Faults:

Exhaust, bearing on rear left wheel.

Easily fixed and not expensive.

General Comments:

Passat is very comfortable car, maybe little underpowered engine for that heavy chassis. If someone need speed and acceleration buy something else. Car handles very well, but rear end can slip on wet surfaces.

Bottom line is that this car is tough like tank, handles pretty good, and have comfort of Queen Mary.

Faults:

Catalytic converter was destroyed when car was acquired; also had exhaust leak.

More exhausts leaks found at 86,000 miles.

Both fuel pumps were bad at 90,000 miles.

Radiator started leaking at 92,000 miles.

Interior lights only intermittently came on when door was opened.

Transmission went completely bad at 98,000 miles--no movement, never worked properly from beginning, always started from a stop in second gear.

Shifting problem still caused by bad multifunction switch.

Throttle fails intermittently--mechanics could never duplicate problem.

Transmission failed again at 101,000 miles--mechanics have never been able to fix it since then.

General Comments:

I loved this car. I really did. When the car worked, it was a graceful, powerful, well handling vehicle. But the amount of money spent on repairs did not compensate for its appeal as the car still does not work... sitting in a tranmission shop for months with no answer. I wouldn't plan on buying one of these cars in an automatic if you want a reliable inexpensive to repair vehicle... unless you live in Germany where people actually know how to work on a German automatic transmission.

Faults:

Wheel bearings shot when first purchased.

Sunroof mechanism broken.

Cooling problems with overheating even after cleaning out system (fan and thermostat working fine).

Transmission blew up $$$$$.

Aircon gave up failed.

Wouldn't idle properly.

Electric windows worked sometimes.

General Comments:

Extreeeeemly economical to run 7-9 litres/100km.

Outstanding performance for a 2.0L, would kick down when doing 160km/hr.

Very roomy with huge legroom in the back and massive boot. More room than a Falcon or a Commodore.

Pitty I brought a lemon!

Faults:

-Burns a lot of oil.

-Water pump ruined at 170000.

-Shakes when idle.

-Speedometer goes nuts after 70 km/h.

-Thermostat ruined twice.

-Car overheats.

-Exhaust Manifold cracked.

-Vacuum locks don't work.

-Timing belt snapped.

-Whippers have problems especially with the fuses.

-Struggles on acceleration, got a tune up. It accelerated well for 2 weeks then back to the same old problem.

General Comments:

The car handles like a dream. I've taken curves at over 140km/h and it stick to the ground. The interior is great. Heated leather seats are awesome.

The worst part was the oil. I had to poor oil every time I gassed up.

It was a blast to drive, but the maintenance killed me.

Faults:

Replaced timing belt upon purchase. $300.

CV Boots replaced at purchase. $250.

Blew the alternator from my stereo. $300.

Fuel Filter at 176000. $100.

Rear Muffler (this car has 3). $250.

Ignition Switch, failed at 178000, began working at 188000 (I really don't know why)

Radiator hose at 188000, overheated on the highway, no damage luckily. $45.

Lost the heater core with the rad hose, in excess of $700 (!) to replace so I had the mechanic bypass. Most heater cores are found under the entire front dash, and it is a 6+ hour job which is why the high cost. I'm going to attempt to do this myself this summer.

Emergency brake cables seized, only the left cable works.

Rear brakes totally redone, new calipers, rotors and brake pads. $400 in parts, did the work myself.

Power driver side mirror stopped working at 188500, began working again yesterday at 18900.

Driver side mirror itself rusted from behind the glass, only half the mirror is use able.

Rear right passenger window motor no longer works, stopped at 174000. Motor appears to be between both pieces of steel when I attempted repair.

General Comments:

This car sure is nice to look at, however is quite an under performer. The 4 cylinder engine produces 138hp, and was originally built for the 1990 golf. Considering this is a 4 door sedan, performance is very poor with 4 adults.

The auto transmission shifts quite rough when in economy mode, is better (but not perfect) in sport mode, but uses more gas.

Steering is a little heavy however very precise. Suspension is tight, and with the stock rims/low profile tires handles very very well. Quite fun to drive _down_ (not up!) long twisty roads. If this car had a bigger engine it would be a blast to drive.

Also, most people won't notice, but a lot of things vibrate with my subs turned up loud. I used some 2" thick foam and crammed it anywhere I could to stop the rattles.