VW Passat at 38000 kms (9 months)

Passat 2.0 DSG Highline S - 38,000kms (9 months)
We booked a Superb V6 TDi in 2007 but had to cancell it bcoz of some problems.. Again when time came to buy a premium car for uncle, he asked me to book a Superb.. I suggested Passat as Superb was old then or else we could wait for 6 month till the time new Superb will be launched.. He was not ready to wait and finalised Passat after a Test drive.. Passat is available in 2 variants.. basic one and Highline one.. Highline comes with additional features like Powered seats with memory, electric rear sun blinder, Xenon Head lights, Padel shifts on steering wheel and Sunroof. All these features were not imp for uncle still we convinced him to go for top end.. I asked which colour and he said, "Go for any one u like".. "Light Metallic Blue is fine?".. " Haha go ahead".. Had option of 2 colours in interiors too.. Black or Biege.. We opted Biege..
Got the delivery of Light metallic Blue Passat from Presidential cars , Worli on 16th June. Had to goto Vasai for delivery since we were in hurry and took the delivery without registration.. Passat was 1st premium car in our family soo the experince cannot be explianed in words.. Everything felt like magic.. Every part u touch and theres a special feel to it.. Feel of steering, support of seats, auto changing of gears, power washers for head lamps, Sunroof, electrionic Key, etc everything was mind blowing.. There was good debate between 4 of us cousins regarding who shud drive the car from Vasai to home.. Finally I backed off and my younger bro (being youngest) piloted it..
Within 1st week, I got an opportunity to drive Passat to Ahmednagar and back.. Being brand new, i didn't pushed the car to limits but i kept a keen eye on trip computer for the fuel efficiency i was getting.. Return journey was late in night.. This is when I was impressed the most.. Xenon light available on highline are the best I hav experienced till date.. In both the headlights, theres a saperate light which lights while u steer in that direction.. It also light when u put on indicator.. Morever, the xenon beam too turns in the direction of steering.. Its very tough or nearly impossible to miss a object in dark nights.. The confidence that this set up gives is unmatched by even Q7 which comes with Xenon lights but without turning feature.. Heated seats too was something new and diff i experienced.. Being rainy season, it was bit chilling and heated seats kept me warm.. One more innovative feature is the way OVRMs change their angle towards down the moment u shift to reverse gear to enable the view of hidden objects..
Looks: As you can see in pics, passat looks killer from front.. Its looks good from side too.. But rear is bit bland.. Get inside and you are truely impressed with design and quality of interiors.. Dashboard is beautiful specifically with blend of Black, Biege, fakewood and alluminium inserts.. Ergonomics are perfect and finding a perfect sitting position is not an issue at all at front.. Memory setting for seat allows 3 people to save respective setting for seat hieght, angle, lumber support, OVRM, etc.. Shift rear and you are greeted with acres of legroom.. Armrest hav an inbuilt cupholders and compartment to store small things..
Performance: Take the electronic key, insert in key hole, press it and Passat fires to life.. Auto gearbox is marked with 5 positions like P (Parking), N (Neutral), R (Reverse), D (Drive) and S (Sports).. Release the electronic parking brake, Apply foot brake, shift the gear lever to D, release the foot brake and lo.. Car moves.. U press accelerator and the car progesses depending on how much u press the accelerator.. All gear shifts are done automatically thereafter.. The seamless manner in which the gear shifts is something to be experienced.. The DSG shifts without any jerk.. Max speed achieved is 220kmph and 0-100 comes in 12 secs approximately (in S-Mode).. D Mode and S-Mode both are for forward motion but in S-mode, the car touches red-line in every gear before shifting up and downshifting happens quickly too to make the driving experience enjoyable.. The exhaust note too becomes very sporty in S-Mode.. To manually shift the gears, shift the gear lever to D-mode and then to left.. In manual mode u hav right lever on steering wheel for upshifting and left lever for downshifting.. However, these levers rotate along with steering wheel so can get confusing at times while enjoying manual mode on curvy roads..
On my 1st long drive in Passat to Ahmednagar, while crusing at below 100, I got fuel effieciency of upto 16kmpl with AC which is unbelievable frankly.. In regular day to day use, we get upto 14 on highways and 9-10 in city traffic. Fuel Tank of 70 litres makes the range of appx 900 kms..
