[exhaustpipe]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

So have you managed to activated the needle-sweep feature? Could you also shed some light on any other features apart from the two discussed, that could be activated? Thanks

Also, could any Passat owners shed some light on the servicing costs they've incurred so far? My car just had its 1 year service done and was charged Rs.17k. The dealer told me that the next service would cost about 28k! Any thoughts on this?

fordfreak

Hi FF,

I will check it out and let you know in a few hours. Today is the last day, I've sold my Ross-tech cable on Ebay for whatever I could get. Except for a few minor tweaks like:

1. Lane change flashes from 3 to 5
2. Automatic window up by using rain sensors
3. A small beep (different from the default sound) which is played everytime a Bluetooth connection is established or otherwise
4. A couple of new menu options under convenience - which don't work!!!

I wanted to do a lot more but Ross-tech has seriously misrepresented their product features and compatible models. Most of the modules in the new European / Indian Passat are not supported by their application. I have been in touch with Dana and a couple of other representatives from Ross-tech for almost an year now, and after repeated promises they still haven't addressed this issue. So if anyone in this forum is thinking of buying a Ross-tech VCDS VAG COM cable for their Passat or a new Audi, please check a dozen times before placing the order.

I can't help myself but say that all this contributes towards substantiating the fact that 'Americans are just too full of themselves'

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by exhaustpipe

Hi FF,

I will check it out and let you know in a few hours. Today is the last day, I've sold my Ross-tech cable on Ebay for whatever I could get. Except for a few minor tweaks like:

1. Lane change flashes from 3 to 5
2. Automatic window up by using rain sensors
3. A small beep (different from the default sound) which is played everytime a Bluetooth connection is established or otherwise
4. A couple of new menu options under convenience - which don't work!!!

I wanted to do a lot more but Ross-tech has seriously misrepresented their product features and compatible models. Most of the modules in the new European / Indian Passat are not supported by their application. I have been in touch with Dana and a couple of other representatives from Ross-tech for almost an year now, and after repeated promises they still haven't addressed this issue. So if anyone in this forum is thinking of buying a Ross-tech VCDS VAG COM cable for their Passat or a new Audi, please check a dozen times before placing the order.

I can't help myself but say that all this contributes towards substantiating the fact that 'Americans are just too full of themselves'

Thanks for the reply exhaustpipe!

Quite disappointing that the Ross-tech VCDS isn't fully compatible for the Indian Passat. Sounds like their customer support isn't too helpful in addressing the issues you faced. I think the extent to which the Ross-tech product works differs from model to model (Read somewhere on another thread about it working pretty well on a Skoda Laura). I surfed Youtube trying to look for something relevant, but gave up after a while on not finding too much.

Do you think the authorized VW dealer would be able to activate certain features on request? (Considering they should be having all the proper equipment). I am a little anxious about them messing up. My experience with VW service hasn't exactly been confidence inspiring.

Could you also specify what extra 'convenience' menu options you managed to activate (but which don't work )?

Also, is it possible to get the 'leaving home+coming home' lights to work under the '0' setting on the headlamp switch? It works when one leaves it in the 'Auto' setting, but I find it annoying while driving with it in auto (driving in shaded areas results in the lights constantly fluctuating between on and off). I need to look through the manual in more detail, though it would be great if anyone could shed a bit of light on this, *no pun intended*. Hope I've explained this clearly.

Cheers!
fordfreak

[DieselDelight]

Finally I have booked trendline after testdrive.
Likes -
Great Power delivery(common rail does better than PD TDI)
Very good brakes, ground clearance is better than older Jettas and Passat
It comes with all safety features, Manual transmission
Cabin is very silent! Only tires might make noise on highways
Did not get a good hold of start/stop function, bit worried about it.

