In this COAL series, we have covered a lot of ground. This installment is about the VW Passat we still own and this the next to last chapter of this series. This Passat continues to serve splendidly as the family car – except for one (make that two) recent hiccups.
For this installment, there isn’t really an overarching story line so much as a number of free-standing vignettes. So this entry is being approached in an entirely different manner…
For decades, MacDonald Carey has continually proven himself to be correct every Monday through Friday when he says “like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives”. It’s truly scary how quickly those sands drop through that hourglass. Having hit one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad milestone birthdays during the course of this series, I can confidently say time continues its march at an ever accelerating rate.
When we purchased the Passat eight years ago (there has been a lot of dropping sand in those years) the salesman told us our fuel economy would be good but would improve at about the 30,000 mile mark. While this assertion seemed like so much sandbagging, it seems he was not wrong. At the 50,000 mile mark our fuel economy increased yet again. Later, in August 2021, a solo trip to Kansas City under fabulously ideal conditions yielded me a tank of 41.5 miles per gallon over 320 miles.
A subsequent tank, when piloted by my wife, netted 40.6 miles per gallon over a slightly greater distance.
Our previous record high fuel economy was just under 38 miles per gallon when all three of us took a trip to Wichita, Kansas, a number of years ago. The speed limit on I-35 to Wichita was 75 miles per hour; I drove 80 miles per hour and let the car idle a few times, which was everything wrong to achieve this 38 mpg. Yet it still did it.
Since my 1989 Ford Mustang, I have had a general trepidation and pronounced reluctance with anything having a four-cylinder engine. Why? If I put my foot in the throttle I expect a positive response now, not for the input to culminate sometime next week. Such had never been within my four-banger experience. While it took sixteen valve heads and a turbocharger to achieve this, it’s been worth the wait.
Even better, this VW seems to thrive on speed. In January 2017, I made a trip to visit my grandmother in a hospital in Cape Girardeau after she had a mild stroke. Coming back up I-55 that evening, it seemed like I was making great time. I was; I glanced at the speedometer, after slowing down, and was running 92 miles per hour. It was as smooth as silk at this speed.
My paternal grandfather rode in our Passat a number of times, including the day referenced above. Later in his life he was uncharacteristically open about his experiences in World War II, likely because he knew he had seen many sands through his personal hourglass and the experiences needed to be shared.
During one of his times in our Passat, he told me of his time at Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest and/or Berghof in Burchtesgaden (the two locations, while in close proximity, were conveyed almost as being interchangeable). He said he found several fellow soldiers sitting on the bed in Hitler’s bedroom.
My grandfather said he pointed out to them Hitler had “likely been doing Eva Braun on that mattress” and did they really want to be sitting on something with “Hitler’s pecker tracks” all over it? It seems those soldiers made a hasty retreat from that mattress.
He also told me about walking around heiling everybody that day. When a gruff sergeant asked why, my grandfather responded he was practicing just in case the Allies lost the war. The sergeant told my grandfather to quit being a smart-ass.
Grandpa said they had to soon leave because, as he put it, the English thought Hitler was nearby and wanted to bomb the place. I’ve been able to pinpoint these events as being around April 30, 1945.
Oddly, it seems some people still associate “Volkswagen” only with “Beetle”. In May, I rode to a meeting with two coworkers from other locations. The meeting was at a park a little over an hour away, so I had taken lawn chairs for us. During a conversation en route about our personal vehicles I had mentioned the VW and its various attributes.
Upon our return, they helped me put the lawn chairs in the trunk of the VW. Both were like “That’s a Volkswagen?”. It was a real-life spin on that awful “That’s a Buick?” ad campaign.
This Passat was the primary car used to teach our daughter to drive. We spent quite a few hours at a lot used by the Jefferson City public schools for driving instruction. Well over one paved acre, it is striped to replicate streets, intersections, and parallel parking.
In one area there is a rather tight Figure 8, seen here on the lower left. One of the things we did was to see how fast we could go while staying within the painted confines of this “8”. I achieved 30 mph with the tires squalling quite loudly. It was great fun.
Our Passat was the car I drove to the funerals of both my grandmothers, one in 2018 (passing just days short of her 91st birthday) and the other in 2021 (who was 100).
I would have driven it to my grandfather’s funeral in 2020 (he was 96), but I was not informed of specifics about the service until there was inadequate time for me to get there. Why? Well, Covid, of course, although nobody else was denied information about it. I have a long memory.
We bought the Passat new in September 2014. At the time, I wanted to ensure we had something more reliable (read as newer) as our parents do not live in close proximity to us and all were of a certain age. We knew health issues would appear and wanted to be poised to respond.
It was a wise move.
The backseat of our Passat is fabulously large. It was heavily complimented by my mother’s younger brother Tom when he rode in it the day of my grandmother’s (his mother’s) funeral in January 2018. Tom was 6’8″ tall and did not have a small frame. He said it was one of the best back seats he had ever experienced.
He also teased me for taking an American WWII veteran of the European theatre to his wife’s funeral in a German car. All I could say was “Ja, ja, ja!” and point out a couple other VWs in the procession. Any other time, my grandfather would have responded to such commotion with his frequent “was ist los?”. His mother spoke exclusively German with her two siblings and he had learned enough German to exploit the black market while in Germany during WWII.
