Life as a rep isn't so bad these days. The quality of the motorway services is better. There's the Birmingham Toll Road to make cross-country commuting more bearable. And the standard of the kind of medium range motor the fleet manager's likely to give you for the journey has changed beyond recognition.

Think back ten years - then ten years before that. Motorway marathons were things you psyched yourself up for with a stock of Mars bars and a few bottles of Red Bull. No longer. At the wheel of a car like our Volkswagen Passat TDI 170, you've the kind of luxury normally reserved for the Chairman.

Of course it helps that our long term car is a top of the range diesel model equipped with all the bells and whistles that you probably wouldn't bother with if you, rather than your company, were paying the ownership cheque. Having said that, even the most basic repmobile these days comes with things like air conditioning, front and side airbags and a decent stereo. To these things, our Passat TDI 170 test car added rear parking sensors, leather trim and electric everything. It's well equipped, as we said. As for the price, well the saloon version we have lists at £21,425 but you can buy Passats from around the £15,675 mark and there's a choice of saloon or estate bodystyles.

For business buyers of course, these figures are often only the starting point for negotiation and Volkswagen Fleet Managers in times past often had to be very flexible, given the product on offer elsewhere. The Passat however, is still universally recognised as a car sitting near the top of its sector. No other Medium Range model offers great quality and in terms of running costs, the car is exactly where it needs to be.

"Research definitely pays off when you're choosing a car like this. The more info you unearth, the better the Passat TDI 170 looks"

Perform a blind test and you'd swear that the Passat cost a good deal more than, say, a 2.2-litre diesel Jaguar X-TYPE, although it's still nearly £2,000 cheaper (not to mention significantly more powerful). Even specified in luxury SEL guise with the revolutionary twin-clutch DSG sequential manual gearbox, you'll still be looking at a price of just £23,500. If you want to see brand management at work, this same engine in an equivalent high-end front wheel drive Audi A4 would set you back over £25,000. As a compromise between affordability and the nagging suspicion that you're getting worked over for a desirable badge, the Passat TDI 170 walks a very well-judged line.

The benchmark engine in this sector had long been BMW's 163bhp 320d but that looks to have changed with the advent of this punchy 170bhp diesel. It's not only got the drop on the BMW in terms of power output, it also does a number on the Munich unit in terms of torque, the 320d fronting up with a peak figure of 251lb/ft as opposed to the Passat's 258. The BMW may still appeal to more coorporate buyers on account of its lower CO2 emissions, but the Passat is a much more spacious car and will attract customers who need a genuine five seater. Opt for the six-speed manual and you'll still only churn out 160g/km - less than a Kia Cerato 1.6.

Volkswagen achieves this through a number of measures, not least of which is a clever four-cylinder direct injection system that makes better use of every drop of diesel. The injectors on all four cylinders are controlled by a single powerful electronic control unit (ECU) which carefully adapts the amount and mixture of fuel passing through into each cylinder. Having developed this, the engineers decided that the obvious next step was for each cylinder to have its own ECU unit; the fuel amount and mixture could then be even more carefully monitored and even greater efficiency achieved.

Engines aside of course, the recipe is just as you'll find it in any of the latest Passat models. Which means you're buying into a class-leading medium range family saloon or estate with the best build quality in the class.

In a market sector dominated these days by excellence, it's easy for motoring journalists and Fleet Managers alike to take the Passat's talents for granted. Even to overlook the car in conversations dominated by cars like the Mazda6, the Honda Accord and the Peugeot 407. That would be a mistake. Any sales rep will tell you that.

TOP 5 PASSAT DEALS

The results below show the top PASSAT deals on buyacar

	Volkswagen Passat 2.0 Highline TDI CR DPF 5dr Estate
	ETR	Mthly £339	Saving £2,482	Price £18,148
	Volkswagen Passat 2.0 Sport TDI CR DPF 170 5dr DSG Estate
	ETR	Mthly £393	Saving £2,887	Price £20,680
	Volkswagen Passat 2.0 Highline TDI CR DPF 5dr DSG Estate
	ETR	Mthly £361	Saving £2,655	Price £19,243
	Volkswagen Passat 2.0 Highline TDI CR DPF 4dr Saloon
	ETR	Mthly £321	Saving £2,331	Price £17,203
	Volkswagen Passat 2.0 S TDI CR DPF 4dr Saloon
	ETR	Mthly £303	Saving £2,118	Price £15,884

typical 11.87% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000