The Passat Wagon is Volkswagen’s offering in the upscale family sedan market. Sure, there is a base Passat, but lets face it, Americans like bells and whistles with their cars, and the GLX has them. I never thought I would see the day when a Volkswagen would approach the $30,000 threshold, but then again, I never thought I would ever see, or drive, a Volkswagen this good. The Passat has gone through a few different iterations over the years. These past cars were good, if not exceptional, but never really secured a foothold in their market segment. The new car is different, as Volkswagen has clearly done its homework to finally create a Passat worthy of the limelight.

The GLX is the upscale version of the Passat, which is also available with less luxury features, and a less powerful engine. The GLX comes standard with a smooth 2.8 liter 30 valve V6 cranking out 190hp, and 206ft. Lbs. of torque. A long list of standard equipment includes air conditioning with climate control, traction control, 4 wheel disc brakes with ABS, security system, sunroof, power leather seats with memory, wood interior trim, premium sound system with 8 speakers and CD changer pre-wiring, 16 inch alloy wheels, power windows and locks, cruise control, keyless entry, and auto day/night rear view mirror, just to name a few options, believe it or not. So much standard equipment means few options. The three major options are the 4-motion all wheel drive system, a Tiptronic 5 speed automatic transmission, and a 6-disc CD changer. There are other options available from the dealer, for instance a rear spoiler. The base price of a 5 speed GLX is $27,655. Competition for the Volkswagen Passat includes the Audi A4 2.8 ($28,790), and three of the best selling sedans ever; the Honda Accord EX V6 ($25,550), the Camry XLE V6 ($26,198), and the Maxima GLE ($26,249).

The test drive: I tested a 2000 Volkswagen Passat Wagon. Options on my test vehicle included the 5-speed tiptronic transmission, and a 6-disc trunk mount CD changer, bringing the as-tested sticker price to $29,750 which included a $525 destination charge. Insiders tell me not to expect much of a deviation from that number, as the Passat Wagon is selling well, and rightfully so.

The smooth lines of the Passat remind me of the Audi A6, but with a nicer rear end in my opinion. The Passat’s front end however is all Volkswagen, sharing a similar look with the rest of the family, leaving know doubt that this is in fact Volkswagen. But this is not a stretched out Jetta however. The Passat has a muscular look, with a nicely sloped roofline, accentuated by BMW looking aluminum wheels. I chuckled a bit, and tried to put myself into the shoes of an Audi A6 owner the first time they saw this version of the Passat. Would I be scratching my head at this point, wondering if the nameplate was worth the extra 10 to 15 grand? OK, so the Passat might not blow you away with its styling, but it has enough uniqueness to set it apart form the competition, and this is the best looking version of the Passat ever. The fit and finish of my test Passat was exceptional, even in the engine bay. All of the important fluids were easy to check, but the battery position was odd, as it was tucked in place at the firewall, making it hard to get to. The silver paint of my tester was flawless as well.

This is where I feel the Passat shines. The overlook of the interior is expensive, with hardly any plastic to be found anywhere. The dashboard is well laid out, with nice looking wood trim, and some pretty cool instrumentation that glows blue at night. And talk about roomy; this was the first car I have driven in a LONG time in which the drivers seat wasn’t required to be slid all the back while I was at the wheel. The loads of legroom and great seat adjustments allowed me to find a perfect driving position without a problem. The leather seats are comfortable, and very supportive without being intrusive to your lumbar area. I thought it was cool that the key fob had a his and hers button; pressing either one meant the driver’s seat automatically adjusted to that particular driver’s position. On thing I did not like about the keyless remote was that the ignition key folded into it, making it a bit difficult to insert into the key into the ignition, and then turning it to start the car. The Passat had plenty of headroom, even with the sunroof, which by the way had numerous setting depending on how much you wanted it open. I climbed into the back seat without a problem, and was pleasantly surprised to find that my knees weren’t pressed into the driver’s seat, with it adjusted for myself, and I am a bit over 6’1”. Another bonus was the rear seat headrests, which added to the overall comfort of the back seat passengers, though I found them a bit intrusive while driving, and attempting to look out the rear window. The sloping roofline of the Passat is deceptive, in that I thought there was no way there would be enough headroom for a taller person in the back seat. I was wrong, as the headroom was adequate, and I had to sit high in the seat and stretch my neck out in order for my hair to touch the roof.

The interior has a few neat gizmos, like child seat anchors, and four cup holders. But the coolest thing, no pun intended, had to be the cooling vent for the glove box. That’s right, there was a little vent in the glove box to keep the contents cool if so desired.
The one thing I found cheap was the seat belt latches. They felt very cheesy, and did not have a substantial feel to them. This is about the only complaint, albeit minor, that I had.

While I was putting the Passat through the motions, I couldn’t help but crank up the excellent stereo system, blasting AC/DC through 8 speakers. I may be getting older, but I am not dead! The optional CD changer is mounted in the trunk. For those times when silence is preferred over Heavy Metal, the Passat obliges with a quiet interior, free from road and engine noise.
The generous interior room carried over to the trunk space, as the Passat’s trunk is cavernous. Not having actual storage capacity numbers with me at the time for all of its competition, I would bet the Passat had the most storage room in its class. The 60/40 fold rear seats were also a bonus. Overall, the Passat definitely has one of the best interiors in its class, and possibly the roomiest.

I was really liking the Passat so far, and I was hoping the cool interior wasn’t a facade for uninspiring performance. I can happily report that this was not the case. The V6 engine moves 3700 pounds of car with authority. (3,151 lbs. curb weight, plus driver, passenger, full tank of gas, and two jars of spaghetti sauce.)

If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the engine was more powerful than 190hp. The posted 0-60 time from the factory seems right on target at 7.7 seconds. I think the optional 3.73 axle ratio has something to do with the decent acceleration. However, this sporty ratio is probably the reason the around town gas mileage seems to suffer a bit, as the Passat is rated at 18 mpg city, and 26 highway, a good 3 mpg difference between the 5 speed car and the automatic. The transmission shifts smoothly, but downshifts were not as quick as I would have liked them to be, especially exiting a corner. Speaking of cornering, the Passat handles them easily, with only a little bit of body roll. I was pleasantly surprised at just how responsive the steering and suspension were considering the Passat feels heavier than the curb weight numbers might reflect. This heavy feeling doesn’t affect the overall performance of the Passat, it just gives it a rock solid feel, especially when cruising down the highway. Even though handling is sporty, this doesn’t mean the suspension is at all punishing. The Volkswagen Passat can be driven for literally hours on end, without the driver feeling that he worked his but off, or got beat up in the process of going from point A to point B.
Overall I was very impressed with the performance of the Passat.

The Passat is a winner because it does many things well. There is definitely something to be said for German engineering, and how it equates to the road manners of a vehicle. Sure some of the competition might be slightly faster, handle slightly better, and be slightly less pricey. But, where the Passat edges ahead of the competition is the rock solid, expensive feel, and overall room and comfort that makes this Volkswagen impossible to overlook. The price is only a factor if you can’t spend that much cash for any car, period. If you can, the Passat Wagon is a bargain when compared to some even more expensive cars, which it outperforms. If you have already bought one of the competitors vehicles, and just like reading car reviews to pass the time, DO NOT test drive a Passat, as you will probably be kicking yourself afterwards. (I was!) Of course if you haven’t bought yet, I would urge you to rum down to your local VW dealership and take a Passat for a spin.