Thinking about it, this Passat gets a somewhat regular routine of blasts across the state, be it for funerals or other things. We are located in roughly the geographic center of Missouri, with family in the St. Louis area and in the southeast portion of the state in Cape Girardeau, plus we often travel to Kansas City for various things.
One such round of blasts was in 2020.
In October 2020 I had surgery in the Kansas City area, giving me the unmitigated joy of undergoing medical care during Covid times. It was an outpatient surgery and I had a follow-up appointment three days later to have the drain tube removed from my neck. There had been the initial appointment and the post-operative visit necessitated another trip to the Kansas City area. This was all within a four-week timeframe.
The three hour trip for the post-operative appointment in Merriam, Kansas, was not the best trip ever. Sore, numb, having a drain tube sutured into my neck, and having a fresh incision between my ear and beard line worked well to make seatbelts and using the restroom nine kinds of unpleasant and challenging.
I knew given the Covid apprehension, my bloody drain tube, and fresh incision, stepping foot into any business establishment made me a walking controversy for at least one of the challenging items. Empty plastic jugs serve many purposes.
Despite the challenges, the Passat was a trusty servant that provided smooth and comfortable transport while I sat in the passenger seat, anxious to get the trip over. That was the only unpleasant ride I’ve ever had in our Passat and this certainly was not the car’s fault.
For blasts across the state, or anywhere for any distance, our Passat is a terrific ride. Its power and fuel efficiency are also quite welcome on such trips.
Just in the last month, our Passat has made me realize there has been a figurative changing of the guard.
When our daughter was little, she always came running to the door when I arrived home from work. Now, over the last little while, she has been driving the Passat for some work she is doing in an adjacent town. The other day I found myself running to the door when she arrived home.
To go along with this, when she was little, Mrs. Jason and I would play this Enya song to help put our daughter to sleep. Last night, I woke up to hear her playing this very song on her harp. It got me back to sleep. She had no idea this happened, but the juxtaposition wasn’t lost on me.
Snagged from the web
Several years ago I had a conversation with the service manager at the VW dealer about long term reliability. He admitted some Volkswagens have issues, but his experience was any such issues generally come about from electrical issues in cars having a moonroof or the ones having an abundance of electrical doo-hickeys. It seems the seals on the moonroofs all eventually leak and water works its way into bad places creating all the unfortunateness.
I was congratulated on my shrewdness in purchasing a base model. In his most reassuring comment he stated the dealer had seen no mechanical issues with any 1.8T engine that had passed through the shop.
Last fall, at 57,000 miles, we had the transmission serviced by an independent VW mechanic north of us in Columbia. The service manager there asked me how frequently I had been changing the oil. I told him about every 5,000 miles despite the recommendation of 10,000 miles. I admitted to the car having traveled nearly 6,000 miles since its last oil change.
He asked if I had noticed it ever using oil. I said it had whenever I ran past the 5,000 mile mark for an oil change. He said that is typical for the 1.8T. It was his recommendation to simply change the oil every 5,000 miles and never have to worry about it. He said the 1.8T cars he had seen in which the owner routinely utilized the full 10,000 mile interval resulted in palpable oil usage regardless of how recently the oil change had been performed.
So a 5,000 mile interval it is.
The following oil change, five thousand miles later and in June of this year, I noticed fluid pooled in the plastic air dam which has to be removed to access the oil pan. It was not oil and I could not find any leaks. So I called the VW shop where we had taken it last fall.
It was engine coolant. It seems VW has a problem with the plastic impellers on the water pumps of some models, this being one of them. The mechanic’s shop quoted us $1,100 for replacement, once he got parts.
Upon returning home with the car to await a parts delivery, Mrs. Jason opened the mail. One of the letters was about a class action lawsuit against Volkswagen for faulty water pumps. As part of this, VW had extended the warranty on water pumps for cars meeting certain age and mileage criteria. Calling the dealer, I discovered our Passat met these criteria. The service manager said he would have to order parts; I told him of two VW dealers in the Kansas City area I had spoken to and who had the needed parts on the shelf.
Thus I got the water pump replaced for free, saving me $1,100. The number of people who have saved money due to supply chain issues has got to be few.
That was our first recent hiccup. Since writing this in August we have had a second one about two weeks prior to this being published.
Rotating the tires several weeks before, I noticed the first signs of the tires getting flat spots. It was obvious with the occasional shimmy in the steering and thumping coming from the rear. The tires had just over 30,000 miles on them and had been rotated every 6,000 miles or so. This didn’t leave a good impression. Mrs. Jason and I decided to replace the tires prior to winter setting in.
Soon thereafter the sidewall of the right front tire blew out. Thankfully it was at low speed and close to home. After new tires, I am still $350 to the good from the water pump.
I went with a different brand, getting Continental True Contacts. I figured a German tire manufactured in the US should work well on a German car manufactured in the US. Plus Continental tires were original equipment on some Passats.
The Passat has a few quirks and attributes that seem remarkable.
I like and appreciate how the 1.8T engine has an oil cartridge on top in a very accessible area. Dare I say it makes oil changes fun? No, but I will say it does allow for something different, and nearly free of mess, in a mundane task.
