Used 2003 Volkswagen Passat Consumer Reviews
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Love It!!
To the guy who complained about no room for owner's manual--there's a cubby for it underneath steering wheel- -I didn't know it was there, either until I read about it online. And VW is replacing all 4 coils now, so that point is moot, too. I am so in love with this car--I'd marry it if I could. I've always been a car nut, but don't think I've ever been so pleased with one. I have 10,000 miles today (bought back in July--allegely first 2003 in town) and never had any problems. Great in snow, excellent mpg, etc. Can't figure out why they put 180 hp in Jetta but only 170 in Passat.
VW Passat SW
My Passat SW is very fun to drive. I recently drove down to Florida with it and it was very comfortable. I just wish I had more power (but thats why you can buy it in V6 or W8 and if you can afford it I highly recommend it. Overall this is the best station wagon in the market!
- GLX WagonMSRP: $3,250364 mi away
- GLS 1.8T SedanMSRP: $2,295438 mi away
- GLX 4Motion WagonMSRP: $5,999712 mi away
What a fun car!
I have only had my car a few weeks, but what a fun car it is! As I'm still breaking it in, my mileage is improving with every tank (28mpg on the last one). The tiptronic feature is awesome. If you hit a stretch of road that you want to switch to standard shifting, you pop it over and drive! The engineers who designed this vehicle thought of just about everything!
Review
The best car for the money! I do really a lot of driving...i don't know what dealership's shop looks like
V-6 is worth it
When youre looking for a car that looks and feels good, it is easy to overlook engine performance. This bad boy has some awesome pick up. It truely is a dream to drive. I love my car!!!
Great Car
I own a 2000 Model and for a 6ft+ size guy, its a great car. Comfortable, great leg room,handles extremely well in bad weather, fun to drive and safe as well. Plus looks great, its a luxurgy car in my book.
Great Car
My wife drove a Mecury Tracer for 12 years. One ride in the Passat and she fell in love with the car. We test drove the Accord, but the Accord could not come close to the Passats quiet ride, comfort, styling and build quality. The Passat has plenty of power and the transmission is so smooth, you can't feel it shifting. The power seat are also great. My wife's only complaint is, not enough interior cargo space.
Passat according to Mac
Interior Dash guages very hard to read during daylight hours. An additional sun visor to provide both forward and side protection. Tremendous road feeling at all speeds.Very good acceleration, roomy interior and trunk. Very difficult to find a bad rating.
Great car, but interior could be nicer
I went out truck shopping and came home with the Passat Wagon turbo. It gets close to 30 MPG and is so fun to drive that I even went without my coveted 6 cyl engine and 4 wheel drive. It whips around tight u-turns, accelerates like crazy on the freeway (moves just as fluidly between 90 mph and 120 mph as between 40-70 mph), makes almost no noise on the road and has a sick sound system. It feels great on the road even at high speed and still accelerates at altitude and climbing mountains.
What a great car!
This is our second Passat GLX (our other is a 1999). Neither one has had any problems, and both are a blast to drive. The new bodystyle has brought even more elegance and refinement...I recommend this car to everybody in the midsize sedan category. We looked at both the new Accord EX and 2004 Maxima SL, and although they both have 240+ hp engines, fall short in overall refinement.
Passat ---GREAT CAR---
When you sit in the car, it fits you like a glove. Great road performance, it stick to the road. When you need the power, it delivers......
The best one I have owned
I like this car. It is comfortable, reasonably powerful, gets decent mileage even with AWD and feels solid. I had a couple warranty problems - one with brake pads, the other with a temperature sensor. Both were fixed by the dealer without charge.
CV Boots and Axles
Three years old with 22,000 total miles. Vehicle driven less than 3 miles to work and back 5x a week. Personal use only. Overall, happy with styling and performance, features. Highway mpg is 30 plus with air on. Original Continental tires had to be replaced at 19,000 miles. CV boots outer and inner and both front axles replaced at 21,900 miles by dealer with free parts but we paid labor of $195.00. After 4 new tires, balance and wheel alignment at 19,000 miles, vehicle continues to pull right. Dealer says it's normal. Rear brakes needed and done when boots/axles replaced. Rotors can't be turned because VW does not manufacture with enough tolerance to permit it.
Love It!!!!!!
I absolutely love this car! I've had it for three weeks now and I can't find enough excuses to go for a drive. The handling and styling of this vehicle makes you feel like you are driving a car worth 20 grand more!! I believe this is the best value you will find in a family style sedan.
