 I needed to move into a larger car.  Previous car was 2003 Jetta TDI sedan and I really loved it.  It got great mileage and was fun to drive but not quite large enough for a growing family.  We decided on the Passat Wagon because we were in no way getting a minivan nor SUV.  We wanted the performance and handling of a car and not the bulk or stigma of a van or SUV.  It was down to the Passat or Subaru Outback.  In the end we went with the Passat as VW bank was offering 60 mos at 0%. While there may be posts out there complaining about quality, we've not seen any issues yet.  The same issues were reported for my Jetta and over 5 years, few of those issues ever arose. 