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Due to dealer allocations, we're not expecting our TDI wagon to arrive until October or November as a 2005. Price is uncertain too, as Telematics are standard on the 2005 model which should boost the price.
Our preferred dealer has sold a number of TDI sedans (but hasn't ridden in one, because customers were always waiting for delivery when the cars arrived).
The one TDI wagon didn't even make it to the dealer .... customer went to the depot where they unload them from the trains and shot photos of his car getting un-wrapped!
It seems all the Passat TDIs around Vancouver are "Built to order" and Passat TDI wagons are rarer than Phaetons or Porsche Cayennes.
Maybe they're all getting shipped to the US?
Any indications on production numbers, import numbers, etc. ???? -end
Wow! And you are the same person who ordered their Passat in March of 2003!
quote dieselbreath March 2003- My wife has already ordered her new Passat diesel wagon from the first arrival of 2004 models.
As you probably know, VW sells a lot more cars per capita in Canada than in US.
Also, a higher percentage of diesels here.
We deal with Langley VW. They're about 45 minutes outside of Vancouver, in an area of commuters. Thus they sell a LOT of diesels (piles of Jetta TDIs). The owner, Bruce Norman, gets flown by VW AG to Germany for new model introductions, etc.
He gets to see what's coming to North America (and try it out) before many dealers even get any info that its coming. And they get cars other dealers can't get (like Jetta TDI wagons when all the other dealers in BC had long waiting lists). -end
Your dealer has certainly let you down.
The Passat will arrive in US/Canada the same time as Europe.
Golf & Jetta are different because they are built in Mexico/Brazil.
So after they build the tools and line in Germany they duplicate it over here, and that takes time.
But ALL Passats come from the same plant in Germany. It is not possible to build 2 different "flavours" of Passats at the same time.
PS: Except for cylinder heads, where Europe gets 16 valves and NA gets only 8!
Yeah ... they didn't anticipate the shortage. And we weren't first in line for a TDI wagon. If we wanted a sedan we'd be all set, but we have 2 dogs...
I'm not following your logic since MkV Golf is already in production in Germany and yet the MkIV Jetta and Bora are still in production in the Wolfsburg facility. The MkV Jetta and Bora will both be produced in Mexico and Mexico will be the only source worldwide for Bora/Jetta and they will be exported to Europe.
It is not only possible, it is probable that Emden will build the current Passat and continue to supply it to North America at the same time they are building the new "flavour" Passat for Europe.
Last but not least, even when the 2004 Jetta arrives in North America we still will not have the Golf 4 door, only the 2 door GTI. It may be 2007 or later when the Golf shows up, three years after it was introduced in Europe, and the Mk2 Golf is still in production to this day in South Africa.
Bottom line is that VW does not uniformly introduce or market models to major markets.
But its been my understanding that all Passats came from one factory (one line actually) and you simply can't economically produce multiple models on one production line at the same time.
It makes sense for new Golfs to be manufactured in Germany and "debugged" at home before replicating the production line elsewhere (which takes a lot of time and money for tooling).
You see that with Nissan of Mexico building the prior generation of everything that Nissan of Japan is building. I think in their case they don't duplicate the production line ... they simply ship the old one over after the new one if operational back home (in Japan)
I think it would be very wise of VW to start up a second Passat line, since they can't keep up with demand now. But that is logical thinking, something that is seen too rarely from large multi-national corporations. But if the taxi companies ever clue into the Passat TDI, (VW should build a special model with tough vinyl seats and door panels) they could consume all North America bound production and then some. (simple math indicates that for a given gas price, there is a monthly mileage figure where a new Passat is free compared to fueling up a Chev Lumina given roughly half the fuel consumption in city driving -- and I believe that MANY taxis exceed that mileage figure)
Given a price of $2 per gallon, and a lease price of $400 per month ($0 down @ 3.9%), a driver spending $800/month on fuel could get the new car free.
At 20 MPG for the current taxi (such as a Lumina), that's 400 gallons or 8000 miles per month, or << 300 miles per day. For cab companies that operate 24/7 in a city, that is common mileage.
