reduces the power to the wheels and almost makes the guy behind you park in your trunk. Because of its sensitivity, it’s on half the time when you drive on the snow, which makes you want to jump out of the car and help it a little. When the ASR is activated during your breaking (again quite often due to its sensitivity), the car acts confused and there’s nothing you can do about it. ASR takes you out of control when you most need it and that’s not good since you’re the driver making decisions in these situations.

Suspension seems quite smooth and allows for adequate control and responsiveness on the highway. Once you hit the city and some sharp turns, even at low speeds, the front feels a little heavier and it dips more than it should.

Another item is quite silly and hard to understand. However, it seems like nobody tested the windshield wipers while the car was in motion. They work great when you’re in full stop. However, once you’re driving down the highway when it rains, there’s so much overspray from the wipers that you can barely see where you’re going. It is the worst in the driver’s line of sight, too.

I also had a few minor problems in respect to maintenance. Ringing front bumper was one of them. Apparently some brackets broke off. It seems that all mechanics at the VW dealer where I bought my car and bring it for prescribed maintenance are trained to do only the “prescribed maintenance”. I had to find a small shop with a mechanic who thinks on his own to figure it out. That was after they took my wheels off twice and I drove a rental car for two different days.

Something happened with my left rear window. It did not open one day. They took a day to repair it. Then I went back two more times for the same thing within a few week period (rental cars again).

I am also getting my oil changed periodically by a non-VW dealer. I get the same synthetic oil, brand name filter and all for about $20.00 less per visit than at the dealership. However, I brought it in to my VW dealer for the recommended maintenance, which included the oil change and they stripped a bolt on the plastic running plate and broke off the mount into which the bolt attaches. Even though it had to be obvious when they did it, it was left that way until I went to get the next oil change and the mechanic could not take it off and therefore could not drain the oil. In the mean time my right rear window stopped working- same problem as with the left one a few months ago. The window and the protective plate problem made me schedule a repair (and reserve yet another rental car). They repaired the window and the plate and sent me home. On the way home driving on the highway, the plate fell off! The stripped bolt was cut, but never replaced, a piece of it still in the bracket. (Did the mechanic just forget what he was doing and went on to something else?) I had nothing to loosen the other two bolts to take it off and I did not feel like laying under my car on the side of a highway. After some attempts to fasten it with a wire I just decided to drive it home as it was hanging hoping it won’t fall off and put me or other drivers in danger. I was also trying to reach my dealer’s maintenance department. However, even though it was still about 45 minutes until they closed I could not get anyone on the phone. When I took it back to the shop the next morning, the department manager took it in, quite annoyed that I wanted to have it addressed immediately, without any concern or apology. Unbelievable! (I wonder how many times will I have to “annoy” him with the rear window this time.)

Now is the time to replace my rear brakes…. I am quite scared to have those people play with my breaks. It seems to be like a Russian roulette to have the car serviced at this dealer’s service department. (I am sure they are not all like that.)

To sum up my experience with my Passat; even though I love the way it looks I will probably never buy another one. (I’ve driven enough rentals for a lifetime). I might go for a Phaeton, maybe when you spend more money they might care enough to service it properly.

On the other hand, not considering the total incompetence in service department (I am sure it’s not the norm for the company) in my opinion if the designers were able to eliminate those few extremely annoying performance features, keep the good looks and produce a rear-wheel drive car, it would wipe out the entire BMW 3-series!