[s-cars] Passat 4motion W8 wagon: Opinions? (LAC)

[LL - NY]

My Mom has a V6 2001.5 (update car) Passat GLX 4-motion. Decent car, but 
it is soft (a lot of this has to do with the Michelin No-Seasons) reasonable 
handling, the brakes are fine, even in the rain (heck, the car is a
slightly upsized A4), solid German family car. Power is adequate, not
overwhelming. This is the 190 HP 30V 2.8. The car has NOT been problem
free, however. Does have a potential (have to check back, I don' t
live near my Mom) oil leak, probably somewhere in the valley pan area
from the quick glance I could check under the engine cover. Burned
headlight sockets, disappointing considering the car has stock bulbs.
Although it's nicely appointed, (better than most), it's NOT an Audi.
Don't know enough about the W8's (other than the wagon I saw the other
day SOUNDED awesome, and they were just toodling around a parking lot.
Nice gentle quiet, but meaningful rumble) to know if the points about
the interior and the design and quality issues mentioned have been
fixed (although I don't see the battery getting wet on Mom's car).
Tires, are tires. If they don't suit you, it's not too hard to change
them. Most US market cars come with wimpy no-seasons. Not the fault of
the general car, just the marketer's choice on the tires. The W8 has
little to do with the 2.8 V6's, so the oil leak issues don't matter.
AND the W8 comes with HID's, so the light wiring issues don't matter
either. I'd check the reliability records (if they have enough
statistical samples to exist) of the W8, but don't expect it quite to
be an UrS. The car is a bit too isolated for that.

LL - NY

On 6/29/05, Tony Curran <tony.curran at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> I leased a V6 Passat a few years ago and was glad to hand it back at end of
> lease agreement. I thought I was getting an Audi in disguise but was very
> disappointed. The suspension was soft. The tires too narrow - 195s. It
> didn't like to stop in the rain cos there weren't any splash guards over the
> rotors. The rain gutter under the windshield emptied directly on to the
> battery. Unless these issues hae been fixed I wouldn't bother.
> 
> I did like the transmission and the 4Motion would serve it welll. Maybe a
> better option would be a A4 255hp 3.2 litre V6.
> 
> Tony
> 96 S6
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com
> [mailto:s-car-list-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf Of Marc Gorelick
> Sent: June 29, 2005 12:29 AM
> To: S-cars mailing list
> Subject: [s-cars] Passat 4motion W8 wagon: Opinions? (LAC)
> 
> 
> I am smitten with this car. In fact I am about 90% ready to jump on an
> airplane and go get one that I've had my eye on for a while. We have a
> "boring" (V6, FWD) Passat wagon coming off lease and I need a
> replacement. I really like the one we're giving up and this seems like
> the same thing, only more.
> 
> It seems very S-car like: 270 HP, AWD and designed to NOT draw excessive
> attention to itself. The perfect all-season, family-hauling
> grocery-getter, assuming one can't find an UrS6 Avant around. Plus,
> unlike our UrS cars this one still has 48k miles of factory warranty
> left on it. ;-)
> 
> The car is 1,100 miles away and I am mildly hesitant to fly out and buy
> a car I've never seen or driven. So....anyone have one of these? If not,
> any driving experiences? Baseless opinions? I figure if ever there was a
> group of people who would "get" this car it would be all of you.
> 
> Thanks, hope this isn't considered a waste of bandwidth.
> 
> Marc
> 
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