 Ours is a single owner 1999 Passat.  Problems started the first month and thousands of dollars later, they continue.  We have had 2 major brake repairs.   We have had a number of electrical problems ranging from irritating-- the trunk latch, the dashboard lights and emergency sounds, the rider's side window--to completely unreliable--the ignition, the starter.  The undercarriage panel fell off while we were driving.  The wiper fluid reservoir has a hole in it, the oil reservoir leaks.  Lots of small plastic pieces inside have broken or fallen off.  The car has had to be towed more than the total of all of the cars we've owned in 25 years of marriage and it only has 55,000 miles on it. 