Road Tests: Long-Term Test

Our pearly-silver Volkswagen Passat returned to the welcome embrace of Associate Editor Liz Kim for the month. Liz is still pleased by the "surprise and delight" features that the Passat slowly reveals, such as the tilt/telescoping steering wheel and the rubber "skirt" on the door that prevents a nasty, ugly screeching sound when a passenger opens the door while parked against a high curb. This month, she discovered that the door provides puddle lights for ingress/egress facility in the dark. "It really helps in preventing you from stepping in something icky when parking at Denny's to assuage a midnight mozzarella stick jones," she ruminated.

The Passat betrays signs of aging, however, as the CD cartridge is stuck in its holder, and the dash area rattles when you hit a bump in the road. Nothing significant or anything that can be isolated, mind you, but there's an overall sense that it's not as buttoned-down as it was when we bought it at 20,000 miles.

Also, once when Liz made a sudden stop, the hand brake light on the dash illuminated, accompanied by three beeps. Road Test Coordinator Neil Chirico surmised that the brake fluid was low, and in the instance that the Passat was rocked, such as during an emergency stop, the brake fluid must have sloshed around, and the gauge must have thought it empty. We'll make certain to get that checked at our next service interval, which will come around in another 900 miles.

Sometime in the month, when this month's driver was in and out of other press vehicles, some uncouth scoundrel, who refused to reveal his identity, utilized the cupholder for some syrupy liquid refreshment. True to form, the drink spilled, rendering the cupholder useless once again — it is stuck in the closed position. When we locate the perp, we'll give him a sound thrashing.

Photo Editor Scott Jacobs appropriated the Veedub when Miss Kim was out of town, and had this to say: "I must admit that my enthusiasm is starting to wane for our Passat now that VW has released the 2001.5 New Passat. The new version just makes ours look plain. I liked the looks of ours, but I never thought that it was the most exciting design in the world. The complaints about being a Euro cookie cutter design are really apparent now. The chrome accents, longer hood, different wheels and exciting colors really bring its image up a notch or two. It still has a youthful vibe, but it says of the owner that 'I've arrived,' only without the luxury price tag."

Our staff has been noticing the 2001.5 Passats zipping around town, but Liz felt that the chrome accents are just too garish for such a car whose subtle elegance is one of its main draws. Eager to get her views validated, Liz conducted an informal poll around the road test staff's offices to see if others agreed with Mr. Jacobs' assessment.

The participants were evenly split, with half preferring the old model: "I prefer the old Passat. It was cleaner, less bulbous, not trying to be something it's not (a luxury car)," stated Editor-in-Chief Wardlaw, while the other contingents liked the 2001.5 model for precisely that reason. "The tasteful use of chrome accents gives it a more upscale look. The taillights are a little funky but not offensive," said style guru Road Test Editor John DiPietro. We'll do a road test of the updated Passat in the very near future, so keep an eye out for a full report.

There's no denying that it's still a fun car to drive, however. Liz thinks that the Passat is a happy medium between the fancy-schmancy entry-level luxury sport sedans that she became acquainted with for the month and the churlish Subaru Impreza WRX that she had the chance to drive. Liz concludes with this stamp of approval: "This is the best sedan this side of $30,000; even those who could afford more will not be disappointed if they opt for the Passat instead."

Current Odometer: 34,110
Best Fuel Economy: 31.3 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 22.4 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 25.3 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: None
Problems: None