The brief
The Passat was dropping engine oil, a film building up under the engine and the level creeping down between checks. He brought it in, which is the right call, an oil leak only spreads and an engine low on oil is an engine at risk. The trail pointed at the oil sump, the pan bolted to the bottom of the engine that holds the oil. It seals to the engine block with a gasket or a bead of sealant, and over the years the heat cycles harden it until it shrinks and cracks and the seal lets go, so oil weeps out the join, runs down the pan, and drips. A sump that's weeping doesn't reseal itself, and the leak only gets worse, so the pan has to come off and go back on with a fresh seal.
The diagnosis
With the engine cleaned off and run, the leak traced clearly to the sump gasket, oil weeping from the seam between the pan and the block, not from the drain plug or anywhere higher up. The rest of the engine's seals checked out dry. That's a reseal: drop the sump, clean both mating faces back to bare metal, and seal it up properly the way the engine calls for, with a fresh gasket or sealant bead to spec.
The work
The undertray came off, the oil was drained, and the sump pan unbolted and removed. Both mating faces, on the pan and on the block, were cleaned right back so the new seal had a clean surface to bite on, the oil pickup checked clear, and the sump refitted with a fresh seal to the manufacturer's spec, every bolt torqued in sequence. Fresh oil to level, and the engine run and checked warm for any weep. A road test confirmed the sump was dry and the level held.
The outcome
No more oil under the engine, the sump sealed and dry, and the oil level holding between checks. The Passat went home with the leak sorted at its source. A weeping sump gasket only worsens and quietly drinks oil, so pulling the pan and resealing it properly stopped the leak and kept the engine where it should be on oil.