Volkswagen has garnered a good reputation for reliability over the years, but the results of some customer satisfaction surveys and reliability studies sometimes undermine the company’s good name in this department. However, Volkswagen came 11th in the league of manufacturers in the most recent JD Power customer satisfaction survey, with the Passat 50th in the table of the 104 most popular cars. Warranty Direct, though, scored the Passat as lower than average in its Reliability Index, with average repair costs of £413.78. Perceived build quality matches the standards we’ve come to expect from Volkswagen. The body looks solid and sturdy, and the cabin is still comfortable and practical, despite being slightly more minimalist in order to save weight. Softer-touch plastics are used on the on the upper surfaces of the cabin, with the harder ones fitted to surfaces on the lower reaches, where they’re likely to have to contend with rougher treatment.
The initial purchase price of £20,955 isn’t exactly cheap, but it’s certainly competitive with other cars in its class (however, the 1.6-litre engine is smaller than the 2.0-litre units most rivals are fitted with). As we mentioned earlier, the Passat Estate Bluemotion’s running costs should be lower than its similarly sized rivals, thanks its excellent fuel economy and low emissions. An official figure of 64.2mpg on the combined cycle is superb for a car this size – and it is achievable in the real world (we actually managed to beat it, albeit by driving very slowly and carefully on a mix of rural and urban roads). Likewise, CO2 emissions are a best-in-class 114g/km, so vehicle excise duty will cost just £30 a year. Passat residuals tend to be pretty strong compared to rivals, with the Volkswagen brand values helping them to remain high: Bluemotion models, with their low running costs, are in even greater demand, so this Passat variant should retain even more than the rest of the range.
Read the full Volkswagen Passat Estate Bluemotion 1.6 TDI road test
