We love our Passat. We have had it about 6 months now and other than a few minor details with the mechanic fixing it, there hasn't been much to complain about. We bought it second hand from an older couple, which means we got lucky and there was nothing really wrong with it at all.
Other than having to use premium gasoline, which is expensive enough, it seems to use the same amount of fuel as our last vehilce did.