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Hold the wrench button in while inserting the key. Then, press and release the "min" button and then press and release the wrench button again.
The Mazda 3 has received great ratings and has an MSRP starting at 13,710. The Passat starting at 22,950 in comparison, I could get a fully loaded Mazda 3 with an MSRP for 25,920!
Or I could get the Ford Five Hundred, which is the size the Passat should be for a family sedan! An SE with all options included (with leather seats!), MSRP is 25,710! Interior volume at 108 cubic feet and a trunk a huge 21 cubic feet, not to mention a VW designer made the Five Hundred and has Volvo underpinnings, why choose Passat over the better value Ford Five Hundred? Especially if Passat is having coolant problems! :lemon:
Krzys
If you subscribe to bigger is better, this would be the route to take.
On the issue of space. When they refer to passenger volume, I believe they include every inch of space inside the cabin that is not taken up by seats, consoles, etc. Therefore if you've got a huge dash or rear deck the numbers are a bit skewed. Furthermore, two cubic feet is a significant amount of space if you think about it. If you don't believe it take a ruler with you next time you go to a ballgame and see how many cubic feet they allow for your backside in a chair-backed seat. And the trunk on the Passat is 14.2 cubic feet and every bit of it is usable space.
As for coparisons, I can't speak to the Mazda, but we looked at a 500 when we were shopping. Bland, Bland, Bland, Bland, Bland! Also, it is classed as a full-sized automobile, so it should have more room. And did I mention it is bland!
One last point, it is said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. Check the lines on the 500 and yes, you can see the resemblence to the previous generation Passat. But if you're driving a 500 it's likely that the only view you'll ever get is of those wonderfully bright, LED taillights, as the Passat blows the doors off your slow as cold molasses 500. :P
I had a 2004 Accord and could not stand it's mundane, boring, generally invisible personality any longer. Not to mention three out of the four houses on my cul-de-sac all had the same car.
The space comparison, at least between those two cars, is negligible. My 2 year old's car seat sits in the middle just fine and I have no trouble getting him in and out. I also have had two adults in back (with said car seat) that have commented on there being more space than when traveling with the same setup in the Accord. As for the trunk - it is huge. I have fit four golf bags and a cooler with ample space to spare. And unlike many other cars, the arms that connect the trunk lid to the car are concealed so you don't have to worry if your stuff is going to get crushed when you close the lid.
Best advise I can give you is to go drive the car. While words, measurements and logic can influence your decision (both positively and negatively), a thorough test drive will surely convince you of how great this car truly is.
funny thing, my wife, who is completely oblivious to all nuances and characteristics different cars exhibit, made a quick point of praising the car but mentioned the "pause" after returning from a jaunt around town...
i don't think there is any fix or adjustment for this... if there is, i'd like to hear it...
i've followed the directions in the users manual (entering the settings menu, hilighting calibrate and driving in a slow circle until the system declares it's calibrated) but i spun around for over five minutes the other day to no avail... in fact, as soon as i started moving the display screen popped a warning message declaring that settings should only be adjusted with the vehicle stopped...
any idea what i may be doing wrong?? :confuse:
I just came back from reseting my service light. Thanks a bunch for helping me out. Did you find this in the manual? I gone over it many times and couldn't find it.
Thanks again.
I tried the same thing for like 10 minutes and couldn't get it to calibrate either. It's pretty stupid that the manual tells you to drive in circle, but when you do it's won't let you calibrate. I had the dealer did it for me.
Glad you got it worked out, happy to help. I got the info from the vwvortex.com forums. Really nice resource for VW owners.
One interesting note: Edmunds rated the 2006 Passat as the Lowest True Cost to Own sedan under $35,000.
And to answer your question: why can't VW seem to build a reliable car and then stand behind it when there are problems?
VW and every other car company from Kia to BMW builds reliable cars every day - thousands of them. It's just that they also build one or two unreliable ones each day - and those are the ones you hear about. And when it comes to standing behind them when there are problems just keep in mind that nobody bets on a lame horse.
Going off on a slight tangent, I’d really like to learn how this happens.
It seems that every manufacturer puts out a lemon but how does this happen? This one aberration has gone through the same manufacturing process and quality control but has turned out to be nothing more than an expensive hunk of metal.
It seems the people that get “bad” cars really get bad ones; and you hear it from all different types of vehicles (even supposedly reliable ones) owners.
Compassion really feel for the people who purchase new vehicles and have them turn out to be lemons. Can’t think of anything worse that can happen with a new vehicle; other than getting it keyed or totaled in a wreck.
I purchased another after test driving the 9-3,tsx,lexus 330, Sonata, and altima. The drive in my opinion is much improved over the 1.8t. The engine although more powerful still gives me 30-32mpg at speeds of 70-75. Aside from the lack of certain options like auto dim mirror, night courtesy door lights, auto seat tilt adjustment and fog lights on the 2.0t I like the car very much and have 6,000 happy miles so far and hopefully many many more to come.. The dealership has also been very caring and cooperative with a few minor issues.PS the xm radio is a nice treat as well.. Any questions ,please ask..
