By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
The best of the bunch have been the all-wheel-drive Audis (21 of them, so far), followed by the AWD BMW followed by the 1981 Jetta and 1986 Quantum.
AWD is performance, drivability and safety -- and the order changes depending on conditions. AWD plus ABS plus the great suspensions of the VW and Audi line of cars is tough to beat, and for the money, IMHO, cannot be beaten.
For an MSRP of $1650 or $1700 go with the 4Motion and drive both more safely and have more fun!
I have liked the Passat since it was redesigned for 1998, but have a hard time liking the design of the almost-all-new 2001.5 models. I like the older one better for some reason. I wish I could have found a 2001 (.0?) model before I got my 2002 Jetta. I would have definitely snapped it right up.
I also think, even though I don't like the styling alot (it might grow on me), I would definitely replace my Jetta with a Passat in a couple of years.
what Colour of leather would you get if purchasing the fresco green? I know its more of personal decision but, would like some input. what looks good.
I have been leaning to getting a black leather interior. either with the Fresco green or black?
Also the in dash 6 is that aftermarket product or something that I can get from the Dealer? how much does that cost? I live in toronto, Canada. anyone had this installed?
As far as the interior color, black is going to be a little hotter than any color, but the easiest to keep clean. (I have a 2002 Jetta with a black interior, so I know for a fact.)
Also, the Monsoon is optional on the GLS model Passats of 2001.5 and 2002. I have that option in my Jetta, and it is a very nice sounding system. It's $325 though, so listen to both and see which one you like the best. Also, all Passats built after September come with the cassette/CD player standard. My Jetta was built 9/2002, and has the cassette/CD player in it as standard.
all the passats I have seen either comes with one or the other depending on when the car was made for the 2002 passats.
also is it hard to keep the leather clean and what do you have to do to keep it clean or maintain? thanks..
Looking for a Black with beige leather int. Told the 5spd leathers are hard to find (especially in the colors I indicate below). Blue Anthracite is my second choice. The brochure shows indigo blue (was my first choice) as a much darker blue than what we saw today at a dealer. The ink blue must be VERY blue. We saw the black and it looks sharp with the contrasting chrome. Of course washing it will be more frequent. Thoughts on color choice (Black or Blue Anthracite?).
Last, I was suprised to learn that newly shipped '02 Passats are coming with different (Euro style) wipers and have the aforementioned new CD/cassette combo.
Love to hear feedback from current and prospective Passat owners. Thanks
Thanks
Overall, happy with everything. Looked on the lot and it was full of 4motions. Had roughly 5-6 of them in a 12 car inventory. No 1.8t 5 spds at all. They had a blue anthracite and it looked fantastic. Thats what I would get if I did it over.
a wash seems like a bit of a stretch for the Service Advisor to promote...I always tell my people to promise much less than they can deliver...Just good business...
The answer is that it does not matter if it is or not.
Since the W8 configuration will represent a relatively small portion of passat sales, the dealers should have no problem moving them, even if they are considered over priced by most people.
What the W8 will do, is help VW's brand image and help sell lesser equipped passats in the process.
The W8 will also be the lowest priced 8 cylinder,
All Wheel Drive Product available, and with a very competitive Warranty...not to mention a certain penache that is missing of late from MBZ.
The cassette and CD players should be standard on all 2002 Passats on dealer lots now. It comes standard on GLS and higher Jettas (what I have) for the 2002 model year. As long as the car was built after September 1, it should have the combo radio in it.
every one...:)
It seems to me, a loyal Audi owner, that the Passat is a major bargain -- and speaking as an owner of an A6 4.2 (with an MSRP of over $55K) -- the W8 Passat looks like a serious contender for the dollars of possible customers of: A6 3.0 quattros, A4 3.0 quattros and MAYBE even the A6 2.7T quattros (when equipped with the tip that is -- apparently the W8 in the US will not have a manual transmission option).
