1992 Volkswagen Passat GX review from North America

When we first bought the car from a private party, I had AAA road club give me an independent diagnostic of things I would have to repair: replaced the front strut bushings, replaced the right axle--burned out CV joint, speakers (front and rear) replaced, alternator belt, exhaust system needed new hangers, repacked wheel bearing, timing belt replacement, backup switch for reverse lights, valve cover gasket and oil pan gasket need changing which I will wait on and the brake pads are at 50%. Had to fix front air dam/spoiler with some black duct tape since it was not forcing air up to the radiator. The car has no front grille and relies on the air dam to force air upwards.

I got the car for $1000 but I've already put another $1000 plus on repairs, diagnostic and registrations which is okay considering I wanted a $2000 car.

What sold me on the car was the previous owner who said it was a good car for roadtrips. We recently took the car from San Francisco to Los Angeles then to Las Vegas back to San Luis Obispo and up the coast along Hiway 1 and Big Sur and the car handled well with incredible gas mileage 30 plus miles per gallon.

The only problems have been temperature related. Stuck in traffic in LA, with the Air conditioning on, the temp. light began to flash and the temp. was over 230 degrees. Also, on the way to LV 100 degrees through the desert going up hills, it would flash also. We're not sure if this is a function of a radiator that needs to be flushed or the engine oil needs to be moved up a grade to 20 Weight?

The window regulators worked just fine, the original stereo amp still good along with the tape/cassette system.

We love the sunroof and the cruise control. The motor when I bought it was very quiet and well tuned which was a big selling point.

The car absolutely loves 3rd gear in city driving and the range can be as low as 25 mph to 45 mph.

I hope the car can give me good mileage or at least 3 years before we buy another. We had at least 3 different mechanics work on the car and none of them were VW dealer mechanics, they were all import guys.