The dawn of the new millennium coincided with the arrival of our first child. What does a car guy do when he needs to carry a pack and play, diaper megapacks and a stroller? He gets a stick-shift station wagon with some pep.
Every new parent quickly learns that children completely upend your life. Sleep? So long, Charlie. Dinners out? Good luck. It’s a whole new world. One of the ways, as I discussed in last week’s COAL, is the need to move a whole lot more stuff just to get around – let alone visit family or friends. Up until the arrival of our son, my wife and I had been driving stick shift small cars – a 1993 Mazda Protege that we owned and a 1998 Honda Civic that we leased for work travel. Both were zippy, fun cars to drive that were great on gas. But neither were known for their capacious storage. Holiday travel to see family guaranteed we would have a completely full trunk and other gear packed around the car seat in back. A few trips like that convinced us that our small car days were numbered. But what to get?
I believed then, and still believe now, that the station wagon is one of the best choices for balancing all around drivability, size and storage. (One could argue that all CUVs are essentially station wagons, proving my point.) At the time, in 2000, there were still some popular wagon choices on the market and I test drove a few of them. Subaru, Saturn, VW, Ford, Volvo and Saab all made wagons at various price points. Moreover, this was going to be our first new car purchase and we weren’t working with an unlimited budget. Of the affordable options, I test drove the Subaru Legacy (newly updated), the Saturn LW2 (new that year) and the VW Passat (new since 1998). For me, the choice was clear – Passat.
Now, I had always thought VWs were cool in an off-hand kind of way. As a child of the 70’s and 80’s, my reference point was less the VW of the Beetle/Karmann Ghia/bus era, but the Rabbit/Scirocco/Dasher/GTI era. They seemed to embody cool design and functionality at an affordable price. True, VW went through some tough years in the late 80’s and early 90’s, but by 2000, the company got its mojo back – the Golf, Jetta and Passat all won accolades from the car press for being well engineered and fun to drive. Also, VW was building cars that offered the style and performance of its uplevel Audis at a more reasonable cost.
The Passats of this era (B5 for VW junkies) mimicked the Audi A4 and were built off of a similar platform. The 1.8 liter turbo four offered good performance and torque with solid economy. The interiors felt substantial and the doors shut with a solid Teutonic thunk. And it all could be had with a stick shift. It was like the best of all worlds – German sporty car meets family mover. Test driving the Passat wagon in the backroads of upstate NY (where we lived at the time) put a grin on my face.
The Passat proved to be an almost perfect car for us. (I couldn’t find pictures of our specific car, but the pics here show the same color and wheel combo.) We bought a very basic equipped model – steel wheels with covers, stick shift and standard stereo. The only option was a 6 CD changer in the back end – the kind you loaded with CDs in a cartridge and forgot. Yes, I know VWs of that era were known to have many reliability issues. However, for whatever reason, we never suffered from them. I know that’s not a common experience. The black cloth interior stood up to all manner of kid mess without showing a lot of wear. And the back seats flipped down to allow us to load up for Home Depot runs. The stick shift, front wheel drive layout also handled Midwestern winters without much effort. (Snow tires would probably improve that.)
I recognize the Passat appealed to a relatively narrow family car demographic. The writing was on the wall for crossovers and SUVs as the 2000s went on. As I wrote last week, eventually, we did outgrow the Passat once we needed to carry more people, as well as stuff. It was never a cheap car, by popular standards, and it also had some Germanic quirks. My not so favorite one were the cupholders that popped out of the dashboard with two flimsy shallow spots. Not helpful for a sippy cup. I guess the Germans never really approved of the American habit of dining while driving. Also, the car always beeped when the temperature dropped to 37 degree which always struck me as strange and, if the back hatch wasn’t latched, the red pixelated information screen under the speedometer would say “Boot open”. So, VW wasn’t willing to make all that many compromises to suit American tastes (at least not yet – the current Passat notwithstanding).
The Passat lasted 8 years and carried us from upstate NY to Minnesota, brought my second son home from the hospital and smartly handled daycare drop duty. It met an untimely demise when I misjudged traffic at a stop sign near the local school and hit a passing car. The impact bent the frame and the insurance company totaled the car. I was not ready to say goodbye. I collected the last few items from the car, including the CDs left in the changer in back, and said goodbye at the body shop to our faithful European friend.
“Also, the car always beeped when the temperature dropped to 37 degree which always struck me as strange”
This is an icy road surface warning. Many European cars give this warning when the temperature drops below 3°C / 37°F.