Every time I squirt windshield washer fluid while the vent or air conditioner is running, the smell comes through to the inside of the car. I’ve never experienced similar in any other car.
We haul a cooler everywhere we go. The trunk opening sucks for placement of a cooler. That is likely my only complaint about the car.
The wiper blades have been the most surprising. It is likely due to the car being parked in a dark garage the vast majority of the time, thus escaping ultraviolet light, but the original wiper blades lasted eight years. I just replaced them in June of this year. They were date stamped May 2014. They still looked great and performance had not diminished. But they were old.
Has VW won a convert? Maybe, although Mrs. Jason and I are aware our options keep declining in number. The Passat, which would be a no-brainer to have a repeat performance, has been discontinued in the US. The Jetta seems too small, but maybe that’s just me. CUVs, such as the Tiguan, aren’t ruled out but don’t really excite us. We are sedan people.
It’s a dilemma, which along with an odometer reading of only 66,000 miles, means this Passat will undoubtedly still be around for a very long time. There are many sands yet to go through its hourglass.
(Author’s Note: Days of Our Lives premiered November 8, 1965 on NBC. New episodes are still being broadcast every weekday.)
Rule 1 – look after your car, with frequent oil changes and proactive tyre care for example
Rule 2 – check the market, do your homework, keep your elbows sharpness in trim and don’t accept the first response from the OEM and his cohorts. “They don’t all have to do that, sir”
Rule 3 – and it (your VW, Ford, or one of many other non-specialist brands) will look after you.
Your experience with this VW would seem to echo many in Europe – quietly, efficiently clocking up the miles and asking little in return. You may not get envious glances but on a dark, wet motorway you’d rather know you were going to get home and out again tomorrow.
And for a UK-US contrast; whilst you refer to a reluctance to have a four cylinder car, no one in our extended family has ever had anything else, except a three cylinder SEAT.
All very good rules to live by with anything automotive. While I’ve said my old ’87 Dodge pickup was like a dog in telling you its problems, this sentiment holds true with most vehicles. Some are just more forceful in what they say.
I suspected those outside NA would pick up on my four-cylinder statement. Stating it as a poor power-to-weight ratio could have been more accurate, but of the vehicles I’ve driven with the poorest ratio, they have almost always been four-pots, with a few notable exceptions.
Thinking of it, my mother had a ’62 Chevy II with a four, which was a highly unusual engine. The next four-cylinder in the family was my father’s 1981 Dodge Omni followed by their 1983 Plymouth Reliant and 1988 Ford Tempo. He hasn’t had a four-cylinder since – but does currently have a Ford Escape with a triple.
Prior to the Passat, the only other four-cylinder car was the ’89 Ford Mustang pictured above. It ruined me for a quarter-century.
Jason,
Thanks for the great owner history story, I too have a great VW CC 2017 and attest to the brand quality. I call mine a Passquat as most people don’t recognize a CC badge. 2.0 T but over 50K in 2 years and over 90K now and yes, oil change frequently, at 5K makes a difference, no leaks or burn. I run 500 miles, long distance weekly and it is a smooth ride at 90 at 2800 rpm…. GO Texas. It is my second CC so not just puppy love. Glad to hear that someone else is bitten by the “Not Just A Bug VW”.
Thanks.
I do like the CCs, but like you said, nobody really knows what they are. A friend of my wife’s recently placed one for sale (plus it had a manual transmission!) and I called my brother-in-law about it. The car was sold almost immediately.
Last week I received delivery of my new company car, a ’22 Passat TSI wagon with a 1.5 liter turbo and DSG7. The sedan has been discontinued in Europe, and with the large sedan market dwindling over here, I would’nt be surprised if the Passat was gone by the end of the decade. But so far I am quite fond of the car. I also enjoyed the NA Spec Passat sedans that I rented during my business travels in the US.
I very much enjoyed your COAL series, Jason, especially your descriptions of the various parts of MO you lived in. St Jo is the only place in MO I’ve ever been, as in walked around and stayed overnight, and it certainly seems to have its own culture.
As for Days of our Lives, my mom used to watch that show every day after coming home from teaching, so I know more details of that show than I care to admit, like when Marlena was possessed by the devil. I’m surprised it’s still airing!
Thank you. St. Joe does indeed have its own culture, but that is part of the appeal.
Your Passat company car sounds like a sweetie. If a wagon were offered I would likely be looking.
My mother watched DooL before I started kindergarten, so I got exposed to it. Back then the Horton family was still seen prominently. One day during that period my father said something about having bought their first house from the Hortons. Four year-old me thought they had purchased it from Tom and Alice.
It is hard for me to believe that you have owned the Passat for so long! But time has been speeding up for me too.
I am seriously jealous of your gas mileage. You report figures I have never reached in my Honda Fit. That car has many things to recommend it, but fuel mileage has always been a disappointment.
You are entering what I think of as the danger zone in car ownership – you have had it long enough that it is approaching the status of late middle age. The new/near-new car experience is recent enough that you might miss it, and you fear reduced value and increased repair costs. But if you have trouble finding something that appeals, the alternative is to strap on and ride until either you or the car suffers a major failure.
