The New Passat Sucks!
 

I have one for a rental currently and hate it. The slush box in D is so calibrated to MPG that it is borderline unsafe in traffic, downshifts require almost full throttle. S improves the gear selection slightly but also introduces a lot of gear hunting and seriously clunky shifts. The 2.5 is gutless down low and coarse up high. The suspension is soft and floaty, the steering has decent weight but zero feel. The interior is tastefully styled on the dash but the door panels are a sea of bland black plastic. The aluminum trim is no longer real aluminum as on past VW products, instead it is fake looking painted plastic ala GM. Hard plastic is everywhere. Finally the outside is blah and totally forgettable.

Is this the new VW that is determined to gain market share in America? Compared to their products from a couple of years ago it is a total POS. Frankly I wish I had chosen the Malibu that I was offered.

Yep!

VW heard the buying public saying their offerings were too expensive and they delivered what people claimed they wanted.

I had a '93 Passat, had driven the models since and spent some time the other day in a 2012 TDi Passat. They are certainly not after the same demographic as 20 years ago.

I didn't feel the diesel/DSG combo was too bad (a little jerky and not in keeping with its mission), but VW won't get me into one as a replacement for my Jetta.

I found myself scratching my head over the dash team. There are three clocks! An analogue in the centre of the dash, a digital clock in the console display and another in the instrument cluster display. Didn't these people talk to each other?

The seat didn't have a position I really liked (this with the leather) and the sunroof noise on the highway meant it would be closed most of the time. My old '87 Quattro handled the air around the open sunroof better than that.

I've gotta agree with you. They missed with that one.
Les

The old passat sucked

My wife had a '12 A4 recently as a loaner car...

It drove almost exactly as described in the first post...

WtFunk

Never found one I would ever own unless I needed a target.

Made in USA! :)

I like my VWs made in Germany. But that's not fail proof either. My 93 VR6 Passat was JUNK!

G

VW has lofty goals to increase its production numbers. Toyota quality went to hell when they pursued the goal of being #1 on volume and has never recovered. Damn shame that automakers abandon their core values (and customers) in pursuit of being #1, particularly when they are already profitable.

As long as it keeps them profitable so they can keep making GTIs, I'm ok with it.

The reviews of the new GTi say that they are fantastic to drive but do suffer from some of the Golf cost cutting. Rather telling that the GTi and Jetta GLI use significantly different suspension systems than their lower priced base models.

The Ford Fusion is such a superior car to own compared to the Passat. Now, if I could just get Ford to make it in a wagon with a manual tranny.

:)

Although, I have always had a thing for this style passat.
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I have an 03. The interior is very nice, better than average. My only complaint is high oil consumption.

I'm convinced that rental-spec ANYTHING sucks. Not that I'm trying to defend VW, just saying.

You really don't get a lot for 20k in new cars. I guess VW realized that there is a large market for boring sedans bigger than the jetta but around the same price range. I have an 07 jetta for my use up and throw away car and my mom has an 11 jetta. It's surprising how different they are. Her $24k jetta is full of hard plastic and the whole driving experience just feels pretty isolated and soggy compared to my 4 year older model.

They probably hit the nail on the head with what they were trying to do and they will probably sell a lot of them.

There is some truth to that, as you get the cheapest and lowest spec models typically. But even in the theme of cheap transportation this thing is terrible.

Spam, reported.

They've lost their passion. Might as well as be a Camry.

Regardless of their perception in the US, they never were intended to be an exciting car. It is the German Camry. Plain vanilla and a large percentage there is sold as station wagons for sales people to beat down the Autobahn.

G

Miss my old '93 Passat VR6. The interior of that car had stitched leather everywhere that looked like it belonged in a Bentley. Was an amazing car until she took her own life due to a ruptured fuel hose that the engineers had decided to route over a hot exhaust manifold.

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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1369865072.jpg

Yep, probably should have taken the Malibu. My company car is a '13 Malibu, the basic with the 2.5/4. Not as bad as I would have thought, other than being kind of ugly. Very decent handling, good steering with feel, decent brakes, nice interior, controlled ride, smooth and quiet. It does lack power, but that I guess is the trade off for fuel economy. Got 37 real mpg on the last tank of fuel. Usually around 34. It is after all a family sedan but not a bad one.