Picture Gallery: 2007 VW Passat Wagon
Updated May 1st 2007
by Chris Chase
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Has it really been nine weeks already?
It was that long ago that Volkswagen of Canada offered us a Passat wagon for a medium term test drive. This, in response to the cacophony of forum opinion when we tested the $52,000, V6 4-Motion Passat Wagon back in February.
CanadianDriver.com Assistant Editor Jil McIntosh also noted the high price of the 2.0T, four-cylinder version of the car she reviewed in early March. Indeed, forum responses criticized not only the cars, but also the pricing, and the Volkswagen brand itself.
Compared with our medium-term car, Jil’s tester added about $10,000 worth of luxury options. The car we’re saying goodbye to was equipped with fewer niceties, and hence, was less-expensive : Volkswagen’s way of saying, “See? Not all Passats are expensive, but they’re all nice.�?
Okay, I’ll give them the nice part. This was a very comfortable car despite the substitution of the plain old Luxury Package ($2,670) for the $5,280 Leather Luxury Package that Jil’s car had (non-leather cars get leatherette-covered seats). Ours also lacked the $450 rear side airbags and $1,600 adaptive bi-Xenon headlights, but like Jil’s, had a six-speed automatic transmission that costs $1,400.
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Altogether, it added up to a bottom line of $37,380 including freight. For this price, you must go without automatic climate control (I didn’t really miss it) and steering-wheel audio controls (I missed these a little, but the radio controls aren’t that far of a reach for the driver). The Luxury Package brings a power sunroof, alloy wheels and HomeLink garage door controls.
You can do even better than that, though, if you’re willing to give up some more nice-to-haves. Our tester was badged as a 2.0T model; but there’s also a “base�? Passat wagon that makes do without the 2.0T model’s Convenience Package (six-CD changer, map lights and lighted visors and footwells, a cargo net, chrome exterior trim and a radio antenna integrated into the rear window) and the useful power liftgate for $31,425 with a manual transmission.
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That car, plus $450 for rear-seat curtain airbags, would be my personal choice. Sure, I could get more features elsewhere, but $32,590 for a spacious European wagon that’s fun-to-drive and still has heated front seats (one extra that is important to my admittedly cheap backside) is an acceptable price in my opinion.
The last weekend we had the car in our fleet, I road-tripped the car to Boston. From my home in Ottawa. This is a 700 km drive that takes you through all kinds of traffic situations: the Interstates in Vermont and New Hampshire are practically deserted, but the highways through Montreal and in Boston can be nightmarish.
In all conditions, the Passat proved to be a terrific road trip car. The seats are comfortable, leg- and headroom are decent front and rear, and the cargo area is very accommodating. True, the turbocharged four’s 200-horsepower is less than most V6 engines these days, but the low torque peak and smooth power curve – 207 lb-ft comes on line at 1,800 rpm and doesn’t trail off until 5,000 rpm – makes for a very strong powerplant. It’s also smooth and returns good fuel economy: our tester averaged about 8 L/100 km over the entire Boston trip (most of the distance was covered at speeds ranging from 110-120 km/h). My only knock against the engine is its premium-grade fuel requirement, but this is pretty much de rigueur in turbocharged cars, even where the aim isn’t outright performance.
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The only problem we had with the car wound up being minor. We left it parked during our stay in Boston; when I went to unlock it to pack up and head out, the car wouldn’t respond to the key fob buttons. Out comes the emergency key (stashed inside the fob) and off comes the cover hiding the driver’s door lock cylinder (part of the outside door handle); I unlocked the car the old fashioned way, setting off the alarm in the process. Thankfully, shoving the fob into its slot on the dash shut it up and we were in business.
The problem with the Passat isn’t the price of the car; it’s the cost of the options. Volkswagen made its name in North America selling basic-but-solid cars that were practical and fun to drive. Maybe they need to get back to that and leave the luxury to Audi.
