Used Volkswagen Passat cars

The style of the car

The Volkswagen Passat is available as a saloon or an estate. The saloon version seats five adults, with a generous boot for luggage, while the estate offers a larger boot and SUV-like practicality in a sleek, attractive package. It’s one of the most popular family cars in the UK.

How it drives

The Volkswagen Passat was designed with long-distance travel in mind, and is one of the best cars of its kind for motorway journeys. It has good all-round visibility, and all cars come with front and rear parking sensors to make manoeuvring a bit easier. It’s no sports car, but clean, powerful engines should inspire confidence at all speeds.

The interior

The Passat is a family-sized car. It has space for four adults to travel in comfort, or five to go on shorter trips, and the boot of the estate version rivals much larger cars for space. You can carry bicycles with the back seats folded down, too.

Running costs and reliability

Despite its premium pedigree, a used Volkswagen Passat is very affordable to buy and run. It’s been around for many years and has sold in huge numbers, so there’s a lot to pick from. With great fuel economy you won’t have to visit the pumps too often, and insurance and tax are both low. As for reliability, Volkswagen scored above average in the JD Power Dependability survey so you shouldn’t encounter many issues with a Passat. Maintenance and servicing costs are very reasonable, while the Passat is incredibly safe - when tested by Euro NCAP it achieved the full five stars.

How it compares with similar cars

The Passat is about the same size as the Vauxhall Insignia and the Skoda Octavia, both of which are also available in saloon and estate form. In terms of family practicality, it’s similar to the Volkswagen Tiguan SUV. It’s a popular car all over the world and has earned prestigious awards for its design.

The VW Passat is actually on our list of the top 10 most comfortable used cars. What makes a car comfortable? Our guide has all the answers.