2016 Passat Alltrack Review

[StinkyPantsMan]

Hi,

I thought I'd give an honest no BS review of a Passat Alltrack (late 2016) with the Luxury Pack option which includes the electric drivers seat that wasn't available in the early 2016 models.

Pros (in no particular order):

1. Great highway driving.
2. Very comfortable seats even on 6,000 km road trip.
3. Adaptive cruise control is awesome.
4. Large sunroof is awesome.
5. Plenty of boot space.
6. Plenty of rear leg room.
7. Great for family of 4.
8. Has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
9. 3 zone climate control is great for the kids.
10. Visibility is very good.
11. Cornering headlights are awesome.
12. Engine has sufficient power but a 6 cylinder would be nicer.

Cons (in no particular order):

1. DSG is terrible, woeful, jerky, annoying in normal low speed, city type driving in "D" mode. There are insufficient bad words to describe this. In "S" mode, taking off is fine but it's meant for aggressive driving so it's not a laid back. "D" mode needs to be adjusted so it's not jerky.
2. Terrible (x100) for reversing up moderately steep driveways.
3. Chassis is not rigid enough. Excessive creaking when entering / exiting my driveway (it's only a very moderate incline).
4. Consumes Adblue at 2-3x the rate that the onboard computer says.
5. Suspension is only good for good roads. It really needs to be softened a bit for Australian roads. Remember ppl, this isn't a Golf GTI, it's a family tourer.
6. Rear Traffic Alert is crap. It doesn't detect cars far enough so you see them in rear view camera before the alert even fires up. And it also has a tendency to apply your brakes as your reversing past a perpendicular parked car.
7. Auto Hold park brake is terrible. I don't care about it holding on the flat. Just make it like a normal hill holder please!
8. Auto Stop Start is irritating. No it's not fast enough. It's too slow to engage in traffic. I wish there was a way to make it off by default.
9. Head unit has intermittent flickering while showing reversing camera view. Dealer can't find a problem even though I showed them a video of the flickering.
10. Engine has stalled 3x in slow reversing. This happened on the flat in a shopping centre car park. Dealer can't find a problem.
11. Engine has taken excessive amount of time to fire up. This only occurred once and it was summer. Dealer can't find a problem.
12. Steering has become very stiff at full lock. Occurred 3x on the flat. Feels like faulty power steering. Dealer can't find a problem.
13. Driver's seat memory function does not return the seat to the exact position is was set in. It always returns the seat in a higher position. Dealer says they fixed it but it's obvious it's not fixed. FYI I tested another Passat and that one didn't have this issue therefore mine must be faulty.
14. Driver's seat moves laterally very slightly when the car turns a corner. Thoroughly irritating on windy roads. Dealer can't find a problem.
15. No factory Hayman Reese style towbar. So I have to go aftermarket.
16. Advertised fuel economy of 5.4 litres/100km is lies, lies, lies. I get approx 7.2-7.5 litres/100km on the highway at 100km/h on cruise control with just me and an empty car. Strangely enough I get the roughly the same fuel consumption with 2 adults, 2 kids, boot full of gear, roof pod full of gear and a mountain bike.

Summary:
I bought this over the Subaru Outback for these reasons:

1. Subaru Eyesight system is noisy and irritating. It would beep everytime a car would pull in front while adaptive cruise control was active. The salesperson didn't know how to deactivate this beeping.
2. Subary head unit was too slow for my liking and it lacks Apple / Android systems.
3. Subaru diesel engine is woeful. Whoever tells you that the Subaru diesel is great to drive doesn't appreciate driving. They view cars as A to B vehicles and therefore their opinions don't count.
4. Subaru 6 cylinder petrol is awesome but fuel consumption is too high for the size of the fuel tank so it's not really suited as a long distance tourer.

Would I buy another Passat Alltrack?
No. Maybe if it were $40k, but not $55k+.

Would I buy the Passat Alltrack over the Subaru Outback?
For my usage and my personality, I'd buy neither.
I'd wait and save up the extra $20-30k and buy the next gen Touareg, BMW X5 or Jeep Grand Cherokee instead.
I actually regret selling my 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee CRD for the Passat Alltrack.

Would I ever buy another DSG for a family tourer?
No way. Never ever ever.

[Jimi]

Good review. Need more honesty in places like this when we can sometimes get a bit carried away. I am tossing up whether to get the 206tsi and the 6 speed DSG is one of the things holding me back... hoping they can get the new 7 speed one from the Tiguan into it, or maybe the Audi S Tronic?

[doc_777]

Opinions are personal experience of course, and yours are what they are. It's not up to me or anyone else to agree or disagree - thanks for posting.

Interested in what you said about a towbar. When you said 'No factory Hayman Reese style towbar. So I have to go aftermarket.' I presume you are referring to a square receiver-style towbar?

