Our cars: Volkswagen Passat Estate - February

Volkswagen Passat Estate 2.0 TDI 140 Bluemotion Technology SE

Week ending February 17
Mileage: 12,591
Driven this week 1100 miles
VW Passat review

I borrowed the Volkswagen Passat estate to take my family on long weekend down to Cornwall and a fine job it did too. It's great just to chuck stuff into a boot, rather than have to stow everything carefully, making use of every centilitre of sapce as you do when filling up a hatch or saloon.

We got pretty close to the car's average fuel economy too. For our 500-mile round trip the car averaged 55mpg (compared with an official average of 61.4mpg). Travelling with a couple of ankle biters in the back promotes a steady, unrushed and economical driving style anyway, but then on an adults-only cross-London commute the car averaged 48mpg, which I thought was equally impressive.

Iain.Reid@whatcar.com

Week ending February 3
Mileage: 11,504
Driven this week 553 miles

Who needs a removal van when you have a Passat Estate? I found out this weekend when I borrowed ours, to lug all my worldly goods across London.

The Passat proved a real workhorse and its boot (1731 litres with the rear seats folded flat) seemed cavernous. Loading and unloading wasn’t back-breaking either, thanks to the lipless boot.

It was much more comfortable than a ride in a van, too, with heated seats more voracious even than my Astra GTC’s, as well as digital radio, iPod port, Bluetooth and air-con.

Most impressive was the fuel economy – the Passat is a big, solid beast and, even though it was loaded to the max over about 300 miles, it got through less than half a tank of diesel.

I’ll take the Passat and the £40 or so I spent on fuel over the £300 cost of hiring a van any day.

Emma.Butcher@whatcar.com
VW Passat review