2012 Volkswagen Passat

Great car, excellent value, more car than I expect

By Sonny (TX) on Friday, May 03, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 8,000

Pros: "Best mileage of any car I've ever owned."

Cons: "None! Would like to have xenons."

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"This is an extremely well built and engineered car. It is solid, quiet, efficient and a pleasure to drive. My previous Passag was a V6 3.6 which was also an excellent car but the TDI SEL is quite different. Fuel economy is better than expected ranging from 39-48 mpg, with an average 43 city/highway combined. The car is roomy and the seats are quite comfortable. The Fender sound system is great. My iPhone syncs effortlessly with the Bluetooth. Occasionally, the sound and vavigation system seem to lag a bit but if I'm patient they soon catch up and then work fine. I did like the xenon headlights on my previous Passat which are no longer an option. Overall the car feels like a solid German sedan costing much more than $33K. It's just about perfect in every way."

5 people out of 5 found this review helpful

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Best car I have ever owned

By Jay11 (FL) on Tuesday, April 30, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 42,000

Pros: "Fun, mileage, sleek, great sound, smooth"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"I drive 40,000 miles a year and this vehicle has proven to be outstanding in almost every category."

1 person out of 1 found this review helpful

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Best Car Ever

By jy (KY) on Friday, April 12, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 7,500

Pros: "Makes you want to drive"

Cons: "None"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"I don't see how VW can top the TDI SEL Premium. It feels, drives, and looks like a much more expensive car. I regularly exceed the advertised city and highway mileage. I'm getting 48 mpg on highway and 36 mpg in the city without resorting to extreme cautious driving practices. Hybrids can't compare."

4 people out of 4 found this review helpful

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2013 V6 SEL Premium

By Don (TX) on Wednesday, March 20, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 6,250

Pros: "Comfort and room"

Cons: "Premium gas"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"This is the best car I have ever owned. It has exceptional comfort. Two weeks after I purchased the car I took a 3600 mile trip. There have been no problems at all. When we tested the car we also tested a TDI SEl Premium version. We chose the V6 because it is so smooth and powerful. I do wish the German manufactures would get away from engines that require premium gas. both American and Japanese manufactures make engines of the same size or smaller that produce as much power on regular gas. A good example is GM's 3.6 V6."

4 people out of 4 found this review helpful

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2013 TDI SEL, great car

By rusty cat (WA) on Saturday, March 16, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 3,000

Pros: "ride, mpgs, kessey, seating, trunk space"

Cons: "not able to disable stability control"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 9

"I've had the 2013 TDI SEL for 3 months and 3000 miles. The only real negatives I can find fault with at the price point of $33k is the inability to turn off the various stability control nannies and that chains are not recommended due to clearance issues between the strut assembly and the inside of the wheel. The engine has tons of torque from 1200 t0 2800 rpms. This is extrememly useable torque that provides snappy acceleration in the speed bands that are most usually driven. The keyless Kessy system is a joy. The ride quality is exceptional, and interior noise is extremely low, especially at crusing speeds. Seating is very supportive and comfortable. The Fender stereo is better than average, but certainly no Wow factor with it. The radio navigation system takes a bit of getting used to, but I find I can live with it without getting too annoyed. Ride quality on America's decaying road system was a main consideration when purchasing the car, and even though I don't put many miles on the car per year, one thing for sure and certain is fuel costs are not going to go down, and if I keep this car for the decade or so I usually keep a car, I can only shudder at what the price of fuel will be in 10 years. I'm getting mid 30s around small town driving on secondary roads and in the low 40s during freeway driving. Headlights on high were exactly perfect for me, as I really dislike HID projection beams with their driving in a pipe style light cutoffs. The low beams were not adequate for secondary road driving and I replaced them with higher wattage bulbs which solved the problem. At the price point of the top end of the Passat line, one is looking at the low end of the Mercedes and BMWs, and other than prestige of name, the Passat is a hands down better value, and even according to Automobile magazine, the ride on the Passat is of higher quality than the BMW 3 series diesel. Full sized spare tire and fold down back seats are major pluses too. Dashboard is nicely laid out without too much clutter and good visibility of the instrument cluster. Bluetooth phone interface is very good. The regen system for self cleaning of diesel soot is something that VW should have a dashboard monitoring of, but I guess they are worried it will confuse drivers. I really could not be much happier with the Passat. Sure cars that cost 50% more have nicer interiors, but none of them get better MPGs on the Freeway. Lastly, if you are looking for a car for urban driving and rare trips to the countryside or freeway, the Passat TDI is not your best choice, probably a Toyota Hybrid would be better due to the regeneration braking systems,and the fact that the Passat TDI would rarely achive obtimum engine/driving temperature, which is very important for diesels."

10 people out of 10 found this review helpful

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