Updated April 16th 2007
by Paul Williams
On the road with the 2007 Passat Wagon
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Open the door, enter the Passat, and you’ll drop into the sporty seat, stabilized by prominent side bolsters, your left foot on a big dead-pedal. It’s the familiar feel of a performance-oriented vehicle – low centre of gravity, firm and supportive bucket seat, legible instruments – compared with the “tall wagon�? crossover that’s coming to dominate the marketplace.
The benefits of this configuration are superior and more immediate handling, a feeling of pace when you drive, and a generally more stable feel on the road. This is why I like sports cars and sporty sedans (even some of their wagon versions) as opposed to all but the most performance-oriented SUVs.
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The Passat’s 2.0 litre, four-cylinder direct injected and turbocharged engine is an impressive piece of engineering. With 200 willing horsepower and 207 foot-pounds of torque, it makes the Passat Wagon much quicker than you’d expect. Acceleration can even be called aggressive when you require it. Otherwise, the six-speed Tiptronic transmission has you trundling along the highway with virtually no engine noise, returning excellent fuel economy. At 100 km/h, for instance, the engine speed is 1,900 rpm; at 120 it’s still a low 2,350 rpm.
Fuel tank capacity, by the way, is 70L, which is big for this class of car. It also means that a fill-up with premium fuel at today’s prices will typically cost you over $60.00 (assuming you have a few litres left). The “plus�? is that you can go a long way on that tank.
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According to the specification sheet sent by Volkswagen Canada with this vehicle, the base price of the Passat 2.0L wagon in this configuration (front-wheel drive, leatherette, automatic) is $33,995. The Luxury Package (includes convenience package) at $2,670 adds an in-dash six-CD changer, lighting package, trunk cargo net, 16�? alloy wheels, chrome exterior window trim, a rear integrated “diversity�? antenna, sunroof and Homelink. (You can save $1,400 by buying the car with a six-speed manual transmission).
As mentioned in earlier comments about this version of the Passat, the steering wheel is very plain. Plastic, with no remotes, it’s a cheap piece of hardware for a car in the mid-$30,000 price range. And it’s right in front of you all the time.
Other than that, the dash layout and centre stack is legible and simple. Everything’s within reach and easily identified, except for the cruise control, which is hidden from view and must be operated on feel alone (after several journeys in this car, I still get it wrong). The “floating�? dashboard is attractive and different (you see a similar application in the Nissan Maxima).
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The outside mirrors could be about 20% larger, in my opinion, but the interior mirror is very big, and deserves special comment because of this. It’s actually big enough that you can see fully out the rear window and the rear side window. Consequently, you can see what’s approaching behind and beside you from the same mirror – a most notable feature.
Last weekend I headed to Toronto from Ottawa to deliver a bicycle and several boxes, and pick up some items at Ikea: just the thing for a wagon. The weather was poor, driving conditions bad, and the Passat, still wearing its winter tires, was easily up to the task.
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Some observations: the pedal placement (brake and gas pedal) seems odd, and they are too close to each other; the height adjustable centre armrest is a good idea; the seat rake adjustment by rotary knob is really inconvenient; the rear cargo compartment with the seats down holds the tallest 200cm “Billy�? bookshelf from Ikea; there’s a somewhat strange mix of electronic (parking brake) and manual (fine tuning knobs for the radio, seats) equipment; driver’s seat lumbar support could be more aggressive; windshield wipers and washers are very effective; defrosters work well; wind noise is low; on two separate occasions, the fuel pump didn’t shut off when the tank was full, causing gasoline to overflow.
No issues regarding vehicle operation. Electrical and mechanical all good.
Updated March 27th 2007
by James Bergeron
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I had the opportunity to put about 300km on the Passat over the past week, which is quite a bit for me considering I had three other cars to drive at the same time. Nevertheless, I discovered that this vehicle really does sip on fuel. Yes, it requires premium, so fuel costs approximately ten percent more, but 300km of city driving on half a tank is promising.