So, a Passat can indeed be free compared to its competition as a taxi: Lumina, Crown Vic, etc.
And that's completely ignoring the fact that diesel is typically cheaper than gas (its 80% of the cost of Regular here) and the car will last longer and have a higher resale value compared to the alternatives.
If Diesel Passats are used as Taxi then there are fewer available for the rest of us. I can't recommend the Passat as a Taxi.
For those who can not wait even a few miles, there is www.tdiheater.com, me I don't need it.
For those who can not wait even a few miles, there is www.tdiheater.com, me I don't need it.
Peace,
Don<><
http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/reviews/healey/2004-06-10-vw-- tdi_x.htm
They do say that it will only be here for one year. Is this true?
Regarding future availability of TDI Passats, we can look to the past. VW imported their B4 Passat TDI for the last two years the car was sold in the USA, 1996 and 1997. And nothing until '04. I would assume there will be no problems with getting an '05 Passat TDI, but I'm not expecting the next-gen Passat to be sold in the US with a diesel. There were many people who waited for the B5 (1998+) Passat diesel, but they waited 6 model years.
If so, this has not been my experience. Me and a friend tested this one day last winter. It was a very cold morning (5 F) and my Golf TDI and my friends Jetta gasser had be sitting all night. We wanted to see what the difference was in time to heat the passenger compartment. After going 6 city blocks to reach the freeway entrance, my friends gas powered Jetta was already throwing warm air. After 1 mile on the highway it was blowing hot air. It took another 7 miles before the TDI blew anything but freezing air.
To say that a diesel and gas car will take the same amount of time to heat when very cold is misleading to the folks reading this forum.
So in essence it's taking about 9 miles before your buddys TDI even blows warm air? He better have it checked out because mine takes about four miles. If I'm working in my home town office, my entire drive is only ten miles. My TDI is completely heated and I've turned the heat down to low at about the six mile mark. This was before I installed a TDI heater which gives me instant heat. Are you guys testing this using the method explained in the owners manual for maximum heating?
Another thing I've found is that I don't turn the blower on until the temperature gauge starts to move upward. If you're running the blower hard right off from the start, you'll actually delay heating a diesel because you're moving cold air acrossed the coolant. You can also insulate the coolant pipes in the front radiator to help keep the cold air from further chilling the coolant.
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I can see where many people would be skeptical of this report about an '06 Passat TDI. I want to see an '06 Passat TDI more than anyone, and I hope it happens. The 2.0 is good, but the 2.5 inline 5 cyl TDI with 4Motion and a manual tranny would be wicked!
Jeff
I'm aware of some folks that have made agreements with others to buy them a TDI, put the initial 7500 miles on it, then sell them the car. This seems to save money because most of the used TDI's with 7500 miles that show up on dealers lots in CA are selling for well beyond MSRP of a brand new one. Example, you send someone an upfront fee and they will buy a Passat TDI that meets your approval. You mutually agree to buy/sell the car for a set price (usually under MSRP) at the point the car has 7500 miles. You get a slightly used TDI for under MSRP and the other person gets cheap transportation for 7500 miles. I have a friend doing this right now a friend of his that lives in Berkley. Another plus is the car gets broken in by someone you know/trust as opposed to whoever a dealer can get to drive the thing. Course you could always stick the thing on blocks and let it run up the miles. Executives at GM used to do that all the time since they could get a new car every 15k miles, lol..
.Obtained it as part of a divorce or inheritance settlement.
.Purchased it to replace a vehicle stolen while you were using it out of state.
.Purchased it to replace a vehicle which was destroyed or made inoperative beyond reasonable repair while you were using it out of state.
.Were on active military duty outside California, and you registered the vehicle in the state of your last military service.
My friend told me that if I want a TDI, I should buy a cheep ($1000 or less) used car, keep it a couple of months, then drive it to Las Vegas and trade it in on a new TDI. When you make the deal ask the dealer to only give you a couple hundred on the trade and reduce the price of the new TDI by the savings. When you register the new car in California you’ll show them the paperwork and tell them the old car broke down in Vegas and was not cost effective to repair.