Almost 100,000 and feels like new
We purchased this car new in 03 (03 Passat Wagon 5 MT, heated seats, monsoon sound), my wife drove it for 98,000 miles with minimal hassle. She replaced with an 08 Passat Sedan (6 MT not offered in 09). Car has been well maintained by dealer with mainly wear and tear items. Car is a blast to drive. Kind of a sleeper; five year old station wagon that can get up and move. You feel safe and sure footed in all weather and all road conditions. Mileage: I have been getting 26 to 27 in city driving (I do stomp on it a bit but coast steady when I can); I think on highway only trips it gets 32 or 33.
2003 Passat Wagon
This car looks good and drives well but it lacks in reliability. It burns oil and is plagued with recalls. This is the second VW I own and again to be disappointed.
Blend of value and compromise
In general the pros far outweigh the cons. For the price, I find the car to be a steal. The car is very sturdy. The quality of interior and exterior material is top notch. I purchased this car mainly because it has tons of safety features. For a family sedan, the 1.8T engine is adequate. Although the engine is a little noisy at lower revs, it is quite smooth at higher speeds. I feel that road noise is excessive. This may be attributed to the Continental tires. I highly recommend this car.
LOVE IT
AFTER TEST DRIVING ALL SIMILAR STYLES AND PRICE RANGES, THIS CAR WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEST FOR THE MONEY, IT HAS ALL THE EXTRAS. THE COMFORT & THE RIDE ARE INCREDIBLE. I TELL EVERYONE I KNOW
1.8T 5MT GLS Wagon is a wonderful car!
Just came back from a 2,400 mi trip (Ontario to NC and back). The car is absolutely fantastic: excellent performance in heavy traffic and on highway, low fuel consumption (average 33.11mpg with AC on, 65-70MPH) and very comfortable seats. Great torque @ 2000rpm, very stable/quiet car. I only miss the 6-speed manual transmission. This car will serve you well if the driving habits are reasonable and maintenance is properly done (5W40 syn oil every 5,000mi, good oil and air filters). Yes, some repairs are expensive at the dealer but if you find a good repair shop you'll see a huge drop in ownership costs.
GREAT CAR EXCEPT FOR AUDIO SYSTEM
WE HAVE HAD OUR PASSAT FOR THREE MONTHS AND MY WIFE LOVES TO DRIVE IT. SHE COMMUTES ABOUT 60 MILES PER DAY ROUND TRIP. VW HAS A GREAT CAR EXCEPT FOR THE RADIO. WE HAVE HAD STATIC IN THE RADIO SINCE WE GOT THE CAR AND THE DEALER HAS WORKED ON IT THREE TIMES WITHOUT SOLVING THE PROBLEM THE MONSOON SOUND SYSTEM WORKS GREAT WITH CD'S BUT THE RADIO RECEPTION IS TERRIBLE. LOCAL FM STATIONS HAVE VARYING DEGREES OF STATIC. I WAS TOLD THE LAST TIME THAT THE RADIO IS OPERATING "WITHIN MANUFACURER SPECS" BUT WE STILL HAVE STATIC. CALLING VW CUSTOMER SERVICE DID NO GOOD. MAYBE VW SHOULD GET ITS RADIOS FROM THE JAPANESE OR THE US.
Great Car
This car is great. It is fun to drive and is very stylish in the interior and exterior.
Lemon
Fairly fun car, but very poor construction. New tires every 25K mi, interior trim repeatedly broke, fuel pump failed, pwr windows failed, and on and on until the engine finally blew. 100% dealer serviced according to factory specs. Been towed more than once. I have been a very satisfied VW owner in the past, but this is it.
Cool Sport Wagon
My partner and I just got a '99 GLS 1.8T wagon in Feb. of this year. Before then I'd always wanted a Passat but had never driven one. Had owned VWs in the past, however. This is not a car to be overlooked. The overall build quality is that of a car costing thousands more. And that legendary VW handling and performance can't be matched in this price class. This is the "GAP" version to Audi's A4 1.8T Avant "Banana Republic" car!
Will Not Buy Another One
I purchased my V6 4Motion new and had only minor issues for the first 2 years. Love to drive this car. It is hard on tires and brakes. I am now in my 5th year of ownership and spent nearly $3000 in repairs this year. The alternator went bad followed by a leak in the seam of the gas tank. This should have been addressed by VW as a recall. There is not even a service bulletin to found even though I know of other cases. On top of that when replacing the fuel tank, I found that VW changed the design to the fuel tank which meant that the fuel sending unit had to be replaced. When I contacted VW all they offered to do was send me a $1500 voucher for a new VW. Fat chance!!