This wagon feels very much like the V6 3.6L version I drove about a month ago. The 2.0T FSI engine puts out a healthy amount of power as well, which certainly does not leave you wanting for the V6 engine, especially when you can save $15,000. The engine is ultra-smooth and quiet and has good torque around town and on the highway, and provides brisk acceleration when pushed.
I have a few niggles with this wagon, but they are more along the lines of the price-per-feature quotient. For $36,000, I expect a few things to be standard, like steering wheel-mounted audio controls or even a leather wrapped steering wheel, which would be a lot nicer to look at and to feel in your hands.
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We spend a lot of time as drivers using the steering wheel. It is a critical part of the vehicle and should be made as comfortable and convenient to use as possible. Not having leather is a little disappointing given this car’s price as well, although the leatherette is of very high quality and I have no qualms with it.
The vehicle as a whole feels like it should: a very solidly-built German tank, ready to do battle on the roads of life. Smooth, quiet and sure-footed, a few times I forgot I was driving a wagon as I headed around a corner at a not-so-sane speed.
Now that the weather has warmed up a bit, I did notice something about the sunroof. If you do not have a window open, do not attempt to open the sunroof fully, as the wind buffeting will deafen you. Crack a window, however, and all is fine. I noticed the same with the rear window; just having it down creates nightmarish buffetting.
Intro
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Our plan for the vehicle is to get as many kilometers on this Passat as we can and really put it through its paces over the weeks to come. I suspect we will rotate this through the hands of CanadianDriver’s contributing journalists in the Ottawa area when possible to get more exposure and to get more mileage onto it. In the meantime I have the Passat to baby sit and to use as my daily driver along with whatever other vehicles I may have to review, and of course my own two cars that haven’t seen very much tarmac lately.
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Unfortunately though, this Passat isn’t as inexpensive as you might expect, considering the loss of the 4motion and V6 engine from our previous test vehicle. Although this car is about $16,000 less expensive than our previous tester, it is still optioned up to $36,665. The saving grace? It is still equipped with leatherette, heated seats and that wonderful power rear lift gate.
This example is a basic Passat 2.0T Wagon with the added luxury package for $2,670. This includes an in-dash 6-disc CD changer, lighting package (with illuminated footwells, front and rear reading lamps, dual sunvisor-mounted vanity lights and door entry lighting), cargo net in the trunk, chrome exterior window trim and rear-window integrated diversity antenna, power tilt and sliding glass sunroof and 16″ alloy wheels and of course, Homelink.
This blog will be a little different than my normal routine. I won’t be updating this one daily but will be bumping it to the front page when updates are available, so set your bookmarks and check back often. There will be periodic updates from myself and other CanadianDriver journalists over the next month and a half.
2007 VW Passat Wagon 2.0T
MSRP as tested: $37,380
For more information on VW and the Passat visit Volkswagen Canada
April 29, 2007, 07:14:28 pm
They make airbags optional??
Jaeger
They are rear side torso (the curtains are std), which is rarely available on most vehicles at all.
Not to mention that they're something that not everybody wants. A rear side torso airbag, unlike a side curtain airbag, would be dangerous or possibly deadly to a young kid in a rear outboard seat. Rear side airbags are great for folks who carpool with three other adults, but terrible for parents. I'm very glad they're not standard.
April 30, 2007, 10:22:10 am
They make airbags optional??
Jaeger
They are rear side torso (the curtains are std), which is rarely available on most vehicles at all.
Not to mention that they're something that not everybody wants. A rear side torso airbag, unlike a side curtain airbag, would be dangerous or possibly deadly to a young kid in a rear outboard seat. Rear side airbags are great for folks who carpool with three other adults, but terrible for parents. I'm very glad they're not standard.
