For my personal car I tend to like moderately-priced sports sedans, and the Passat is supposed to be one of the best of these, perhaps the best. Many glowing reviews have been written about the Passat, by everyone from Car & Driver to Consumer Reports . So my expectations were high. This evaluation is based on test driving two six-cylinder Passats, one with cloth upholstery and a manual transmission and another with leather and an automatic.

One especially noteworthy change for 2002 involves the standard warranty. Until this year, VW offered the skimpiest warranty in the business, only two years bumper-to-bumper. This was partly compensated by a ten-year powertrain warranty, but that portion of the warranty did not transfer to later owners unless they were family members. And much of the stuff that breaks isn't part of the powertrain.

For 2002, VW has doubled the basic warranty to four years. To somewhat mitigate the extra cost, they shortened the powertrain warranty to five, but since this part of the warranty now transfers to any later owner it actually is better as well. As a result of these changes, VW's warranty has gone from worst to among the best--only the Koreans do better.

Note: I have also reviewed the Passat W8, with a 270-horsepower eight-cylinder engine. (My reviews of related vehicles can be read by clicking on the blue hyperlinks.)

Volkswagen Passat Reliability

Want better reliability information? Want to more clearly know what difference it will make if you buy a VW Passat rather than something else? My website, truedelta.com, will be providing this information in the form of "times in the shop" and "days in the shop" stats.

From these stats you might learn that your first choice, compared to your second choice, is likely to make 2.3 extra trips to the shop in its first five years. You might decide its advantages compensate for this, or you might not. Either way, you'll be able to make a much better informed decision than you can today.

I aim to provide the highest quality information to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, these goals conflict. If I simply give the information away, few will help provide it. So I'm doing the next best thing: those who have been active participants for at least six months will receive free access to this site's reliability information; otherwise this access will cost $24.95. The average time commitment for someone reporting on two cars will be (at most) 15 minutes a year, so you'll essentially receive $100 an hour for doing your share to help everyone make better decisions.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

Background

The Passat is Volkwagen’s largest car, at least until the Phaeton, intended to compete with the big Benz and BMW, makes its appearance. In a way, it’s not a VW at all. Unlike the previous Passat, this one has a lot of Audi underneath. Until recently, all VWs had transverse engines and all Audis had longitudinal engines. Although Audi has been owned by VW for decades, this substantial source of differentiation was maintained for years and years (with the exception of the Passat’s predecessor, the slow-selling Quantum). Until one day VW decided it cost too much money to keep the two lines so distinct. Now, small Audis (such as the TT) are based on VW chassis while large VWs (only the Passat, for now) are based on Audi chassis. So the current Passat shares a great deal with the A4 and A6 underneath the bits you can see. Size-wise, it’s a bit closer to the A6. Price-wise it’s a bit less than the A4. Also of note, the 190-horse 2.8-liter V6 (a totally different engine from the 2.8-liter VR6 found in the Jetta) could be found in all three cars until this year, when the Audis received a more powerful 3.0 liter six. So, is buying a Passat like getting an Audi for less?

Styling and Accommodations

My sister thinks the Passat is a beautiful car. Many people agree with her. Given the right wheels (i.e. no hubcaps, please), I think it looks pretty good. But I’ll stop short of calling it striking. It’s a fairly conservative design, marked like the A6 by tall bodysides. The Audis are certainly quite a bit more stylish.

For 2001.5, VW restyled the Passat a bit. The hood was raised to make room for the 270-horsepower eight-cylinder engine that will be available in April. A great deal of chrome was added to the exterior to create a more upscale appearance. My sister doesn’t like the chrome. Perhaps she recalls the days when chrome was for Buicks, and serious drivers wanted none of it? Maybe they want serious drivers to spend more for an Audi anyway? Actually, I personally don’t mind the chrome. My largest gripe with the restyle involves the taillights. Formerly bland to a fault, they are now overly busy and don’t fit the look of the rest of the car somehow. A minor detail, but one I never fail to notice.

Many people have also raved about the Passat interior. VW lately has indulged in upscale materials for the interiors of its cars. A Golf can be had with real wood, for example. I’ll grant that most of the materials look a cut above those in other cars costing under $30,000. But not all.

The most glaring example is the seat fabric in the cloth car I drove. While I would have preferred to drive a GLX (more on this later), the GLS is the only one they had with a manual. The velour, especially in beige, looks and feels cheap. I wouldn’t want it in a $13,000 car, much less one costing more than twice that. It also doesn’t pad the seat frame terribly well about halfway up the seatback. You really want the leather if you get this car. I know it’ll feel cold in the winter and hot in the summer, and it costs over a grand. But it makes the Passat feel like ten grand more car.

The styling of the Passat’s interior also leaves something to be desired. There really isn’t any styling, good or bad. It’s a very conservative design, with a tall squarish dash and many flat surfaces. For example, that nice real wood in the center stack covers a nearly square, perfectly flat surface. Quite boring. Definitely far from sporting. When you order that leather, you might also want to look towards the darker colors. They help a bit here. In any color the Passat’s interior remains much less stylish and less luxurious in feel than that in an A6. This is where most of those extra bucks go.

The interior’s strong suit is passenger room and comfort. The front seats are lightly bolstered; they are clearly not designed for aggressive driving. All of the seats are mounted high, providing for good thigh support, even in the rear. Too many sedans have low-mounted rear seats. Not this one. As with the A6, I do wish the cowl and beltline were a bit lower. You feel a touch buried in this car despite the high seating position. I found the Nissan Maxima much more to my liking in this regard. The Passat’s trunk is fairly spacious, and very nicely shaped. Owing to the height of the body, it is quite deep. The rear seat folds down, a must for me.

