2012 Passat (US) revealed

[ifcar]

European and U.S. Passats, back to back:

[Madman]

It's not the look of the car I have issues with, it's the fact that we are getting a watered-down, softened, cheapened, inferior product compared to what everyone else in the world gets.  It's VW wants to offer a Camry rip-off for North America, fine.  But also give us the opportunity to buy the REAL Passat, too.

The way things are going, the Golf GTI will be the only car in VW's US portfolio that isn't a third-world reject.

[sportyaccordy]

This thing really looks like an Impala

I mean they removed every ounce of svelte, sleekness and upscale feel from this. Seriously, why would anyone get this over an Impala?

Also what happens to the CC? Or is that dead already

[ifcar]

This thing really looks like an Impala

I mean they removed every ounce of svelte, sleekness and upscale feel from this. Seriously, why would anyone get this over an Impala?

Also what happens to the CC? Or is that dead already

The Impala is archaic, massive and poorly executed. Nothing at all like the Passat.

The CC will continue to be the style/luxury-focused midsize VW, slated above the practicality/value-focused Passat.

[ifcar]

It's not the look of the car I have issues with, it's the fact that we are getting a watered-down, softened, cheapened, inferior product compared to what everyone else in the world gets.  It's VW wants to offer a Camry rip-off for North America, fine.  But also give us the opportunity to buy the REAL Passat, too.

The way things are going, the Golf GTI will be the only car in VW's US portfolio that isn't a third-world reject.

You want a car that no one bought in recent years and that you wouldn't buy anyway.

[Laconian]

I honestly hope Volkswagen's accountant-driven quest for higher sales will be a dismal failure. I fear for our future as car buyers if other manufacturers follow suit.

[WookieOnRitalin]

It's not bad. VW is trying to expand their market appeal here in the US. As I understand it, the CC is upmarket where the Passat is slotted below it.

If they can improve their quality problems while dropping their premium price tags, it should be a boon for VW. I think this is a smart decision on their part for their US operations. Now, will I buy it? No. Then again, I've never been particularly fond of V-Dubs mainly because I do not trust them as far as I can throw them.

[omicron]

I think your Passat looks pretty good. 

[Madman]

I think your Passat looks pretty good.  

Sure, it looks okay, I'll give you that.  But closer inspection reveals where they saved that $7,000.  Things like a prop rod to hold up the hood/bonnet.  A prop rod?!?  On a 2012 model year upper-medium car?!?  Really?  How about the gooseneck hinges holding up the trunk/boot?  What is this, 1982?  Don't even get me started on the hard, cheapo plastics which adorn the cabin.  Then there's that awful 2.5 litre inline five-pot which would be considered too agricultural for use in a tractor.  Add to that the fact that it will all be screwed together by a bunch of East Tennessee hillbillies making just above minimum wage whose last job was flipping burgers at McDonalds and you can really start to see where that $7,000 savings came from.

Nope, I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole!

[93JC]

Proprods! Gooseneck hinges! Whatever will we do? How will life go on?!

[850CSi]

Hideous. And they can keep the Impala c-pillar and front end.

[TBR]

The US version looks better than the European one. Don't know about the mechanicals though.

[Raza]

It's not awful.......but I won't buy one and it doesn't look as good as the last two models. 

[Tave]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I like it more than the current Passat, and I think it's the best take yet on VW's new design language. It fits this much better than the Jetta, IMO.

[nickdrinkwater]

Sure, it looks okay, I'll give you that.  But closer inspection reveals where they saved that $7,000.  Things like a prop rod to hold up the hood/bonnet.  A prop rod?!?  On a 2012 model year upper-medium car?!?  Really?  How about the gooseneck hinges holding up the trunk/boot?  What is this, 1982?  Don't even get me started on the hard, cheapo plastics which adorn the cabin.  Then there's that awful 2.5 litre inline five-pot which would be considered too agricultural for use in a tractor.  Add to that the fact that it will all be screwed together by a bunch of East Tennessee hillbillies making just above minimum wage whose last job was flipping burgers at McDonalds and you can really start to see where that $7,000 savings came from.

Nope, I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole!

Disagree.  If anything our Passat is the cheap one.  For a so-called all new car, it has exactly the same interior as the old car!

VW has been cost cutting with the Passat since they switched to using the Golf chassis and the traverse set-up since the B6 model... the interior also took a step back too IMO.  My father had a 2006 B6 and the materials in my mind were worse than the preceding model.

[omicron]

Disagree.  If anything our Passat is the cheap one.  For a so-called all new car, it has exactly the same interior as the old car!

VW has been cost cutting with the Passat since they switched to using the Golf chassis and the traverse set-up since the B6 model... the interior also took a step back too IMO.  My father had a 2006 B6 and the materials in my mind were worse than the preceding model.

The B6 just isn't as handsome as the B5 until you get to R36 level, and I seem to recall the interior of the B5 feeling richer and more special to the touch. 



Lovely.

[AltinD]

The B6 just isn't as handsome as the B5 until you get to R36 level, and I seem to recall the interior of the B5 feeling richer and more special to the touch. 

I can guaranty you that, since I own the top of the line B6, and have owned a top of the line (except for the engine) B5.5.