Yeah, I wondered how they would affect a bulky child seat, but maybe they blow up into a relatively compact space. I don't have people in the rear seat often enough to justify it, nor do I feel they are as important as head curtains. But certainly wouldn't turn them down if they were free
Actually, here's a photo of the airbags on a Golf GTI 3dr (we only have the option on the 5drs, interestingly enough)... http://www.vwvortex.com/gallery/albums//Volkswagen/Golf%20-%20GTI%20-%20Rabbit/Golf%20V/GTI%20-%20EU/057.jpg
...and the Passat http://www.vwvortex.com/gallery/albums//Volkswagen/Passat/Passat%20VI/Passat%20Sedan%20(Europe)/062.jpg
May 02, 2007, 08:03:00 am The Passat 1.8t manual I (briefly) owned averaged 10 l/km in urban mixed driving, but we rarely took it out of town so I don't have any real world highway fuel numbers.
Wing, at least the dead fob battery (was it that simple ? ) saved you from too much embarassement when the alarm turned off. You don't mention if the fob started working again...
May 02, 2007, 09:03:42 am ^ Chris wrote the article not me..
May 02, 2007, 09:31:36 am Blueprint, the fob did work perfectly after that, just as it had before. No idea what caused it, but I'm just glad I knew how to get into the car. It's not obvious how to get at the lock cylinder; I remember reading about it somewhere online.
May 02, 2007, 01:22:56 pm We had the rear side bags on the A4 (we wanted the car, it had this extra option which we got for "free"). Dealer and several safety/car people I talked to recommended having the bags turned off by the dealer for children in car/booster seats.
Rationale - if you read the warnings, these bags are fine if you are facing forward, but if you are, say, hanging out the window (or leaning on the door, etc.) they can cause a problem. Given how fidgety the average 2-year old is it is considered risky to leave them on with kids in the backseat (or at least so I was told).
May 03, 2007, 04:16:13 pm The only way the price for this car of 37K can be considered reasonable is when you compare it to the Jetta prices or the V6 version. Consider the alternative you can get a fully loaded 2006 Saab 95 wagon with 20K for 30-35K. Saab is faster, bigger, a lot more reliable (going by consumer reports), has more equitpment and even looks better, at least to me. You need a wagon check out the Saab 95.
May 04, 2007, 10:10:27 am I don't understand how you can get a 9-5 wagon(SportCombi) at that price. Last time I checked, a 2007 9-5 SportCombi starts at over 45K. Do you mean a used car by "2006"?
May 04, 2007, 10:21:23 am
Just ignore, comparing a used car to a new car solely on price is not a fair comparison.
May 04, 2007, 10:28:55 am Do not let the Saab sticker give you major concern. There should be lots of room to negotiate. I leased a new 2006 Saab 9-5 last July and the payment was lower then that for a similiar equiped 2006 Passat 2.0T at the time . The Saab has the Aero (sport) package with the manual transmission. The comparable configeration is not possible with the Passat since sport package is for 3.6L and is only available with auto. This fact alone pretty much eliminated it from serious consideration. In US they can however buy a 2.0T with the sport package, go figure?
May 04, 2007, 10:35:52 am Are ths Saabs any more reliable?
Jaeger
May 04, 2007, 01:50:46 pm
Leasing MIGHT be a different story, but a fully loaded 9-5 SC around 37K? Come on..even a base model with no option starts at 45K.
Anyway, you've got a pretty good deal with your 9-5. Great car at great price!
May 04, 2007, 03:55:07 pm Went to get some coffee, saw a Passat Wagon 2.0T in Blue Graphite, very nice effect inside blinking tail lights. Very classy.
May 04, 2007, 04:12:49 pm
That's my next purchase for my car, but amber blinking.
Was just on the Don Valley VW site... they have some deals on remaining '06/'07 product if anyone in the GTA is 'in the market'...
http://www.donvalleyvw.net/springsale.htm
(The demos with no freight/PDI and extra 2yr CPO look attractive)
May 04, 2007, 04:17:33 pm I might be getting a wagon next time around. V70 or Passat will be difficult to decide (Volvo, VW both have dismal CR ratings, so no contest in that area).
May 04, 2007, 05:00:38 pm
That's my next purchase for my car, but amber blinking.