Dislikes -
Very basic CD player no bluetooth, no climate control(This is bad for 24L car)
Steering is very light, not like hydraulic steering on my Jetta

I was not very keen on other things like DSG,Parking Sensors, I am hardcore driver

[DieselDelight]

I got passat trendline delivered. Managed to get 2.3L discount on Trendline.
Excellent Car, great feeling inside cabin!
I was bit scared about electronic handbreak now almost used to it.

Did not experienced start/Stop yet, it seems that it is always active, but user intervention can be disabled. Stock Pirelli tires are good enough.
Raised ground clearance helps a lot.
Driven max 80kmph, I want to see how it drives at 180kmph!

Badly looking for bluetooth car kit, any suggestions like parrot, Jabra etc?

[Vid6639]

Saw a Passat in my ORVM and found something amiss with the headlamps. There was no LED DRL strip and no projector. 2 halogen reflector headlights. Even at the rear, tail lamps were non-LED. Seemed like a stripped down model. I wasn't sure if it was the Trendline or some fleet model.

I had earlier seen the new facelifted C220 CDI with no LED DRL and no projectors. This one had yellow plates so I knew it was fleet model.

Came home and checked out the VW page and confirmed that it was indeed the Trendline. Took a look at the features and was surprised. It has all the safety kit from the top of the line highline like 8 airbags, attention assist, ESP...

Then you get leather and electric seats with electronic parking brake with hill hold assist.

Main features you lose are sunroof, led DRL, bixenon headlamps, dual zone climate control, memory seats, touch screen audio and parking sensors.

The ex-showroom is 22L and I'm sure they might be discounting this heavily.

Why am I bringing this up? Well because the Trendline comes with a 170BHP 6 speed MANUAL transmission!!! In effect it is the most powerful car in India with manual transmission. After the C220 that GTO has this is the only manual you can buy with these specs.

Ok, the Accord and Sonata might be an option but petrol and even compared to trendline, the accord falls short on features and Hyundai feels no where close to 200BHP.

The only other vehicle is the Santa Fe with 201PS.

This variant of passat went totally unnoticed. The next Passat is the Comfortline DSG which is 3.5L more ex-showroom and more than 4.5L on-road.

For an enthusiast, the Trendline makes a compelling proposition. 6 speed MT, 170Ps and no complex electronics that go wrong in usual VW's.

Ofcourse the Jetta MT is substantially lesser priced and being a little compact more chuckable but if your looking for something more, the Passat Trendline is worth a close look.

[shivasuma]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Saw a Passat in my ORVM and found something amiss with the headlamps. There was no LED DRL strip and no projector. 2 halogen reflector headlights. Even at the rear, tail lamps were non-LED. Seemed like a stripped down model. I wasn't sure if it was the Trendline or some fleet model.

I had earlier seen the new facelifted C220 CDI with no LED DRL and no projectors. This one had yellow plates so I knew it was fleet model.

Came home and checked out the VW page and confirmed that it was indeed the Trendline. Took a look at the features and was surprised. It has all the safety kit from the top of the line highline like 8 airbags, attention assist, ESP...

Then you get leather and electric seats with electronic parking brake with hill hold assist.

Main features you lose are sunroof, led DRL, bixenon headlamps, dual zone climate control, memory seats, touch screen audio and parking sensors.

The ex-showroom is 22L and I'm sure they might be discounting this heavily.

Why am I bringing this up? Well because the Trendline comes with a 170BHP 6 speed MANUAL transmission!!! In effect it is the most powerful car in India with manual transmission. After the C220 that GTO has this is the only manual you can buy with these specs.

Ok, the Accord and Sonata might be an option but petrol and even compared to trendline, the accord falls short on features and Hyundai feels no where close to 200BHP.

The only other vehicle is the Santa Fe with 201PS.

This variant of passat went totally unnoticed. The next Passat is the Comfortline DSG which is 3.5L more ex-showroom and more than 4.5L on-road.

For an enthusiast, the Trendline makes a compelling proposition. 6 speed MT, 170Ps and no complex electronics that go wrong in usual VW's.

