Sweet next gen VW Passat Sedan & Wagon pics...W-8 dropped

[vi edit]

Originally posted by: Lifer
BWAAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!

i still find it funny all these VW's have problems with measly light bulbs

Keep an eye out for GM Sierra and Silverado pickup trucks. The 2000-2003 almost always have a burnt out DRL bulb. That's one of the best selling vehicles in the US yet you never hear about it being an issue.

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: vi_edit

Originally posted by: Lifer
BWAAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!

i still find it funny all these VW's have problems with measly light bulbs

Keep an eye out for GM Sierra and Silverado pickup trucks. The 2000-2003 almost always have a burnt out DRL bulb. That's one of the best selling vehicles in the US yet you never hear about it being an issue.

The difference is the consistency with which VW has lightbulb problems all across its lineup.

 

[Triumph]

And of course, this turns into another VW bashing thread.

If there's one thing I hate Anandtech for, it's the car threads. Full of know-nothings and stereotypers. "My friend had this VW and he had to fix this and this and this on it after only 20k miles. All VW's are therefore unreliable!" Yeah well guess what, I can quote useless stories like that all day long about any car. Take a class on statistics, people. And guess what, the best statistical rating out there (CR) says that the Passat has Average reliability. Meaning that it is no better, and no worse, than 75% of the cars out there. I don't claim them to be the pinnacle of reliability, but I'm smart enough to know that I can't extrapolate problems like Beau's to all 60,000 Passats sold every year. And I'm not so much of an idiot that I judge an entire car based on some "perception" that I have regarding a burnt out headlight.

 

[N8Magic]

Originally posted by: Triumph
And of course, this turns into another VW bashing thread.

If there's one thing I hate Anandtech for, it's the car threads. Full of know-nothings and stereotypers. "My friend had this VW and he had to fix this and this and this on it after only 20k miles. All VW's are therefore unreliable!" Yeah well guess what, I can quote useless stories like that all day long about any car. Take a class on statistics, people. And guess what, the best statistical rating out there (CR) says that the Passat has Average reliability. Meaning that it is no better, and no worse, than 75% of the cars out there. I don't claim them to be the pinnacle of reliability, but I'm smart enough to know that I can't extrapolate problems like Beau's to all 60,000 Passats sold every year. And I'm not so much of an idiot that I judge an entire car based on some "perception" that I have regarding a burnt out headlight.

Thank you!

 

[PullMyFinger]

Originally posted by: Lifer
BWAAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!

i still find it funny all these VW's have problems with measly light bulbs

Lifer,
You are such a lemming, stop typing before you hurt yourself. You take what a scant few people have posted and proclaim "all these VW's have problems". What do you drive? I'll be it's on the list below.

Ok, lets put together a little score card, shall we.

From Edmunds.com vehicle service page:

Vehicle TSB's:Recalls
'02 Accord 34:1
'01 Accord 68:2
'02 Civic 35:1
'01 Civic 94:5
'02 Acura TL 26:3
'01 Acura TL 38:1
'02 Camry 36:2
'01 Camry 21:2
'02 Corolla 2:0
'01 Corolla 7:0
'02 Chevy Malibu 46:1
'01 Chevy Malibu 60:0
'02 Taurus 28:2
'01 Taurus 49:7
'02 Explorer 132:3
'02 Passat 0:2
'01 Passat 3:2
'02 Jetta 0:1
'01 Jetta 10:2

This is just a quick look at some of the more popular models available. It's not a definitive summary of all makes and models, but from what I see, even the precious Honda's, Toyota's, and Acura's have their fair share of deficiencies.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: PullMyFinger

Originally posted by: Lifer
BWAAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!

i still find it funny all these VW's have problems with measly light bulbs

Lifer,
You are such a lemming, stop typing before you hurt yourself. You take what a scant few people have posted and proclaim "all these VW's have problems". What do you drive? I'll be it's on the list below.

Ok, lets put together a little score card, shall we.

From Edmunds.com vehicle service page:

Vehicle TSB's:Recalls
'02 Accord 34:1
'01 Accord 68:2
'02 Civic 35:1
'01 Civic 94:5
'02 Acura TL 26:3
'01 Acura TL 38:1
'02 Camry 36:2
'01 Camry 21:2
'02 Corolla 2:0
'01 Corolla 7:0
'02 Chevy Malibu 46:1
'01 Chevy Malibu 60:0
'02 Taurus 28:2
'01 Taurus 49:7
'02 Explorer 132:3
'02 Passat 0:2
'01 Passat 3:2
'02 Jetta 0:1
'01 Jetta 10:2

This is just a quick look at some of the more popular models available. It's not a definitive summary of all makes and models, but from what I see, even the precious Honda's, Toyota's, and Acura's have their fair share of deficiencies. I am proud to drive a VW Passat if for no better reason than VW has yet to stoop low enough to produce a minivan.

