Passat or not to Passat

mad m

Thinking of getting a new 1.6fsi 115bhp 6 speed highline model Passat. Have been driving VW's since I care to remember. Kids are getting bigger so my hachback golf seems a bit small these days. Are there any other cars in that class I should be thinking of looking into. Seen the new Mondeo but have been told it drops in value like a sack of spuds. Have looked at the Jetta also but its just a Golf with a boot added really.

Want something that is spacious and that holds its value a bit.

Thanks

PaulieC

I have that exact model and would recommend it. It's not the fastest in the world, but it's perfectly adequate. In fact, my brother who drives a 2.0 TDI Golf thought it was much faster than he was expecting.

all in all, a nice drive.

_Kaiser_

Dunno about the 1.6 though. You'd probably want something a bit bigger (and diesel) for the weight.

Haven't driven the new model but can't fault my 02 1.9 TDI (130) Passat.
(although there was a very nice 07 Audi A6 in a dealership yesterday that I was looking at - only €63k!)

mad m

Kaiser2000 wrote:

(although there was a very nice 07 Audi A6 in a dealership yesterday that I was looking at - only €63k!)

Only 63k....:D

mad m

cambo_gueno wrote:

I have that exact model and would recommend it. It's not the fastest in the world, but it's perfectly adequate. In fact, my brother who drives a 2.0 TDI Golf thought it was much faster than he was expecting.

all in all, a nice drive.

How do you find it on the juice?

maidhc

Grandfather has an 06 1.9 TDI. I drive it a lot, but I don't really like it.

a) Its a bit slow. It is very slow actually.
b) Rattles from the dash
c) The drivers seat isn't all that comfortable despite being electrically adjustable.
d) Gearbox isn't very precise
e) Electric handbrake an unmitigated disaster
f) Engine can stall sometimes for no obvious reason and in dangerous places. VW refuse to accept there is a problem and it is impossible to reproduce when you want to.

speedfreak

had a new rental one in france for 6 days recently with a mixture of m-way and town driving. it was 1.9 tdi - french equivalent of comfortline. have to say it feels like a big car and takes a while to get used to its dimensions when parking - p. sensors might be a useful spec. lots of room and decent spec. its not something you throw around corners though and although unlike previous poster i found the elec handbrake handy and easy to use, there have been problems with it though. the 1.9 engine is dreadful - well documented as being v.noisy and S L O W. 1.6FSI is fine around town but allow yourself plently of room for overtaking for those trips down the country. have heard the 1.4TSI is coming to the passat range in october. might be worth hangin on for that?

Anan1

I looked at and drove a 2.0 TDI in January. I was quite disappointed at the build quality, and felt it was not compensated for by the drive. It seems that VW residuals have been thus far unaffected by falling build quality, but can't believe that this will remain so forever.

bazz26

My uncle bought a new Passat 1.6 FSi Comfortline in January. It cost €28k and in typical VW fashion it didn't even come with alloy wheels. I drove the car and it is a big heavy car and that 1.6 litre struggles, it has a 6 speed gearbox which I think is pointless. As others have said, it is ok for city driving but out on the open road you would really have to plan your overtaking. On the plus side, the car has acres of space and a huge boot and looks best in black imo.

VWs imo over the last 10 years or so have been living off their reputation for quality and engineering rather than building on it. My uncle has had the car back to the dealers twice now, once for the ECU throwing out false error codes on the dash and the second for an unoffical recall to have the wiper motor replaced. Also as someone else said, that electronic brake is a nightmare and a useless piece of technology, I hope other maker's don't go down the same route. Stick with the standard hand brake, if it ain't broke then why fix it I say.

colm_mcm

Avensis 1.8 VVT-i or D-4D 125 Luna?

Same price bracket, don't know how spec compares with Highline though

copacetic

to echo speedfreak:

just a note that I understand that audi are dropping the 1.6FSI and replacing it with a new 1.4TFSI this year in the A3. The 1.4TFSI (125bhp) specs are:

top speed of 203 km/h, and acceleration from a standstill to 100 km/h in 9.6 seconds for the three-door A3, its average fuel consumption is just 6.5 litres of premium-grade fuel per 100 km.

