2003 Volkswagen Passat

I had been in the market for a new car for some time, and drove all of the Japanese contenders in the $23-30k range. I've had my eye on the Passat for some time as well. I drove this last and I'm glad I did. Much of what you have heard about this car is true. It really does shine with German engineering and simplicity, yet exudes much more class compared to competitors. The materials on the GLX are quite nice (leather & REAL wood trim) and the seats are fantastic. I was impressed with the engines in several other cars including the Nissan Altima, but the interior of that car reeked of cheap plastics and cheesy styling, not to mention that no dealer is willing to move off the MSRP since so many auto-mags have been gushing over this model. I've owned the Passat for less than 1 week, and can not really comment completely on how well it drives, but I thought it would be good to tell potential buyers about some of my initial problems that I will be visiting my dealer to have repaired. Firstly, many have indicated that the Monsoon stereo system is overrated and sub-par. Part of this problem may stem from a known connection error that is discussed in Passat user group circles and is covered in a VW tech bulletin (C-91-02-04, released 3/28/02). A simple misconnection of two wires in the back of the radio will yield poor muffled sound on the left side of the car. I have found that my radio suffers from this same problem. There is also considerable hiss from the tweeters that I hope is also part of this same issue. The largest disappointment thus far though is that the forward and reverse seat rocker switch does not work on the driver's side seat. I sat in the car and adjusted the seats with the dealer before driving away, but can't remember if I really used this switch (8-way seats take some time to adjust). Lastly, after owning the car a total of four days, the front cabin lights no longer switch off 30 seconds after closing the car doors. Hopefully these are simple glitches that can be taken care of so I'll remain optimistic. This experience has left me a bit jaded though with the quality control of the factory and dealer prep. My only other warning is to know your car inside and out while you are shopping and do not rely on what the dealer tells you. My salesperson was not untruthful, but they were very ill informed. For example, I was told that the in dash radio was a six speaker CD when it's only a single CD system (a six disc changer for the trunk is an option). Likewise, they thought the steering wheel was only height adjustable while it actually provides both height and telescoping adjustment (very nice!). Ironically, this info is as far as the latest VW literature at the dealer.