I will admit that I had concerns when you bought it, but the car has proved itself to be a sound choice. I hope the next 50k miles are as enjoyable and as uneventful.
Oh, and that Enya song is firmly lodged in my head now. I still think of it as recent. But then I still think of my recently married children as recent arrivals too.
About fuel mileage…I’ve never had a car that could have such swings in fuel economy. The last tank netted just under 29 mpg, which is a rarity. Most tanks are 30+, even with mixed driving. Typical is around 32 to 33, which is pretty close to the EPA highway rating.
Of all things, having to replace those wiper blades was the reminder this is no longer a new car. Crazy, I know. But as we don’t like spending money on cars, we decided early on to ride this VW until it was dead. Then, I am going to rip out the interior and put it on the back lot, using it as a hothouse for my garden.
With a new set of tires on the VW she is running and driving as good as when we bought it. It is making another blast across the state today and I’m not the least bit worried about it making the trip. It’s been a really good one.
I’ve had two Passats, a 2013 S with the 2.5 and a 2015 Limited with the 1.8. I loved those cars. Both routinely hit in the upper 30’s for gas mileage on trips. I pulled 42.5 on a 600 mile trip one time. Comfortable, roomy with a bit of road noise. Handled well.
And both of mine would give you a whiff of ethanol when you used the windshield washer. And the first time I used the heater each fall, it would really stink for some reason.
I’m now driving an Atlas. I need the space for trips to the homes of either offspring. It’s not as much fun to drive, but, surprisingly, it is more comfortable on trips (and the Passat was the most comfortable car I had ever owned to that point).
If I had parking space for another car, I’d consider searching for a nice Passat GT just for toodling around in. Of course, my wife reserves the garage for her Tiguan.
You have certainly got a nice range of the recent VW line covered!
A few years ago I test drove a Tiguan. It was some weird “take a test drive and get a free oil change” thing, so I accepted the offer. I won’t lie; I did like it. The Atlas is more my thing size wise. Is yours a four or six?
Many times I have mentioned needing to haul a harp. My daughter’s harp teacher has a fairly recent Tiguan. She stated it isn’t the best for hauling a harp; she put her big one inside the cargo area last Christmas and closed the hatch. It seems you have to situate things just so or you break out the rear glass as she did.
$1,100 for a water pump change?! Is it one of those driven by the timing belt? Anyway, glad you dodged the bullet on that.
Old 1970s/80s Cummins “Big Cam” diesels used to have plastic impellers on the water pump. They also would disintegrate over time. The newer pumps had metal impellers that lasted much longer. Sad the auto industry seems incapable of learning from past mistakes, or maybe its just planned obsolescence.
I’m not sure how the pump is driven. Part of that $1,100 was a worst case thing. It seems there is a plastic cover over the water pump. They either come off fine or not. So that price was the pump and replacement of the cover, should the existing one break.
In the end, I didn’t have to really think about it. But I was rather irked about it all – what you say about not learning from history were my thoughts, also.
I think that pump is driven by the balance shaft in the engine…so it’s not belt-driven. Theoretically a good idea, but there’s a lot of plastic involved in the pump (aside from just the impeller), and that’s where the problem lies.
Increasingly, water pumps in cars are plastic and not belt driven. The one in my car is electric and yes, it has a plastic impeller and costs a small fortune to replace, mostly due to its near impossible to access placement at the bottom of the engine wedged almost in the front suspension. Folks routinely replace them every 75K miles just to avoid failure and unexpected expense (best to get to it when you’re doing something else down there). But even if they routinely crap out at under 100K miles, that’s about 25K – 30K longer than the manufacturer intends for most owners to keep the car. Water pump replacement (like so many other things in modern cars) becomes something owners “down the road” will have to deal with…and hence doesn’t hurt sales (leases) of new cars.
Could be, my ’00 Golf has the 2.0, it had the plastic water pump impeller but it was driven off the timing belt (I replaced it and probably due to replace it again). Replacement pump has metal vanes, I had visions of vanes coming off and jamming the timing belt (it is a non-interference engine though).
VWs are pretty specific about fluids…including coolant and power steering fluid (and of course engine oil). They specified a low silica coolant due to some metalurgy deal I don’t understand in the block. The power steering fluid is some sort of mineral oil and also pretty specific. Still, I have had the power steering rack go bad, even using only specified fluid. Also had problem with shifter cable (mine’s a manual) that broke (I live in sunbelt so plastic and rubber parts go bad quicker)…fortunately figured out how to put the selector shaft into 2nd gear and nursed it home slipping the clutch a bit.
Still, the car is going on 22 years old next month, it keeps me hopping.
Mine gets nowhere near as good mileage, around 28 (I do mostly in-town driving though). It’s got a 4.11 final drive.
My Uncle had an older ’00 Passat, he liked it a lot, my Cousin inherited it, his has the 1.8T. Glad you’re enjoying your Passat.
I’ve not owned an aircooled VW, but have had 3 watercooled ones. My Dad had a ’59 Beetle back in the day; before he owned that he was in the US Army in Germany and assigned a Beetle often, he served from 1950-1953…he never owned another VW.
Silica in coolant is to prevent buildup of crud in the water jacket and radiator .
It does this by scraping the inside, today’s tin foil aluminum radiators can’t handle this, hence no silicates allowed .
