Faults:

Alternator clutch blew at 144000km; replaced at a cost of 150 euros.

Some high pitched, squeaking noise, when the air conditioning is engaged. Most likely it's from the belt or one of the belt wheels.

General Comments:

Considering the odometer reading, there have been very little extra repairs. And the extra repairs (mentioned above) that had to be done; they have been very reasonably priced at the dealer.

Though this is the low power 100bhp version of the 1.9TDI Passat, the 250Nm of torque pushes this car very nicely. Overtaking is very easy, and you can feel as the turbo wakes up at 1900 rpm.

Seats are very comfortable and I can get an excellent driving position, though I'm 185cm tall (6' 2").

Fuel economy of the car is phenomenal; I live 100km (62 miles) away from my work, and thus I drive at least 1000km every week. I can continuously get fuel consumption at around 5.3 L/100km (app. 45 US mpg). This car really saves money!!

Faults:

Nothing!

General Comments:

Excellent handling.

Acceleration outstanding.

Extremely comfortable and well designed interior.

I like to read up a lot before I make the purchase. Obviously, if you've found this page, you're doing the same thing. The problem with a lot of pages is that you mostly hear from the folks that have problems with their car, and want to vent/warn others. I thought I'd drop this note in here to give some praise. I recently purchase the 2003 Passat GLX, after my 1999 Audi A6 Avant was totaled in a flood. My relationship with the Audi could at best be described as love/hate, and I was rather cautious about buying another VW/Audi product.

Although I'm still under 2000 miles with the Passat, I can hereby affirm that VW fixed more than a few issues over those 4 years, and this Passat is possibly one of the best cars I've ever owned. Absolutely no problems with it. While I've still got the same engine as I had in the Audi, this time it's mated to a manual transmission, and boy can you tell the difference. OK, there's probably a weight difference with the the sedan vs. the wagon, but still... the get up and go will push you right back into those leather seats.

After a heavy rain, I did notice that the floor of the passenger side was slightly damp, but after a quick cleaning of the pollen filter and associated drains, the problem has not repeated itself.

All in all... the 2003 Passat GLX is an outstanding car for the money, and I'd recommend it highly to anyone considering the purchase!

Passat - True Fahrvergnuegen!

Faults:

Power steering pump belt failed

Engine Seized

Power steering pump belt failed again

Air Con stopped working.

General Comments:

I bought this to be a comfortable daily driver that would be capable of taking the Daily grind, plus my regular motorway drives, as well as being capable of towing.

Good bit (won't take long)

This was one great car on the motorway. By far the best I have owned. Smooth, soft suspension giving excellent ride. The Engine suited the car perfectly.

Bad bits.

I will always remember this as the worst car I have owned. for the 6 months I owned it, it spent 4 in the garage. The soft suspension that I originally fell for and gave it its motorway manners also gave it woeful handling. It rolled around corners with terrible body control, pitching all over the place.

The Interior design was traditional VW and this is a good thing. Well laid out and the Interior quality was lovely. Less lovely though was in spite of this, the actually build quality was not good, with trim regularly falling off. The interior was not worn, in fact it was in beautiful condition for a 90k car. Strips kept coming out the doors.

I have heard so much about VW build quality, but a friend with a Golf Mk4 has also suffered. My own opinion, and I am sorry if you disagree is that because the interiors are so nice looking, and made from such quality materials that VW have gained an undeserved reputation for build quality...

At the end of the day, I was deeply saddened that such a nice looking, comfortable car turned out so badly. I have since replaced it with a Mondeo. Bit bumpier than the Passat on the motorway, but the firmer chassis give handling abilities that the Passat can't dream off.

I do acknowledge that I got a bit of a "Friday night model". Even so if it had been perfectly reliable, I would still prefer the Mondeo.