3rd Jul 2013, 13:23

I think your opinion is misleading, and that is why I'm taking the time to comment on it.

First, this Passat was assembled in Germany, therefore for the North American market, it was one of the few VWs made up to the German standard.

The repairs you are mentioning; the ECU was damaged by water, it's not the car's fault. Steering rack; it's very uncommon on any car to get damaged. But it's very common for mechanics to call for a repair, when often the issue is with other suspension components. We agree that the other repairs you mention are general maintenance and wear related, and not that expensive.

You got an old car. At no time in history should someone buy a car with 100K miles, thinking there will be no repairs. Such a car, no matter the brand, doesn't exist. What exists are people out there saying I had this car and put not a penny in it, and it has 200K miles. That no repairs 200K vehicle doesn't exist, unless it has been driven only on the highway 200 miles a day for 4 years.

VW cars are in the expensive to repair group of cars. Their parts are complex, expensive and relatively hard to replace because of the way the car was put together. Also, their electronics tend to become faulty after the first 5-6 years, because for some reason VW decided to put in cheap electronic components and soldering. Although the engine and transmission might last 200K miles or more, there are several other components that are rather cheap and will start to fail around 80-100K miles. Actually, that's where the myth of long lasting vehicles comes from, from its engine durability.