The Passat replaces a 1988 Subaru wagon that I bought used for not much and drove into the ground. It was nearly worthless when I gave it away. If I needed real transportaiton I rented cars or drove my wife’s decade-old highly used Infiniti (also bought used, for not much).

Before the Passat was a … Hmm. I’ve written about this before. Here ya go: All My Rides.

I got the Passat with 111,000 miles from a friend moving to Argentina. It cost $5k, and had a book value of $2.5k more than that at the time. I’m sure it was north of $22k new. It also needed a lot of work.

I’ve had my regrets — it’s always needed a lot of work. But it’s comfortable, quiet, relatively safe and handles well, which means more to me in for accident-avoidance than it does for driving thrills.

For what it’s worth, my car-lusting days ended two decades ago. There are no cars now that I wish I had. In fact, my favorite car is the damed Passat, mostly because it’s what I’ve got. Even though it does need a lot of fixing.