Faults:

Automatic transmission was replaced twice. This is with the Triptronic.

I have almost driven most available rentals by now.

I still feel uneasy about this new transmission as I feel a thump when stopping from time to time. It only happens down shifting.

Weather strip on sunroof under rails came off the second time I opened it.

The right side fog light is out. (I will assume its life is over and that's it). Will replace at my own expense.

General Comments:

The car is good looking and interior shows quality built.

Like the color of gauges. They are easy on the eyes at night.

Interior is quite and practical.

It drives well in fair weather, snow and rain and very well on sunny days.

Brakes are strong, though, the car weight makes you press pedal significantly hard when coming to a stop downhill at 35 mph.

1.8T engine has plenty of power and is good on gas.

Faults:

Driver center airconditioning vent broke. Replaced under warranty.

Primary airconditioning fan failed. Replaced under warranty.

Warped right front disc brake rotor.

General Comments:

Wanting good mileage, comfort, and AWD, this was my only choice. At the speed limit, I get 32 MPG with 90% highway miles. I’ve had up to 34 MPG when doing 55 to 60 MPH. The ESP and AWD work very well. During winter, I was doing the speed limit (25 mph) on an off camber curve. The late model Subaru wagon in front of me slid off the icy road and the Chevy Cavalier behind me spun out. The Passat w/Nokians held it’s line. Much better rear leg room than the Subaru Legacy Sedan. Roomy, quiet, and a great highway car. The motor is fine for the highway, but the small engine and turbo lag make it too much work for city driving. I’d probably go for the automatic or the V6 for mostly town driving. The AWD steals a noticeable amount of trunk space. The floor of the trunk is higher.

Faults:

Up-to now only the tracking needed doing.

General Comments:

Compared to my 406 HDi this is quick. Hard to stay in the speed limits!

Leather seats comfortable and the heaters in them can fry yer bum if set on 5!

Gear change smooth and very precise - no more fighting with the gearstick when changing.

406 slightly better with handling than the Passat, but Passat is better for ride quality.

Faults:

Window regulator failed.

Door lock failed.

Dashboard bubbling.

Engine light appears, but only when outside temp. is 30f or below.

Trip computer occasionally will not function.

Paint seems very thin as the cars gets scratched easily.

General Comments:

The Passat is a nice car, solid and stable at high speed as compared to the Japanese competition.

However, the constant minor problems take much of the enjoyment out of ownership.

My dealer has been given me excellent customer service. I wish I could say the same for VW.

Faults:

Nothing is wrong yet.

General Comments:

Being a 130tdi sport estate, this vehicle has bit of get up and go.

The sport suspension means it handles the corners reasonably well without causing seasickness.

General attire of the interior is pleasing.

Faults:

Only very small things.

After 5000km something started rattlling in dashboard - repared by myself.

After 7 months wisher blades does not working well.

That is all.

General Comments:

This car is good compromise between price, power, comfort and running costs.

For 25.000 km added only one liter of engine oil.

Average consumption 6,3 liters of diesel for 100 kilometers.

Faults:

Service indicator went faulty very early on and had to be replaced.

Intercooler pipework popped off on the M3, reducing performance to a crawl.

Intermittent "ticking" noise from top end of engine. Dealer noted it at service time, but hasn't managed to trace it and fix it yet.

A new one this week - temperature gauge has gone faulty. It works fine for about half an hour, and then the needle drops slowly back to zero until the ignition is switched off and back on again.

General Comments:

A very nice car in a lot of ways. It has a good quality interior, and the excellent 130 TDI engine and six speed box give very lively acceleration. It's also a refined, smooth drive, and in my opinion is still a good looking car.

What it isn't is either particularly reliable, or particularly enjoyable to drive. I estimate 95% of my driving is on motorways or major A-roads, and in this environment, the Passat excels. Noise levels are low, the tall 6th gear gives lazy cruising ability, the engine's torque makes overtaking effortless, and the seat comfort is excellent. However, on a recent run down to Cornwall which forced me onto the smaller, twistier roads, the Passat was no fun at all. It bounced and floated over uneven roads like a 250,000 mile minicab, and this combined with brakes and steering that have way too much assistance make it hard work and unrewarding in the lanes. Yet, the second you get back on dual carriageways and motorways, it returns to being smooth effortless transport again. For those who think that the Passat is just a family car and shouldn't be fun to drive, I did the same route in the (then 110,000 mile) Focus last year and came back grinning.

Reliability hasn't been horrendous, but neither has it been particularly good. Abnormal engine noise was picked up by the dealer at service time, but they could find no physical reason for it. It seems to perform okay, so fingers crossed. The intercooler pipework falling off was just embarrassing and smacks of poor quality control (it wasn't tightened properly at the factory apparently), and the temperature gauge can no longer be relied upon.

The Focus wasn't a paragon of reliability, but it was better than this in its first year. I still like the Passat, but its weaknesses are very frustrating.

Faults:

The stereo system stopped working four months after I got the car. Luckily, my warranty replaced it.

General Comments:

I love my car, it looks great and runs smooth. One point I want to share with the readers is that when you start moving from a complete stop (say a traffic light), the car is considerably slower than most of the cars with automatic transmission. Sometimes I think people change their lane to pass me, however, once you are on 3rd gear and higher, it is a joy to drive.

Handles great, and is indeed fuel efficient (4 cylinders).