Hi Rob,

You’re better, if you can, to go for a 2004 or 2005 –  a late facelift really improved the Passat’s build quality and headed off a lot of reliability issues, including front suspension problems, gearbox failures and electronics woes. They’re still pretty well made cars mind you, so as long as you find one that’s been care for properly and has a decent service history, you’ll probably be fine. The 130hp 1.9 TDI diesel is wonderfully stumpy in its performance, but it is a good bit noisier than more modern diesels. The 120k mileage is actually pretty low considering how old the car is, but again, as ever, it’s down to care and condition – not mileage.