VOLKSWAGEN PASSAT SALOON REVIEW

My car

Having been a bit concerned about some of the poor reviews of this car I decided to take the plunge and trade my 40 month old Jetta which had continuing clutch judder problems. This car was bought as a demonstrator at 6 months old with 3K on the clock and had all the toys of a SE and more.It was cheaper than a similar Golf. Owned for a couple of months. Very pleased with the car so far. Extremely economical about 59 day to day use and about 64 on a run. This will probably improve with milage.Cabin spacious, engine quiet and refined. Using it sensibly to avoid any DPF problems. If I had to be critical the paint seems very soft on the bonnet and stone chips are already more of a problem than on previous VWs.

I will update this site as the car ages.

My car

Not quite sure what cars the other reviewers are driving, it's most definitely not the same as mine ! The Passat has a good quality interior, easily a match for my previous car, which was a much more expensive Volvo. Equipment levels are good and the ICE connectivity is excellent: music can be played via CD, USB pendrive, SD card, iPod/iPhone, AUX in for an MP3 player and bluetooth streaming from your device. I have fitted a 70Gb 2.5" hard drive to my car, with ALL my music on it, it works a treat. The ICE unit also has Bluetooth and DAB, as well as Sat Nav. The trim doesn't rattle, at ALL ! and the ride is very quiet, even at motorway speeds. I have the sports seats which are extremely comfortable and very supportive, should you decide to press on. Interior space is impressive, room for five adults and the boot is large and a good shape. The four bag hooks in the boot are handy, as is the auto opening boot lid. The economy is excellent in my opinion, the car now has 5K on it and is turning in 54mpg AVERAGE. On one motorway/town run at 70-75mph over 148 miles it returned 64mpg, pretty impressive for the size of the car. Start stop works well as does the auto hill hold and auto handbrake, only downside is when I drive my wife's car I forget to do it manually - soon all cars will have this feature ! The only thing missing, which is why it dropped a star, is the parking sensors. They should be fitted as standard and should not be a cost option. Other than that very impressed :)

My car

had my passat for 3 weeks and thats enough for me, utter rubbish build quality and quality of materials. very cheap and nasty for a £21k car. trim is already worn and failed around gear stick and centre console vents in the rear of the car. dash rattles, seats are a joke, start/stop system makes it own mind in traffic, handbrake is a gimmick for future visits to garage, onboard computer cant be used during driving so whats the point, radio is very basic and no bluetooth, seats unsupportive, controls are very flimsy. i would gladly take back my 3 year old mondeo instead of this car. this is my first new VW and my last. make sure you keep the car for a few days testing before you buy this £21k car, as there are much better cars out there for less. VW did you design this car on the toilet. stay away from this car its rubbish.

My car

Well this is the 6th Passat I have had and I have to say I think VW is slipping. They charge a premium price but it no longer has the premium feel.

Pros: A LOT quieter than the previous version 2.0 TDI has more pull low down and down't suffer from the huge hole below 2000rpm like the other one did. DAB radio is lovely, just don't expect it to switch to FM reliably unless listening to a BBC channel. Better mpg,

Cons: Front seats are AWFUL. Numb bum after less than 2 hours. A LOT worse than the previous ones. Wind noise is significant now. The ride feels harder and seems jumpy over rough road surfaces. The general feel of the plastics is cheap. eg the soft touch plastic by the window alreasy has a dip in from my elbow resting on it for one drive. The auto start stop....well sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. Makes an interesting game at the lights....will the car restart or wont it! Ditto the handbrake. I always park with the car in gear. On several occassions it has been resting on the gears rather than the handbrake. Rain sensing wipers.... No coin draws. They were perfect before for parking and toll money. Real pain now they have gone. Now have a ash tray that rattles as full of coins. No reversing sensors. COME ON VW! On a car like this they should be standard. Don't want anything fancy, just go beep beep will be fine. Like the last one, guess the distance at the rear is a fun game. Hope this bumper is a solid as the last one was.