My VW Passat Alltrack

[CaseySP]

My wife would have swotted me if I gave her a gift like this - she would see it as the equivalent of getting a new clothes iron or vacuum cleaner. Now a nice little sports car on the other hand......

[Marakai]

My wife would have swotted me if I gave her a gift like this - she would see it as the equivalent of getting a new clothes iron or vacuum cleaner. Now a nice little sports car on the other hand......

Your wife would look at a gift of a $50+K import car as if it were a vacuum cleaner?!

You must have more money than god... Shouldn't you be hanging out on the Mercedes S-class or maybe the Bentley forum?

[CaseySP]

Your wife would look at a gift of a $50+K import car as if it were a vacuum cleaner?!

You must have more money than god... Shouldn't you be hanging out on the Mercedes S-class or maybe the Bentley forum?

No - she would/does look at a family station wagon as an appliance. Sadly we just had to give up our sports car for the family wagon with three children under 5 - it was never going to driven as we used to enjoy so much. Once the kids are all grown up I can almost guarantee another one will be on the cards - if they aren't outlawed by then

But, yes. In the meantime our $50k+ wagon is the best car for us, and I don't think Bently do wagons??

[WestOiler125]

She loves it. Especially happy with the sports seats. They're so comfortable.

Glad to hear that, I've been waiting for a local VW dealer to get a sports pack in so I can see it and try out the seats.

Did it come with paddle shift and what is the ride like on the 18's? Privacy glass looks good also.

[drad81]

Yes it has paddle shift

I don't think the ride is at all harsh with the 18's. Of course it would be smoother with the 17s but I tested the ride by intentionally driving on the uneven sections of the road (I'm from Sydney so that's every road) and don't find it at all bumpy.
My daily ride is a 2005 C Class with sports suspension and 17s and apart from the Alltrack being smoother it has much less body roll too which surprised me.

I was a bit unsure of the privacy glass at first thinking that the contrast from front windows compared to the rear would be too great but it looks perfect. You don't really notice too much of a difference.

Drove the car down to the South Coast (Jarvis Bay) for the long weekend and it was so beautiful to drive. Up hills it just kept powering with little effort and it handle great. Even in the rain it felt so sure footed. I'm absolutely over the moon with the car.
Car now has just over 600kms and I can feel it's loosened up a little and a little more powerful.

Only downside i've found is the Stop/start function. Been caught out twice already where the car comes to a brief stop, shuts off and doesn't start straight away. I've had to reapply the brake for a sec for it to register and start up again. Luckily it can be turned off.

This can be quite dangerous if the auto-hold function isn't on. I was turning onto Mona Vale Rd (3 lane main road) from a side street on a decline and came to a brief stop. As the car shut down I took my foot off the brake and it didn't start straight away and rolled into the first lane while I tried to comprehend what was going on. Luckily there was no on coming traffic. I reapplied the brake for a sec then the car started up again. Had the auto-hold been on the car wouldn't have rolled so I highly recommend using the auto-hold if you use the Start/Stop.

[Spaceman]

We're expecting our first kid (it's going to be a boy) in May so we went looking for cars late last year and put a deposit down for this. I told the wife that the car would arrive in April but surprised her by taking delivery a few months earlier and personalised plates. So I guess you could call me a tight arse because I gave her a gift that we were always going to get...

Nothing tight arsed about that buddy. Tight arsed is like buying her a scooter, with side pram attachment!

[Marakai]

Dear diary... it has now been 2 months.

There is no news and depression is setting in.

The dealer is silent and will no longer take my calls. VW Australia has put me on ignore. My wife questions whether the car actually exists or is merely a chimera and has been longingly eying the tradies with their shiny XR6s.

When will it all end?

[drad81]

Doesn't sound good.

Ask your dealer for the VIN. That's what I did when I placed my order. I then found a site that tracks the cars whereabouts when it's on the container ship.

[drad81]

On a positive note I think I've finally got the hand of driving with the auto start/stop.

I still think that the start/stop MUST be used with the auto hold though.

Come to a set of red light or traffic that's not going anywhere soon that place the foot on the brake and keep it there until it's time to move off.

When you want to stop for a brief moment, e.g stop sign or crawling traffic. Bring the car to a complete stop and then take the foot off the brake (I know this sounds weird). The auto hold keeps the brakes on but by taking the foot off the brake the engine keeps running.

I've also noticed an improvement with the speed of which the engine fires up again in those cases when the engine shuts off as your just about ready to start moving.

[Marakai]

Doesn't sound good.

Ask your dealer for the VIN. That's what I did when I placed my order. I then found a site that tracks the cars whereabouts when it's on the container ship.

Yeah, I've pestered them for this info 3 times now. Every time they say "don't have one yet, will let you know."

If they even want to have a prayer of making the agreed upon delivery date (advantage that you get one when going through a leasing company - you can put a "no later than" date in), the vehicle would have to exist NOW and be on it way on to the vessel, assuming a 2 month voyage plus all the other stuff that needs to be done (local towbar installation, "delivery" aka glorified car wash, etc).