There's a reason for the lack of recalls on VW's part...because they don't acknowledge them as recalls!! You guys can argue back and forth about reliablity, but when it comes to customer service -- VW sucks ass!! They don't acknowledge problems (while companies such as Ford does). It took a lot of time and customer pressure till VW called back those coil packs. Also, one dealer in Atlanta (Eliis VW) went as far as to sue a member of the VWVortex due to what the member posted on those forums regarding the poor customer service he recieved.

 

[Beau]

Originally posted by: N8Magic

Originally posted by: Triumph
And of course, this turns into another VW bashing thread.

If there's one thing I hate Anandtech for, it's the car threads. Full of know-nothings and stereotypers. "My friend had this VW and he had to fix this and this and this on it after only 20k miles. All VW's are therefore unreliable!" Yeah well guess what, I can quote useless stories like that all day long about any car. Take a class on statistics, people. And guess what, the best statistical rating out there (CR) says that the Passat has Average reliability. Meaning that it is no better, and no worse, than 75% of the cars out there. I don't claim them to be the pinnacle of reliability, but I'm smart enough to know that I can't extrapolate problems like Beau's to all 60,000 Passats sold every year. And I'm not so much of an idiot that I judge an entire car based on some "perception" that I have regarding a burnt out headlight.

Thank you!

Unfortunately, all it takes to ruin one's perception of a particular make of vehicles is one bad experience. I'll have a hard time trusting another VW again. Probably will never buy one again, unless I am convinced by personal experience otherwise.

 

[bozack]

Well pretty much saw that comming with the W8...just no market for it, too expensive and why would soccer moms need all that power

Also heard about that $100 oil change thing with the 8 qts of syn....ouch.

With re. reliability my Fiancee has had two VWs an 89 Jetta and now a 2002, they both have their share of Quirks, but personally I think they are both decently if not excellently engineered cars. The interiors are fantastic and the looks are unique....personally I would take any VAG group product VW, AUDI, Porsche over any Jap import anyday, but then again I hate jap cars.

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: Beau

Originally posted by: N8Magic

Originally posted by: Triumph
And of course, this turns into another VW bashing thread.

If there's one thing I hate Anandtech for, it's the car threads. Full of know-nothings and stereotypers. "My friend had this VW and he had to fix this and this and this on it after only 20k miles. All VW's are therefore unreliable!" Yeah well guess what, I can quote useless stories like that all day long about any car. Take a class on statistics, people. And guess what, the best statistical rating out there (CR) says that the Passat has Average reliability. Meaning that it is no better, and no worse, than 75% of the cars out there. I don't claim them to be the pinnacle of reliability, but I'm smart enough to know that I can't extrapolate problems like Beau's to all 60,000 Passats sold every year. And I'm not so much of an idiot that I judge an entire car based on some "perception" that I have regarding a burnt out headlight.

Thank you!

Unfortunately, all it takes to ruin one's perception of a particular make of vehicles is one bad experience. I'll have a hard time trusting another VW again. Probably will never buy one again, unless I am convinced by personal experience otherwise.

I don't disagree, I'd probably feel the same way if it happened to me. But I'm talking about other people- specifically the "I know this one guy who had this problem..." types.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

As for the topic at hand (as opposed to all the VW bashing), I have mixed feelings about the new design. On the whole it seems much less elegant than the current car, and while I actually kinda like the strange front end, the taillights are inelegant and the rear looks generally bland.

 

[PullMyFinger]

Originally posted by: Beau

Originally posted by: N8Magic

Originally posted by: Triumph
And of course, this turns into another VW bashing thread.

If there's one thing I hate Anandtech for, it's the car threads. Full of know-nothings and stereotypers. "My friend had this VW and he had to fix this and this and this on it after only 20k miles. All VW's are therefore unreliable!" Yeah well guess what, I can quote useless stories like that all day long about any car. Take a class on statistics, people. And guess what, the best statistical rating out there (CR) says that the Passat has Average reliability. Meaning that it is no better, and no worse, than 75% of the cars out there. I don't claim them to be the pinnacle of reliability, but I'm smart enough to know that I can't extrapolate problems like Beau's to all 60,000 Passats sold every year. And I'm not so much of an idiot that I judge an entire car based on some "perception" that I have regarding a burnt out headlight.

Thank you!

Unfortunately, all it takes to ruin one's perception of a particular make of vehicles is one bad experience. I'll have a hard time trusting another VW again. Probably will never buy one again, unless I am convinced by personal experience otherwise.

Quite true! And to top things off, if the dealer only contributes to that bad experience, then there is generally a lost-for-life customer. Hopefully your next/current vehicle will give you some reliable miles.

