Well-equipped and stylish, the Volkswagen Passat makes a good choice as a family car. The interior is comfortable and the estate models in particular offer a large carrying capacity. With around 150,000 examples sold in the UK, there is a good choice of second-hand versions – at reasonable prices. Indeed, Mike Brewer from the TV show Pulling Power says “The VW Passat is one of the best value medium size cars on second-hand forecourts.” Naturally, it comes with legendary Volkswagen reliability but there is one drawback – servicing costs. For example, go to a dealer for the service due every 20,000 miles (or two years), or when 01 appears on the service interval display indicator, and you could face a bill of £200+. Yet this service is essentially a series of checks, only two of which need special equipment. The only consumables required are new oil for the engine, an oil filter and a pollen filter. Purchase these from a reputable motor accessory retailer and you’ll probably pay no more than £50. So, it’s a service a potential DIY mechanic can do easily and save a lot of money. And be encouraged by this quotation from the new Haynes manual for the VW Passat: “For the home mechanic, the Passat is quite straightforward to maintain, and most of the items requiring frequent attention are easily accessible.”