My friend's Passat has less content than the Audi -- and his Passat did not have ESP -- the W8 will. The W8 will have the bi-xenons, etc etc.
Frankly, I cannot imagine why VW US /Audi of America would want the W8 on our shores.
My thought is that the W8 Passat (and then the D1) will take sales away from Audi -- especially for someone who would seriously consider an A6 3.0 quattro.
The Audi is more upscale, the Audi does have at least the IMAGE of being more of a sports sedan -- but the Audi A6 will be 4 or 5 figures more expensive than the W8 -- and a fully loaded A4 will be about the same, but will be smaller.
I suspect that given a choice (ie if there were no price differences), most people would take an A6 (and many would take an A4) over a W8 Passat. But there is a price difference -- the least expensive Audi with an 8 is at least $10K more. And, like my friend, the lack of content in the Passat was, in his mind, compensated for by the lower price (remember his comparison vehicles were a new A6 3.0 quattro and a new V6 Passat with 4Motion). I suspect the same will happen with the W8 -- making the W8 a "hot ticket" especially when compared with a more expensive A6 3.0 V6 quattro.
I'm not jumping ship yet -- but the W8 looks -- price wise -- like the bargain of the decade.
If the image thing (ie its a VW so it must be "cheap" or whatever the image may be) is the issue, I say great -- cause it means you can have a German car with an 8 cylinder engine and $5 to $10,000 "in the bank!"
Again, from my vantage point, the W8 is a bargain -- hope it lasts.
My first choice of car is the BMW 325 or 330, but a little costly for us right now. I was able to get the Lexus because of the lease & it was used.
The other week, my husband brought home a Passat 1.8T. It was really nice. When we looked at all of the options & I drove it, the price seemed right for us with the GLX. It has more options & safety features than the Lexus. I've been trying to feel 100% about it. I've been lurking on this board for a while & have read a lot of interesting stuff. I really like the "luxury" of the Lexus, but like sporty also. I like all the extra features.
The thing that bothers me is that I have heard a lot of negativity about VW's service department. This is one thing that I can not stand. I've always had problems with Lexus. I sat at the dealership today for around 2 hours when I was told 1 1/2 hours. I was on my lunch "HOUR", & could not wait any longer. The car was ready except for the wash. It just took forever for a simple thing. Anymore reassurance on the service department?
The dealer said he would have to order the car we wanted. It was ordered about 2 weeks ago. I'm going to try to sell the Lexus before the lease runs out. Now, I've gotten all excited about my new car, but I'm nervous about selling the Lexus. Are there people out there buying?!?!? I don't want to have to buy out the lease or lose too much money. We would like to get payoff.
I know I've rambled...any thoughts, suggestions, etc...
THANKS BUNCHES!
Your reasoning makes sense that the W8 is a bargain relative to the A6 4.2. I think that one can extend your logic a little further and argue that a FWD Passat is an even better bargain still. Given that it contains most of what makes the Passat desirable in the first place.
VW Service is heaven on earth...I have several
posts over at www.vwvortex.com regarding the reasons and what is being done to rectify the situation...700% increase in sales in the past
7 years for one, most of which has come in the past 3 years, among them.
Secondly, scheduling any type of service for a
*Lunch Hour* is risky at best no matter what that
service might be, including Doctors Appts.
What did this Dealer *Order* for you??? VERY IMPORTANT!!!! Do not do anything with your Lexus
until you provide me with this info...email me
for details...
car??? This business gets stranger with every day...
Will check my charts tomorrow and get back to you...
Unbelievable...This store must act as a Library
during it's closed hours...
My point about the A6 3.0 quattro is that the W8 will have many of the upscale options as standard -- plus the 5 spd tip (which the 3.0 quattro will have). Then you add the W8 to the equation and back off several thousand dollars -- the W8, IMO, will hurt the A6 3.0 quattro sales most of all.