If that assumption is correct.....I have the factory towbar installed on my 2017 Alltrack, and it is a standard "hayman reese style" hitch receiver. What were you after?

With regard to "Advertised fuel economy of 5.4 litres/100km" - if you are expecting dyno fuel figures to be matched in real life, you are probably going to be mightily disappointed in ALL vehicles. Suggest that instead of blaming any manufacturer you send your complaint to the Australian Government - they set the test (which is done on a dyno, not in real world conditions) which ALL manufacturers are required to undertake and report the findings.

[curly747]

Thanks for your review. I also just bought a passat alltrack and might post a detailed review when i have had it a bit longer and formed opinions. It was an old but brand new MY16 so was pretty cheap. I agree the dsg and turbo lag plus stop start is a bit hard to take at times. I have started running it in eco mode which does seem to smooth things out a bit and still goes when you need it to. Initially i did not like eco mode but its growing on me. Stilll it does not come close to my 4 speed auto 1999 six cylinder 3L toyota vienta for smooth, quick, predictable power delivery. I havn't written off the dsg just yet and am hoping in a few months i will be a convert. I have had a couple of gremlins with the boot opening unexpectedly. I am still adjusting to all the tech in the car so maybe it was user error.

[sclyde2]

I find that the dsg works fine, once you get used to it, and adjust for it. It works great when cruising, it works great when flogging it. It just doesn't like to be rushed when changing attitude. Eg. Going from cruising to flogging it. I learnt to be a little patient with it. It seems to have a delay when kicking down for a burst of speed. Or reluctance to kick down at all (in D). This usually leads to some people putting their foot further down and getting a lot more than they wanted. I routinely flick it to S when I see an opening in traffic appear, then flick it back to D when I am done.

I find the ride very good, haven't noticed any creaking and haven't really relied on the rear cross traffic alert (nor have anything to compare it with). Yeah, the auto hold is crap, and the stop start can be crap in some situations, but I am yet to come across a car with a start stop that always works how I want it to. The wife has developed a habit to turn it off straight after hitting the starter button. Geez you seem to have had a few defects.

Over 7L/100km at a steady 100km/hr? Sounds like you have some kind of lemon. I got into the 5s AVERAGE on an approx 1000km trip, including going through towns, roadworks, 3 people and luggage (but no roof rack), cruising at just under 120. And that was on sub-5000km engine. Later on, with a more loosened up engine, i tested it out to see if the highway spec was achievable - on a short trip, that went straight into a steady 80 zone, I tested it out, and got into the 4s.

Also interested in what you mean about the tow bar.

[ope126]

Response to Cons;

1) DSG is something you have to get used to, any Dual Clutch Transmission for that matter. A different beast to a Torque Convertor Auto (plenty of info / review online about any DSG complaints / woes)...
2) Agree. Reversing up an incline is a bit of an issue.
3) Agree, but nothing more than any of the other cars I have owned that have been driven up and down the same driveway...
4) Interesting to know. I just had my 1st Service completed in early June and I asked the dealer to top up the Ad-Blue. I only had 5,000kms on the ODO and the Ad-Blue range said 6,000kms. When the Ad-Blue was topped up and reset (remember there is a procedure for doing this) the range went to 10,000kms. It is now on 8,000km range and I have driven about 2,000km since the service. So it appears to be ok on my end.
5) Agree. It really needs Dynamic Suspension with Comfort / Normal / Sport modes... Obviously now standard / optional on some of the models... I had this on a MD Mondeo Titanium Wagon and I must say that the ride was sooo much nicer in the Mondeo!
6) Never really needed it. But once it did go off and apply the brakes too. Saved a ding!!!
7) Try the VCDS mod for this, I did and now it has an early release. So much better!!!
Possibly a VCDS tweak also. For me, I just switch it off every time I start!
9) Do you know what, I have just encountered this a couple of times when reversing recently. I will keep an eye on this also. What dealer do you go too? Maybe it is a software / firmware update?
10) Never encountered this...
11) Once or twice it has taken a little longer, but nothing to worry about. Remember it is a Diesel with Glow Plugs...
12) Never encountered this... get the dealer to check!
13) Unfortunately I do not have memory seats. I missed that from the Mondeo!!!
14) Get some Torx Bits and try tightening up yourself...
15) I do not have a towbar, but I have seen some thread lately with various options. I like the discrete ones that swing in to place!
16) Agree!!! I am averaging 7.2L/100kms since new. Mind you I spend a lot of time with shorter trips, and with the engine ideling for extended periods up to and over 30mins... On a good journey it gets to around 5.0L/100kms with 5 passengers and luggage. Not bad. As a comparison, my previous 2016 MD Mondeo Titanium Wagon got 7.6L/100kms average, but my 2017 MD Mondeo Titanium EcoBoost got 13.8L/100kms average in exactly the same driving conditions...