Some of the information in this manual applies only to cars of a particular model year or range of years. For example, "m.y. 1995" refers to the 1995 model year. The model year does not necessarily match the calendar year in which the car was manufactured or sold. To be sure of the model year of a particular car, check the vehicle identification number (VIN) on the car. Technical changes made in production within a model year are identified in this manual by listing the VIN for the first car produced with this change. The VIN is a unique sequence of 17 characters assigned by Volkswagen to identify each individual car. WVWEE83A-SE005678 is an example. Each of the 17 letters and numbers indicates certain facts about the car and its manufacture. The characters in the 7th and 8th spaces are Volkswagen's model designation. The letter in the 10th space indicates model year. The last six digits are the unique sequential production number. References to VIN in this manual will often include only the last several characters, such as 3A2SE005678 or 3AS005678 from the sample VIN above.

The Volkswagen VIN can be found on a plate mounted on the top of the instrument panel, on the driver's side where the number can be seen through the windshield, and on an identification label in the luggage compartment. This manual covers Volkswagen Passat and Passat Wagon from model years 1995 through 1997, with these VINs:

1995: ...3A_S_000001 to ...3A_S_999999
1996: ...3A_T_000001 to ...3A_T_999999
1997: ...3A_V_000001 to ...3A_V_999999