Express Up and Down Windows - 2014 Volkswagen Passat TSI Long-Term Road Test
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Express Up and Down Windows - 2014 Volkswagen Passat TSI Long-Term Road Test
The 2014 Volkswagen Passat TSI includes many small details, including express up-down power windows, that make it a premium experience at an economy price.
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This feature has been in Passat since late 90's . It didn't make it to Accord before the 04 redesign.
Another feature that was in the B5 Passat (even in base models) was four wheel disc brakes. It was unavailable in the Accord of that era unless you got the top of the line EX model.
@cgrocho47 - I'm not sure if you experienced it personally but the window regulator issues typically were in the Golf based models not the Passat. My personal experience with my 2k Passat was that it was reliable but needed regular maintenance. On the other hand, my sister's Camry and my friend's Accord/Civic were absolute POS when it came to reliability. The Camry had brake issues from the very start that were never fixed. The Accord had transmission/engine gasket leak issues before the car hit 60K miles and the Civic had rear sub-frame issues before 30K miles. My reason to bring up the other cars is not to show them in bad light but to explain that every make/model has issues and none of them are as reliable or unreliable as people claim them to be.
@Dan - I will be in the market for a midsize car within the next 6 months or so. I'd appreciate if your team can compare this car with other midsize cars on ride/handling/fuel economy/features and their usability on a daily basis. That would really help folks who are looking to buy one of these cars.
P.S - @Dan - Can your team upgrade this Passat's tires to HP/UHP AS tires and report on it?
Appreciate your response. Thanks.
VW reliability has improved quite a bit recently but I can assure you there are more 200,000+ miles Toyotas and Hondas on the road than VWs. Yes, Honda and Toyota produce lemons like everybody else but overall they are far more reliable than their European counterparts. For example my friend has a 2005 VW Touraeg with 153,000 miles on it and it has no functioning ABS, traction control and ESP, the HVAC blower doesn't work, brake lights work intermittenly, the headlights on the right side don't work, it's been towed twice due to oil pressure problems and brake failure and it leaks oil and coolant. My cousin has a 2002 Toyota Sequoia with 300,000+ miles and the VSC doesn't work, the check engine light is on due to bad oxygen sensors, lifters are noisy, and the stereo is down to 2 working speakers. The VW will never see 200,000 miles let alone 300,000. My Acura has 130,000 miles and other than replacing engine mounts it hasn't had any repairs. I haven't even had to change a light bulb.
Thankfully VW admits that their reliability is poor and they are working hard to change it but it will be a few years before they catch up to the Japanese. However Hyundai proves that with hard work you can be as reliable as Honda and Toyota.
For a company trying to save costs as their highest priority (and I am talking about all non-euro cars, not just Mazda) omitting features like this will save millions of dollars both up front and in warranty costs. This feature is very expensive.