1999 Volkswagen Passat GLS review from North America

Passenger-side rear door would not open from inside.

Passenger-side rear window would not open. (electrical problem)

Passenger-side rear window would not open. (mechanical problem)

Mag wheel lug-nut lock stripped.

Front brakes worn at 30,000 miles.

Door lock transmitter batteries dead... replaced and recoded for 150 dollars.

Cooling system leak.

Cup holders broken twice. (very poor design)

Squeaky wheels from brake-dust build-up.

Brakes run very hot!

Lower door molding regularly falls off and needs to be re-attached.

Engine knocks frequently.

Does not climb hills well. (must manually shift gears)

While the car is very attractive, safe (seems to be) and comfortable, the problems with this car and the dealerships have led me to believe that purchasing this car is one of the stupidest things that I have ever done.

We did not even get the car off the dealers lot before the problems began. In what was a clear omen, the rear door would not open from the inside. The dealer quickly fixed the problem.

Once we got the car home, we discovered that he rear window would not open. Also, in a matter of days, the rear door again would not open. This time both from the inside and outside. We took the car back to the dealership and they repaired the car again.

A few days later the door and window again would not open. Back to the dealer we went. We seriosly began to wonder what we had gotten ourselves into. Also, about that time we noticed that the wheels squeaked. The dealer told us that this was normal and would subside. Thankfully, they fixed the door and window, but the squeak only continued to get louder.

We, at that point, called VW USA... and quickly discovered the futility of dealing with those dolts. They, amazingly admitted that the squeak was a result of the brake pad dust and that what we were hearing was, in fact, a normal noise. Well, if the noise was so normal I asked, rhetorically, why did people stare at us when we drove by them. Was it the sleek beauty of our car or the nerve-racking squeal.

I could continue to detail the multitude of problems that our car has experienced since we purchased it some three years ago, or tell you that thoughts of insurance fraud and the real possibility of jail time have begun to appear more attractive and cheaper financially then continued ownership of our 1999 Volkswagen Passat.

Please for the sake of your soul, financial solvency and sanity realize that the temptation your feel when you think of buying a Passat is just a normal human reaction to the beauty that the devil himself has placed before you. Woes ye that ignores my warning!