My cousin bought a new Passat and had the water pump go out in the first month.

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My uncle bought an '07 Passat 2.0T 6MT a year or so ago, and it hasn't had a hitch yet.

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It is always so polarized. Some people love it, some people hate it...

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ahhhh not good haha. Well there's one car that had something go wrong. My father's looking for a new car, and I am trying to convince him to go for something other than a minivan. We had the tranny replaced on the Odyssey at 80,000 and the Odyssey's almost dead. Sounds like a tractor.

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Odyssey is the least reliable Honda there is. They should be ashamed of themselves really.

If your dad wants to get a minivan, I think that is smart. They have a great combo of space and fuel efficiency. My only objection is they have gotten so big lately that they can hardly be called "mini" anymore. But if you need the space they are great.

Having said that, the Passat wagon is a great looking car. I'd just never be able to trust one. I wish we could get the Camry and Accord wagons here in the USA that they sell elsewhere.

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VW's evoke strong emotions.

People who got good ones love them. Furthermore they cannot understand why anyone would not like them.

People who got bad ones hate them and want them to die. Usually because they were so spectacularly bad that they fear a VW across the highway is going to break down so spectacularly that it's parts will find their way into the path of their car and wound it.

Either way, it's doesn't change the fact that their US lineup is horrible and that VWUSA has severe customer service issues.

I would love to try a VW Polo or a Golf with a 1.9 litre TDI.... but we can't get them here. All we have is the crappy 2.5 litre 5 cylinder (bad mileage, lackluster performance) or the 2.0 FSI ('spensive, scary for all the people who had 1.8Ts with engine sludging or VR6's that seemed to be lubricated on maintenance invoices). If those are my options I just go for the Mazda and save $4000 bucks.

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Epilonius is right on the money. Those who had good VW's love them (like my Dad) and those who had bad one's hate them (like me).

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FYI, Epilonius, we will be getting Jettas and Rabbits with the 2.0L, 140 hp TDI in the US in the next few months. The only reason we do not have them is because they do not meet emissions standards unless they run on low-sulfur diesel, and the latest word is that the US will have low-sulfur diesel by 2008.

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My mazda had an intake problem that was repaired under warranty, and a recall for the positioning of the airbag sensor. So I have paid $0 to fix it.

My 1999.5 VW golf had a broken trunk latch which caused the security system to go haywire, the CV boots cracked and fouled the joints which needed to be replaced, the ignition module and alternator fouled, and the middle-rear seat belt jammed. All before 60,000 miles. VW USA refused to do any warranty repairs.

I had to pay to fix all these things (and I never fixed the trunk latch, because it was welded into the liftgate and would cost about $1000 to fix) None of them cost less than $600. On a 3-year old car with less than 70K on the odometer. If I wasn't living in a metro area with competent and cheap mechanics I would have gotten rid of it a lot sooner.

The thing that cinched it was when the security system, paired with the retarded trunk latch, decided to start arming the security alarm /while it was running/. Nothing like having the alarm go off and the engine shut down at a stop light (and the only way to disarm it by getting out of the car and unlocking it with the key).

This was the "cheap" golf. and it ended up costing about $3000 a year to keep going. It was a complete hunk of shit and I just cannot see myself buying another one because of it. Not only because I don't trust their initial reliability, but because I don't trust VW USA to make it right if I get a turdy one. The fact that VW USA is hurting real bad and refuses to bring over some /actual/ cheap cars doesn't help thing: "Sure, I can get a Jetta for under $17K... but what happens when the whizbang electrical crap starts popping right after the warranty dies?"

My Mazda has had some issues, but I think the only thing I have paid for that was over $40 was to replace the brake pads. Otherwise it was rental car, apologies, surveys, and smiles.

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