Was just on the Don Valley VW site... they have some deals on remaining '06/'07 product if anyone in the GTA is 'in the market'...
http://www.donvalleyvw.net/springsale.htm
(The demos with no freight/PDI and extra 2yr CPO look attractive)
$6000 off for a demo, not bad!
How many KMs?
But CPO finance rates are at 5.9%, the brand new ones are 2.9%.
May 04, 2007, 10:39:38 pm We've had our Graphite Blue version for about a month now and love it. Beautiful around town, and a treat on the Whistler Highway. Hits 200kmph easily. Very stable handling on the high speed curves and smooth a silk on the really rough pavement where they're doing all the blasting. We've got the basic model without even the convenience package (much to the chagrin of the dealer who we haggled down $2,000 on the price, all the while he was thinking he'd make it back with the convenience package!!). It looks much better with the black window trim anyways! We've added our Yakima Rocket Box and mountainbike rack and it holds all our gear plus 2 teenagers and their travel goodies no problem. I also mounted the splash guards which I don't think should be an option on a car in Canada! I don't have the issues with the lack of the leather steering wheel, but we're moving up from a 94 Golf CL so this is luxury!! We compared it to the Subaru Legacy wagon which was a bit cheaper ($27,000 in Vancouver) but smaller, and rode like a rickety bucket and had a very gutless engine (they claim 175 HP but it felt gutless compared to the Passat). The jump to a Volvo is not worth the price IMHO. The V50 is tiny inside and the V70 is too much money.
All in all, we're happy with the purchase. I'll get some snow tires for the 16" rims the car came with and some aftermarket 17" alloys and summer tires when the current set wear out.
May 04, 2007, 10:56:28 pm I forgot to mention we've got the 6-speed standard transmission which shifts beautifully. Love the little brake button by the gear shifter so you don't roll backwards on hills. It doesn't have a parking brake lever so you need it. The cruise control lever is in awkward position as I'm always hitting my knee on it! We had the engine warning light come on yesterday after we'd left it parked on a steep driveway (pointing downhill). The dealer had to "re-boot" the engine mangement computer to fix it. Gas is $1.28 /litre out here so having to run premium is a pain. That's at least $80 for a fillup these days.
May 04, 2007, 11:18:24 pm Good for you.
As long as your happy.
May 07, 2007, 02:37:04 pm
Actually the V70 is one of the few Volvo's recommended by CR (that and its sedan equivalent, the S60). As for the new Passat the CR verdict is more confusing. Apparently the regular 3.6 sedan is recommended, not so the 2.0T sedan or 3.6 4Motion wagon.
May 07, 2007, 03:41:20 pm
Actually the V70 is one of the few Volvo's recommended by CR (that and its sedan equivalent, the S60). As for the new Passat the CR verdict is more confusing. Apparently the regular 3.6 sedan is recommended, not so the 2.0T sedan or 3.6 4Motion wagon.
I noticed that too about the 3.6 and 2.0T ratings in CR. Is it something about turbo drivers that make them drive the vehicle to the limits ?
May 07, 2007, 08:19:14 pm
Actually the V70 is one of the few Volvo's recommended by CR (that and its sedan equivalent, the S60). As for the new Passat the CR verdict is more confusing. Apparently the regular 3.6 sedan is recommended, not so the 2.0T sedan or 3.6 4Motion wagon.
I noticed that too about the 3.6 and 2.0T ratings in CR. Is it something about turbo drivers that make them drive the vehicle to the limits ?
Maybe its latent fear of engine sludge from the 1.8T days.
Sometimes I still regret not getting a Jetta 2.0T or GLI though, so much torque compared to the TSX.
May 14, 2007, 02:03:16 am Does anybody know or where I could find out what the towing capacity is for a 1995 - 1999 Volkswagen Jetta TDI? thank-you.
May 14, 2007, 07:31:24 am your manual or try asking here http://forums.vwvortex.com/zeromain
May 14, 2007, 10:50:35 am Or try www.TDIclub.com .
It's a different generation, but the TDI MkIV's could tow 1,500lbs. Yours is likely similar.