Ofcourse the Jetta MT is substantially lesser priced and being a little compact more chuckable but if your looking for something more, the Passat Trendline is worth a close look.

I was told by VW Downtown that you could get a manual CL also. Don't know how true it is. Also, there is a white TL available with VW Downtown. I was given a flat discount of 5L over it just recently. Maybe another 1L should be possible, but I think this is an early 2012 or late 2011 model.

[DieselDelight]

Interesting and very unlikely to get this much discount
That model might be built much earlier. I checked with 2 dealers are they did not have CL option.
Max discount offered was 2.5L on HL.

[shivasuma]

Originally Posted by DieselDelight

Interesting and very unlikely to get this much discount
That model might be built much earlier. I checked with 2 dealers are they did not have CL option.
Max discount offered was 2.5L on HL.

During my Jetta purchase I had bargained for a 3-3.5L discount on the passat TL/CL. In fact, the sales guy called me up a couple of weeks ago and informed me about the 5L discount since I was interested in the Passat. Its a 2011 White TL if I recollect correctly.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by DieselDelight

I got passat trendline delivered. Managed to get 2.3L discount on Trendline.
Excellent Car, great feeling inside cabin!
I was bit scared about electronic handbreak now almost used to it.

Did not experienced start/Stop yet, it seems that it is always active, but user intervention can be disabled. Stock Pirelli tires are good enough.
Raised ground clearance helps a lot.
Driven max 80kmph, I want to see how it drives at 180kmph!

Badly looking for bluetooth car kit, any suggestions like parrot, Jabra etc?

Congrats on your new car!! Could you share a few pictures if possible? I've never actually seen a Passat Trendline on the road. Would like to see the differences between the interior and exterior comapred to a HL.

The start/stop function is nice, but can get annoying in slow rush-hour city traffic. I usually deactivate it before driving off. I was really impressed by the high-speed stability of the Passat. The maximum i have hit is 184km/hr (according to the digital speedo). It felt firm and planted as ever. However, i would have preferred the steerting feedback to have been more direct. It feels a bit numb and over-assisted.

Overall a brilliant value-for-money car (compared to the 3 series, c-class and A4), loaded with features and good to drive. I have had mine for exactly a year now and its been a joy to own all through.

[DieselDelight]

I will share some pictures soon.
Start stop works very well. Getting used to it. So far did not find noticeable difference in fuel economy.
My Jetta Tdi consistently delivered 15kmpl overall economy. Passat is showing 12 right now.
Did not get a chance to drive it on expressway yet. Jetta did not complain at steady 180kmph, expecting 200 from passat :-)
Some features tried
Start/stop
Electrical park brake
Auto hill hold
Ac does the job, but I miss a climate control, switching air circulation manually is pain.
Rcd310 comes with 8 speakers, good sound quality.
Dimming mirrors is nice thing
Gear ratios are bit longer than jetta. 6th gear useless in city.
Excellent torque for city driving, pure driving pleasure, very good breaking! I don't regreat for not buying DSG!

Did not try attention assist yet

[exhaustpipe]

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Thanks for the reply exhaustpipe!
===========
Hope I've explained this clearly.

Cheers!
fordfreak

Hey FF, sorry for taking forever to respond. Work came down like a Tsunami and took me with it.

Moving on, the only option which I could activate under 'convenience' menu, but in vain, was 'ATA Assist', which is expected to enable / disable horn confirmation on lock / unlock. This too didn't work due to compatibility issues between the new modules installed in Passat and Ross-tech's VCDS.

Other things which I tried and failed at, for various reasons pertaining to the law of nature or physics

1. Activate the voice dial button on the steering wheel which at the moment mutes audio. This didn’t work because the Bluetooth module (placed under the driver seat) attached to RCD-510 is a toned down version of what is being sold across EU and it does not support voice dialling.

2. Track change / A2DP control options while streaming music over Bluetooth. This apparently is a bug which VW has refused to acknowledge. Is this working in your car?

