but the Legacy's standard all-wheel-drive system and superior reliability at prices comparable to those of the Passat's give the Subie the upper hand.
Says it all.
Well... it doesn't say that the Legacy is smaller, probably uses more fuel (not sure on this), Passat has a way better interior, and drives differently (not better, as that's subjective, but different... Passat feels more heavy, planted, stable and the Legacy feels lighter).
Legacy does nothing for me, while I still find the previous Passat to be one of the most beautiful cars on the roads. Had I had the option of getting a Passat TDI instead of my Jetta TDI, there's no doubt in my mind that I'd be driving the Passat right now... Maybe in a few years, the used Passat TDI (Wagon or not) will be a bit more affordable (they keep their high value the TDIs!) and that'd be a switch I would make.
I wonder how the V6 drives with the automatic transmission though... probably a lot better than the 1.8T did... there was an annoying delay when accelerating from a stand-still that I couldn't get over... but with the V6, it probably is great.