I chuckled when I got to this part because our 2018 Kia Sedona beeps like this as well (when temps hit 39° if I recall), and then displays a pixelated snowflake on the instrument panel. I thought that was an idea that might have been considered neat in, say, 1985. I’m rather surprised that 2018 cars still have this feature.
Personally, I don’t find it particularly useful, but maybe some people do.
Our ’14 Passat does this beep at 39 F. Given the beep is the same as for other things, we immediately think something may be wrong. It’s a rather annoying feature.
My Golf does the same thing at 4’C. I think it’s cool!
My sister had a Passat of this generation, though I believe it was a sedan. She bought it because it had been sitting on the lot for awhile and the dealer sold it to her for the same price as the Jetta she had been looking for. Hers was a diesel with a stick, and she liked the car a lot.
But for whatever reason these were not big sellers. They seemed expensive to me at the time, though that was based on the sticker. I think Americans were OK with Germanic simplicity as long as it came with prestige, which the Passat lacked.
I agree that SUV is just another word for station wagon. I remember having that epiphany when I got into my sister’s new 93 Cherokee and decided that it was almost exactly the same size inside as my 86 Fox body Marquis wagon, only a little taller.
The B5 was the best Passat ever, especially in TDI trim, I did 450000 kilometers in a highline sedan model I had bought second hand to drive for half a year after I sold my gas-guzzling 3.9 classic Range Rover V8.
Coming from the Range Rover, where the fastest moving part was the fuel gauge, I initially thought the fuel gauge of the VW was broken!
The Passat did gave some issues, especially the air sensor were not very reliable, we had a 406 Peugeot HDi in lesser trim which was totally trouble free.
I sold the Passat after the cylinder head was ruptured, also a TDi issue, but the car itself black with black leather trim was a beauty and it made me hooked on Diesels.
Its successor was an Alfa 159 JTDm with the 16 valve Diesel and that was the ultimate,ultimate driving machine !
A man who lives in my area has a 2006 Jetta TDI which he told me has 618,000 thousand miles on it. According to him, the repairs it has required have been few and minor.
I like the concept of these cars a lot, and in fact there’s a 5-spd. Passat wagon that lives near me, and whenever I walk past it, I find myself wishing that such a car was still produced. But VW problems during this era could be rather exasperating. My father owned a Passat wagon of this vintage (long after his kid-hauling needs were done, his desire for a wagon then was to haul his dog), and he was hounded by problems. After his Passat wagon, he owned a succession of Subarus instead.
Hauling his dog and hounded by problems? Thanks for the morning chuckle!
And therein lies the Tail, although let’s Paws and refresh our Pups with some more Lab-atian before we Cairn-tinue.
Fun Fact: Subarus are often called Scoobys
8 years and 130,000 miles was what I got out of my 2000 Passat sedan, which also had no option except for the V-6 engine. High mileage was where the expensive problems kept coming up. Something about the intake valves (there were three of them per cylinder, so 18 intake valves in all!) needing to be decarbonized because the engine had EGR and the direct fuel injection didn’t clean the valves? Not sure about that. That was going to be $1200. Some front suspension or steering part wore out and that was $800. The clutch was about to go and that was going to be another $800. I’m probably forgetting some things.
It was a nice car that still looked good cosmetically, but as my dad said it seemed to be at the “one-hoss shay” stage mechanically.
And VW’s still beep at 37 degrees. Both of my Passats (2013 and 2015) did it. I haven’t checked my wife’s 2018 Tiguan, but my 2019 Atlas does it. It’s cute, but I’ve never needed a warning to watch for ice.
If the Passat were still offered in a wagon when we bought ours, we would have likely looked at one fairly hard. My sister and her boyfriend have an ’09 Passat wagon and love it.
I agree with the author’s sentiments about these wagons being very near the ideal car for a small family. If you have three or more children, or are in carpools, a three-row vehicle of some sort, ideally a mini-van, but more likely a CUV or SUV, is required.
My B5.5 Passat, a V6 sedan, was one of the best cars I have ever had, providing a very comfortable ride, sharp handling, and great long-distance seats. It was not trouble-free, especially after about five years, when it was out of warranty. I liked it better than my B6 Passat, which felt cheapened in many ways, and was less reliable, despite being one of the last German-made Passats sold in the U.S.
My ’13 Passat beeps at 39°. It’s weird.
