I owned a 99 Passat wagon, bought new in the summer of 98. I recently traded it. Also, I just bought a 2004 C240 Wagon 4Matic. I've owned Mercedes for many years, and I can in no way agree that the Passat's doors are as solid as those of the Mercedes, nor can I agree that Passat's interiors are on par with my new C-Class. The C-Class is so much better in almost all respects that I won't even begin to point it out here. But I will tell you about my Passat. Before I reached 30,000 miles, I experienced a hard-to-fix leaky windshield, failed lower ball joints, leaky power steering pump, headliner trim edge falling off on both sides, rust forming around the tailgate window, failed door lock/alarm mechanism, and premature front brake pad wear with warped rotors. My experience with the Passat may have been abnormal, but never did I experience anything like this with any of the 7 M-B cars I've owned over the last 35 years.