Note that this is a turbo only engine, not the twincharger TSI engine in the VWs.

Based on this I'd either wait for this engine or a TSI engine to be available in the passat. The 1.6FSI ans 2.0FSI engines both seem on their way out to me.

mad m

Was just checking out the Jetta which has the TSI engine,at 1.4 TSI its 140bhp....But the Jetta just seems like a Golf with a boot added.... I test drove the Passat the other day and I was kinda taken a back when I reached for the Handbrake,took little time to get used to pressing that Parking button. So the Jetta would be a much faster car and a better engine. Would be better in terms if I was doing some overtaking?

crosstownk

I personally wouldn't go for the 1.6 petrol - not enough power, tbh. You'd be better off with the 2.0TDI - it will hold it's value better and will be a nicer car to drive.

Henry Ford III

colm_mcm wrote:

Avensis 1.8 VVT-i or D-4D 125 Luna?

Same price bracket, don't know how spec compares with Highline though

Comical.

JoeA3

crosstownk wrote:

I personally wouldn't go for the 1.6 petrol - not enough power, tbh. You'd be better off with the 2.0TDI - it will hold it's value better and will be a nicer car to drive.

I'd agree on the "nicer car to drive" part, but it will depreciate like rocks! High-spec, big engined mid range saloons such as the Passat/Mondeo lose massive money quickly...

bazz26

If your concerned about resale value then I would not bother with the Jetta. It is just a Golf with a boot and a chrome grill. Saloon versions of the Golf over the years tend to be worth alot less second hand, just look at used prices of the Bora and Vento.

Also while the Jetta has a big boot it still shares the same interior dimensions as the Golf. Worth taking into account if your current Golf is too small for you.

colm_mcm

Henry Ford III wrote:

Comical.

that was mostly for your benefit to be honest!

R.O.R

The 1.6Fsi is being dropped in favour of the 1.4TFSi in the Passat - not sure exactly when but I'd say towards end of this year / beginning of next. I have spoken to someone who's driven one and he said it is miles better than the 1.6Fsi.

Wasn't aware it was only a Turbo and they'd dropped the supercharged.

One of the guys here has the 1.6Fsi Highline. Very well specced and he says it's good on juice and fairly nippy - but he is getting on a bit and personally I'd say it's dog slow.

Mondeo's will loose money after they have been out a while, but I'd expect the RV to hold for the first 2-3 years almost as well as the Passat, particulaly in a 1.6 Petrol version.

bazz26

Used Passat prices like most VWs tend to be overinflated because of their perception of superior reliability and build quality. And people are willing to pay for this hence keeping used prices high. Petrol Passats though tend to loose more in resale value than their diesel versions though.

Mondeos resale values have always been poor. This is mostly due to Ford offering large fleet discounts, the number of pre reg cars that float about the main dealer networks and large number of ex rentals that flood the used market every year. I cannot see the new model being any different to be honest.

maidhc

bazz26 wrote:

Mondeos resale values have always been poor. This is mostly due to Ford offering large fleet discounts, the number of pre reg cars that float about the main dealer networks and large number of ex rentals that flood the used market every year. I cannot see the new model being any different to be honest.

They are not that cheap when you try to buy one either though. Definately they have come on from the MK1 days. (in 1999 we traded in a 1995 mondeo for 7500, and bought the same car back 9 months later with the same milage from the same garage for 6000... and put 120k trouble free miles on it since...!! ).

Henry Ford III

colm_mcm wrote:

that was mostly for your benefit to be honest!

Thank you

bazz26

maidhc wrote:

They are not that cheap when you try to buy one either though. Definately they have come on from the MK1 days. (in 1999 we traded in a 1995 mondeo for 7500, and bought the same car back 9 months later with the same milage from the same garage for 6000... and put 120k trouble free miles on it since...!! ).

