It’s a well-made car and popular on the used market and although the residual values are better than, say a Vauxhall Insignia Sports Tourer, VW’s pricey servicing costs will offset those resale values. Still, with VW you can expect a reliable and good quality service. Average Volkswagen Passat Estate running costs will be helped by the BlueMotion variants.

The greenest choice is the BlueMotion variant available from 2011. It comes with aerodynamic modifications, Stop/Start and battery regeneration. This results in a combined 68.8mpg and, theoretically, this all adds up to a range of more than 1,000 miles on one tank of diesel. Volkswagen Passat Estate emissions are also best on this model too, at 109g/km

The range is pretty close to being bullet-proof so you can expect solid Volkswagen Passat Estate reliability. However, even VW has to hold its hands up – there was a recall in 2007 as there was a worry over wiper blade failure. To keep your car reliable make sure you get the vehicle serviced on a regular basis