Road Tests: Long-Term Test

As is often the case with our long-term cars, the Passat got passed around from day to day, as the assigned driver, Road Test Editor John DiPietro, was out of town for a week and was in a test car for another. Rather than redundantly extol the virtues of the 1.8-liter turbo four's flat powerband, or the Passat's supple suspension, we shall regale our readers with a maintenance and upkeep installment.

As the VeeDub was showing 39,500 miles on the clock, John decided it was a good time to make an appointment at the local VW dealer to have the 40,000-mile service done. He made the call and got an appointment for a few days later.

Taking a look at the owner's manual (seems obvious but we'll recommend it anyway) is always a good idea to see what is and isn't listed for the car's service. We saw that the Passat would require the following at this juncture of its life: oil change and filter, tire rotation (if needed), replacement of air filter and spark plugs, and an inspection (and adjustment if applicable) of the timing belt, exhaust system, brakes, drive shaft boots and V-belt. Lastly, the level of various vital fluids was checked, including coolant, manual transmission oil and power steering fluid.

During the inspection portion of the service, everything checked out fine. It was determined that the front brake pads were looking a bit thin (down to 2 millimeters!), so we OK'd a front brake job. When all was said and done, the total came to $341.83, not including tax, of which $202.39 was for the brake job.

Scrutinizing the bill, we saw that the dealership's technicians had determined that neither air filter replacement (our car has a washable aftermarket filter) nor tire rotation was needed. We also discovered that the spark plugs were nearly $9 each and that the brake pads cost an astounding $135.19! When we last checked, our Passat didn't have the exotic braking system featured on Porsche's new 911 GT2. Seems the car dealers have to make up for all those skinny deals done on the showroom floor somehow. As expected, the service personnel were cheerful and prompt (hmmm, I wonder why).

While pulling into his apartment's garage one night, John noticed that the Passat's right headlight was out. Remembering that some time ago a headlight was replaced, he checked to see which one had expired before. Looking at the past monthly updates, he read that the right one had been replaced, but checking the service records revealed that it was actually the left one that was replaced by the dealer ... at a cost of $55.

John checked out the newly blown headlight and saw that only the bulb needed to be replaced, as opposed to the whole headlamp assembly. The breakdown for the dealer to replace the first gone light equated to $15.34 for the bulb and $40 for labor. Before you could say "Holy Rip-off, Batman!" John went to the dealer's parts department, bought the $15 bulb and, with the assistance of Road Test Coordinator Neil Chirico, replaced it in about 5 minutes, requiring only a Philips screwdriver and a certain amount of dexterity. John was moved to quip, after saving the company some scratch, "Paying the dealer 40 bucks to replace a headlight bulb is like paying a doctor to clip your fingernails." (Unless of course you had an ingrown nail, but let's not ruin the analogy, OK?)

Current Odometer: 40,829
Best Fuel Economy: 31.9 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 20.3 mpg
Average Fuel Economy (over the life of the vehicle): 25.7 mpg
Body Repair Costs: None
Maintenance Costs: $139.44 (40,000-mile service); $202.39 (front brake pad replacement); $15.34 (right headlight).
Problems: None.