"New" Passat Estate 240ps, 4Motion, DSG, BiTDi

There’s nothing wrong with a Passat per se. But sinking 18k into a mildly quick boring repmobile is madness. Its not even that well equipped, you dont get full leather for starters. You can’t really compare the A6 to the Passat. It’s a different class of car. A4 is the comparable car. Is there no equivalent A4 that takes your fancy?
 
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Trappi$t said:
I cant get on with the size and squashed look of the GolfR, love it as a technical package though. Why oh why they couldnt put that into the Passat chassis, lord knows, it would have been a winner, but obviously a poor seller I guess...
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Golf and Passat are both MQB chassis now but if you're looking for a Passat sized Golf R, a Skoda Superb 280 TSI is the next best thing you'll find I think.
 
Just for a laugh I had a look at the new price for an M550d Touring (LHD) of course, new with some options it was 109,000 Eur

I realise a quad turbo 4x4 diesel with that performance is a technical masterpiece, but that price? Someone in BMW is trolling.

Appreciate the ideas, but aside from the Skoda, still feels like a semi reasonable performance, German model from ~2016 the Passat BiTDi is pretty decent.

A few things to mull over. Love the look of the 335d Xdrive M-Sport, is there a 5 series equivalent? (I know a 535d, but did they do an M-Sport variant of it?)
 
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I took out a really well spec'd Passat BiTdi 2.0 4Motion in 2016 on a ~1 hour test drive. Variety of country lanes, motorway, dual carridgeway and town roads.

It was, fine. But for something claiming to be quick, it just wasn't, and the engine seemed to me to be quite intrusive. The suspension was also "sporty". Read that as, someone read that hard suspension with crap damping = a sporty ride. It was a real disappointment A friend at work at the time had a bog standard 1.6 Diesel Passat and IMO it was actually a better car - that should be speaking volumes to you..

I then immediately went to BMW after and took out an F11 520d in Luxury trim with the ZF 8 speed box. It was a world apart from the Passat. It felt so much more composed and actually the 2.0 diesel 'limitations' were well hidden by the gearbox. On reflection, this is the car I should have bought. If I'd bought it I'd still have it now.

I ended up buying an F31 330D M Sport. I got in and the test drive sold it to me. The performance was just sublime and effortless, again with the ZF 8 speed box. I then proceeded to use it to do ~25k a year, and after 12 months I decided to change it. It was a beautiful car (estoril blue, black leather, pro media, Visibility pack (xenons, High beam assist, and all that beam curving stuff) but it was a bit too small for us.

I swapped into an F25 35d M Sport last year and I've really enjoyed that. Its a very quick capable car and effortless day to day driving. I love the driving position and again its got plenty of nice toys. Accept that isn't what you want to buy though.

Read what I've written and get yourself an F11 30d auto in whatever trim you prefer. It was the car I should have bought.
 
I think he really really wants a Passat :p he already discounted the 5 series and the A6 which are far superior to any passat in just about every conceivable way apart from price. Passat is the car you have when you have a crap company car scheme, not when you are looking to Chuck 18k at a interesting car.
 
Conanius said:
I took out a really well spec'd Passat BiTdi 2.0 4Motion in 2016 on a ~1 hour test drive. Variety of country lanes, motorway, dual carridgeway and town roads.

It was, fine. But for something claiming to be quick, it just wasn't, and the engine seemed to me to be quite intrusive. The suspension was also "sporty". Read that as, someone read that hard suspension with crap damping = a sporty ride. It was a real disappointment A friend at work at the time had a bog standard 1.6 Diesel Passat and IMO it was actually a better car - that should be speaking volumes to you..

I then immediately went to BMW after and took out an F11 520d in Luxury trim with the ZF 8 speed box. It was a world apart from the Passat. It felt so much more composed and actually the 2.0 diesel 'limitations' were well hidden by the gearbox. On reflection, this is the car I should have bought. If I'd bought it I'd still have it now.

I ended up buying an F31 330D M Sport. I got in and the test drive sold it to me. The performance was just sublime and effortless, again with the ZF 8 speed box. I then proceeded to use it to do ~25k a year, and after 12 months I decided to change it. It was a beautiful car (estoril blue, black leather, pro media, Visibility pack (xenons, High beam assist, and all that beam curving stuff) but it was a bit too small for us.

I swapped into an F25 35d M Sport last year and I've really enjoyed that. Its a very quick capable car and effortless day to day driving. I love the driving position and again its got plenty of nice toys. Accept that isn't what you want to buy though.

Read what I've written and get yourself an F11 30d auto in whatever trim you prefer. It was the car I should have bought.
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Appreciate the post, the truth seems quite disappointing. I had hoped someone would come in and say, bland, boring, functional, but feels RAPID at least in a straight line. If there is not even that wow factor for traction and straight line grunt, then it makes it totally pointless.

What an absolute shame.
 