Wish I had the autobahn
Sweet car to drive, absolutely delighted I purchased the passat GLX. I considered the Mazda6, and Altima and after a rigorous test drive the Altima was out of contention. Both the Mazda6 and Passat were delightful on the course but the feel of the VW was better. The standard safety features eliminated the mazda. Highlights: Cruising at 120 using a BMW as a very fast rabbit while having a casual conversation with my daughter without realizing how fast we were flying. I let the rabbit go - there was more play to be had if I desired. Stopping on a dime after traffic came to a dead halt without the slightest hint of danger.
BMW performance w/o the price
This car handles as well as our 300i and has all the bells and whistles that the BMW has - but at $10,000 less. The 4 wheel drive is phenomenal. This car sticks to the road better than our X5. We bought it for our teen, but I may get one for myself.
A nice car
Good car for the money. Nice build quality with spacious interior. Coming off an A4 I find the handling a bit lacking in corners but the ride quality is better. Would have bought another Audi but with the Passat sharing so many components it wasn't worth the extra eight grand. Only major concern; the auto isn't matched well to the engine, use of the tipronic is a must.
Passat
This automobile feels like a $50,000 BMW without the high maintainence cost.
Family Wagon
Chose this over SUV. Fine and practicle for our family. Handles great and very fun to drive. Lots of extras.
Passat Highline 1.8T
This is a great car. I own a German spec Passat Highline. It has many features not avalable here in the USA. The 1.8T engine is great for tuning (chips, exaust, and intake) I have easly 220HP from a 4cyl petrol engine. This is a great car to drive and identical to its twin sister the Audi A4 1.8T. I recomend both cars to anyone. Im a loyal VAG customer and sometimes the dealerships here in the USA dont know there heads from there asses but those are the minor things compaired to such a great looking ride. Danke! Michael (Miami, FL/Munich Germany)
Love it! But expensive to repair
This is my second Passat; bought it used in 2006. It is a joy to drive, and is one of the few 5-speed wagons available in this class. Both Passats had reliability problems ('98: cam followers bad at 120k; window regulator at 60K) ('03: turbo out at 70K, water leaks from roof drains). But in spite of these and many other problems, I bought a second one because it is so much fun to drive and looks great. I will put up with the costs because I love it.
Awesome car!!
After doing a ton of research, I decided on the Passat, both for value and for style. This car is extremely fun to drive. The blue anthracite with black leather is a great color combo. This is my first new car and I couldn't be happier. I feel like I'm driving a much more expensive car. It's so quiet inside with all the windows shut and the climate control running. The Passat is simply an awesome car. I highly recommend it.
Passat Wagon
I bought this car used and have since put over 50,000 miles on it without hardly having to put in any maintenance costs. It is really a great car - drives well, is comfortable, gets decent to good gas mileage and holds its value.
Very impressive
Recently bought this car to replace our Volvo V70 wagon which broke down. Wow, is this car great. In hindsight I wish I would have never bought the Volvo. The feel and drive of this car is great. It seems to be well designed and engineered. The interior is luxurious, and the car handles great. The 4Motion system which is really the Audi Quattro system is very responsive. I look forward to many great years with this car.
It's not my father's VW
Finally bought the car I wanted. Interior looks like a car costing $10K more and exterior style and finish is classy. The seats are extremely comfortable and the ride is smooth with just enough firmness to give confidence in the handling. Instruments at night are just plain cool, and Monsoon stereo sounds great. If I'm this happy in 5 years it will be worth every penny.
Great Car
Excellent mileage and easy to manuever in and out of small places. Good stability - Appears heavier than it actually is so it holds the road well. Comfortable to drive with 3 seat controls. Fanatastic Monsoon audio sound. Cold weather package includes heated washer tips and rear view mirror defrosters
Be Careful
Leased this vehicle for 36 months and had to have dealer buy it back after only 3 months.Lost alot of money on this car.Be very careful.VW Cust Service is horrible. I had an allergic reation to something in the interior of the car. Awful smell started coming from interior roof materials, especially when sun had been beating down on car. Eyelids began burning severly and eyelids turned brown.Also began to happen to my husband,when he started driving car.Velour seat materials are suspect also for allergic reation.I now have a 2003 Acura Tl and have no allergic reations whatsoever. I know this is a strange story, but very true. Just be careful.