On another note, I had to edit my post above, I had incorrectly stated that VW didn't produce a minivan when infact they probably were the first to produce a minivan, the Microbus. Too many sleepless nights with the new family addition I guess.

 

[N8Magic]

Originally posted by: PullMyFinger

Quite true! And to top things off, if the dealer only contributes to that bad experience, then there is generally a lost-for-life customer. Hopefully your next/current vehicle will give you some reliable miles.

On another note, I had to edit my post above, I had incorrectly stated that VW didn't produce a minivan when infact they probably were the first to produce a minivan, the Microbus. Too many sleepless nights with the new family addition I guess.

Actually, they still have a mini-van: EuroVan

And IIRC, they are reintroducing the Microbus later this year or sometime next year.

 

[SyahM]

Lifer, what kind of car do you drive, is it a jap, german, or domestic?
FYI, I had two honda and both perform marvelously, my civic was sold at 240,000 miles and my integra was sold at 210,000 miles. Then I bought Audi A4 which is right now very close to 50,000 miles, and thankfully no problem. I have many friends who also drive A4 and they are very happy with the car. Three of my close friends drive two jetta and one Passat, and get this, neither of them complaint about their cars reliability. Oh, one of them is a girl.

so, tell us what kind of car you drive and what is your first hand experience with VW.

 

[mAdD INDIAN]

Originally posted by: N8Magic

Originally posted by: PullMyFinger

Quite true! And to top things off, if the dealer only contributes to that bad experience, then there is generally a lost-for-life customer. Hopefully your next/current vehicle will give you some reliable miles.

On another note, I had to edit my post above, I had incorrectly stated that VW didn't produce a minivan when infact they probably were the first to produce a minivan, the Microbus. Too many sleepless nights with the new family addition I guess.

Actually, they still have a mini-van: EuroVan

And IIRC, they are reintroducing the Microbus later this year or sometime next year.

I can't wait for the new Microbus...it looks HOT! I wonder if it will be still rear engined?? Dammit VW should go back to its roots and atleast make ONE rear-engine car.

 

[BigSmooth]

Originally posted by: Triumph

Originally posted by: Beau

Originally posted by: N8Magic

Originally posted by: Triumph
And of course, this turns into another VW bashing thread.

If there's one thing I hate Anandtech for, it's the car threads. Full of know-nothings and stereotypers. "My friend had this VW and he had to fix this and this and this on it after only 20k miles. All VW's are therefore unreliable!" Yeah well guess what, I can quote useless stories like that all day long about any car. Take a class on statistics, people. And guess what, the best statistical rating out there (CR) says that the Passat has Average reliability. Meaning that it is no better, and no worse, than 75% of the cars out there. I don't claim them to be the pinnacle of reliability, but I'm smart enough to know that I can't extrapolate problems like Beau's to all 60,000 Passats sold every year. And I'm not so much of an idiot that I judge an entire car based on some "perception" that I have regarding a burnt out headlight.

Thank you!

Unfortunately, all it takes to ruin one's perception of a particular make of vehicles is one bad experience. I'll have a hard time trusting another VW again. Probably will never buy one again, unless I am convinced by personal experience otherwise.

I don't disagree, I'd probably feel the same way if it happened to me. But I'm talking about other people- specifically the "I know this one guy who had this problem..." types.

I posted the thread about my buddy's new Passat dying with 60 miles on the odometer, but I don't unilaterally condemn the Passat.
That incident certainly didn't boost my image of the car, but I know that the Passat has probably been VW's most reliable vehicle overall.

It does cut a little deeper when it happens to you or someone you know, but I know one bad example does not define a car, or a brand.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Originally posted by: bozack
Well pretty much saw that comming with the W8...just no market for it, too expensive and why would soccer moms need all that power

Also heard about that $100 oil change thing with the 8 qts of syn....ouch.

With re. reliability my Fiancee has had two VWs an 89 Jetta and now a 2002, they both have their share of Quirks, but personally I think they are both decently if not excellently engineered cars. The interiors are fantastic and the looks are unique....personally I would take any VAG group product VW, AUDI, Porsche over any Jap import anyday, but then again I hate jap cars.

HOLD THE PHONE, FELLA. Porsche are an Independant Motor Manufacturer. They platform share on the Touareg/Cayene and that is it. They are not part of VAG.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: bozack
Well pretty much saw that comming with the W8...just no market for it, too expensive and why would soccer moms need all that power

Also heard about that $100 oil change thing with the 8 qts of syn....ouch.

With re. reliability my Fiancee has had two VWs an 89 Jetta and now a 2002, they both have their share of Quirks, but personally I think they are both decently if not excellently engineered cars. The interiors are fantastic and the looks are unique....personally I would take any VAG group product VW, AUDI, Porsche over any Jap import anyday, but then again I hate jap cars.

