I think I did not explain my previous sentence previously. There has not been a Passat wagon in the US since I think 2008 timeframe so a 2013 Passat wagon shipped from Europe would kind of stand out and it will be difficult to disguise it as a similar year Jetta/Golf wagon in my opinion.
I just can't fathom any situation where this would happen.
We live in a world where husbands forget their wedding anniversary. And you're implying someone (a regular citizen, not a VW design team employee) is gonna see a car driving by and say "HEY HOLD UP! THEY DIDN'T MAKE A PASSAT WAGON IN 2013! THAT'S ILLEGAL!"
Honest to god, I'm a car guy. I really am. And I don't mean 'car guy' in the sense that I get hard over sexy car wash girl commercials and think (and
really believe) 'oh yeah, K&N air filter, that's 15hp!'
I mean car guy as in I spend more time reading wikipedia pages and hunting down informative forum posts of car models to learn whatever I can. I spend probably 30-60mins per day browsing CL for a hot deal or something quirky to buy. I wrench on cars - from brake jobs to motor swaps (right now I'm putting an LS1/T56 into a 2001 BMW E46 wagon). I go to the DC Auto Show every year with my best friend (also car guy). We make comments like "LOL finally the mustang comes with a live axle. Only 20 years behind the competition!" while people next to us make comments like 'Damn, them wheels is craaaaazy!'
My best friend's (guy above) dad literally grew up in Detroit in the 60s and 70s. He became a street racing legend in his area, and learned all the tricks in the book. He's literally told us stories of sitting in GT40 shells when he hopped the fence at the local Ford factory as a teen. Some of his stories and tricks just make your jaw drop. He's been pretty much the best mentor I could ever wish for in terms of 'sharpening me up'.
Again, aside from like the top 0.001% of people whose job is literally to know about this type of stuff, and die hard enthusiasts, I'm proud to say I've worked myself pretty far up there in terms of BS detection. I've made it a personal goal to self-educate, and I've put a lot of time and effort into soaking up information and random trivia over the last decade.
If I tried to have this conversation with someone who illegally imported a car, I expect it to go like this.
"Wow. That's a nice car. Haven't seen a Passat wagon in a while. What year is it...?"
Yeah, they are quite uncommon. VW didn't make that many. It's a 2013.
"Waaaaaat??? I could have SWORN VW stopped selling the Passat here after 2008"
Eh, yes and no, but that's a bit of a misunderstanding. They stopped offering it publicly, and the sales numbers dropped dramatically. They stopped advertising it, putting it on the showroom floors, etc, in an effort to limit competition with the newer Audi and Porsche wagons, but you could still technically buy a Passat wagon. It required a bit of behind-the-scenes awareness, and I have a good relationship with my local dealer.
"Oh wow. Cool. Nice score!"
Or
Yeah they did stop making it in 2008, but this is actually a sedan converted to a wagon.
"Whoa. How did that happen...?"
Well, there's a company over in CA who does the conversions. You know, the typical 'ship the car to us, and we do whatever you want.' You see it frequently with the Jeep Wrangler - you know how they make the pickup trucks out of them?
"Oh yeah! Yep. Definitely seen those. All over Instagram lol. That's a pretty penny though, no?"
Well, yeaahhh. But, the wife and I needed a wagon for the dogs, and what were our options, ya know? Sell this, take a loss, and pick up an Audi or Porsche for extra $?? Just to end up having the dogs ruin it? We decided against that, but still wanted something modern and reliable. We're suckers for VW engineering, so it made sense.
"Oh wow. Cool. Nice score!"