Indigo Blue
Only had the car for less than 1000 miles, drives and feels very solid. Lucky enough to be in Germany while driving it, get to really drive it to its full potential. 1.8T is a very responsive engine, quiet on the Autobahn even at 100 mph. Fun car to drive, still in love with the blue instrument cluster. It is American Specs.
Dameeche's review
So far this vehicle is a great joy to drive. hld the road superbly. Steering is tight and direct make it feel as though you have total control over the car. The interior and exterior design is great but simply elegant w./ a sporty feel. Mechanically seems good - hope that the reliability is there, as it should be by all indications.
Can't wait to get another one.
Very easy review to write. Outstanding car at a very fair price. Feel like i'm bought a 3-series BMW for $26K! Why spend more. Would buy this car again without hesitation!!
German Quality at a Bargain
Shotlisted the Honda Accord EX and the Passat 1.8T. The Passat was a hands down winner. The interior is well appointed. Good quality materials used. I got the luxury package and the leather seats are just great. Although the Honda has far greater horsepower, the Passat felt more solid on the drive and handling. Do not make your choice before driving this baby.
Will never own another car!!!
Just bought my GLS wagon last week. I love it!!! Very comfortable, safe, stylish, affordable, just an overall great purchase. This is my first non- american car, and I'm glad I made the decision.
9000 KMs and Loving It
With our 2 kids we weren't sure whether we made the right decision about buying a wagon over a mini-van. I am so glad we got this wagon!! It hauls as much as a minivan, gets great mileage (averaging 32mpg), very comfortable both up front and in the back seats and is a blast to drive. We got into an accident early on and the wagon handled it like a tank. This thing is built like a tank. For a family of 4 or less, this is the car to get.
Second Passat in 1 year
Originally owned a 2001.5 passat V6 FWD. Was totaled in accident and, due to the excellent safety features engineered into it having saved my hide I bought a new 2003 GLX V6 4motion. The 2001.5 V6 FWD had great acceleration, good gas mileage (22/25). The 2003 V6 AWD has poorer acceleration and much poorer gas mileage (19/23). I understand that the AWD is 400 lbs. heavier than the FWD, but this difference is way more than I expected or can write off to weight. Love the tiptronic. Love the interior lighting.The suspension on the 2003 seems mushier than the 2001.5.
My first fun VW
After owning FOUR Honda Accords, I decided to go for more. Great styling, handles like a BMW, excellent features like 200 watt Monsoon sound system, power seats with memory and great moonroof. NOT as quick as the V6 Accord, but traction control and handling are superior. Nicely styled too.
GLX Best German Engineering value
I have had the GLX for 5 months now; it is the best car out there for the money. I look forward to getting into it each morning; the design and performance are what would be expected in a $50,000 German Sedan. All of the "extra" features that are uncovered in the first few weeks make this car truly special.
Beautiful German Engineering with STYLE!
Don't think twice about buying this car. BUY IT NOW!...before the prices go up. Talk about beautiful engineering. Solid feel, quite, and fast as hell. Handles great. Everything about this car exudes quality. Just compare it with the Japanese stuff, you will quickly see there is no comparison. The style is classy, receiving complements from everyone. Before you buy an Asian manufactured car, check out the Passat. You will be so thankful you did!
New Car
I've had this car for about a month and I LOVE IT. It's comparable to Acura's. I can't wait to put Yokohama Tires on it and fix it up piece by piece! RECALLS are great. A new TURBO has been put in it! You can still smell it breaking in ;) The turbo reminds me of V tec in my '98 Acura 3.0 CL.
Not far from the Audi A4
Purchased the car 2 months ago and is a blast to drive when you punch the accelerator. Very comfortable and has an upscale feel. I am concerned a little with reliability as the car has hesitated to start several times, but seems to have stopped as the miles go up.
Great Car-Compares to near luxury class
Great car. It is tight, handles great, and has plenty of power with the 1.8 turbo. I drove the Saab 9- 3, Audi A-4, Acura TSX before deciding on the Passat and love it! It has more room than the A4, and is thousands less. The Saab is nice, but again the Passat does it all better for less, and the Acura..blah, blah. The Passat could easily compete with cars costing $10,000 more. I drove the 6cyl Passat and preferred the 1.8, it felt peppier with the turbo, and is easier on the gas, the leather adds a lot of luxury to the car, with leather wrapped steering wheel & controls, heated seats, rear sunshade and heated nozzles...it's worth it.