2002 Volkswagen Passat S review from UK and Ireland

I had to replace the battery at 20,000 miles as I had inadvertently left the heated wing mirrors on. There is no warning sound to remind you to switch them from the 'heat' position.

I had an ignition coil failure at 27,000 miles, resulting in misfiring and a flashing yellow light warning me that driving the car further could damage the catalytic converter. The misfiring was so bad that I could hardly drive the car anyway.

Generally it is a comfortable car which I enjoy driving.

Long journeys are far easier in this car than in previous, smaller cars.

The cabin is a nice place to be, roomy, with an excellent climate control system. I have got used to the gloomy colour scheme, which is outweighed by the overall feel of quality.

The sound system isn't bad and I feel safe in the car.

The handling isn't very good, but its OK as long as you are careful.

The car is expensive to own, in a very high insurance group considering its cost when new, and with poor mpg and expensive parts. I had 2 wing mirror brackets replaced due to vandalism, costing me £140. This wasn't covered by my insurance as they insisted on a £200 excess for the Passat.

The failed ignition coil was cheap to replace as I'm in the AA, but I am now worried that more coils will fail. I have read that ignition coil failure is a problem on this engine. I asked the dealer about this when buying, but he assured me that the model had been updated, and the problem eliminated. However, this clearly is not the case.