Faults:

18Years and only had one problem trapped cable in distributor when hot insulation weakened caused engine to cut out, leave to cool engine would then start again until it reached temp again and then stopped. NEW Distributor.

That is the story of my PASSAT GL5 engine has had nothing done to it in the time I have had it. Car its self just every day mantenence. It still is used every day and now 25 YEARS OLD. PS, this is a WM engine and is supposed not the run on unleaded well it does and has done 80.000 that way.

General Comments:

First class model.

Very reliable.

Starts first time summer or winter.

Loves travelling on motorway 70/80.

Faults:

Fuel lines, this is a fault with the hose on the pump, from the tank line.

Blower fuses.

Driver side electric window. Don't work, not too sure why.

Wiper blades, that's common though.

General Comments:

After driving a Fiat Tipo, this car was a pleasure to drive. Although the clutch was a little to quick and the power steering is feather touch, it's just a lovely car.

One minor niggle, and this applies to all cars, why are the cigar lighters on the driver's side of the gear lever? There has been many a time when my partner has gone to light a fag only to knock the car out of gear.

Faults:

During the first half of my ownership when mostly used on the autobahn, the car underwent on-condition maintenance, which means that it was serviced according to the manufacturer's specifications. Afterwards I only did what was absolutely necessary. The Passat Variant (or Quantum in the US) never had a breakdown in 18 years.

Catalyst retrofit at 90.000 km.

New clutch at 120.000 kms; several rear exhausts during its lifetime, they usually lasted 3 years.

New speedometer at 196.960 kms.

Heating of the carburettor had to be exchanged at 210.000 km.

After compression on one cylinder deteriorated after 255.000 km, the engine was exchanged with some auxiliary systems (i.e. clutch).

New starter at 270.000 km.

New alternator at 290.000 km.

Slight signs of corrosion on the outside of the rear wheel bays and at the lower rear of the car's body.

Interior kept very well.

General Comments:

During all of its lifetime the car turned out to be a very reliable workhorse. The flaws during its latter lifetime occurred well beyond the mileage at which you would usually expect.

The 1.6 litre engine with 85 HP (double solex carburettor) offered a good compromise between performance and fuel economy (not more than 9.0 litres at 140 kmh, at a constant 100 kmh in fifth you could easily reduce it to 7.5 litres). Of course it was no racing car and I would have preferred the in-line five cylinder later, but you never really felt underpowered as cars in those days did not have all the weight-adding extras like electric windows etc. The Passat Variant had a ramp weight of 1050 kgs only.

Faults:

CV joints, struts, thermostat, thermostatic carb air intake system, wheel bearings and clutch cable.

General Comments:

Great roomy transport, solid shell covered with great paint, and it was even nice to drive.

Small-bore carb 5cyl very smooth running and reliable except for its intake system. Such problems as I had were caused by underspecified CVs (compare CV diameter between '82 and '84 5-cyl Passats and you'll see what I mean), and the foolishly complex air intake system for the carb.

The auto choke didn't fail but didn't work as intended, and the thermostatic air intake system was useless. This resulted in carb icing - not serious, but very annoying in UK winters when you have to stop every 30 minutes and sit by the roadside for five mins to allow intake ice to melt. Then the car would start and run perfectly for another 30mins.

Brisk performance, but barge-like handling not helped by feather-light PAS. Brakes spongy. Economy reasonable when driven hard but not any better when driven gently, which was a good excuse to use the moderate power available.

Fuel injected model superseded the '82 GL5 later that year, and this eliminated half of the problems.