After doing a BUNCH of work recently......I just have to say

That I am TOTALLY impressed with how well my 2012 has held up. I bought it just over 3 years ago now with 92K miles. It now has 138K and counting. Within the last week, I have accomplished:

Front and rear Brake Job (pads, rotors, hardware)
Timing Belt Job
40K service (I reset all service intervals at 100K shortly after buying the car)

That said......I am VERY pleased with how well this car has held up. The ONLY sign of a leak I had was at the water pump, and it wasn't the main shaft but the O-Ring seal that had degraded and it was weeping. Hadn't even made it to the bottom of the waffle cover yet. The underside is dirty, rusty in spots, but that's to be expected. Everything came apart and went together with ease. Right at 40K on the DSG and the fluid that came out was sparkling clean. The interior is holding up beautifully.

I just love this car. There's times when I consider moving into a 15 Golf for the CRUA motor just to maximize my economy, but the size and economy offered from the Passat coupled with how well it's holding up just shuts that idea down real quick (though an upgrade to a 2015 for the right price isn't out of the question once my dieselgate warranty expires).

Good call,
Just had brakes and new koni suspension put in (thanks for the check VW), and yes indeed it is a great car. Rolling through 2 lanes roads was VERY enjoyable, I also snagged a set of used HID lights and those too have been a great driving upgrade over this past week of non stop rain. Given how huge the interior is that i get to go all the way back and my kids arent kicking me in their car seats there is no doubt why i love this car.

I still dont get why people care at all about a warranty, a guru in your corner is worth more than any junk policy that you get from VW or worse pay for. I've driven almost a million miles, only a fraction of them covered under warranty. It's never amounted to much, could it save you by some freak chance? Sure, but for the most part its about taking care of your care and finding (or learning to become) a great person to be there when you need them.

118k haven't done a thing to it other than scheduled maint. not even brakes

As of now rust will be my main concern, it seems our '12 has pretty decent amount of surface rust on the subfram and control arms.

Our NOS '15 that sat at a Rhode Island port for almost 2 years already had control arm pain flaking off and rust starting yet only had sub 1,000 miles on it when I swapped out rear sway bars. Sadly the car may be "newish" to us and service date, I feel its still a 5 year old car.