Trappi$t said:
Appreciate the post, the truth seems quite disappointing. I had hoped someone would come in and say, bland, boring, functional, but feels RAPID at least in a straight line. If there is not even that wow factor for traction and straight line grunt, then it makes it totally pointless.

What an absolute shame.
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The BiTdi 2.0 4Motion isn't a bad engine - but you really need something more in the 2.6-3L range for a vehicle like that to feel "seriously" quick.
 
Tinders said:
I think he really really wants a Passat :p he already discounted the 5 series and the A6 which are far superior to any passat in just about every conceivable way apart from price. Passat is the car you have when you have a crap company car scheme, not when you are looking to Chuck 18k at a interesting car.
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See I’m not sure that’s right - I would suggest a pants company car scheme would have you in something French or Japanese. Renault, Peugeot, Citroen, Nissan, Toyota etc.

VW is another step up and sits with the likes of the mondeo and several volvos in terms of quality and image - it’s better than the Mondeo though.

A very good company car scheme offers BMW and Audi but you obviously pay for it in tax.

I had a Passat GT 2.0 TDi estate and it was frankly brilliant. Leather and alcantara, adaptive cruise, emergency break assist, full active drivers display (exactly the same as Audi’s), 18” alloys, electronically adjustable folding mirrors, dual zone climate control, heated seats, LED headlights, interior lighting trim, electronic tailgate, front and rear sensors with associated rear camera, blue tooth, touch screen, sat nav, voice control..... the list goes on.

I totally get peoples somewhat snotty feelings on the Passat - after all it’s very much middle of the road but it does everything very well and absolutely nothing badly.

Faced with a choice I would have course go BMW or Audi though - who wouldn’t, but the money always comes into it and for the spec and build quality, the Passat offers a huge amount to people - hence its massive popularity.

Generally they aren’t driven by bellends either.
 
Conanius said:
I took out a really well spec'd Passat BiTdi 2.0 4Motion in 2016 on a ~1 hour test drive. Variety of country lanes, motorway, dual carridgeway and town roads.

It was, fine. But for something claiming to be quick, it just wasn't, and the engine seemed to me to be quite intrusive. The suspension was also "sporty". Read that as, someone read that hard suspension with crap damping = a sporty ride. It was a real disappointment A friend at work at the time had a bog standard 1.6 Diesel Passat and IMO it was actually a better car - that should be speaking volumes to you..

I then immediately went to BMW after and took out an F11 520d in Luxury trim with the ZF 8 speed box. It was a world apart from the Passat. It felt so much more composed and actually the 2.0 diesel 'limitations' were well hidden by the gearbox. On reflection, this is the car I should have bought. If I'd bought it I'd still have it now.

I ended up buying an F31 330D M Sport. I got in and the test drive sold it to me. The performance was just sublime and effortless, again with the ZF 8 speed box. I then proceeded to use it to do ~25k a year, and after 12 months I decided to change it. It was a beautiful car (estoril blue, black leather, pro media, Visibility pack (xenons, High beam assist, and all that beam curving stuff) but it was a bit too small for us.

I swapped into an F25 35d M Sport last year and I've really enjoyed that. Its a very quick capable car and effortless day to day driving. I love the driving position and again its got plenty of nice toys. Accept that isn't what you want to buy though.

Read what I've written and get yourself an F11 30d auto in whatever trim you prefer. It was the car I should have bought.
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Ironically I'll be selling my F11 530D M-Sport with pro-nav soon :D
 
Rroff said:
The BiTdi 2.0 4Motion isn't a bad engine - but you really need something more in the 2.6-3L range for a vehicle like that to feel "seriously" quick.
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This is the main issue - the Passat isn't a bad engine, it's just that the alternatives are better. A 3.0d from BMW with the 8speed ZF is a very good match indeed, with the twin turbo 335d/535d being a further league ahead. Throw in a remap and they will give many a sports car a few things to think about in a straight line. :)
 
fastwunz said:
adaptive cruise, emergency break assist, full active drivers display (exactly the same as Audi’s),
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If you get the full package (not sure exact details as I think my parent's have aftermarket/optional additions) there is some nice driving aids on the VW suite especially when it comes to low speed manoeuvring and hazard identification.
 
Rroff said:
If you get the full package (not sure exact details as I think my parent's have aftermarket/optional additions) there is some nice driving aids on the VW suite especially when it comes to low speed manoeuvring and hazard identification.
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Yes mine came with emergency break assist and radar guided cruise but you can get lane assist too although I find that feature very weird to drive with sometimes lol
 
I factory ordered a Passat BITDI R line estate in 2016, pan roof, digital dash, full napper leather, 19 inch alloys. Had it nearly 5 years the car is superb done 40000 miles with no issues. Buy the car not the badge on the grill.
 
Nice 'branch' wheels availible too
, long front led bar (not 100% width like p2 rear) could you, legally, program it like KIT
 
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