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-   -   Driven: Volkswagen Passat (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/194694-driven-volkswagen-passat-24.html)

Thank you for the insights. This is very helpful!

So my Passat HL Connect 2019 got new boots today. Michelin Primacy 4ST 215/60/R17 * 4. Went for the up-size as plan to run lower tire pressure (34psi) without much compromise on GC. A similar upgrade has worked well on my Jetta CL 1.4 TSI 2014. Thanks pertinent FMs for their guidance and support. Driven the Passat for couple of Kms till now, and no problems. Time will only tell if there are any issues like tire walls touching the arches on bottoming out the suspension and/or sharp turns.

Also, went for some acoustic damping and sun filming. Will make a post on that later.

Now I have another issue to report and seek help from learned FMs. The park assist is no longer showing the reversing camera or 360 camera, restricting the view to the ultra-sound sensors only. During routine 4th year service last month, the SA had informed me of a camera alignment error code, which could not be corrected as the required equipment was not available. But, the cameras used to work fine then. Is it that the alignment is so off now that the cameras have been excluded out from the system? Or is there anything else I am missing out.

My Passat will complete 6 years in July 2024. It currently stands at 903xx Kms as on today morning. I bought it home in December 2021 at 58000 Kms.

Here is how it looks now:




The car is still under warranty. When I bought the car, it was under 2+2 Yr warranty. I decided to pay the annual warranty fee and buy 5th and 6th year warranties as well.
Updates:

1. Engine - Regularly serviced at 15K interval which generally is before the 12 months. Flywheel had a noise and was changed at 76K Kms. Water pump was changed at 86K kms. Both under warranty.
2. Transmission - Nothing done.
3. Steering - Steering rack replaced at 90K Kms as there was play and it was making sound. Replaced under warranty.
4. Suspension - Front suspension as changed at 60K Kms. They are perfect even now. Rear suspension and mountings still on original. Engine sub frame mount replaced as there was a tear.
5. Tyres - on 3rd set. Changed at 88K Kms.
6. Brakes - Front pad changed at 88K Kms(3rd set from beginning) Disks skimmed. Rear still on 2nd set.
7. Interiors – motorised rear sun blind had broken clips. Got the part from UK at less than half the cost and ASC was kind enough to fix it. Roof liner was starting to come off. This is a typical german car problem. Got the whole mould + liner replaced under warranty.

Last year there were quite a few Pune + Alibaug runs. Then impromptu Amdavad/ Motera + Goa trips. Car still gives 17+KMPL on highway (kept between 100-120) and 12.5KMPL in the city.

Intend to preserve it as VW Diesels have vanished from the country!

Nice car and wish you many more kms of motoring. 93k km in six years in Indian conditions makes the car a ‘mile cruncher’ for sure.

As with all premium cars (especially Germans), I shudder to think of the cost of ownership without/post warranty.

But as the saying goes, if you need to ask the cost of ownership question of a premium/luxury car then the car isn’t for you :)

Yes, which is why it's a better deal to buy the extended warranty for 80-90K for two years than pay for the parts. ;)

Please post more pictures of the car specially the front and front side angles. Your car is even rare, I haven't seen this shade ever on the road. You need to keep it for a long time, I think this is one of the rarest cars in the market.

I ask cost of ownership question of a premium/luxury car but there's a car for me. Tada.... Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8G

16 years 1 month 5 days old as write this reply and man I must admit, I switched loyalty from being German fanboy to Japanese fanboy. Reliability, durability and quality that's what Toyota stands for!

There is absolutely NO way you should let go of this gem and if you do then my DMs are always open :P

Simply put, this car is the direct competitor of the new superb, in order to get a car of the same quality and breed you would easily have to spend upwards of 50 Lakhs. In my eyes, it makes perfect sense to hold on to this car. The Diesel + DSG combo is a class apart, no known gremlins with this combo either apart from the flywheel which you mentioned you have already had changed.

Could you shed some light on what ‘preservation’ is planned for this car in the coming months and years? To me from the photos at least the car looks just MINT!

My cousin has a Passat GTE Station Wagon as his office pool car. He has given it to his wife to use while the next car comes along. (she had a Tesla Model Y and hated it so that was reallocated to another staff member).

The Passat has completed 90000 miles - read 140000km and not a rattle or anything. It looks in mint condition - even for a "Pool car"

Don't remember the model, but I crashed a Passat "Estate" in England once. It was not (entirely) my fault, and I was a regular customer of the dealer/hire outlet who owned it, so they didn't have a problem hiring to me again. Usually, Golf, but occasionally the Passat. Lovely car!

This is a 1.4 TSI Hybrid. Supposed to have a range of 30 miles but in reality its around 20

My relationship with the Passat was in a previous geological age! rl:

Thanks all for all the love showered on the car! It is indeed a sleeper and a milemuncher with 177BHP and 370Nm at 1500-2000 rpm and adaptive suspension. Barring the panoramic sunroof (available in C - Class from 2011/2012) and ADAS/ lane assist, it has almost all the new tech / gizmos that are available in D -Segment cars today. One thing that new cars post 2020 have and I don't and also don't miss is the speed chimes at 80 AND 120KMPH!:D


Also one of the reasons for the car being in a mint condition is its self driven. No chauffer. And wifey only gets the wheel on the highways when we split driving on a long run. My Service Advisor at the ASC knows how I "baby" the car and keeps telling me that its the only Passat in their customer list that is owner driven.

I paid 52k for 5th Year and 54k for 6th Year. I understand the EW for 7th year will be about 72K. Worth the money for the peace of mind!


Thanks for the love!

Rear suspension will get an overhaul. Thats a 80K bill. Rear brakes will need changing so that's about 15k. Rest is all regular service and maintenance.

For the last 1-2 months, "Maneuver Braking not working" will pop -up sometimes during the first startup of the day when the crank would take longer. I'm running Varta battery which is about 15 months old. My first prognosis was that the battery was not holding the voltage properly especially in the cold morning (by Mumbai standards).

However ASC check up gave green light to the battery and said all cells are good.

However, today in the evening when I started the car post a 8-10 hr gap, the entire dash MID lit up with ABS / EBD / Park Assist / Maneuver Braking/ Cornering lights et al not functioning. And the ABS not functioning light stayed on. This symptom typical of ABS sensor gone kaput in a VW vehicle. Its a Diwali at the dashboard.

I drove 10 mins to a place and stopped. When I came back after 15 mins, all error lights had disappeared.

I still think its the battery and not the ABS sensor.

Any thoughts?

Follow up the ABS sensor idea. Failure has the strangest symptoms, which one wouldn't even associate with brake systems, such as engine running really badly. It was explained to me that they input wheel rpm to the CPU. Weird stuff. This was about my 2014 Polo, but it may very well apply to other VAG cars too.

(But poor batteries can do weird stuff too: maybe bet a second opinion on that.