Volkswagen Passat Wagon

Stay far away from the 2.0T engined Passats. Owned one of these from new (9 years), it was a nice car for the first couple of years, gradually turned into a lemon. The good: - nice interior, leather seats are good - good cargo capacity for size - decent motor for touring, good highway manners The bad: - everything else, particularly cost of repairs Problems encountered: - the kids broke every door handle at least once (and they aren't that big) - gas flap broke off, very expensive replacement - ECU and throttle body replacement that VW Canada paid for as the dealer couldn't fix the problem - parking brake/traction control sensor issues - very poor clearance (Vancouver snow was too much for it) - cracked aluminum oil pan (see poor clearance plus vancouver potholes) - the coup de grace: broken timing belt leading to multiple valves hitting pistons and a destroyed engine. We look after cars and try to keep them for the long haul; our 2007 VW Passat wagon was a very poor choice for that.