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2003 Volkswagen Passat Owner Ratings & Reviews

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2003 Volkswagen Passat - More bad than good

PM
Vashon, Washington
Overall
3.0
Value
2.0
Performance
2.0
Style
4.0
Comfort
3.0
Fuel Economy
2.0
Reliability
2.0
Dark metallic blue Passat 4-door wagon. I had owned a Jetta sedan before and enjoyed it. This car was fine for a while but it seemed to start to have little problems in fairly short order. To begin with the interior didn't stay as attractive as I would like for very long. The passenger electric window button started to recede into the door panel and become a little bit loose. I try to take good care of my car and I don’t subject it to mistreatment so I feel that the fit and finish issues are not from normal wear and tear but from poor quality materials and assembly. The black plastic strip in the body seam that runs the length of the roof front to back became loose and would not stay in the groove no matter what I did. So it started immediately with little things and so when the larger... (more)
Story
I had to carry a sheep in the back to take it to the vet one day. It actually went better than I had hoped. The sheep didn't seem to mind.
Pros
I think the looks are fine and I always liked the room it provided. I have often put down the seats, which gives a lot of space in the back. The paint has held up fairly well for being in a rainy climate.
Cons
Things started to break early. Window switches were loose very quickly. The automatic locks quit working for the rear doors and hatch. The seat heater quit working on the passenger side almost immediately. Plastic trim came loose. Also the mechanicals which I mentioned in the opening paragraph. I know things go wrong over time but so much of this seemed to happen quickly when the vehicle still seemed new.

2003 Volkswagen Passat - My little German race car.

Heather
Naperville, Illinois
Overall
5.0
Value
3.0
Performance
5.0
Style
5.0
Comfort
5.0
Fuel Economy
2.0
Reliability
4.0
The Passat W8 was a delightful experiment from Volkswagen. Taking an experimental engine (the W8) that would become the power plant for the Bugatti Veyron (when doubled in cylinders and capacity) adding all accessories, goodies, upgrades and options to a single model, producing it in limited numbers (less than 5,000 ever produced worldwide) and giving it a driver experience straight out of the Nurburgring, made this one of the finest cars ever offered in the US market. Beyond comfortable and way more than enough power for any driving situation (including some serious street racing against Porsches). This rocket was a delight to put 245,000 miles on in three years. The only serious maintenance items were tires, a battery, and headlights that were ridiculously expensive to replace (first... (more)
Pros
Speed. Comfort. Style. Power. Speed.
Cons
Lack of underwater controls.