I'm with Kelper. The Passat is a dream best car I've ever had. Ours is a saloon and I take the back seat bottom out, fold down the seats flat and secure the dog cage with a tie down strap. This gives us plenty of storage space and is ideal for the two of us and the dog. I fully support Kelper cos the estate would be ideal for a larger family. Take a long hard look at them, you won't be disappointed but remember if you are considering second hand, as with most cars, clutch and dual mass flywheel should be wanting a change say every 100,000 miles.
Ours did 275,000 reliable miles, was still going sweetly when I argued with a lamppost (blinded on a rainy night ... grrr), then got a new one last year ...