-Nate
I got a call from a stranded friend the other day. He was driving his girlfriend’s Tiguan. It shut down and wouldn’t restart. It turned out to be a battery or charging issue. What caused it to strand him in an intersection was the engine ‘stop-start’ system. I didn’t hear whether or not the cause was a VW issue or simply a dying battery combined with an incredibly misguided ‘feature.’ I’ve had to replace batteries before. I can’t recall a time when I had a car that wouldn’t stay running once it was jumped or bumped. I am comfortable saying that ‘stop-start’ won’t save enough fuel to make up for the inconvenience and expense of a tow-truck ride.
That is annoying. When the battery on the VW crapped out last summer, it did similarly…all was fine, then it wasn’t.
A dead cars at an intersection is a worry. My mother-in-law had that a few weeks ago when their ’16 Ford Escape died at an interchange. It seems some sensor related to the purge canister was bad, so the engine died.
Great read as always Jason. I have always been very hesitant of VW products. Yours has treated you well, although the water pump failure at such a low mileage isn’t something I would be very happy about. What a dumb design, but luckily VW covered the expensive repair. The fuel economy of your car is excellent. I recently rented a Jetta and it returned 42 US MPG driving at 80 mph or so; I was very impressed by it’s economy. So for your larger more powerful Passat to do the same is even more impressive. One thing I was not impressed with on the Jetta was the rear seat space. I drive with the driver’s seat pushed all the way back, and when I did this on the Jetta, I couldn’t fit my (large) laptop bag between the seat back and the rear seat cushion. I was surprised at how little leg and knee room were there, especially considering my big space inefficient 70’s intermediate coupes can both fit my laptop bag with ease when the front seat is pushed all the way back. Clearly the extra space on the Passat goes into the rear seat.
Your car is still pretty low mileage and with the your proactive maintenance it should last you a while yet. Stories like yours and the positive rental experience from that Jetta make me more open to VW. That said, I admit when replacing my wife’s 2016 Subaru this year, I only visited the Toyota dealership without cross shopping. After a few issues with the Subaru, we gladly went back to Toyota, the brand with which we’ve had the most positive experience.
I am looking forward to seeing the F-150 replacement next week.
Thank you.
My sister has a ’19 Jetta that I’ve ridden in once, in May of ’21. It was noticeably smaller than the Passat (in the rear, in particular) and seemed to have a lot more road noise. Her long-term boyfriend drives like he has all week to get somewhere, so they have broken the 50 mpg mark a time or two – so he claims.
For a long time I have noticed a phenomena around here (and I’m not sure if it’s due to the heavy German population or other factors) but VWs are thick on the ground in comparison to their market share, Passats in particular. Toyota, much less so – except Highlanders.
Yes, next week concludes this series. It’s the only one in which I have never mentioned what it is, so I must continue this air of mystery surrounding it! It will no doubt get a pronounced reaction from some.
So many things to say after this great chapter.
First – Enya. When I was married to the Irish Princess her favorite Irish singer was Enya (full name Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin). Enya albums were always playing on the CD player when I got home from work at night and the memories of those blissful times when all was going well and my son was 2 or 3 years old came flooding back when I played your COAL’s post (more than once). Although the marriage did eventually end, there were good times, and as one ages good memories outlast not-good ones.
Second – Passat. My feelings about our bought new 2001 5-speed V6 Passat GLX are clearly documented in my COAL chapter 14. It sorta soured me on VWs in general, but it was perhaps configured and used in a very different manner than your 2014, more wisely configured, 1.8T model. The V6 and 5-speed encouraged fast stop light getaways, and the sun roof probably did contribute to some electrical issues, and the very high friction point of the clutch was always a concern (eventually it failed in a spectacular fashion). But the solid construction of the Passat is the reason that Irish Princess is still alive and well.
Third – Oil changes. They say never listen to aging fathers who offer car advice; they’re out of date and you don’t need to change the oil as much as they did in their Packards and Hudsons. Well maybe that is true, but it’s also good advice to not rely on factory specs that say 10,000 miles is OK for “modern cars”. I no longer do my own oil changes and don’t really drive much any more, but once a year, whether I need a state inspection or not, I take the Tacoma and Miata in for fresh oil (10W30 for the Miata, synthetic 5W30 for the Tacoma).
Fourth – German and Japanese Vehicles. I get it; I really do. And as a non-veteran I have always harbored a sense of guilt that I was deferred from the Vietnam draft because I worked at Grumman on USA Naval aircraft projects. WWII veterans had a right to feel the way some did about the changing car market. I worked to respect those feeling much like I currently work to respect and try to understand the current political divisions in this country on so many topics.
I’m gonna see if I have any copies of my ex-wife’s Enya CDs and put them on the player. It’s that kind of morning.
As always, you offer tremendous insight into things, so here goes!
Enya: I was listening to “Orinoco Flow” just last night. After I put this piece together I had to research her. She’s the sixth of nine children and didn’t learn English until she was eight or nine – or something like that. The complexity of her songs is what has hooked me.
Passat: I’m thinking our experiences are almost polar opposites in regards to reliability (and wives of Irish heritage, as mine is). Our Passat is built like a bank vault and the generation that began in 2012 did seem to take it downmarket from where yours was. The V6 was still available when we bought ours, but I have seen like one or two of them, ever.
