2014 Volkswagen Passat TSI Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

2014 Volkswagen Passat TSI Long-Term Road Test

Is there really not a USB port in our 2014 Volkswagen Passat? Shocking but true.

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markinnaples_

Bizarre.

zimtheinvader

I noticed that when looking at the different trims on VW's site. You have to go up trim more to get a USB music connection. Which, to me, is unacceptable as USB sticks with music on them are just so cheap and easy to use. Mazda fought it by trying to just have bluetooth streaming on their cars for a few years but the few dollars that a USB port and capable radio costs extra seem like a no-brainer to have standard.

craigist

I haven't bought a track of music in probably 2+ years... Spotify and similar apps are the way of the future and make usb sticks obsolete.

Spotify premium + Bluetooth from my phone, or eventual in-car apps are the way to go.

barich1

I find myself listening to Pandora more often than anything in my 2013 Mazda3, but that could be because the Pandora function works and the iPod integration is so hideously broken.

It looks like that's the 30-pin dock connector, which needs an adapter for newer iPhones. Why do this instead of build in a USB port I have never understood.

marmotking

"...I just used a cigarette lighter adapter to turn one of the 12V outlets into a USB port." Not quite. Its now a USB charger, not a data port. I just read a review of the Audi A4 on another site that mentioned the same problem. Like zim, I use USB sticks for music. All three of our vehicles are too old for a factory port, but have aftermarket stereos with the feature.

fordson1

Agree that it should have USB, but for your device, you can get a cord that has the VW connector on one end and the one for your device on the other, and there is an SD card slot that supports up to 32GB cards, so it's not a total loss.

djd352

I second fordson1, you can get a cable with a USB female for your Android phone. This system predates the standardization of smartphones to microUSB (except the iPhone). If you actually owned this car, you would have the cable and your connection. Though the next generation of this system does have an integrated USB as standard. Also, if you are going to use a usb drive to store music, than you might as well just use an SD card slot, which is integrated in the head units fascia.

gbriank

Ed, there is a VW audio cable for USB. Part Number: 000051446B Part Name: VW MDI USB ADAPTER

tdibill

The SD slot is very convenient. I'm surprised that no one has commented on the 10 gig hard drive. Loading music to the internal HD is straight forward, albeit a bit slow, but it is always available.

evodad

these is really kind of dumb. Matt Farah was complaining about the same on a $100K A8 in the Smoking Tire podcast recently. How has VW/Audi just completely left out a USB port throughout the lineup when it is the simplest method to accommodate charging of all different types of devices and/or enable users to connect their devices without the need for bluetooth streaming audio.

diigii

Even in death, Steve Jobs is haunting us with his conspiracy with the automakers.

expensivehobby

Wish I could use the SD slot. My apple computer has itunes and it won't transfer to a card. My daughter even tried to convert the songs to mp3s and it didn't work. Suggestions welcome!

fordson1

For the Pandora and Spotify folks...these Passats I think have the very-well-regarded Fender-branded audio systems in them, and as source material, Pandora and Spotify are not playing in the same ballpark as high-bitrate mp3s or WMA on an SD card. Not even close. Why would you pay several thousand dollars for a better sound system and then use compressed, low-sample-rate source material to feed it?

craigist

@fordson: Spotify Premium downloads 320kbps songs to my phone. These aren't streaming, they download directly to it so I don't need to use cellular data either. It's like itunes, without paying $10 an album.

fordson1

Not too bad, but...max of 3,333 songs per device, and their catalog needs to expand more. Plus all you have is the 320kbps file - I have it in lossless and .WAV form (on CD) also. And I have over 8,500 songs in my collection, so with Spotify Premium I have to decide what I'm going to leave off my phone - almost 2 of every 3 songs I own, and my collection is still growing. Plus every time I get out of the car, I have to break either a wired connection between my car and my phone, or I have to use bluetooth audio, which has sonic limitations of its own.