[omicron]

I can guaranty you that, since I own the top of the line B6, and have owned a top of the line (except for the engine) B5.5.

Yay! I said something correct!

[the Teuton]

Uh, so I got to check out the new Passat the other day at the auto show.

There's both good news and bad news. Let's start with the good news.

It feels like a legitimately American car. It's huge. The back seat is absolutely massive. The Sonata and Optima are tiny by comparison. No, the only car in its class that feels like it can come close is the Accord.

The front seats lose some of their bolstering for width, but they still manage to feel sportier than their nearest competitors'. The car is also only $20k! For what amounts to a car that surpasses an Impala in every way for the price of a...fleet-spec Impala. It's a really good deal.

...It's just a shame that VW still has some Euro-feel cars left on its floor space for comparison. The most direct comparison is to the CC, which is a lot more expensive. And it feels it. While VDub kept costs down while keeping design looking like modern VW, the vast expanses of fake wood look terrible in-person. They should have at least given it the fake aluminum from the CC. Additionally, the controls feel cheap, the dash feels hallow and hard, and it doesn't really feel like a German car. The doors don't even thud like a German car's.

So what we have then is a car that, quite honestly, has the cheap, shitty plastics from a Camry in something the size of a new Accord. Anyone with any sense would pick this car over its competitors (disregarding the 5-speed manual and 5-pot engine) for sheer utility and spunk, but when you start looking at the details, you realize an Accord is probably still a better buy. And yes, for full disclosure, I still think an Accord is a better car than a new Sonata. And for further disclosure, yes, I've driven both of them.

[ifcar]

The problem with the Camry interior isn't the quality of its plastics so much as the quality of its assembly. The Passat doesn't share that problem.

[Raza]

It's not bad. VW is trying to expand their market appeal here in the US. As I understand it, the CC is upmarket where the Passat is slotted below it.

If they can improve their quality problems while dropping their premium price tags, it should be a boon for VW. I think this is a smart decision on their part for their US operations. Now, will I buy it? No. Then again, I've never been particularly fond of V-Dubs mainly because I do not trust them as far as I can throw them.

I've been driving Volkswagens for 6 years with no serious issues. Never met a Saab driver who could say that.   

[GoCougs]

Passats have been historically too small and too expensive to compete within the US Camcord class.

Enter the all-new Jetta. A bit of Googling shows sales are up ~50%. So, it's the right move for Passat, just as the move for the Jetta.

The only people how care about hinges and prop rods don't buy new cars.

[Mustangfan2003]

I've been driving Volkswagens for 6 years with no serious issues. Never met a Saab driver who could say that.   

Boom, the smack has been thrown down.  I've got a Ford that's almost 10 years old with no problems   

[the Teuton]

Passats have been historically too small and too expensive to compete within the US Camcord class.

Enter the all-new Jetta. A bit of Googling shows sales are up ~50%. So, it's the right move for Passat, just as the move for the Jetta.

The only people how care about hinges and prop rods don't buy new cars.

The Golf feels like a better car that the Jetta, but the Jetta is a little bigger than my dad's Legacy. It's a big car, and it's a comfortable one. It's just a shame ours is optioned with wider seats (which my dad's old frame appreciated more than I did), shitty plastics, inferior engines, and an ox cart rear suspension.

[2o6]

The Golf feels like a better car that the Jetta, but the Jetta is a little bigger than my dad's Legacy. It's a big car, and it's a comfortable one. It's just a shame ours is optioned with wider seats (which my dad's old frame appreciated more than I did), shitty plastics, inferior engines, and an ox cart rear suspension.

Live axles and torsion beams are not the same.


Even so, most of the class has one, except for Civic, Focus, and Mazda 3.

[cawimmer430]

Boom, the smack has been thrown down.  I've got a Ford that's almost 10 years old with no problems   

F__K CONSUMER REPORTS!!! 

[2o6]

Passats have been historically too small and too expensive to compete within the US Camcord class.

Enter the all-new Jetta. A bit of Googling shows sales are up ~50%. So, it's the right move for Passat, just as the move for the Jetta.

The only people how care about hinges and prop rods don't buy new cars.

I dunno....sales are always strong for new cars within the first year.


Even so, it doesn't matter. The GLI is the new Euro Jetta that we all pined for. I don't think I'd buy Jetta anyways; the new Focus looks to be dynamite, and the Cruze hits home on the value front.

[cawimmer430]

I'm just wondering if the average VW buyer in the US even cares about interior quality in terms of materials. As long as the interior holds up well over time it shouldn't be an issue. And it seems that "cheaper materials" on average tend to hold up better over time than the more 'high quality" materials.

At the end of the day the quality of an interior is always subjective. Person A loves it, Person B thinks it's crap and Person C doesn't care.

[the Teuton]

Live axles and torsion beams are not the same.


Even so, most of the class has one, except for Civic, Focus, and Mazda 3.

Why have both of the early 1990s compacts I've owned had IRS? It can't be that expensive.

[Mustangfan2003]

Well like it or not I think VW is on the right track in America.  It seems that Jetta sales have doubled and it's in the top 20 of sales now and I don't know if that's ever happened.  Now would I buy it, ah maybe in a diesel.