USED Volkswagen Passat Estate (05 - 11)

My car

I have been in the motor trade for 10 years and driven allot of different cars but I must admit that the Volkswagen Passat has to be one of the most pleasurable. I took a long time to decide which car I wanted to get and whittled it down to the Passat through reading reviews and test drives. It does exactly what it should, very spacious for my family of 4, comfortable, well equiped, good size boot and looks the part. The only thing I would mention is that the fuel consumption is no where near what VW mention in the their stats but that the same with every manufacturer. All round a great family car.

My car

I've got a Passat Estate 1.9 TDI SE for a little over than a year. I've done 64000 miles so far without special problems. There are some issues, though - first - it's burns oil - a lot of it, but VW dealer says it's 'fine' - according to them it can use up to 1 liter per 650 miles! That's just silly! Second - it's underpowered, third - it's OK to drive, but comparing to a Mondeo it's just BORING. Fourth - electric handbrake - NO, NO, NO - it's waste of time - it takes about 1.5 sec to engage and another 1.5 to disengage. I gotta try Audi A4 nest time.

My car

TDI 140 sport estate

Bought car 2 ½ years ago and have covered 25000 miles. Has been back to garage probably 10 times for rattles, broken bits etc. List includes:

Replacement Radio Replacement speaker Replacement boot lock Replacement rear wiper motor/assembly Replacement Instrument panel Numerous rattles; Passenger airbag loose, radio loose, rattles in dash, in B Pillar, doors, I think the service department just gave up in the end since they no longer claim to be able to hear them.

Without the problems I would love this car. It pulls well, has bags of space and feels solid on the road. Handling is firm and precise and it’s great when loaded up with the family and camping gear. Unfortunately it has too many faults and also eats front tyres. Now on third set of Continentals on the front, second on rear and at £120 each (£720 total) that’s a lot of rubber in 25k miles.

I’ve yet to suffer the fuel pump problem and just hope it gets recalled before it breaks down.

Having owned several VWs before this has been a real let down. My previous Alfa Romeo was more reliable so that’s saying something! Would I recommend one? No.

My car

I Have owned a Passat Est 2TDI 140 for 2 months now and to date have found it brilliant. I opted for one with front / rear sensors which are worth their weight in gold. Have had no problems with Elec Parking break but can say in hilly areas the Auto Hold Function is a must. Have taken the car from Scotland to London and back, I found its ride and economy excellent. The space inside for front and rear passengers is very good. The Cruise Control is very good, simple and easy to use just wish I had one before. My previous car was a Citroen C5 SX Hdi a car I really enjoyed, I was a little concerned that on a long run the Passat would not be as comfortable a ride as the C5. The Passat beat the C5 hands down in all aspects. I travel 25 Miles to work every day and find the economy with the 6th gear superior to my C5. My only gripe and a small one is that why after producing such a fine car use cheap plastic's on things such as the overhead sunglasses holder which feels as if it might break at any time.

My opinion overall to date however is that this is a excellent roomy car, very economic for its size with a brilliant ride.