We bought a 2005 Passat TDI Wagon.
Our primary goal was the fuel economy, but we also wanted a vehicle that performed well. The intent (if we liked it) was to replace a 94 Ford Bronco, which was set up very nicely with a sports package.
Getting into the car and driving it was instant comfort. All the immediate controls and setup were right where they should be, just slipped in and went (we did try a Jetta, but it was too small).
In town performance was very good, and I ran it up a particularly steep hill with a 90 degree corner leading into it, both took that with aplomb and spirited performance.
So, we like the Passat wagon we drove, and we decided on what we would be willing to pay, and I went and talked to them after I did my serious research (features, price, interest rates etc).
While they do not get many of them, they did have what we wanted (still in the shipping wrapper), that being the base entry model (GL), which came with both the automatic transmission (we had to have that for my wife) as well as the diesel engine standard. Even the GLS was not too badly priced.
The dealership let us drive it for half a day, and we took it all over town, in and out and up an icy hill, and it went well, my wife was comfortable in it (she is almost 6 foot, as well as not being able to drive a standard anymore).
When it was all said and done, we got the car at MSRP, and a very low interest rate.
I had researched all the road stuff, and its proven to be true. The 134hp rating is extremely misleading, as its followed by 247 lbs of torque starting at 1900. You have to get into bigger V6 to get that much torque. That toque curve is FLAT till 3500 (where it starts to fall off) You have a huge amount of twist to work with in that range. HP peaks at 4,000, so as its falling off the torque, the HP is kicking in.
You can run up any hill (twisty or not) with ease. Throw in twisters where other vehicles are struggling to find a gear that they can run it in, and it just zips right up.
Passing you may need to drop a gear to get the revs up a bit, but once you do, it just keeps accelerating, you can hit 90 without realizing it.
For us its been a huge fuel savings, as we went from vehicle that got 8 mpg in winter in town and at best 15mpg on the highway in summer, to the Passat which pretty well gets 30-32 mpg around town, and 40-42 out of town. 40 mpg loaded to the gills on a recent trip (winter fuel, winter tires and –8 deg F to start and 12 deg F at the end).
It does have that intake manifold issue, but I will deal with that, though that is truly a sorry state of affairs for VW, and I suspect its going to haunt them (I intend to do so and I did not learn about that until after we bought it) Maintenance is no worse than any gas vehicle (other than maybe the fuel filter being more critical). Oil changes are once every 10k, and the timing belt at 100k (what gas car does not have that?). I cannot say for sure about reliability, but Consumers Reports did have it on their recommended list, and the Passat had been built for a long time, so the idea was to get a long established vehicle that would have the issues worked out.
Its not quite a sports wagon, but its close, it handles and drives very nicely, with great get up and go, zip where you need it, in a package that’s gives great economy. And we can afford to just go for a drive once in a while, or lunch out of town, and not have an enormous fuel bill for it.
There is simply not a gasser that offered all of that.