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Tag: B5.5

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2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 4Motion Variant with 33,000 Miles

Earlier in the day that I wrote this, I was out and about doing errands with my son in my 2002 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T Variant. I was enjoying a sunny spring day that has finally arrived in New England, sunroof open with my son pointing out everything of interest to him; which is most things, as it turns out. But what struck me as I drove around is how nice and underrated the Passat is; an Audi in a Volkswagen dress, it’s a well built, quiet and comfortable cruiser. When you want to go a bit faster, it acts more like a big GTi than a small Audi. And in back, it can swallow a load of cargo that would leave most sport utility vehicles to shame. Yet the Passat is often overlooked as a choice, heaped into the Check-Engine-Light generation of Volkswagen Audi products to look out for. Well, speaking from now 6 years of Passat ownership, it’s never once left me stranded and for what should be a dull daily driver, it’s a good looking and fun to drive reminder of why we buy German cars. To top off my drive, I ended at my mechanics where I had to drop off some parts for the Coupe GT; one of the patrons walked out and up to the Passat and remarked “It looks like a new car!” While that may be a bit of a stretch on my 12 year old, 115,000 mile example, it’s not on this top of the line Passat today – a W8 4Motion Variant with a scant 33,474 miles covered since new:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 on eBay

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2004 Volkswagen Passat GLX V6 5-speed Manual

Growing up, my parents had an affinity for Hondas. I think years of Fiats wore my father down and the reliability of Japanese subcompacts was too attractive. But then, in the late 1990s, Volkswagen changed the mid-sized sedan game with the B5 Passat. Sharing architecture with the Audi A4, the new Passat brought a lot of luxury and refinement to what was becoming an otherwise lackluster vehicle segment in the US. Sure enough, my parents traded their 1997 Honda Accord EX for a 1999 Passat GLS V6 with a 5-speed manual gearbox. It took a while to have the car delivered, since the manual gearbox was a bit of an oddball request, but once they got the car, it was leaps and bounds more engaging than the four cylinder Accord ever was. My parents kept the car for about three years before trading it for a 2000 Mercedes-Benz C280 (which they still have), but I was a big fan of that Passat.

This silver on black leather 2004 Passat for sale in Pennsylvania is the later B5.5 generation, but has the same color and drivetrain combination as the Passat that was in our family, one that I have fond memories of. It was one of those cars that should have stuck around in the garage a bit longer.

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2004 Volkswagen Passat GLX V6 on eBay

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