Oil changes: In the big scheme, oil is a cheap part of running a car. Why skimp there? Not saying to change with the phases of the moon, but there is a happy spot. The Passats seems to be at around the 5k to 6k mark.
German & Japanese vehicles: When we first bought the car and stopped at my grandparent’s house, my grandfather noticed we had a different car. I told him it was new. He asked what it was. Expecting a reaction, I told him. His response was pretty accepting of it. Then again, he had been burned by GM, Ford, and Chrysler, so that could be part of it.
Excellent chapter as always Jason. It’s good to hear a story about a modern VW and reliability. As others have said, I think you got a good one and just as importantly are treating it right.
I spent too much to not take care of it! 🙂
From this vantage point, VW has comparable reliability to most other makes. That also factors in the experiences of others I know. The only problematic VW I’ve seen in recent times is an ’09 Passat belonging to a coworker. An auction special, it has around 160k and has been giving him problems. It is not a base model, either.
Good to hear the Passat is treating you well. You got it at about the same time we bought the Acura TSX, which is Stephanie’s car. It’s now got 80+k miles, and has not required anything but tires, brake pads, oil and filters. It does not get quite as good of peak mileage as yours, although the highway average is about the same.
The variability in fuel mileage has surprised me, but it is still so far ahead of anything else we own even its bad mileage is still good.
We’ve been talking to needing to do something else in the next year or so (as the van is now 23 years old). We aren’t sure what we’ll do but I do envision us at least visiting the VW dealer.
Sounds like your experiences match those with our 2015 Golf, also 1.8T, though ours is 5MT. The worst highway mileage we got on a long trip was about 38 mpg driving to Utah with a bike rack on the back and two bikes, several mountain passes to cross, and 80+ mph highway speeds. Locally, it only takes about 20 miles from home to jump over 40. And, yes, that oil filter location plus the 1/4 turn drain plug do almost make oil changes fun, in my case also every 5000 miles. I usually use that Ravenol oil you pictured. And I don’t even check it between changes, which due to the low usage our’s gets are pretty much annual. I tucked the water pump recall letter in a safe place so I don’t forget it, but so far 🤞🏻 no issues.
A quarter-turn drain plug? I’m jealous! We still have the old threaded one with umpteen turns.
With the wind resistance you’ve introduced onto your Golf, that is exceptionally good mileage. When we first started shopping I test drove a five-speed Passat I really liked but I knew the black/black was a non-starter.
I guess that may have been a change for the 3rd gen EA888 engine starting in 2015. The oil pan is plastic, and the drain plug has a recessed slot to accept a medium sized flat-blade screwdriver. 1/4 turn was a slight exaggeration but the coarse threads act like a bayonet, and between their molded shape and the elasticity of the plastic, the drain plug loosening and tightening action is easy and precise, maybe a half turn once it’s engaged, seating positively against an O-ring instead of soft metal crush washer. On the other hand, I do worry about the plastic oil pan encountering road debris, like the driveshaft which detached itself from a garbage truck tumbled down the road in front of me years ago and cartwheeled directly under our Prius: no damage on that car.
I’m thinking you’ve identified the difference. The oil pan on mine is metal and the plug still has the Torx head on it.
Glad to see your Passat has been a satisfying car so far. I have rented several of this generation and appreciated the back seat room, the huge trunk and solidity of the body structure. One of the rentals was used for a 2,000 mile road trip, so I can also vouch for the good fuel mileage.
It is an altogether different driving experience from the two Passats I owned, a 2003 and 2010, both of which were built in Germany (in fact, one of them came with a German-language owners manual). These were great cars for the first 50,000 miles, trouble-free and outstanding road cars, but then the drama began. In both cases, after several very expensive repairs, I got rid of them at about 80k miles, preferring a more reliable steed for my daily driving. I wish you better luck with yours!
So far, so good. While I would like to keep this thing for a very long time, I would have no qualms in dumping it if problems sprang up. But I’m hoping my preventive maintenance stalls anything from happening.
My 2014 wagon is pretty much behaving itself at 69,000. The e-brake cables finally succumbed to the tons or salt that are dumped on metro Detroit roads, corroded, and started sticking. Replacing the cables was the first non-scheduled maintenance visit to the shop since the warranty claim for a missing anti-rattle clip in the rear brakes some 6 years ago.
The worst, infuriating, horrible, thing, is the scrape the front bumper picked up somewhere along the way last summer.
Also infuriating, was, when I was at the Gilmore for the Pierce Arrow show, and took this pic of the scrape, I lost the slip case for the windshield shades. Nowhere in or under the car at the Gilmore. Somehow, the case must have hitched a ride on my belt pack, then come loose and fallen to the ground while wandering around the Gilmore, or joyriding in a Pierce.
I noticed, after I gave the car it’s fall waxing, the scrape is not quiet so noticeable. Maybe in the next ten years of waxing that car, the scrape will not be so horribly noticeable to casual observation.
This Passat has pretty much escaped being driven in bad (read as snowy) weather. If the weather stinks it stays in the garage as we either don’t go or take the four-wheel drive pickup.
