1991 Volkswagen Passat GL review from North America

Catalytic converter was destroyed when car was acquired; also had exhaust leak.

More exhausts leaks found at 86,000 miles.

Both fuel pumps were bad at 90,000 miles.

Radiator started leaking at 92,000 miles.

Interior lights only intermittently came on when door was opened.

Transmission went completely bad at 98,000 miles--no movement, never worked properly from beginning, always started from a stop in second gear.

Shifting problem still caused by bad multifunction switch.

Throttle fails intermittently--mechanics could never duplicate problem.

Transmission failed again at 101,000 miles--mechanics have never been able to fix it since then.

I loved this car. I really did. When the car worked, it was a graceful, powerful, well handling vehicle. But the amount of money spent on repairs did not compensate for its appeal as the car still does not work... sitting in a tranmission shop for months with no answer. I wouldn't plan on buying one of these cars in an automatic if you want a reliable inexpensive to repair vehicle... unless you live in Germany where people actually know how to work on a German automatic transmission.