Ride and Handling: Being Volkswagen, we can take for granted that ride has to be good.. Passat soaks all irregularities impressively.. Excellent Build quality and sturdy structure further adds to confidence over all kind of surfaces.. Handling too is very good.. You can push the car anywhich way you like on any corner and car takes it with confidence.. Try to go beyond limts of car and ESP comes in to play.. Wide tyres further help in building confidence.. The only limiting factor here is ground clearence which is 160mm.. Though 160 sounds decent but long wheelbase make the underbody scrap on bigger speed breakers.. Theres a underbody protection made of plastic to protect the underbody.. But that too is suseptible to damage on speed breakers.. Infact, my car's underbody protection got damaged in 1st month itself.. Replacement costed 19k..
Service: We got the delivery of Passat in June while the offer of three free services was going on.. This made us eligible for free services for 3 years/ 45000kms.. Service interval is 15000kms and normally a service of Passat costs appx. 18000 but with free services it costs 3000 since we hav to pay for wheel alignment and Balancing + Taxes.. 2 services are already done and Quality of service is very good.. One strange issue with passat though.. It consumes a litre of oil every 5000 kms.. So after every 5000kms a warning lamp blinks and we need to start hunting for the spacial grade Castrol 5 w 40 Synthetic oil professional which costs Rs.1000 for a litre.. Never experienced this with any other car..
Non-routine repairs: Under Chessis Protection replaced for Rs. 19000
In Oct 08, our car met with an accident.. Its normally chauffer driven, but being diwali our driver was on leave so uncle decided to drive himself for health clup.. Just after driving few metres, he pressed brake considering it to be a clutch.. The car stopped suddenly in middle of the road and Scorpio behind bumped.. The total expenses of repair was Rs. 1,96,000 out of which we had to contribute Rs. 40,000
Now something about Presidential cars: Presidential cars is a VW Dealership at Worli owned by GMS group.. Some other dealerships of GMS Group includes GMS Mahindra, Ichibaan Honda (now discontinued), Volvo Buses, etc.. Ichibaan Honda was taken back from GMS group for poor customer service and now inside news is even VW is going to take back Presidential cars from GMS.. Buy a car from Presidential cars and untill recieving full disbursement, u'll get A1 service and regular follow ups but the moment u pay ur full amount, it now your time to run behind them.. I got my RC book after full 4 months whereas it is supposed to be recd within a month.. I was promised 3 free services but they didn't gave me any Free service booklet.. And the pace at which my car was munching miles, I knew our car will be 1st one amongst those sold in June 08 to go for service.. So, I was reminding the sales exec again and again and he just gave me false assurances.. And when the day came for 1st service, I myself went with the car prepared to fight for my right.. Service people didn't had any idea.. I tried to contact sales exec, he was on leave.. I tried to contact Sales manager and she was out of station.. Service people blamed sales guys.. Sales dept dumped the problem on accounts and so on.. I had to wait for 3 full hours SMSing all those whose number i had of Presidential cars.. Finally GM mailed VW, Germany got a list of customers eligible for free services approved and then I left the workshop at 1pm.. What the Hell..! U run behind them for RC book.. U run behind them for free services.. Are we customers of Reliance Mobile or Volkswagen Cars? We hav to be careful even while servicing of the car and need to keep attention on the job carried out else there are high chances of doing unnecessary job and asking for a fat bill..
Other day, I got a call from VW and I explained them the whole mess happenning at presidential cars and clearly told them that yes, i'll consider VW as my next car but not through Presidential Cars.. Now the news is, Shreyans Motors (Audi dealer) is assigned a Delership of VW in Mumbai and they are also supposed to appoint 4 other dealers for VW in Mumbai itself.. That explains the scale at which VW plans to expand its wings in India..
Another VW produch for which I am eagerly awaiting is Tiguan.. 2.0 TDi, Mini SUV, 140 BHP, 4wd, 6 speed DSG, compact looks.. Perfect replacement for Tucson..
And now that new Superb is here.. I am 100% sure that new Superb is much better than Passat in almost all respect and saving few lakhs of money too.. Time time ki baat hai..

