2003 Volkswagen Passat

I am a new owner of a used '03 Passat Wagon 1.8 T. I'll have to write an updated review once I get more miles on her, but this car is solid to say the least.

First I must say this. It's interesting to read the few negative remarks about this car on Epinions. Like many car owners, their gripes are petty, but are enough to write an auto off as junk. For example, one Passat owner gives the car one star due to the fact that wiper blades are expensive and headlights are hard to change. Now, if these are repairs are done at a dealership, obviously there will be sticker shock. These are the same people who will charge $20 to replace a 69? brake light.

And as for the expensive wiper blades ($80 claimed)? Just look on any online parts store, and you can see that the replacement blades come in at less than half that price. Heck, you can even get non-Bosch blades for $15/piece. Still pricey, but not far off from the $10/piece blades I put on my old Jeep.

So, with this in mind. This is a solidly built car. The 1.8 turbo is well-engineered, combining reliability, fuel economy, and power. The tiptronic option kicks booty, allowing for commanding passes on the highway. Despite the fact that this car only drinks premium ($3.24/gal. right now, yikes), the overall cost per mile comes out roughly the same as driving a lower mpg 4-banger. Although, the 16 gallon tank can deliver upwards of 500 miles on the highway. Dang!

The true beauty of the Passat and other VWs are the details. Shop around, and I guarantee you won't find such a solid feeling, ergonomical car in this price range (short of finding an unreal deal on a BMW). This car accommodates you, not the other way around. Seats will bend and adjust to your nook and cranny, the steering wheel tilts and telescopes, gauges are very readable, and the viewpoint in intuitive.

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Update, 07/31/06, 51,500 miles
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It's laughable, but I've already had the "certified" Passat towed into the shop. When I started the car the other day, the engine shook and a warning light popped on. I called VW roadside assistance and they towed me to the nearest VW dealer about two miles away.

Turns out a coil pack was cracked on one cylinder and caused all the fuss. I picked up the car later that same day and came away free of charge--as I should. Upon further investigation, I found the coil packs to be a widespread problem with the 1.8 turbo engines as well as some VR6s and W8s. The problem was so bad VW actually issued a recall on the coil packs on tens of thousands of VWs and Audis

As I dug deeper into the history of my own car, it turns out the coil packs had indeed been replaced under the recall in 2003. So why did the new coil pack crack? This was the question I posed to my VW service guy to which he had no answer. However, to the best of his knowledge, as long as VW keeps replacing faulty parts with faulty parts, they'll keep footing the bill. Hmm, alrighty then.

The bright side of this whole coil pack thing is that it's a fairly inexpensive part ($30-60) and labor is cinch. If you had to do this yourself, it's as easy as unscrewing the engine cover and unplugging and replacing each of the coil packs above the sparkplugs.

Despite my misfortune with the coil pack demons, I 'm still lovin' this car. The Passat runs beautifullly (when it's running on all cylinders, haha) and is a real joy to drive. I find comfort knowing that VW has at least taken the time to pinpoint a problem and accept responsibility for it. I've owned five Hondas in the past, which are also reliable cars, but they too had their recalls and problem areas. Mind you, none of which were as easy or cheap to fix as a coil pack.

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Update, 08/03/06, 51,500 miles
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Took the car in to have the left rear speaker set serviced. No noise coming out of those suckas. Ended up being corroded wire terminals.