(1) Dude, Lexus interiors are equal to that of VAG cars and they don't break down or have stupid quality problems. VW's are nice vehicles, but they are NOT the most reliable around. I had a friend who had to drive all the way from Charlotte, NC to Raleigh, NC in his Jetta with the right passenger window down b/c the damn motor crapped out. I came here on the forums the next day and found out that it is a common problem with Jettas and Golfs.

(2) Any Honda, Toyota or Nissan will have less problems off the lot and in the future than a VAG vehicle...that's just a given. Great looks and a great interior can only get you so far.

(3) Porsche is NOT a part of VAG. I don't know why people think that

 

[B00ne]

Originally posted by: Renob
Why did they drop the W-8?

Oh and I like the look of the new cars.

THose W engines were essentially engineering mistakes, I heard they have heat problems

And of course, nobody is buying them

 

[vi edit]

I'm still holding out for a hopeful TDi passat, or even more wishful, TDi A4.

When I was in Ireland the TDi variant was the most common Passat and A4 there.

 

[B00ne]

Originally posted by: N8Magic

Originally posted by: PullMyFinger

Quite true! And to top things off, if the dealer only contributes to that bad experience, then there is generally a lost-for-life customer. Hopefully your next/current vehicle will give you some reliable miles.

On another note, I had to edit my post above, I had incorrectly stated that VW didn't produce a minivan when infact they probably were the first to produce a minivan, the Microbus. Too many sleepless nights with the new family addition I guess.

Actually, they still have a mini-van: EuroVan

And IIRC, they are reintroducing the Microbus later this year or sometime next year.

Actually VW has three Vans and the T5 bus (Eurovan) is far from mini, it is actually the largest in the lineup, thenthere is the Sharan (mid sized 6/7 seater) and the Touran which is basically a tall car

 

[aircooled]

I'm waiting.....

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
HOLD THE PHONE, FELLA. Porsche are an Independant Motor Manufacturer. They platform share on the Touareg/Cayene and that is it. They are not part of VAG.

Porsche has routinely dipped into the VAG parts bin over the years for all kinds of things. There is a long history between the two, dating back to the development of the first Volkswagen by Ferdinand Porsche (under direction of Adolf Hitler, no less). The two colaborated on the 924, 914, and 944 as well as the Touareg. VW may not control Porsche, but they have some sort of relationship going on.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: Triumph

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
HOLD THE PHONE, FELLA. Porsche are an Independant Motor Manufacturer. They platform share on the Touareg/Cayene and that is it. They are not part of VAG.

Porsche has routinely dipped into the VAG parts bin over the years for all kinds of things. There is a long history between the two, dating back to the development of the first Volkswagen by Ferdinand Porsche (under direction of Adolf Hitler, no less). The two colaborated on the 924, 914, and 944 as well as the Touareg. VW may not control Porsche, but they have some sort of relationship going on.

Come on now. Toyota and GM worked together on the 80's Corolla/Nova, 90's Corolla/Prism, and 2002 era Matrix/Vibe.

Chrysler and BMW make the engines that go into the Mini Cooper S. Companies work together on different projects all the time, but that doesn't mean that Porsche is a part of VAG.

 

[Triumph]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: Triumph

Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
HOLD THE PHONE, FELLA. Porsche are an Independant Motor Manufacturer. They platform share on the Touareg/Cayene and that is it. They are not part of VAG.

Porsche has routinely dipped into the VAG parts bin over the years for all kinds of things. There is a long history between the two, dating back to the development of the first Volkswagen by Ferdinand Porsche (under direction of Adolf Hitler, no less). The two colaborated on the 924, 914, and 944 as well as the Touareg. VW may not control Porsche, but they have some sort of relationship going on.

Come on now. Toyota and GM worked together on the 80's Corolla/Nova, 90's Corolla/Prism, and 2002 era Matrix/Vibe.

Chrysler and BMW make the engines that go into the Mini Cooper S. Companies work together on different projects all the time, but that doesn't mean that Porsche is a part of VAG.

I did not say that. He said "They platform share on the Touareg/Cayenne and that is it." Which is wrong. EVERY single Porsche made since 1948 has had some VW in it. With no exceptions. From gas caps to suspensions to engines. True, other mfg's collaborate here and there. But VW/Porsche is at a different level than say, putting a Honda Passport name on an Isuzu Rodeo. And yet VW still does not own Porsche in any way. That's all I'm saying - it's like they have some sort of gentlemen's agreement between one another to share stuff.

Edit: I guess you could read his statement to say that the Touareg/Cayenne are the only platform shared, but I wasn't thinking that way when I first replied.

 

[NFS4]

EVERY single Porsche made since 1948 has had some VW in it. With no exceptions. From gas caps to suspensions to engines.

Specific examples please?

Like what from the Boxster has "VW" written all over it