Das Auto: 2012 VW Passat TDI

[00Beast]

The Routan is probably the least-VW vehicle in their lineup, lol.

[CMNTMXR57]

Not to make light of him directly as maybe it worked out best in terms of deal/financing/personal taste/etc. I'm just speaking in general... I don't get it. All it is, is a Chrysler with VW badging on it, and maybe a tweak or two here and there to make it more "VW'ish" than "Dodge". You can't argue German "engineering" or "qaulity" because it's neither! So at the end of the day, you nueter it by removing it's best, most useful, and convienent feature, a feature that neither Honda or Toyota have been able to build a better moustrap on... the Stow-N-Go seating.

So at that point, why buy a mini-van if your not buying it for it's specialty?

[00Beast]

IIRC his dad currently works for a VW dealer, so it makes sense that they would have it, lol. IIRC they get a really cheap lease...

[CMNTMXR57]

Which I made a point to say, maybe it was the deal.

I'm just speaking generally. Despite my issues with Chrysler.

[94SilverSSEi]

I kind of agree with you. When I went to fold the seats I thought. Wtf? No stow and go?

But VW said there seats are more plush and supportive. Which they are (big side bolsters).

But yeah dad works for VW shipping facility. And we got brand new Routan (MSRP $35,000) for $260 a month. (and the insurance is free). Can't really go wrong there.

But we are SERIOUSLY considering giving it back and just fixing up the 94. Yeah it a new van and a cheap lease but it's still cheaper to own a used car.

3.6 with 6 speed is a fun little drivetrain

[LeSabreUltra]

Neat. I expect interior pictars

3.6 with 6 speed is a fun little drivetrain

Why yes, yes it is.
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[00Beast]

You got it Dan.

[BonneMe]

The kraut is strong in this one!

[00Beast]

I'm only 85% German or so....

[BonneMe]

It's an ok car

[00Beast]

Moar pics:










Car needs a cleaning (already) and I'll get some pics of the interior. Dad put 900 miles on it yesterday and averaged 36-ish in some brutal winds. I got 38.9 today to, in and from the cities. Already 1400 miles on the beast....

[Saturn Simon]

I'm liking the new Tennessee-built US-market Passat.

It's an impressive car. Probably better than the Euro Passat these days.

The Passat we get in the UK looks similar, but is a revised version of the the previous Passat rather than an all new car. Spot the difference:




The US Passat is naturally slightly larger too.

[LeSabre in Buffalo]

That's a nice-looking car! 38 mpg out of a full-size car is darned good.

[Bonneville92V688]

Whoa... wait. The new Passat starts at $19k? *dang*.

[BonneMe]

I'm liking the new Tennessee-built US-market Passat.

It's an impressive car. Probably better than the Euro Passat these days.

The Passat we get in the UK looks similar, but is a revised version of the the previous Passat rather than an all new car. Spot the difference:




The US Passat is naturally slightly larger too.

It's not better. LOTS of corner cutting... It's very nice for it's price/class, but it's lost the high end touch it used to have.

[00Beast]

It's still better quality than most other new cars in the US Jason. I haven't been in an older Passat, so I don't know what we're missing, lol.

William: MSRP on this car was $30,500 and the dealer didn't budge a dime. Still $3k cheaper than my Ei was almost 10 years ago...

[rrounds]

Out west we can put on lots of miles(we like to do 800 mile day drives) so we do spend a lot of time above 75 mph. What do you think your new TDI will get at those speeds? and how well does it take the hills? We have some roads that have up to 26% grades and in the SSEI that would use a lot of gas.

ROD

[00Beast]

My dad drove 75-80 on the way back from Denver, in some massive wind in NE, and he averaged almost 37, and that was on winter diesel. It has plenty of torque, it would easily conquer any grade. It's not SSEi fast, but there's tons of low and mid-range torque, and the DSG makes the most of it.

[BonneMe]

My parents have gotten over 40 in their 2010 Jetta Sportwagen on longer trips, and they just drive it like an adult, don't even drive it ultra frugally.