Overall I am very satisfied with my experience.
Interesting to read, as I can relate well to some of the things. We purchased a 2002 Passat in black with black cloth brand new. Nice looking car and it was the base with few options (personally, I hate sunroofs for the exact reason you mention in the story). I really liked it and my wife ended up liking it too. About a month into ownership, she kind of took it over (asking of course) and I inherited her 1999 Buick Century Limited that we had special ordered new and in a color she wanted but I didn’t like. She really loved that car, but the VW seemed to pull her in. I took the Buick saying that I would give her a month with the VW to be sure she liked it. If she did, I would then trade the Buick for something I wanted more. A month later I did just that and purchased a new leftover 2000 Lincoln LS V8 Sport in a gorgeous white.
All seemed well for the next 6 months and then the electrical gremlins hit the VW. I won’t go into all the issues, but it was disheartening and she finally came home one night, slammed the keys on the counter and yelled “get rid of that car!”. Stupidly, I asked her what she wanted and she replied “I want my Buick Century back”. I told her that couldn’t happen, but I’d get her another new one. Three days later, she was behind the wheel of a brand new 2003 Century in a similar color to the other one.
To note, one of the issues our VW had was the check engine light coming on and then going off several days later. Some times it would come on, start flashing and the entire car would shake like an earthquake. Then the light would go back off and the car ran fine. A trip to the dealer (this after the light had been on for 3 days, but then turned off as I was driving there) resulted in nothing and they told me (lied) that there was no code. So home I drove. The following week I got a letter from VW telling us about an issue with the 1.8T and the coils or something. I called the number and explained that our car was showing the symptoms they described. The lady from VW asked me if the car was doing it then, and I said no. She proceeded to tell me there was nothing they could do. That’s when I said there was something I could do and she asked me what. I said I could trade the car in on a Buick and that’s what I did. Never looked back.
That would be very frustrating on several levels.
Oddly, I sold a Buick Century when we bought the Passat.
I ended up finding out through my nephew (who was an Audi tech at that same dealership) that VW had many issues with them. He’s the one that told me they lied to my face. But it was not just that issue, but several that seemed like the car was possessed. We were quite happy to be back in the Buick, that’s for sure. Years later I came close to buying (leasing) another VW, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger in the end after that very bad experience. In fact, before picking up my 2021 Chevy Malibu, I almost went with a Jetta since the Passat was no longer available. But I truly love this Malibu and feel it was the best choice. As you can see, I too am a sedan buyer and am quite mad that Buick no longer offers one.
Jason,
Nice read. I remember test-driving a Passat with the 2.5 5-cylinder engine when it came out, and it just didn’t feel as special compared to the previous model with the 2.0 4-cylinder. The rear seat room, however, was unreal. I’m 6’3″ and even with the seat all the way back for me to drive (which also yielded an unreal amount of legroom), I could sit behind myself and still have plenty of room to move about. That’s almost unheard of in anything besides a town car or similar.
I bought an 18′ Golf SE with the 1.8T and auto (mainly my wife’s car), and I’m always impressed with how nice it feels on the road. It has plenty of pep and plenty of torque. After a variety of Jettas, Golfs, and a recent Tiguan, VW’s do move down the road and eat up the miles with ease.
Thanks!
You’ve summed up the driving experience well. Torque is definitely a selling point with these.
Case in point: I live on a cul-de-sac and at the bottom of an 8% grade. Thus, if I drive past my house I have to climb a hill. Our Passat has climbed this hill at 1,400 rpm – which I believe is where it has its peak torque. It’s impressive.
Thank you for this series, it will be sad to see it end next week.
A few comments on this week’s. The location of the oil filter is great, my Forester has that too. Bonus is no burning oil smell from drips on the exhaust.
My father was in the Canadian Army during WWII but did not really talk about his European experiences till our son asked. I got a good chuckle from your grandfather’s story as I can imagine my dad doing the same thing.
Again, thanks for the COAL stories.
Thanks. Part of me is also going to miss this series.
For years my grandfather didn’t really talk about his time in Europe. It was known he was an airplane mechanic in England and then continued to venture east as the war unfolded. Then, one day in the mid-80s he started telling my dad about it and he slowly opened up more over the years. While he wasn’t in front-line duty, he definitely saw a lot.
You cannot just stop writing COALs and leave us hanging .
Go buy another vehicle please .
-Nate
Well, I do have an update on the 2018 Impala I am assigned at work. There is a lot to tell. While the holdup has been pictures perhaps I will recycle a few.
Genuinely glad the author has had such a good experience with his car.
And it’s interesting the mostly positive reactions on the Passat. I had a 2012 as a rental car, same generation I believe, and absolutely hated it. The 5 cylinder seemed just a little bit short on power, but not bad nor was the 6 speed tranny bad for an auto. I was happy with 32MPG over a 4K mile vacation, in a variety of driving conditions, good and bad. The back seat was huge, my comment was it was made for basketball players. The trunk was quite large, but the simplistic hinges cut into said trunk seeming a foot when closing so you had to be careful how you loaded it.