We leased a new car 13 months ago (36 month term, 45K miles.)
The MSRP was just under $47K.
We put "down" $250 (never see that again), first month's payment and a security deposit (refundable) and we paid for the plates (between $50 and $100.)
The lease payment, including sales tax, is $581.00
IF one could buy this car @ a 0% interest rate for 48 months, the payment would be (factoring in sales tax and a discount) about $1,000 per month for 48 months. If interest or opportunity cost of 2% were factored in, the payment would. . .increase.
At the end of 48 months, the payments to buy it would cease, the car would have about 60,000 miles on it, the warranty would be kaput, it would likely need new tires and some low four figure maintenance items within 3 - 12 months. Were it to qualify to be CPO'd and were I to get a deal on said CPO-ing, that would be according to the dealer about $1,250 out of pocket and I would have had to have done it before 50,000 miles or 48 months whichever came first.
I would be out of pocket at month 48 a minimum of $50,000. True no payment, until the tire replacement ($600) and the other maint items required at said point.
Conversely, the 36 month lease program would have concluded 12 months earlier and my total of payments and other costs would have been 36x$581+the upfront costs, minus the returned security deposit, etc.
Had I even re - leased a car of the same monthly outlay in month 37, and continued to make payments my out of pocket for the same time period would be less, I would NOT be running bare warranty wise or not having to rely on the CPO warranty (which generally will not cover those expensive maint items that crop up starting around 60,000 miles, etc etc etc.)
Your spouse is correct in one aspect: the payments go away and the car goes away and she has nothing to show for making the payments (but she also has made substantially lower payments for a shorter time and if she re ups, so to speak, has a new car with better (one would hope) safety, performance, economy and convenience features that is fully warranted and would shield her from devastating possible costs that the older car (unless CPO'd) could have, in spades.
European cars are breathtakingly expensive to maintain beyond 50,000 miles and without a warranty are breathtakingly expensive to repair should the need arise (it rarely does.)
The new VW's "ought" to be the most durable, reliable and lowest TCO ever -- keeping a small(er) payment going in perpetuity can work for a lot of folks.
For others, paying cash and holding works.
Perhaps the best of all worlds is 0% financing and an extended warranty purchased up front.
I just had to respond to the statement you "have nothing" after a 36 month drive and forget lease. You have money in the bank -- or money you spent. You have enjoyed far less uncertainty with respect to be responsible for potentially expensive maint and repair costs and so on.
Just a "contrarian" (to your wife's) point of view, I could be wrong, just not uncertain. :shades:
Well, this is true, but doesn't cover everything.
Its also right for those who could easily afford more car, but choose to drive less car for less money because they now realize some things in life are more important than your car. (i'm obviously talking about someone specific here, and that would be myself.) Plus, it doesn't hurt that said person changes cars WAY too often.
By the way, you can also get a lease with higher miles built in. I'm thinking that an 18k/year would cover me these days.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
In your case, if you drive 20,000 miles per year over the three year period I am thinking of the lease add on cost would be 15,000 x 16 cents / 36 to add $67 per month to the lease. The lease would then be $581 + $67 or $648 per month.
MY issue with this would be the end of the warranty road what with our mutual agreement of the shocking expense one little hiccup can cause after 50,000 miles. It may not be a likely even, but -- it can happen.
In your case leasing may be a good thing or not, I am not in the position to know -- a super subvented lease could put a smile on your face, kind of thing.
In your case a 30 month lease might make a lot of sense if all the stars are in alignment. And, if YOU ARE CERTAIN you will have 20K per year, you might get the miles add on cost as low as $.10 (don't count on it going THAT low, however.)
On the other hand, getting something other than a Passat may be a necessary thing to do.
Have you considered an A4 2.0T quattro with two popular options (maint is included and the subventing has begun for the year.)
Can someone tell me if the deal is good or cd it to be better?
and i also wanted some opinion on choosing between Camry XLE and V6 Passat
Thanks
Venu
The new wagon has a nasty rattle coming from the adjustable seat belt just above the Driver's left shoulder area. The rattle is very annoying and must be fixed. I had the Sales Manager take it for a drive the other day and he confirned the rattle without hesitation. Its now my turn to make an appt with service to have the problem fixed(hopefully).
I've already had a screw puncture the right front tire. The dealer ended up removing the screw from the tire and performing a patch. The screw was from a license plate bracket. The dealer couldn't say much to that except to cover the $26.00 service fee.
The new Passat 3.6 4 Motion requires 40 lbs of pressure in each tire. The staff at the dealer thought it was a lot of pressure for a tire. They concluded it was due to the 4 Motion system. The reason I bring this up is b/c the ride in the Passat is not as smooth as I thought it would be. I'm attributing this to a small wheelbase, and high pressure tires. FYI, I didn't order the Sports Package.
Any thoughts?