3. Increase the focus height of the bi-xenon headlamps. I feel they are too low. This attempt in particular resulted in an error which I had to get corrected from the workshop twice. When you connect VCDS and go to into the Xenon module, it someone erases calibration settings of the AFS function (feature which turns the headlights in same direction as the steering wheel)

4. Have LEDs on full with parking lights on. This again resulted in erasing AFS settings.

5. If you have ever noticed, when you leave the light switch on park and lock the car with your remote. The rear lights form a new pattern in which only the outside lights are on and the inner lights which are installed on the trunk are switched off. This appealed to me due to the customized look factor, but VCDS couldn't communicate with the concerned module properly. I wanted to keep them on with the headlights at automatic.

6. Change air condition settings from Europe (or some place in Europe) to 'rest of the world' to make cooling more effective.

7. Needle sweep which a lot of people have been easily able to activate using VCDS, but as before….

So after months of requesting Ross-tech (especially Dana and one other chap who is a manager there) I finally sold my useless, overpriced, time wasting VCDS cable to some bloke in Australia over eBay. He is now using it for commercial purpose on old VW cars. I wish him luck.

Hope this was of some help. Let me know how are things on your side and if you have any concerns with the car. I took mine to 222 km/h on Yamuna expressway a few months back and boy it felt stable. This was before they had officially opened the expressway for public and the guards stationed there were collecting a toll of 50 INR.

It’s a lovely car by the way.

[shatrughna]

The beam settings on passat feels to have been set too low for daily usage. I have been struggling since last 4 months to get it set up correctly. Twice it has gone to workshop and twice their technician visited my place on receiving my feedback. The height of the beam has been manually adjusted, but now auto turn feature is not working. Last to last time, they had reset the settings using the diagnostic kit but it didnt solve the problem of beam height so I had no choice but to get it done manually again through the old style screw adjustments on the headlight assembly.
The suspension is also too soft and rarely the bottom doesn't scrape at speed breakers. Small undulations on the road surface also leads to lot of bobbing like pitching of a boat and soon the suspension flattening sound can be heard if not braked.
Apart from the above two issues, have no other reasons to complain. Of course, dealer bit (knowledge of staff) is less said the better. Seems it is miles to go for Volkswagen India to come up to the standards of Maruti , Hyundai, Toyota etc.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by exhaustpipe

Hey FF, sorry for taking forever to respond. Work came down like a Tsunami and took me with it.

Moving on, the only option which I could activate under 'convenience' menu, but in vain, was 'ATA Assist', which is expected to enable / disable horn confirmation on lock / unlock. This too didn't work due to compatibility issues between the new modules installed in Passat and Ross-tech's VCDS.

Other things which I tried and failed at, for various reasons pertaining to the law of nature or physics

1. Activate the voice dial button on the steering wheel which at the moment mutes audio. This didn’t work because the Bluetooth module (placed under the driver seat) attached to RCD-510 is a toned down version of what is being sold across EU and it does not support voice dialling.

2. Track change / A2DP control options while streaming music over Bluetooth. This apparently is a bug which VW has refused to acknowledge. Is this working in your car?

3. Increase the focus height of the bi-xenon headlamps. I feel they are too low. This attempt in particular resulted in an error which I had to get corrected from the workshop twice. When you connect VCDS and go to into the Xenon module, it someone erases calibration settings of the AFS function (feature which turns the headlights in same direction as the steering wheel)

4. Have LEDs on full with parking lights on. This again resulted in erasing AFS settings.

5. If you have ever noticed, when you leave the light switch on park and lock the car with your remote. The rear lights form a new pattern in which only the outside lights are on and the inner lights which are installed on the trunk are switched off. This appealed to me due to the customized look factor, but VCDS couldn't communicate with the concerned module properly. I wanted to keep them on with the headlights at automatic.

6. Change air condition settings from Europe (or some place in Europe) to 'rest of the world' to make cooling more effective.