But then. The climate control drove me crazy, even in manual it eventually would start changing settings, and not to where I was comfortable. The power locks which would auto lock, then if I slowed enough after I unlocked them, it would re auto lock. Sometimes twice in a second. The idiot running lights, not headlights of course, would come on automatically with the key in acc. So you couldn’t say listen to the radio without the fairly bright running lights coming on. Not good if you’re say parked in front of a restaurant waiting for a to go order where people are sitting dining. WTF do you need lights on the outside to listen to the radio? I couldn’t unlock it without the horn honking. The turn signal was too far away from the steering wheel, it wasn’t where I could easily reach it like most cars. The armrest on the door wasn’t where my elbow would land. There was more, but that’s all I can remember at the moment. It seemed like a classic design by committee car, the pieces worked but the sum did not. A hundred miles into the 4K vacation my wife was so upset at me being so pi****** off at the car she was telling me to turn around and go home, she didn’t want to deal with it/me.
It was another car that brought to mind a review from C+D way back when, saying “torch this sucker” And believe me, after 2.5 weeks in it I was ready to.
It’s amazing how the same basic car can leave different impressions with people. People often have positive things to say about Camry’s, for example; I once had one as a rental and was not impressed.
I cannot disagree about the trunk hinges as they do encroach on the trunk a small bit. As for the radio, on mine the ignition does not need to be on – just press the button and it plays for 30 minutes.
As you know, Jason, I drive a 2013 Passat in the very same gray. Ours has the 2.5L 5 cylinder rather than the 1.8T. The Passat has, to my shock, been the most reliable automobile I have ever owned. I’ve only ever done required maintenance on it. It is at 103,000 miles and continues to roll strong.
Mine came with Continentals on it. When those wore out, at about 60k miles I think, I put more Continentals on it. PureContacts. They are as good as the OEM tires. This car is the best car in snow I’ve ever owned.
The press said that this car was underpowered compared to its competitors. Perhaps. But coming from a long string of 4-cylinder cars, this thing has a ton of get up and go for me. It handles well and is extremely well planted. It feels like a bank vault inside.
My Passat never gets nearly as good of mileage as yours. 30 city 32-34 highway. But that’s remarkably better than the car it replaced, a 2006 Ford Focus.
I’m a big fan of the 2.5. I like the sound and the torque curve, and it seems to be VW’s most reliable contemporary engine. It was slower and thirstier than the 2.4/2.5 liter Honda and Toyota fours, but it has character and in the Jetta and Golf it was a nice change from the buzzy 1.8s of the class. Glad yours is treating you well.
When come time for replacement, you can try to check VW Arteon. Quick look at the USA website shows they bring also shooting brake on your market in case you want to give give try to station wagon, which is on the last leg. Arteon is replacing Passat sedan in Europe and can be seen fairly often. It’s good highway car, I drive mine 40k miles a year.
I had three VWs in the 1960s, including a new 1969 Beetle. The latter finished me with VW. It had more repairs in 12 months than my 2010 Infiniti has had in 12+ years (really only one repair – the rest service). Many VW products today are temping. My friend’s Golf is a great car that she also has had very good luck with. Glad yours is treating you well. I long for the MPG you get from the VW but the G37 makes up for that deficiency in great quality, reliability, and performance.
Jason, another great installment. I have the exact same car but the 2016 model. It has been the best car I have ever owned (next to my 1980 Cutluss that is shares barn space with). When I walked into the VW dealer in 2016, I asked for a simple car with just a CD player, A/C, and back up camera. Something that could fit my 6″2 frame comfortably is an added bonus. I drove out with the gray 2016 Passat and flipped the bird to the 2011 CTS I just traded in. (No more GM). I have enjoyed all the attributes you described, and every driving day could be called The Bold And The Beautiful. It handles great on the back roads of rural Connecticut or the open highway on my trips to Maine. It has survived an encounter with a family of raccoons who swerved right vs me swerving left. The raccoons broke the front bumper facia and lower grill and glad I didn’t have fog lights. The next encounter was being side swiped by an Escalade..luckily the driver swerved at the last minute, as you do when you run a stop sign, and clipped the left front fender and took out the park and head light. That was a bit more costly. But each time the VW dealer body shop did wonderful work. The Passat just hit 100k miles and my mechanic Charlie said recently “You do know this will not live on like your 80 Cutluss” I replied I knew but he added “You can get it up to at least 200k” I am grateful that in the small village I call home I have a mechanic that can work on both the 80 Oldsmobile and the Passat. I am looking forward to the next installment.
Great post Jason, perhaps your Passat will become as venerable as “Days…”! Also, count me among the ones that will greatly miss your COAL series once complete (as well as JPC’s).
Regarding the wipers, my wife’s 2010 Nissan Sentra still has one of its original wiper blades (the shorter one), still working well after 12 years and 180,000 miles. I replaced the longer one at some point during our 9 year ownership (and counting) but it’s at least 6 years old now, possibly older. I never gave much thought to the possibility that parking in a garage regularly (she does as well) extends their life, but it makes sense.
Geez, the sands of time must be running past for me too, I thought the Passat was a new-ish car.
My usual thought about VWs BMWs etc is that the German driving experience is wonderful, the long term owning experience not so much. Nice to hear of people getting good long term service from theirs. I find my Ford products very reliable, so would I be as pleased as Jim if I bought a VW?