1998 Volkswagen Passat Wagon review from Australia and New Zealand

Hazard Warning Lights - relay dry joint resoldered at $40 instead of new relay Hazard Warning Switch at $160.

Boot/Hatch hydraulic strut bent and seal broke - leaked hydraulic and stopped keeping the boot/hatch propped up.

Wife also has a VW Passat Wagon - had to replace oil filter and replace engine oil because the garage didn't fit a separate O ring seal on it unlike most Japanese cars.

Wife also had electrical problems with central locking - had to reset electrics by pulling fuses to fix the issue. But hey these are 10 year old cars so it shouldn't be a surprise to have a few electrical niggles with them now. Main risk to European cars in New Zealand are the garages who mainly work on Japanese cars & can't fit oil filters! Bottom line is that these were expensive cars new (NZD$50,000 ten years ago) and are cheap cars used (NZD$10,000 now if you look around). A 10 year old $10K VW is a much more solid car than a 10 year $10K Japanese car.

In NZ these cars are dirt cheap for a solid safe car in comparison to most flimsy Japanese cars I've owned

We got ours for under NZD$12K (under USD$8K or AUD$10K) with under 35,000 kms (under 20,000 miles) in good nick. The Dog & Lemon Guide (NZ & Australian Guide that runs down all cars except Toyota's and expects everyone to run a car like a Taxi for a million miles for over a decade) doesn't have a good word for VW's but they are solid. The fuel usage can go up with the 1.8T if you boot it from the lights, but then its got more pull than most asthmatic Japanese cars that need 4K on the rev counter to go. The tyres and brakes and shocks cost a bit to replace but then it doesn't wobble around corners like most Japanese cars. I'm not uninformed about Japanese cars - I've owned three Hondas and two Nissans - and while they'll work forever they were as much fun to drive as a dishwasher on wheels - apart from the Skyline - and felt about as safe as one around corners.