Expensive feel for the price. Very hard exterior and solid interior with tons of airbags. Lots of good details. Cheaper than anything in its class when you take upgrade packages into consideration.

The coils fail about 12 months into the life... or it seems they fail right around 18,000 miles.

After 18,100 miles, 3 of my coils failed. It took 5 weeks to replace them. 5 WEEKS! I love the car for everything else, but now I'm driving with 3 replaced coils and one that is going to fail sooner or later.

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Altima

Styling, interior comfort, steering feel, smooth engine. So far no problems at all after 15 months (must be one of the lucky ones).

VW reputation

Too bad so many people have gotten lemon VW's. The wagons are by far the nicest in the class. Perhaps VW needs to take some lessons from the Japanese auto makers and figure out how to design an electrical system. It's a shame, this wagon is my wife's, and I would have bought one too if it wasn't for their cruddy reputation. I wasn't willing to risk having a car that would strand me in the middle of nowhere.

looks nice monsoon stereo

ignition coils failure of VW to acknowledge that there is a problem customer service representatives sound as if they are reading off cue cards when you tell them of your worries and concerns Too much $$$ for all of these headaches

Please do not buy this car! I have owned it for five months, and it has already been towed to the dealership 4 times. It has been in the shop a total of 11 business days(15 if you count Saturdays and Sundays). Iv'e had 4 ignition coils replaced and the multi function switch replaced. These are both mechanical defects that I feel pose a threat to anyone in the car. I have told VW of America that I do not feel safe driving this vehicle. The only thing they tell me is that they are going to work under the warranty of the car. Obviously, I will have to pursue the lemon law if I am ever to get a refund(I would not want a replacement-same problems different Passat). According to the law in my state, the a car must be in the shop for a total of 20 or more business days for it to be considered a lemon. I have 11 days to go.

I recently took my car in for service because on eof my coils went out after 19000 miles. I was also unaware of the problem and was told by dealershipo service that VW knows about the problem and will fix them as they come in. I had to wait for a week due to back orders on the coils. I really like the car besides those damned coils. I'm surprised to this point that there isn't a recall..Hmmmmm.. I guess they don't want bad publicity.

Zippy, nice airbag system, the feel of the car (the interior)is, bar-none, the best I've experienced in this price-range.

Those damned ignition coils...and VW's dismal response to the concerns of the customer. I've had 3 out of 4 replaced so far, and the only way to get some decent turnaround in the repair shop is to call VW-USA and threaten them with the lemon law or litigation.

When I test-drove cars in July 2002, I was very disappointed with the plastic feel of the interiors, the lack-luster driving feel, poor to non-existent MPG's, and variation in safety features. When I drove the Passat, I knew I was in the car for me. It felt wonderful to drive, I felt I was in a solid piece of metal, along with safety and some gas mileage. Then...4 months later...the ignition coil problem hit.

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Subaru Forester is ok if you can tolerate the plastic-y feel of the interior, but it's more likely not to have ignition coil problems, but I guess you could say that about any other vehicle than the V

None, when it has a safe driving range of 10 miles

ignition coils, VW management

Forget this car. Excellent, fun to drive, but the ignition coils are defective. 2 have already failed, but VW will only replace them one by one. Can't trust it, can't drive it anywhere but around town.

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Just bought a 2003 Honda Accord. Not as snappy, perhaps, but I know it will get me home

it's really attractive and comfortable

the automatic transmission with tiptronic has sluggish acceleration. The coil problem

After the very worst buying experience ( for any product) in my life, I was quite happy with my pretty car until the igition coil went at 10,500 miles. I am very dismayed reading the reviews posted her. I was hoping this was a stange bizarre circumstance.

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Last car was a Camry- only problem ever was with the sunroof.

DO NOT BUY THIS CAR!!!! I have owned it for about 6 mo, it's brand new and I have to replace ALL 4 COILS on it already!!!!! This is terrible! I don't feel safe in this car at all! I've been to the dealership on average every 6 weeks to replace the coils! I think there should be a total recall! The dealership is aware of the problem with the coils but of course no one is going to bother to tell you about it! I don't know what I will do. I know that I don;t want to drive it at all! Today I took it to the dealership again to have the 4th coil replaced. And I thoght that this would be the end, but the technicial told me that it's possible that I will still be back to replace the already replaced coils! I'm extremely dissapointed!

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I had a Camry. It was great! never a problem! I wish I could turn back time and get a good car instead of this piece of junk!

Looks

Coil, Coils, VW and dealer response

I have always loved VW but their response to the coil problem is nothing short of criminal. They know they are sending customers back on to the road with a potentially serious and dangerous problem. I have 2 children under 4 and am afraid to drive my car. I actually had 2 people at VW explain to me what to do if the coils fail again going at high speeds. Unbelievbeable. I wanted to replace the coils at my expense just to feel safe. They are unwilling to do that, they don't have the parts. I wanted a rent-a-car until they do have the parts they are unwilling to do that. What am supposed to do????? My confidence in this company is gone. Does somebody have to get hurt???

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I have been driving for 20 years, always had VW's, not anymore.

Great handling, interior, smooth ride.

Can you love a car you can't trust from a company who doesn't even make a public statement to owners about a potential dangerous part failure?

I want to love this car, really I do. But I had a coil pack fail 60 miles from anywhere and ruined a family trip. If VW doesn't do a recall, then stay away from the car.

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Passat Sedan