Inflation. 🙂
I thought these cars sold great in California and I still see quite a few B5’s on the roads here. My neighbor has a W8 Passat wagon, 6 speed manual, which I’m sorely tempted to acquire when he gets the Tesla he covets. Well, I’m not really serious about that 😀. While the Rabbit/Golf launched VW’s current FWD technology, and the GTI proved that VW’s could be performance cars, I think it was the B5 Passat and A4 Jetta that were the real game changers that transformed VW’s image (in the US market). Unfortunately, VWoA doesn’t seem to know what to do with that image.
I agree. Both cars were some of the most appealing vehicles from a design perspective VW has made in recent years. However, reliability issues really negatively impacted whatever brand equity VW developed from them. That said, the company is focusing now on crossovers – late to the game – and losing whatever made them distinctive in the first place. Why choose a VW over a Hyundai or Honda or Toyota or Ford? I don’t think that message is clear.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CYPzyZd_uc&w=560&h=315%5D
In Poland even made a song for B5 Passat, albeit for the one powered with TDI.
Your Passat looked good, most of B5s I have seen did not have body-colored trim. Body-colored looks better.
Do you remember what CDs were in the changer?
These were Peak Passat and they still look good. These are still pretty thick on the ground in NYC. I see a few every week, both sedans and wagons.
20 Years and still going strong. It will be given to my son when he starts driving in 2 years
I leased a new 2003 B5.5 1.8T manual after driving the W8 and V6 versions. I didn’t feel the V6 offered much more in the way of power, though smoother, and the W8 was a little out of my price comfort zone despite being a total hoot to drive. Looking back I am surprised that this particular VW store had all three in stock with manual transmissions.
That car felt like it was machined out of a stainless-steel ingot, being that it was essentially a de-contented Audi. I got it up to about 125mph in the barrens of North Dakota more than once and I loved driving it long distances. Never had a single problem with it but turned it in for an ’07 A4 Quattro 2.0T manual when the lease ended as I did not want to own a VW out of warranty. Turned in the Audi for the same reason.
For all of the same reasons you listed about stuffing your compact cars with baby gear, while not a B5, I now drive 2010 B6 Passat Wagon. A 2.0 liter turbo Komfort model with nice extras, gets great mileage and plenty of space for baby gear. The only issue I’ve had was with the DSG (couldn’t find a worthy Passat Wagon w/manual) clutch pack, replaced for free thanks to NYS lemon laws. Other than that, love it. FYI the 6 disc changer in the B6 is in the dash 😉
Bought my B5 sedan slightly used and kept it for 15 years and 233,000 miles. Loved the V-6, the solid feel and the creature comforts, but it needed a lot of maintenance. I let it go when problems all piled up at once: noisy CV joints, a failed AC system and the need for yet-another timing belt / water pump repair. Still, I waivered until my repair guy told me the dash plastic was so fragile in spots that he couldn’t guarantee getting it back together if we tried to fix the AC. Wish I could have driven it to 300,000.
My Uncle and co-worker each bought B5 sedans, both 5 speed, my Uncle (early adopter) a ’98 1.8T and co-worker 2000 2.8. Don’t know if they still have them, Uncle gave his to his son. Both had cloth interior, Uncle had same color combination I have on my 2000 Golf, namely silver with grey interior, the friend had Blue with some sort of beige (looked more orange to me).
I’m more familiar with co-worker’s as my Uncle lives 1800 miles away…co-worker had a time finding a manual transmission, especially with the 2.8 litre, but he found one, only wanted a dark color which he had in blue. He previously owned a Plymouth mini-van with manual (and had a hard time finding replacement when it went), but no longer needed the space, hence the Passat.
I’ve had my 2000 Golf just over 20 years (bought it day after Thanksgiving) and though I can’ t say it hasn’t left me stranded (once, when ignition cylinder failed with no tools to open up the column, and almost another when shift linkage gave out but I put selector shaft into 2nd and drove it home slipping the clutch to get her going). It has it’s quirks, failing power locks (2 doors) and the other 2 doors won’t open when unlocked unless you press in on them. Has also needed power steering rack, but for 20 year old car it hasn’t been too bad. Also a manual transmission fan but in denial as my next car will need to have automatic, but I’m delaying buying it (probably big reason I’ve kept it 20 years plus).
I have had a Passat 98′ 1.8T manual 5 speed wagon just for the last year. I love the way to drive with it. It has 194000 miles and it is the best in save gas!