My friend is looking for a new car. He went to the local VW dealer and took home an '03 Passat 4Motion W8 (35,000 miles... dealer is asking $20,000) for the night. He took me for a test ride and it seems like a great daily driver. The launch is very soft, but when the RPMs get up... this thing feels really strong. Found 0-60 in 6.3 and 1/4 in 14.4 second on the MotorTrend website. Not a bad car for the money at all, the engine is smooth and has a nice tone but its not even close to being loud. The interior was awesome. Great entry level luxury car imo. Only thing I would worry about is the long-term reliability of the drivetrain. Would probably pay to opt for some type of extended warranty.

Since thats basically the same drivetrain as the A4 (may not be made in Germany though) I would think it's pretty bulletproof. It's amazing that Audi developed a full time AWD drivetrain that holds up.

read in motor trend someone stole their Passat W8 6-speed while they were test driving it and stopped to eat at a diner... they found it a few days later with a destroyed clutch... $3500 fix.