WhatCar - 'VW Passat is Used Car of the Year'

OllyM · 24 Sep 2009 at 14:34

What Car? has crowned the Volkswagen Passat the Used Car of the Year for 2009. A three-year-old Passat 1.9 TDI S costs a very tempting £7000 and was praised by the judges for its classy image, drivability and reliability.

Seems a bit of a strange choice! Base model VW Passat diesel with a rubbish engine

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/vw-passat-is-used-car-of-the-year/243518

antijoke · 24 Sep 2009 at 14:39

It's What Car. 'nuff said.

merlin · 24 Sep 2009 at 14:45

Judges in the eight-strong What Car? Used Car of the Year panel were picked from all areas of the motor industry, including car dealerships, British Car Auctions, Warranty Direct and experts from What Car?

Nuff said...!

Firestar_3x · 24 Sep 2009 at 14:50

They didn't ask you then?

[TW]Fox · 24 Sep 2009 at 15:01

2.0 TDi maybe but 1.9TDi S? Whats tempting about that for 7 grand? Seems a lot of money for very little car.

lambda · 24 Sep 2009 at 17:00

Hardly a rubbish engine. 1.9 SDI is rubbish, the TDI is about average.

Lashout_UK · 24 Sep 2009 at 17:02

More like "what?"

Tesla · 24 Sep 2009 at 17:06

lambda said:
Hardly a rubbish engine. 1.9 SDI is rubbish, the TDI is about average.

When does an average car deserve car of the year. Surely to be the best it has to be above average. Unless every other option is really dire?

[TW]Fox · 24 Sep 2009 at 17:15

lambda said:
Hardly a rubbish engine. 1.9 SDI is rubbish, the TDI is about average.

Its rubbish which is why its only found in the absolute base model Passat. The rest of the range gets the 2.0 TDI instead.

I get around · 24 Sep 2009 at 21:19

I dunno why you'd choose the base model, the higher ones don't demand that much more cash. The engines not brilliant but it's not rubbish, certainly enough for most road users for town or motorway driving.
Passats are good all rounders though, easy to see why they'd pick one as used car of the year.

Muncher · 24 Sep 2009 at 21:44

The 07 2.0 TDI Passat is pretty rubbish, we have one! The older 1.9TDI is the better car.

jamoor · 24 Sep 2009 at 21:58

ethos · 24 Sep 2009 at 22:00

Crazy, they should have asked OCUK- we all know loads more about cars.

Housey · 24 Sep 2009 at 22:02

Some judges earlier today.

barnettgs · 24 Sep 2009 at 22:12

[TW]Fox;14955604 said:
Whats tempting about that for 7 grand? Seems a lot of money for very little car.

Compare it with the used prices of other cars of similar age in the supermini and small family car sections (On the bottom of the page in the link), it's not hard to see why?

Sin_Chase · 24 Sep 2009 at 22:40

7 grand buys a lot....

A 1.9 TDI Passat would not be on my list for 7 grand.

merc190 · 26 Sep 2009 at 15:52

car of the year if you have 0 interest in cars and view them as an 'appliance'

Conanius · 26 Sep 2009 at 15:57

Which in fairness is 80%+ of the general population.

s0ck · 26 Sep 2009 at 16:03

lambda said:
Hardly a rubbish engine. 1.9 SDI is rubbish, the TDI is about average.

It's mega reliable though.

Justintime · 26 Sep 2009 at 16:06

[TW]Fox;14956719 said:
Its rubbish which is why its only found in the absolute base model Passat. The rest of the range gets the 2.0 TDI instead.

Imo the 2.0 TDI has less low down power than the 1.9 which feels more responsive. Also when i was considering the 2.0 my VW mechanic mate told me he'd seen a lot of issues with them. The 1.9 is a bit less refined and more noisy but a lot agree for reliability and torque delivery its better. The only question i have to ask is, have you driven a car with either engine to base your assumption? Or is is something you read in the internetz?