As I mentioned, even before the W8, my friend bought a new Passat V6 4Motion after his A6 2.8 quattro lease expired -- says the Passat is "a little" downscale content wise but, in his mind, a lot downscale price wise. He configured the Passat with all the toys, and frankly other than the lack of ESP and the availability of sat navigation -- the Passat (for my friend at least) was no step down from an A6 3.0 at all.
The W8 will come with ESP and bi-Xenons and several other Audi-like touches.
As I said, I'm not won over, yet (but a 6spd manual in the W8 might get my attention) -- but the W8 is a wonderful first effort (based on what I have read, so far).
Now, I wonder if there is a place to get a sport suspension for a Passat???
Kiliki...Scheduling a service on your lunch hour is definitely risky. I can see if you left the car in the morning and you came back after work at night and the car hadn't been looked at that you'd be upset. But for a half hour in the middle of the day when there were probably technicians out to lunch as well isn't too bad.
Don't buy out the lease on your Lexus unless you have a buyer for it. Also, talk to your Lexus dealer as you can negotiate the buyback for less than what's in the lease agreement.
I have some questions of my own for "The Board."
Is the 4Motion System used in the current ('01.5 & '02) Passat Audi's Quattro or the Haldex Viscious Coupling (Or Differential)? Is the center Differential the reason you can't get a split folding back seat on 4Motion Passats? Please xcuse me for not being up on the lingo or if this topic has been posted before. Thank you all for your help!
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
Good luck with your purchase and congrats on the Passat!
P.S. I didn't know you could lease a used Lexus. Interesting .....
I was just curious and thought I'd comment on it.
http://www.lexuscpo.com
Sorry for the off-topic post, BTW.
I got the car actually from a Volvo dealer. It had been a trade in. It is not leased through Lexus.
I plan to sell the car to a 3rd party (for payoff) or possibly turn it back in. I just don't think I can wait until September!!! I DO NOT want to buy out the lease!!! To me, it's not worth it, I'd rather use that money for a downpayment.
Anyone heard of getting a GLX without the wood interior? I know it's a crazy question, but my husband and I do not prefer it.
Thanks for the input.
since i don't own a Passat (yet, mebbe neber) don't figger it's up 2 me 2 start one....
Jetta has a club...go figger....
All it takes is for one, two, three folks to say they think it would be a good idea, and then we get it set up.
Interested? Let me know.
For those who might not know, the Owners Club is a dedicated folder where you can have as many discussions as you would like. Take a look at some of them here to get an idea of the possibilities. You will see that the various clubs have separate discussions for things like introducing yourselves, posting pictures, maintenance issues and whatever other related topics the groups may find of interest.
This discussion will remain here on the Sedans board, but will be linked to the Owners Club folder as well, making it accessible from either place.
You can "subscribe" to the entire owners folder, which makes reading all the posts in the various discussions very easy to do. You may also eventually have the opportunity to have regularly scheduled owners' chats if you are interested in doing so.
Let me know if you have any questions. We've had a couple of positive posts already - should I go ahead and ask KarenS (the host of the dedicated Owners Club discussions) to get it set up?
Pat
Host
Sedans Message Board
Also, the Passat GLX does not come without the wood trim. It's standard.
It's funny, I've never even visited the Camry Owners Club. I guess I'm just not that interested, especially as I don't see myself keeping my car in the long run, since the Passat has caught my eye. But I was surprised that the Camry had one but not the Passat because Passat owners just seem more passionate about their cars in general. Or maybe it's just me, I'm not real passionate about my car these days, although I appreciate the fact that it's never let me down. I guess sometimes you have to be happy with that.
Good luck with the owners club and perhaps you Passaters won't mind an occasional visit from a possible future Passat owner. :-)
Interesting problem. I do know that the glove compartment is cooled by the air conditioner when it is on. I haven't had that problem with it off (although I'll admit I live in South Florida).