7. Needle sweep which a lot of people have been easily able to activate using VCDS, but as before….

So after months of requesting Ross-tech (especially Dana and one other chap who is a manager there) I finally sold my useless, overpriced, time wasting VCDS cable to some bloke in Australia over eBay. He is now using it for commercial purpose on old VW cars. I wish him luck.

Hope this was of some help. Let me know how are things on your side and if you have any concerns with the car. I took mine to 222 km/h on Yamuna expressway a few months back and boy it felt stable. This was before they had officially opened the expressway for public and the guards stationed there were collecting a toll of 50 INR.

It’s a lovely car by the way.

Hey exhaustpipe!

No worries on the delay. Hope you and your car are doing good. I'm responding to each of your points individually and have numbered them accordingly.

1. I wonder if it would be possible to get a BlueTooth unit from the EU-spec car and swap it? Though I'm sure the dealer would grumble about warranty etc. But I don't think it would be worth the effort just to get a feature like vocie-dialling.

2. I haven't tried playing tracks through bluetooth yet, so I don't know yet. I'll see if it manages to work. I've currently left a Pen-Drive with all my music connected to the USB port. However, when I tried using my iPod on the USB port, it didn't seem to be compatible with the car's system! (It works perfectly on my Honda City!!!)

3. I would have preferred to have the beams at a better angle, but so far have managed fine with it. I end up using the dipper on empty stretches for better visibility.

4. I didn't quite understand what you meant by this? Sorry . If you are referring to the DRLs, then they seem to work just fine. Please correct me.

5. I'll try this and see how it goes over the weekend. Which slot was your light switch on? '0' , Auto or the other two options? This different look sounds nice in your description; would love to try it.

6. Air-con has been chilly enough for me so far. So won't complain there. Though it would have been better if the blowers were stronger in the rear.

7. Ugh! Really wanted to make this work. If I'm not wrong, the current Skoda Superb and the Passat have a lot of bits in common right? I got the chance to sit in my friend's Superb and it had the Needle-Sweep function on it. I wonder if the dealer could get this working.

Unfortunate that Ross-Tech weren't helpful at all. Have you approached the dealer for help in trying to get some of these features to work? I haven't had the time to do this yet, but am planning to at some point. Will let you know if anything comes about on this front.

222km/hr is sweet! Unfortunately it's not safe to try anything like that on Calcutta roads. I touched my maximum at 3am when the roads were deserted. Drive Safe.

On another note, My Auto-Park seems to be acting up. I was feeling lazy and decided to use it to park at the mall (in a proper slot), and for some reason it didn't detect the car in front while manoeuvring forward! I obviously caught it in time and prevented any contact. Will need to get that checked up.

Happy Driving! Cheers!

Originally Posted by shatrughna

The beam settings on passat feels to have been set too low for daily usage. I have been struggling since last 4 months to get it set up correctly.
The suspension is also too soft and rarely the bottom doesn't scrape at speed breakers.
Apart from the above two issues, have no other reasons to complain. Of course, dealer bit (knowledge of staff) is less said the better.

I agree with you on the headlamp beams being set too low. However, it hasn't been too much of a headache for me. I mean to say that I manage with it, but would have preferred it to be higher. Also, scraping bumps has become a habit for me it seems. The chin of the front bumper has been scratched up quite a bit because of this, though you can only see them if you get down on your knees and peer under the car. As for the service standards of VW, the less said the better. They seem to do a perfect job only if you have been breathing down their necks constantly. Hope this improves sooner than later.

['AL']

Originally Posted by fordfreak

Hey exhaustpipe!

No worries on the delay. Hope you and your car are doing good. I'm responding to each of your points individually and have numbered them accordingly.

1. I wonder if it would be possible to get a BlueTooth unit from the EU-spec car and swap it? Though I'm sure the dealer would grumble about warranty etc. But I don't think it would be worth the effort just to get a feature like vocie-dialling.

