And you scrapped it because...
It was truly one of those cars I always look back with with immense fondness, and with my rose tinted glasses, always regret the day it went. Especially with Terry the chip man giving me regular updates about what had been taken off it with each of his visits to the scrapyard it went to.
The final straw was the gearbox - which had already had a very full and interesting life in its 240k miles - which decided that a box full of neutrals was a far more befitting way to show a Passat a clean pair of heels than any form of drive. It would have been a cheap fix to bolt a new one on - probably £75 for a box, £50 for the ATF and £20 for the thrust washer. ut it was already on top of it having a new (to it) rear subframe a week or 2 earlier, needed some sills welding on and some floor holes patched, and would soon need some welding around the rear structural parts. And remained a 240k, 19yr old car with a tatty bodywork, no working aircon and an annoying, nuisance factor, unlocatable engine oil leak. Plus there was a licence issue*
But yes, I still regret it. And I still maintain that was the best Omega to drive that I have ever driven... ...and by god I've driven a lot.
*The car encouraged driving briskly. The final straw which meant in my heart of hearts I knew it would have to go, was a trip back from Ipswich in Friday evening rush hour, before the Huntinggdon/Cambridge improvements were open. 140 miles in 2 hours, including stopping for fuel. My clean licence was not going to withstand that sort of behaviour all the time. Ironic that I swap it for the XJ to slow me down - which it has - and I pick up a patronisation course soon after getting it, for doing 80mph on a dual carriageway