Well dealers of the same brand tend to try and keep prices inflated, but generally outside the Ford dealer network Mondeos tend to be cheaper to buy second hand.

A guy working with me bought a 2001 1.8 Zetec one owner ex company car last year with 100k miles and FFSH for €4,000. Looking at carzone.ie there are a number of used new models already popping up on forecourts, all those demo models are starting to appear on the second hand market, dealers tend to shift them on after 2 - 3 months when the mileage is still relatively low. Also once the "new" model euphoria passes I reckon prices will fall back to the normal Mondeo pattern.

BTW I'm not taking anything away from the Mondeo, I'd have one over a Passat any day but they do tend to suffer above average depreciation. Good if your buying, but no so good when selling.

Victor Meldrew

mad m wrote:

Was just checking out the Jetta which has the TSI engine,at 1.4 TSI its 140bhp....But the Jetta just seems like a Golf with a boot added.... I test drove the Passat the other day and I was kinda taken a back when I reached for the Handbrake,took little time to get used to pressing that Parking button. So the Jetta would be a much faster car and a better engine. Would be better in terms if I was doing some overtaking?

your OP said you wanted space, I went for the passatt (2006, 1.9D) for that reason.

Jetta is not as big in the legroom dept.

I find the 1.9 D fine, more surprisingly, my speed-freak wife finds it OK as a step down from an Audi TT. not a rocket by any means, but grand.

cork and back on a 1/4 tank and 40mpg in town.

the petrol will be a dipso....

mad m

Thanks all for the replies, really appreciate your insight. Was inquiring about the 1.9 today and its cost an extra 3k...Hmm my wife said something about Honda,anyone any say on a Honda Accord.

bazz26

mad m wrote:

Thanks all for the replies, really appreciate your insight. Was inquiring about the 1.9 today and its cost an extra 3k...Hmm my wife said something about Honda,anyone any say on a Honda Accord.

Smallest engine in the Honda Accord is 2.0 litre.

The Civic is available in saloon too, might be worth checking out. It is close in size to the current Accord and is available in 1.8 litre petrol and 1.4 litre hybrid. The Civic saloon is very well kitted out too, climate control, cruise control, electric windows, mirrors and sunroof, cd changer, alloy wheels and traction control are all standard.

zoemax

The wife has a 1.6 FSI Highline Passat. Its roomy with loads of rear leg room and has a huge boot. She loves it. She mostly drives around home on country roads so speed is not an issue.

I hate it. Its uncomfortable and the build quality is questionable - squeaks and rattles over rough roads. It is one of the slowest cars I have ever driven. It is fine up to 60mph, once you get to 70-80mph it really starts to struggle. Fuel consumption is low 30's per gallon which is not great either. That said the highline is really well specked and it looks good (well, better than an Avensis but not as good as an Accord).

mad m

^^ thanks for that input zoemax, I'm more and more swinging away from the Passat now. I was up looking at the Honda Accord the mid range one the S-type. They had them in Stock also,lovely looking car. Also I can get the Accord for a night or the Honda Hybrid for a night to test drive it. The Hybrid is same as the Civic saloon,well so the rep told me. Didn't get to see a civic saloon. Mad the way the entry level Accord has a sunroof as standard and the S-type doesn't but has the Dual zone aircon...

liamsisk

The new 2007 Mondeo is not expected to depreciate in value at the same rate as previous models. I have just ordered one and expect delivery in about seven days. More then!

gyppo

mad m wrote:

Have been driving VW's since I care to remember.

You'd think you would have gotten a bit of sense by now:D

bazz26

liamsisk wrote:

The new 2007 Mondeo is not expected to depreciate in value at the same rate as previous models. I have just ordered one and expect delivery in about seven days. More then!

Did the salesman tell you that by any chance?

Check this out:
http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=776757

€24k for a 2 or 3 month old 1.6 litre Zetec, it costs almost €28k new. Crazy to buy a new one imo, a nearly new one is much better value. Let someone else take the hit on the initial depreciation.