Two years ago when it came to replacing 'Old Faithful', my Volvo V70, it came down to another V70 or a Passat Estate. The latter won out on the grounds of price and fuel economy. I bought a Passat SE 2.0 diesel estate with the Geartronic box. It was the wrong move.
Because the roof has no gutters over the doors and the sides curve outwards, water or snow collects on the door seal. Open any door and this falls directly onto the seats. Not a good start to a journey.
Climb in, look around and notice the thick 'A' and 'B' pillars; these seriously affect vision and can lead to some heart-stopping moments unless one is
very, very careful at all times.
Start it up and, unless the 'S' or manual options are selected, it is very slow off the mark. This can be improved by a heavy foot but it makes for a very jerky start. Once running, performance is reasonable and fuel consumption is excellent.
Switch on the window wipers and then come to a halt (say) to wait at a junction. The wipers will then go into the next lower speed; i.e. from 'high speed' to 'low speed' or from 'low speed' to 'intermittent'. Thus, just when you want the fewest distractions to your view, the car tries to obscure it. This is part of the design (!)
Shortly after collecting the car I noticed that rounding any bend produced the sound of something rolling from side to side in the tailgate. The local dealer extracted a surplus nut left behind by the factory.
After that, I noticed that there was no flow through the air vent for the back seat passengers. Back to the local agent who discovered that a section of piping and a control valve had not been fitted by the factory.
Next, I found that applyiing throttle would not always give a response; sometimes the car would accelerate, sometimes it would not respond and sometimes it would stall. Finding this out while pulling out to accelerate is not recommended! Back to the VW dealer who said that it was the result of a fuse failing in the ABS!
"An intermittent fault caused by a fuse blowing?"
"Ah yes, sometimes the fuse blows but then it reconnects."
Reconnecting fuses are a new concept to me.
That fault has not reappeared but the faulty sump level sensor was the next reason to take the car back to the dealer.
About a year after I bought it, I noticed that the rear bumper upper surface showed signs of rubbing against the bottom of the tailgate. The two have clearance when at rest and so I assume that the rear bumper is flexible enough to move up and down and foul when the car's in motion. Back to the dealer who inspected it and then said the adjustment work would be done under warranty. I was waiting for the paperwork to be raised when the warranty manager changed her mind and said that the work was not covered as all bodywork defects had to be advised in the first six months of ownership. At the time I accepted this but checked my copy of the Warranty and found no such condition. (VW had changed the small print meantime.) I challenged this with VW Customer Service; a misnomer if ever there was one and the position has never been resolved.
Now the parking sensors are playing up; sounding when nothing is close to the car. So far the dealer cannot find the fault.
In short, in terms of driving satisfaction, build quality, service from Eastern Western Motor Group and VW generally would I buy another Volkswagen? My answer would not be acceptable in a family forum.
Barry M