really nice review. truly amazing pics. and a sad ending. those accident pics really hurt me.

Excellent Review buddy.
The germans are really known for the cars they make.

The new superb is coming out with a diesel with the same engine as the passat within this month.
With the all rounder package it should be an amazing deal.

I too had a same incident with a cousin's car. I wasnt driving but my cousin's wife was driving and it was her first experience as an A/T driver and she did the same mistake of pressing the brake thinking it to be the clutch.
Though the damage wasnt much but if a car is damaged no matter what , it is a damage to the heart of car loves like us.
Btw excellent pics and 38000 kms in 9 months is really a lot. :)

good review again abhi

great looking passat u got there
but sad to see it crashed
is it fine now?

Got it repaired within 2 weeks.. And the quality of job is soo good, nobody can make out whether this car has ever met with an accident.. Not even a minor squeak or rattle..

Another well written review abhi. And like always cool pics :kewlpic: .

It is sad to see that accident. I once braked hard thinking it was clutch, in my uncle's OHC. But luckily nothing happened.

And also the problems faced with dealers is even worse. 4 months for RC book? That's real strange.

abhi, another great review of your supperb ownership. Man you have cool collection as i always say, keep rocking with all and drive safe. sorry to see that accidents pics, also to mention as i have already said in another thread that VW group needs to buckle up regarding their dealership network as they does fumes up if owner doesnt fight back for things promised.


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Nice review Abhi & felt sad about your passat when i see those pics..

CC, Yes it usually takes 3-4 months for RC books.

zinam wrote:Nice review Abhi & felt sad about your passat when i see those pics..

CC, Yes it usually takes 3-4 months for RC books.

Noo.. It takes just upto 40 days for RC book..

zinam wrote:Nice review Abhi & felt sad about your passat when i see those pics..

CC, Yes it usually takes 3-4 months for RC books.

Here we get RC book in a month period.

Passat is out now a days with my cousin. It is my cousin's first out of station drive in Passat and y'day it met with a small accident. Right mirror is fully damaged. Checked with Spare Parts Guide of Autocar India and was shocked to see price of mirror as Rs. 35500. Today called workshop and enquired. He informed that the price of mirror is Rs. 36000, painting is 1200 plus labour and taxes.

Wow! 36k + for an ORVM thats quite high but why are they including cost of painting? Doesn't it comes already coloured? and how much will be the labour charges?

VT

The OVRM is expensive considering its convex and has heating capability.
It is auto retractable as well i suppose.

Lovely photos, passat is good but i hate the Jetta dont know why. 36k for ORVM, thats jaw dropping figure, poor Insurance cos, whats the premium they charge, 50k?How can you give your passat to everyone, people keep banging it.

Vibhor wrote:Wow! 36k + for an ORVM thats quite high but why are they including cost of painting? Doesn't it comes already coloured? and how much will be the labour charges?

VT

No, the mirrors dosn't comes coloured. Labour charges appx. 1000 and service tax as applicable.
@Abhinav, Yes, the mirror is auto foldable, heated and comes with indicators.
@Coolboy, ours is a joint family. Passat is primarily used by my elder uncle. And if he stops others taking it out, even I won't get to drive it then. Insurance premium is 77k.

I've seen many expensive cars whose left ORVMs are broken down but their owners never get it repaired and the reason i think is because of high price. :war:

RoadRocket

Yea.
There are other reasons as well.
Constant theft of these lead many not put these mirrors.

Nice review buddy...but really pained to see those crash pics

Abhi, Just noticed on your profile that your Passat is an year old now!
Congrats! :)

You can now post its 1Year ownership review in this thread itself.


VT

Road Rocket wrote:I've seen many expensive cars whose left ORVMs are broken down but their owners never get it repaired and the reason i think is because of high price. :war:

RoadRocket

The primary reason they don't get it fixed is that they don';t find the need of left ORVM, especially after it gets knocked down.

dcargod wrote:

Road Rocket wrote:I've seen many expensive cars whose left ORVMs are broken down but their owners never get it repaired and the reason i think is because of high price. :war:

RoadRocket

The primary reason they don't get it fixed is that they don';t find the need of left ORVM, especially after it gets knocked down.

and second to that is the cost of getting it done is way too high to spend.

Vibhor wrote:Abhi, Just noticed on your profile that your Passat is an year old now!
Congrats! :)

You can now post its 1Year ownership review in this thread itself.


VT

Will do that asap.

Nice reading. Given a good driver, you can stay ahead of everything. But this applies only to traffic filled roads. But in expressway, it is quite a good thing as the 5 series would have had more room too play.

btw, what tyre does your passat has?