I bought this cheap from my neighbor's friend. It had sat at their property for at least a year, getting rain in and infested with mice. The B5 Passats were known for water leaks from the sunroof and cowl drains clogging. I stripped out the interior as it was a bit soggy and musty, it wasn't moldy, maybe it could have been saved, but oh well. It does run, drive, shift, and stop as I drove it back from his property.
I just got handed a free Subaru Forester and as much as I would like to keep both I'm just going to part out the Passat. I'm cutting the catalytic converters out tomorrow and selling them for scrap. After that parts are up for grabs.