1999 Volkswagen Passat TDi Estate 1.9 turbo diesel from UK and Ireland


A vehicle of good quality, let down by poor design


Alternator pulley seized, dealer could not remove pulley from alternator, so had to replace alternator (the pulley is a clutch type).

Both rear brake calipers seized. Had to be replaced.

Doors lock and unlock themselves. Cause faulty rear hatch lock solenoid.

Fuel filler flap refused to open. Wiring fault between switch and fuse. Pig of a job!

Lacquer peeling off most body panels. (Paint is original, not repaired). Seemingly a popular VW and Audi trait if you search on Google.

Exhaust heat shields broken away from mountings and rattle. Cause was dissimilar metal corrosion.

All front suspension arms replaced due to failed joints. Expensive job due to seized pinch bolts.

Tailgate rusting below rear window.

Rubber air intake hose split. Very small hose, very big price!

Reversing light switch failed (switch on top of gearbox, very difficult to get at).

Front brake calipers replaced due to unbalanced operation.

General Comments:

All in all, this car has been a great disappointment. My first VW and definitely my last. Okay, it is a high mileage car, and failures due to wear and tear are expected. I have previously owned high mileage BMWs and Porsches that have been totally reliable. The thing that annoys with this car is that most of the problems are down to poor design. I do my own maintenance whenever possible, and this vehicle will frustrate any DIY mechanic with its pointlessly complicated and poorly thought out design.

By far the most expensive car in terms of maintenance that I have owned. The only car I have ever owned that always needs work to pass an MOT.

If the car wasn't so economical (I can get almost 60mpg on a long journey), I would have got rid of it by now, but in any case, its days are numbered!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 5th September, 2010

29th Oct 2010, 14:07

Well it sounds like usual wear and tear stuff, nothing major league really. I have owned a 2000 (W plate) Passat TDI 115hp version for 4 years, and yes the boot/tailgate solenoid has refused to work intermittently, and the wishbones have needed replacing.

As has the clutch and dual mass flywheel, A/C fan and it's had a leak on the rad, needing a new radiator, but all this is normal stuff. New Mondeos are inherently poor when it comes to clutches and flywheels, but cost around twice as much to replace.

I bought the car as an ex demo / VW garage car with 80,000 miles on the clock. She has just rolled over 246,000 miles and still goes strong, it never ever lets me down, even with a damaged flywheel it ran for 5000 miles before the problem was rectified.

I think the VW Passat surpasses itself with quality and reliability. Yes things break, they do annoy you, but all cars have problems, let's face it. As for the BMW and Porsches you have owned, I couldn't comment as I never owned one personally, but sounds more like luck than anything else. My friend owns a BMW 5 series 2002 model, and has had far more problems than my Passat, and mile for mile, mine has cost a lot less than his.


1999 Volkswagen Passat V6 from North America


Never again


Everything went wrong with this car. Each 2 months I had to go to the dealership for approx. $700 each time.

General Comments:

Fast and comfortable, but cost way too much.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 4th March, 2010

1999 Volkswagen Passat SE 1.8 turbo from UK and Ireland


Quality German engineering in a perfect package


Nothing so far.

General Comments:

A very good family estate car.

Spacious, fast and very economical for a larger petrol turbo estate car.

Build quality is head and shoulders above anything else.

Best design by far by VW Audi in the last 20 years.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 27th January, 2010

1999 Volkswagen Passat GLS Wagon 1.8 turbo from North America


FUN FUN FUN, until the mechanic shows you the bill


Well first off let me just clarify that I knew the car needed work when I bought it, and that the cost of ownership would be more expensive with my VW than with, oh say, a Honda. Also that the car has never failed to start. But this is my list of faults.

1) The front drive axles and CV boots needed replacing at 123K.

2) The exhaust pipes were rusted through at 123K.

3) The left front inner and outer tire-rods went bad very suddenly around 150K.

4) Half the fuse box fried and needs replacing currently. This left the headlights, blinkers, windshield wipers, horn, and AC blower motor useless.

5) The ABS will kick on needlessly in regular non-panic stops.

6) From time to time (normally when it's cold) the driver side window will go up when I push down, and go down when I pull up.

7) The CD changer randomly will not work and read *CD ERROR*. Sometimes in the middle of a song on a brand new CD.

8) When it gets below 40 degrees, it's almost impossible to get the car into 1st. Even after letting it warm up for 20 or so minutes.

9) The defroster SUCKS BIG TIME!

10) The leather is cracked and ripped on every seat in the car, along with the shifter.

11) The paint seems thin and fairly easy to scratch.

12) Oh yeah, and my driver side heated seat never worked. It's irritating to have your passengers 'ooo-ing and aahh-ing' in the seat next to you while you're frozen stiff.

General Comments:

OK, so now that I've said all the negatives on this car, let me get to some of the positives.

This car never fails to make me smile (when I'm not dropping a thousand dollars to keep it on the road). And it's very attractive to look at... for a wagon.

The 5-speed mated with a turbo really makes this car fly after about 3000 rpm's, and it handles very playfully for a station wagon. It also has the best brakes I've ever had in a car, I mean this car stops QUICK (which is handy in stop and go Atlanta traffic). It's tons of fun to flip through the gears at night on a windy road while going double the limit and feel like you have complete control of the car at all times. And the stock stereo is AMAZING! It's extremely crisp, clear and loud.

It's got tons of features I didn't expect to find, like an air conditioned glove compartment.

The insurance is dirt cheap because it's got the 'best pick' rating in crash tests. I'm 20 year old guy and I pay $98 a month for full coverage. I have clean record though :P.

The car is very sturdy and feels like the body and interior will last faaaaaar longer than the drivetrain. I actually got rear-ended buy some ugly Chevy Equinox fairly hard and got out expecting a lot of damage, yet I only had scratches in the paint.

This car has served me well for the past 30k miles and I love it to pieces. I just can't continue dropping a thousand dollars in it a month to keep it running. I feel like I'm in a losing battle with it. It just always seems to be needing something else fixed. I hate it because I love the car so much. I'm in the process of getting the fuse box fixed (approx. $500) and will heave a sigh of relief and sadness when I see her drive away with a new owner. Not only because I love the car, but because I wasted so much money keeping it driving down the road.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 21st August, 2009

23rd Aug 2009, 01:33

Why would you complain about broken heated seats? I mean, I know that if you've got them, you obviously want them to work, but if they don't, what's the big deal? I live in New England, the winter days are easily in the 20's. No Canadian cold or anything, but let me tell you, it ain't warm! I've never owned a car with heated seats. I find such a thing to be a waste anyways. On winter mornings, I start my car up 10 minutes before I'm ready to go, and by the time I leave, my car is nice and warm inside. Heated seats have always seemed like a waste to me, I've ridden in cars that have them, and find them to become to warm very quickly. Maybe I'm weird, but broken heated seats don't seem like a very big deal.

24th Aug 2009, 08:35

Regarding #1 -3 & 7 Comments...

They are normal wear and tear items.

You are actually lucky that that they lasted that long. Most other cars have these issues at half the miles.

Domestic cars are famous for that, and you could add 10-12 other items to that list.