We purchased this car to replace one that was lost due to an accident (someone ran a red light and T-boned into us). I can honestly say this is the worst car we have ever owned. We were the second owners and now understand why the first put so few miles on it (12 year old car with only 100K miles... you would think that was a good sign). So to start: It requires special oil because it runs at a higher temperature. This is fine. However, this also causes it to develop sediment in the heating system, causing the heater core to back up. The previous owner had a new heater core put in shortly before selling (haha, maybe this was why?). Within 6 months it was backed up and we had to take it in to have it back flushed... during a Montana winter. Yeah, that was fun. That has become a routine maintenance item, every 6-8 months having it back flushed to remove the sediment from the heater core. This is about ~$400. One of the windows has stopped working. The passenger seat heater did not work when we purchased it. There was a little burn hole in the driver's seat that we always assumed was a cigarette burn... come to find out that was not a cigarette burn, but where the element for the seat warmers was over-heating, sparking, and burning a hole in the seat. When it finally burned through, my husband saw the sparks. Needless to say we never used that seat heater again... so no heater, no seat warmer.

I'll never forget the first time I drove off the lot with my 2002 Passat----it's sleek style, delicious handling, and beautiful interior made me feel like a million bucks. I had chosen one with black leather interior (a choice I will NOT make again anytime soon, although it looked beautiful), and it handled like a dream. I owned this car for about 6 years, and during that time, I did experience a few issues in repair and upkeep. I was meticulous about servicing the vehicle for regular inspections and repair, but despite my diligence, I had a couple of pricey repairs on the vehicle below 100,000 miles. Passats in that date range are known to "sludge" up if not cared for regularly, and there was a period of time where the check engine light would come on almost daily for about a week. Upon inspection at the dealership, they informed me that it would cost around $2500 to strip, "desludge", and then reassemble the engine again. Keep in mind, this was at under 100,000 miles. I did NOT have the money for the repair at that time, so I began the meticulous process of compiling evidence that I had cared for the car as instructed since assuming the payment. Fortunately, I was able to provide the documentation that was needed, and Volkswagen provided the repair for free. All in all, it was a good car, it provided a reliable means of transportation, and although I might purchase again, I would maybe look at the list of "quirks" that each model has to decide if it is something I want to deal with or not.