Stephen, I have friends who are VW techs, I hear everyone in management
calls their travel agents when a W8 comes in for service.

I had a pampered 00 Passat with the 30v Audi V6, it was the end of my
relationship with VWoA and the end of my flirtation with 'newer' VW's.  

Surf around on passatworld.com for a taste of the maintenance and other
expenses associated with ownership before doing more than dreaming.  

VW is supposed to be the people's car, the Passat is the rich people's car.
They are incredibly expensive to own.  

Also, watch the 1.8T, they have a serious issue with sludging in that car
that is not present in the transverse Golf/Jetta platform.  

That said, the B5 Passat is one of the best looking watercooled VW's ever
made, I sure wish they were less painful to own.  

HTH

Joe

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Stephen Grisanti
Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 10:08 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Passat W8

I knew about the W12 in the Phaeton, but did not know about this engine or
that it had been available in the Passat.� Now two of these cars turned up
at neighborhood lots a block apart. Both 2003, both pale metallic green,
both 4Motion, both manumatic, one a wagon with matching green leather and
the other a sedan with tan leather.� I looked up the engine and it's two
narrow-angle VR4s side by side.� Looks hellaciously complicated, but they
look like pretty nice cars.� Just dreaming.
�
Stephen