For some people, the most important change with the redesign will be the redesigned center console, which finally includes functional cupholders. German engineers scoff at these devices, arguing that real drivers don't want them. Well, the American marketing people finally won a battle for the American consumer. The old inadequate cupholders that swung out of the dash are gone, replaced by much more robust ones in the center console. My sister, who owns a Jetta, keeps asking me when her car will receive a similar upgrade.

On the road

On one of my test drives, with the manual car, the salesman chirped the tires pulling the car out of the parking space. He was quite embarrassed, muttering something about how he hadn’t done something like that in a long time.

Once the car was out of the space, I was allowed to take the car out alone. The first thing I did was chirp the tires. It turned out it’s a bit difficult to shift this car and not chirp the tires. The clutch engaged near the top of its travel, and when it did engage it did so abruptly. If you know this, you can compensate by feathering the clutch as you approach the point of engagement. But it shouldn’t be this hard. I suspect all Passat clutches are not this way. I have found that the clutch in the A6 2.7T (same unit?) varies considerably from car to car. So check yours carefully before taking delivery.

On a positive note, this unrefined behavior does allow you to wring the most performance out of the engine. It’s plenty fast. Of greater importance for everyday driving, the Audi V6 makes a good amount of low-end torque, more than the considerably more powerful Maxima six I drove right after it. The 3200 RPM torque peak bears out this impression. At higher RPM this engine is neither as smooth nor as sweet-sounding as that in the Maxima. The ninety-degree V may have something to do with this; if you must have a V, sixty degrees is better with a six. But it’s still a touch above average in these areas. The engine’s voice is a gruff tenor, neither high nor low in tone. In this fashion it sounds much like many other ninety degree sixes. These noises seem a little out of place in the more expensive A6, but they’re okay here. Nothing to get the blood boiling, but they do lend a sense of willingness to the business of driving this car aggressively, and you won’t want to turn up the stereo to drown them out.

Before moving on, a word about VW/Audi shifters. In both this car and in the A6 2.7Ts I’ve driven the shifter (probably the same design) has been a floppy affair. The lever’s travel feels much too long for its length. I would not like this shifter in any car, and it certainly has no place in a car with pretensions to luxury and sport. I cannot recall another shifter that feels this way. VW, please either shorter the travel or lengthen the lever, or both. Please. At least it’s always easy to find the gear you want.

I also drove an automatic. The six feels considerably less powerful with this transmission, especially at low speeds. That said, the automatic is more in keeping with the overall family-more-than-sport character of the car.

The brakes had a spongy feel, not what I’d expect in a German car. In their defense, they did do a good job slowing the car down.

The biggest question mark performance-wise concerns the suspension. Torque steer was perceptible when accelerating in turns, and the suspension was not quite as buttoned-down as I’ve come to expect in German sedans. When driven aggressively it bobs and weaves a bit. In turns the Passat leans more than any sports sedan should, probably due in part to its relatively high center of gravity. But soft suspension settings also contribute. And the limits, especially with the 195/65HR15 GLS tires, are fairly low. I had to take turns much slower than with the Maxima. At least the tires give up progressively, and the chassis remains balanced, making the Passat very easy to control at the limit. Good feedback through the steering wheel also helps.

Still, if you like to drive aggressively I highly recommend digging up the extra cash for the GLX, which comes with 205/55HR16 tires. As well as leather. Unfortunately, the GLX appears to have the same soft suspension settings. On a positive note, this does enable a better ride than in more firmly sprung sedans, such as the Maxima SE.

Despite all this, I can see why some people are drawn to the Passat. In terms of styling, overall feel, and especially the very stiff, almost vault-like body structure this is definitely a German car. Some people will not buy a car without these attributes. The prestige associated with German automobiles is undoubtedly also a draw. If you are one of these people, but your budget is limited and you need a good-sized rear seat, the Passat is your least expensive alternative by a substantial margin.

Last words

So, is buying a Passat like getting an Audi for less? Unfortunately, in many ways it is. I have driven an A6 2.7T over the same roads as the Passat, and its suspension performed much the same way (with the exception that the quattro system eliminated torque steer). Audi at least offers a sport suspension that should help correct these shortcomings. This suspension comes in a package with more aggressively bolstered seats. VW should consider doing the same with the Passat. A more sporting interior design wouldn’t hurt, either.

Until then, this car doesn’t quite qualify as a sports sedan, at least not in my book. The suspension is too soft, the seats are too flat, and the interior design suggests that this car is not meant for aggressive driving.

Just truth in advertising? The Passat makes a fine family sedan, or even a fine entry-level luxury sedan (though powertrain and chassis refinement should be higher for the latter role). You know, for people who prefer an automatic and might otherwise buy a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry. It’s just not a sports sedan, so it’s not for me.

If you want a VW sports sedan, you’re going to have to go with one that’s really a VW, the Jetta. You’ll have to live with a lot less rear seat room, and its chassis could also be better buttoned down (even with the sport suspension available with that car), but overall its interior and chassis are much better suited to aggressive driving.

Explanation of rating: As a family sedan in GLX form the Passat warrants four or five stars. As a sports sedan, especially with cloth, it warrants three. I’ve split the difference.

To learn more about my reliability research and sign up to participate in it, or to perform thorough, up-to-date new car price comparisons, visit www.truedelta.com. A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.
Amount Paid (US$): 28000
Model and Options: GLS V6 manual with cloth, GLX automatic with leather