2. I haven't tried playing tracks through bluetooth yet, so I don't know yet. I'll see if it manages to work. I've currently left a Pen-Drive with all my music connected to the USB port. However, when I tried using my iPod on the USB port, it didn't seem to be compatible with the car's system! (It works perfectly on my Honda City!!!)

3. I would have preferred to have the beams at a better angle, but so far have managed fine with it. I end up using the dipper on empty stretches for better visibility.

4. I didn't quite understand what you meant by this? Sorry . If you are referring to the DRLs, then they seem to work just fine. Please correct me.

5. I'll try this and see how it goes over the weekend. Which slot was your light switch on? '0' , Auto or the other two options? This different look sounds nice in your description; would love to try it.

6. Air-con has been chilly enough for me so far. So won't complain there. Though it would have been better if the blowers were stronger in the rear.

7. Ugh! Really wanted to make this work. If I'm not wrong, the current Skoda Superb and the Passat have a lot of bits in common right? I got the chance to sit in my friend's Superb and it had the Needle-Sweep function on it. I wonder if the dealer could get this working.

Unfortunate that Ross-Tech weren't helpful at all. Have you approached the dealer for help in trying to get some of these features to work? I haven't had the time to do this yet, but am planning to at some point. Will let you know if anything comes about on this front.

222km/hr is sweet! Unfortunately it's not safe to try anything like that on Calcutta roads. I touched my maximum at 3am when the roads were deserted. Drive Safe.

On another note, My Auto-Park seems to be acting up. I was feeling lazy and decided to use it to park at the mall (in a proper slot), and for some reason it didn't detect the car in front while manoeuvring forward! I obviously caught it in time and prevented any contact. Will need to get that checked up.

Happy Driving! Cheers!



I agree with you on the headlamp beams being set too low. However, it hasn't been too much of a headache for me. I mean to say that I manage with it, but would have preferred it to be higher. Also, scraping bumps has become a habit for me it seems. The chin of the front bumper has been scratched up quite a bit because of this, though you can only see them if you get down on your knees and peer under the car. As for the service standards of VW, the less said the better. They seem to do a perfect job only if you have been breathing down their necks constantly. Hope this improves sooner than later.

hey FF,
A lot of searches lead me here. Although i haven't found a solution to my problem(rather curiosity) i think i can help you with yours.
The USB port that you have can only detect USB drives. For iPod connectivity you'll need a special Media-In cable made for iPod. Funny thing is, they provide the iPod cable with the Jetta only and the USB cable with the Passat only. You can get the same cable online but you can also try haggling your dealer for the same.

Regarding my curiosity, Blaupunkt has launched a new head unit(Philadelphia 835) made specifically for VW cars that provides compatibility for the CAN system and i was wondering whether anyone had installed it and had some reviews or pointers. What i am interested in is the UI compared to that of the RCD 510 since most aftermarket touchscreen systems have really crappy UIs.

Cheers.

[fordfreak]

Originally Posted by 'AL'

hey FF,
A lot of searches lead me here. Although i haven't found a solution to my problem(rather curiosity) i think i can help you with yours.
The USB port that you have can only detect USB drives. For iPod connectivity you'll need a special Media-In cable made for iPod. Funny thing is, they provide the iPod cable with the Jetta only and the USB cable with the Passat only. You can get the same cable online but you can also try haggling your dealer for the same.

Regarding my curiosity, Blaupunkt has launched a new head unit(Philadelphia 835) made specifically for VW cars that provides compatibility for the CAN system and i was wondering whether anyone had installed it and had some reviews or pointers. What i am interested in is the UI compared to that of the RCD 510 since most aftermarket touchscreen systems have really crappy UIs.

Cheers.

Hey AL,

Are you referring to the cable which we get in the pack with the iPod (the one which connects it to the laptop/charger)? I use this very cable on my Honda and it works perfectly. While in the Passat, it fails to read the iPod. I hope I haven't misunderstood what you said. I'll try enquiring with the dealer about the same soon and see what comes out of it.

Cheers!