Faults:

Nothing so far.

General Comments:

Excellent to drive, even with the auto box; sharp handling and good acceleration while doing close to 60 MPG on average; wouldn't expect anything less from a modern car.

Comfortable solid interior. All electrics and modern gadgets as standard. Electronic handbrake as per modern car is a real pain to get used to if you're been using a lever for years before.

Alloy wheels look great on this one, makes it stand out, sharp and stylish if you really look at it, but at the end of the day, it's hard to tell the car apart from others in this class (Mondeo, Insignia, etc); they are all quite close on looks and performance these days.

VW dealer has been good so far and helpful - a lot are not according to some reviews, but servicing and the few times I've been in, they have been fine with me.

Overall a typical modern car that is hard to fault and hard to find anything else to say about it; I just hope it lasts long term as all my previous cars have no problem, and that also includes a 1990s Passat. I plan to keep this for many years and hope I don't get the typical diesel problems some owners have had in the past. Heard many horror stories about faulty injectors, DPFs clogging up, etc. on the previous generation diesel Passat from about 2004 onwards and other similar cars. If you're worried about those things however, consider a petrol as they are pretty good (and economical) nowadays as well.

Faults:

Nothing went wrong during three rentals of three separate, identically equipped Passats, covering about 4000 miles, total. I have owned many VWs in the past and enjoy driving them, but will not own any more due to upkeep issues.

General Comments:

I rented three virtually identical 2015 Chattanooga, TN built Passats in the past several weeks. All were under 5000 miles, Wolfsburg Editions, with 1.8T engines and DSG transmissions.

The good points include - A nice, rather quiet highway ride. They got about 35 MPG at 70-80 MPH. Good power, bolstered by the low-end torque tuning of the 1.8T. The DSG gearbox performs well, once the car is rolling above 40 MPH. Roomy interior with a low dash & console for good visibility. Simple and easy to use controls for radio & HVAC. Those "silicone dampened" interior surfaces used by VW in the past are gone, in lieu of well textured hard surfaces. Lots of rust inhibitor used; the bodywork should outlast the drivetrain by a factor of 4.

The bad points - The interior of ALL three cars smelled like dill weed... maybe the imitation leather (yes, that is vinyl upholstery) is made in the same factory that makes pickles? The aforementioned vinyl interior includes a vinyl wrapped steering wheel. The A/C, on "MAX" (e.g. Recirculate) could barely keep up with northern Florida April/May heat... the A/C never felt fully dehumidified. These VWs, like all VWs made since 1993, ooze a sticky rust inhibitor out of the door's weep holes, onto the rocker panels. The DSG gearbox gives a jerky ride at low speeds and feathering the throttle for a smooth take-off is nearly impossible... at low speeds the power is all or nothing. The radio controls are so simple, not all adjustments are intuitive... such as displaying satellite radio program information. Suspension tuning is a little floaty on the highway. One of the three had quite a bit of wind noise at the right rear door, which I could not sort out.

Notable Points - Since VW "de-tuned" the 1.8T to let the Passat compete with Honda & Toyota, gone is the empty threat that use of anything other than 91 octane gas will cause damage your engine (FYI... all gasoline powered cars sold in the USA must be able to run on 87 octane, per Federal law). Also, not sure if it is a weight saving move, but the plastic front wheel well liners serve as the inner fender skins, which are usually metal, on most other cars?

In my opinion the B5 & B5.5 (Audi A4) were a better drivertrain/chassis set-up. But this new Passat is better aimed at the Camry & Accord buyer. Would I buy a 2015 Passat based on these three rentals? No.