"boredalways" (boredalway666)
03/28/2019 at 21:35 • Filed to: Lazy Ass Review, VW, Passat, 2019, Wolfsburg Edition, Rental Cars
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"boredalways" (boredalway666)
03/28/2019 at 21:35 • Filed to: Lazy Ass Review, VW, Passat, 2019, Wolfsburg Edition, Rental Cars | 2
| 12 |
On the 16th I had to drive to Chicago, sadly for a funeral. My POS C240 was not to be trusted, so I rented a car. Somehow, I managed to talk my way into this Passat. I hadn’t drove a Passat since I sold my 2006. What a fun car to drive it was.
This is an appliance.
Apparently, the 2019 only comes in two flavors: this Wolfsburg Edition and a SE R-Line.
Even better, they share the only engine available, a 2.0T with a whopping 174 hp and 184 ft lb (my ‘06 had 200hp/207ft lb). Regular 6sp automatic, so no DSG. No manual either. So I question why the R-Line even exist. And the engine is loud even at 60% throttle. The NVH is not Toyota like.
See that steering wheel? It’s slightly offset from center in relation to the driver’s seat.
Electric power steering is vague on center. It takes about a half second in either direction before it kicks in. It’s not completely lifeless but it’s not reassuring, so much so that keeping one hand on the while I reached for something in the passenger seat had me rolling over the rumble strips in no time.
Fuel economy is good at 25 city 36 hwy and 29 combined. Over 400 miles round-trip in driving, I averaged just short of 33 mpg. I think it was very good considering that my rental only had 1300 miles on the odo, so it hadn’t been completely broken in.
The upside, my rental had a lot of nice features: front and rear collision warning, whatever the orange passing car icon in your side mirrors are called, Android Auto & Apple CarPlay, and MirrorLink, heated seats without the crazy temp swings between each increasing setting, power driver’s seat with lumbar support, a big ass trunk, sunroof, and stuff that have forgotten...oh yeah, it’s very roomy, so big guys like me can find comfort in front or back.
The downside is that the 18" Conti tires, along with wind noise around the doors, the engine noise for passing, I find it hard to believe that anyone would want to live with this on a regular basis if you do a lot of highway driving.
Nothing wrong with a nice appliance if that’s what you want. But I think Honda and Toyota do it better. Hopefully the 2020 model is more fun and sporty like my ‘06 and less meh when you’re looking for more.
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> boredalways
03/28/2019 at 21:54 |
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It is weird you can get a Camry with 301 horsepower but you can't get a Passat with even 200
horizonsofkhaos
> boredalways
03/28/2019 at 21:59 |
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I had a rental Jetta a couple months back and it was pretty disappointing. My biggest nuisance was how poor the audio quality was over bluetooth. I didn’t try via USB for Android Auto but the bluetooth quality was just awful.
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boredalways
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
03/28/2019 at 22:22 |
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It's damn near scary
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boredalways
> horizonsofkhaos
03/28/2019 at 22:23 |
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Ouch, that sucks. Was the 1.4T decent?
dogisbadob
> boredalways
03/28/2019 at 22:37 |
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How come VW never made any Puebla Editions? Being that most of their US-market cars come from Mexico
:p
Discerning
> boredalways
03/28/2019 at 22:41 |
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Meanwhile, the accord can be had with a manual and a milder type r engine. The interior looks nicer in the accord too.
Can’t imagine why passat sales are low (iirc).
We ultimately ended up with a 2017 Camry as a rental car recently and it has about the same power (178 hp). It is painfully slow
FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
> boredalways
03/28/2019 at 23:39 |
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Not OP but I’ve had the 1.4T in a Jetta as a rental and thought it was quite good.
duurtlang
> dogisbadob
03/29/2019 at 03:41 |
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Exactly. And it's not like the China/US Passat is even available in Wolfsburg. Other than the badge, is there anything German about this car?
Manny05x
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
03/29/2019 at 07:29 |
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Yup and people hate the Camry, its a good car.
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boredalways
> FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
03/29/2019 at 07:38 |
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That's what I wanted, too, but they were out. So my options were Camry, Kia Optima (which I should have chosen), or the Passat.
KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time
> boredalways
03/29/2019 at 10:18 |
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AT least the 2019Jetta GLI is good
https://www.autoblog.com/2019/03/28/2019-volkswagen-jetta-gli-driving-review/
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FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com
> boredalways
03/29/2019 at 15:30 |
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I’ve had the Optima too. I hated it - easily least favorite non-Nissan vehicle that I’ve driven in the last five years. The only thing I liked about it was the display between the gauges showing where the wipers were set when you change them (lol at Doug for thinking this was a cool luxury touch in his Genesis G70 review when it’s just a standard Hyundai/Kia thing on pretty much everything they make). 1/10 would take a Jetta over it 100% of the time. I also liked the Passat rental I had around this time last year too. I know you weren’t too kind to it in this review, but everything you didn’t like about it the Optima is just as bad if not worse besides maybe being a little quieter inside.