Most of the B4 Passat fair-to-poor reports are based on the majority of B4s, the VR6 version. The automatics are not the most long lived units, the engine have a tendency to throw cam chains, cooling issues from stuffing a V6 where a four was intended, coil packs, blah, blah, blah.
The TDI wasn't available here with the automatic. A cam belt failure, although frequently terminal, is a scheduled maintenance replacement item. The four has better packaging and air flow through and around. Being diesel, there are no coil packs.
Yeah, it has door handle issues that can be easily, and permanently resolved. The window regulators can strip teeth (German one still last longer than the Chinese copies), but most of the poor reliability issues don't exist in the TDI.