40lbs of tire pressure is not uncommon. The rear tire pressure recommendation for my car is 44lbs.
The Mercedes C class and then new A4 and Infiniti G35x had been the medium list and the A4 remained on the short list with an honorable mention to the C class 4Matic but my wife really didn't want an automatic.
We drove a 3 series with AWD which we were told could be had with a stick if one were to order it but we would have to wait at least 4 months for the 2006's.
We had played with the on line configurator for the BMW X3 and there was ONE in stock with a stick and the Terracotta leather, so we took it out for a test.
Days and more tests of the X3 passed and we sat down with the "client advisor" and signed on to the BMWUSA website and built one right there. It was over $46K. We explained the term and miles we were looking for. The price came in at $587 or something like that and we signed up to custom order one built exactly as we wanted.
A few days later after reading the review of the X3 here on edmunds (and elsewhere), we noted that we had NOT ordered the car with Servotronic steering (a $250 option.)
We went to the dealer asked if it was too late to change the order and added Servotronic. However, the "deal" was already in the works and they said to get Servotronic we needed to pay for it. We gave them $250. They told us that since the MSRP was raised and since we gave them the cash up front, the cost per month would drop about $5.00 and that was that.
This lease, signed finally in May 2005 was as I noted.
Then Audi came out with an offer to allow us to build an A6 the way we wanted. We configured a 2005 A6 3.2 which ended up at $53,286, Audi waived the sec dep, charged a plate transfer fee and a $350 cost to acquire and several weeks later my new Audi came in at 36 months 45K miles, $400 worth of fees and a mo pay of $640. Audi made the last two payments on my 2003 allroad to boot.
Loyalty counted in the second example, big time.
Try financing even at below market rates either of these cars for 36 months -- the payment, with virtually $0 down will be, gulp, "a little larger" -- really a lot larger, a whole lot larger.
In 20 months from now we will both be ready to repeat the order/acquisition process and if we keep our eye on the sub-venting ball, we are optimistic that history can repeat itself.
And, by that time, my wife will have that loyalty thing going for her, too for a re-up within the BMW family.
Here in River City, the lease prices of new Passats recently was $299 per month, 12,000 miles and about $2K upfront (some of it refundable).
Infiniti's M35x (another car I liked a lot) has not, thus far, this year, started to show signs of being sub-vented.
Wait a week.
:shades:
Excellent question! I have wondered this before myself. Is it that the metals put into the cars are not always consistent? Perhaps it's like those doctors you hear about who accidentally leave a piece of gauze or a pair of forceps in someone after surgery. I don't know, but I bet 90% of the problems are a result of human error somewhere in the manufacturing process.
We got to the dealership at 2:15 Monday afternoon and they were just getting started on the car. I was much less than pleased that they didn't have the car ready to go when we got there. The service mgr told me it would take them about 45 minutes to finish it up, so we waited. As fate would have it, they had trouble getting the compass to calibrate. In the end it turns out that there was nothing wrong with the compass in the first place. It was just that the probe (which is located in the compartment on the right-hand side of the trunk along with the satellite radio brain) was never attached to whatever holds it in place. It was, I suppose, just dangling loose by the wires. The tech said it would never work as long as it was not stationary. We finally left the dealership at 4:15.
So, bad news for VW's quality control issues, good news for me. That's right, good news for me because since it took them so long getting it fixed and we had to wait - with our kids, BTW - the service manager didn't charge me for the oil change or tire rotation. It saved me about $112. So, all's well that ends well. The compass is now working, we got a free 10,000 mile service, and we were still able to make it to my daughter's softball game on-time.
I've lost much of my hair scratching my head at most of the decisions that VWoA and the customer support team have made during this entire time since I first started having problems with my Passat till they finally agreed to replace it. I guess that there is a method to their madness... I just don't know what it is! :confuse:
I'll let you know when the exchange finally closes.
Good luck!
Krzys
At first the channels and my presets and voice commands seemed to randomly change and I would have to find the station I by name rather than by preset.
I attributed this, in hindsight, to channel shuffling by the sat carrier.
I think, if this is the same phenom, yours should settle down -- OTOH -- asking here AND at the dealership AND quizzing XM, couldn't hurt.
Hopefully nobody else will need to go through what I did to get VW to back up their product.
Beware, the dealership told me that the original Passat will be repaired and trucked out of state for auction.
The dealer attempted to fix the rattle on my 2006 Passat 3.6 4 Motion but without much luck. I'll drive it a little longer before I return to the dealer for another fix. I've had so many issues with this brand new car and my dealer. The car was in for service for a week with only 300 miles on the odometer for leaking oil. The dealer said there was a special part missing which caused the leak. The dealer never saw this before on any Passat. All the mechanics were baffled to say the least. IT took the dealer 4 days to figure out the problem before actually ordering the part. VW of N.A. is supposedly cutting me a check for the problems and the cost of the rental car after the service manager called VW personally. The funds should cover about half of the finance payment for the month.
Have you had any other issues with the vehicle like stalling?