Solid European vehicle

I've been driving my 2003 Passat for three months now. It's a Colorado Red GLS model with the tiptronic transmission, 4-cylinder engine, Monsoon stereo and winter package. After 4,000 miles here's my two cents on the car:

Pros:

The engine is great, it provides a good balance of power and economy. Coupled with the Tiptronic tranny it makes for a car that is fun to drive, in my opinion. It's a nice smooth engine that has all the power I need while being relatively quiet and providing good economy.

The ride and handling of the Passat is terrific, the ride feels very solid and well-connected to the road (mostly) yet soaks up the bumps nicely. Handling is somewhat limited by the stock Continental tires but is acceptable, certainly. Also the ride is very quiet at highway speeds, virtually no wind noise.

I like the exterior and interior styling; I think the exterior is handsome in an understated way and I like the appearance of my light-colored interior which is also nicely understated. So many cars now seem to use shiny, silvery plastic interior accents -- yuck! The Passat's interior is anything but flashy and that appeals to me. And the car has heated seats, love those!

Cons:

The tires certainly come to mind. Have had two flat tires so far, one was repairable, one wasn't. When driving on some twisty roads I have wished for more aggressive tires, but I understand the Passat is not sold as a sports car and the Continentals do seem to provide a reasonable compromise between comfort and performance. Just wish they had some durability.

The interior: While I like the appearance quite a bit, there is a distinct lack of storage space; the center console storage is really, really minimal (a pair of sunglasses pretty much fills it up) and there's nowhere else to put stuff. Well, you have that odd hole in the dash to the left of the steering column and the glove box, but those don't amount to much. The light colored interior is not very scuff resistant. Finally, the stock floor mats were really thin and cheesy; the first thing I did was drop $100 bucks at the VW website for some nice all-season mats.

The Monsoon sound system has not impressed me; the bass seems overboosted and "boomy" and the doors produce an audible buzz or vibration even with the bass setting in the middle. I'm talking about while listening to NPR not the latest rap tunes. Have to wonder why the woofers are in the door and not the rear deck where they belong. Also, if I'm not mistaken, there's no input for an MP3 player.

So, it's not perfect but it's pretty close. I really like the car. The engine and transmission are sweet, I never, ever drive in "D" anymore, I make every shift manually. I think I would like the car far less with a "normal" automatic transmission because it has a turbocharged engine that makes no power below 2500 RPM.

UPDATE AS OF LABOR DAY 2003: Am up to 12,000 miles on the car, it is running great. I did have a problem with the coils but they were replaced quickly by the dealer and I've had no problems since then. I do think VW could have been more proactive on that coil issue, by the way.

Fuel economy has been terrific, I'm still averaging 26 or so and got around 32 or 33 on a road trip to Ohio and back (from Maryland).

My brother was in town recently and couldn't say enough nice things about the car. I think he was particularly impressed with the fuel economy we got while driving this nice, refined automobile; I don't think it was much different than his little Honda Civic coupe.

I do find myself wishing for a five-speed most days. While the tiptronic transmission is terrific I occasionally lose track of what gear I'm in. Also, sometimes when I slow down for a corner, say from fourth to second gear, I downshift twice but the car also decides to downshift once and suddenly I'm in first gear (!). I just enjoy the true control that a manual transmission gives you. Still happy with the purchase, however! :-)