What Else?

[Autopia]

Hi All

I'm curious if you R36 owners considered any other cars before you bought the Passat. When I went for the very brief test drive I was very impressed. Did any of you compare it to anything else before you signed on the line?

I dare not write this here but I've also driven the Ford G6E Turbo (please don't ban me ) and was completely mind blown by the sheer velocity of the thing. It's stupidly quick but it's a Ford (should that matter). Admittedly it's actually very nicely put together for a Ford and 75% of me REALLY likes it but..... ahh crap I don't know.

I'm not for one moment comparing the Ford to the VW but the speed of the thing is so intoxicating. The R36 was surprising quick during my brief test drive but not to the same extent as the Ford. I could also spend a meagre $5K extra on the Ford and get a genuine 300kW at the rear wheels. And there's no "go fast" kit for the VW at all. But it's built like a bank vault, has all wheel drive, DSG, superb seats and the versatility of a wagon.

I know I'm kinda rambling here but this is the first time I've found myself in a real conundrum over which car to buy. It's alway been so straight forward in the past.

Cheers
Sean

[olcoop]

Hi All

I'm curious if you R36 owners considered any other cars before you bought the Passat. When I went for the very brief test drive I was very impressed. Did any of you compare it to anything else before you signed on the line?

I dare not write this here but I've also driven the Ford G6E Turbo (please don't ban me ) and was completely mind blown by the sheer velocity of the thing. It's stupidly quick but it's a Ford (should that matter). Admittedly it's actually very nicely put together for a Ford and 75% of me REALLY likes it but..... ahh crap I don't know.

I'm not for one moment comparing the Ford to the VW but the speed of the thing is so intoxicating. The R36 was surprising quick during my brief test drive but not to the same extent as the Ford. I could also spend a meagre $5K extra on the Ford and get a genuine 300kW at the rear wheels. And there's no "go fast" kit for the VW at all. But it's built like a bank vault, has all wheel drive, DSG, superb seats and the versatility of a wagon.

I know I'm kinda rambling here but this is the first time I've found myself in a real conundrum over which car to buy. It's alway been so straight forward in the past.

Cheers
Sean

I also considered the G6E Turbo. Other cars I considered were the G6E, BMW 135i, BMW Touring 323i and 335i, Holden Sportswagon V8 and V6, R32, 3.2V6 Highline wagon, Passat CC V6 and TDi, and even a turbo Volvo wagon (shock horror ).
For my needs (and wants) the R36 wagon was actually a pretty easy choice when I considered price, size, performance, features, style and fuel economy.
I didn't really take into account depreciation as I do quite high milage and I have found that all of my cars a pretty worthless when I'm finished with them anyhow and without any depreciation history on the R36 yet, it would have all been guess work anyway IMO.
I currently have 5 diesel VWs, 3 diesel Peugots, 3 LPG Ford utes, 1 Landrover TD5, Merc M series van and an old convertable Merc in the fleet. A grey R36 wagon coming in the next 2 weeks.

[3Putt]

Anyone in the market for an R36 has to check out one of these...

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/Ar...rticleID=37903

They are rare, but they do pop up from time to time at around the $60K-$70K mark, with relatively low km's (60-100000km).

And look at the numbers! Staggering perfromance! Imagine the bragging rights back in 2001.

[ChrisR32]

IMO, the G6E turbo is a quick thing, but seriously at the end of the day it's a falcon. I've driven a G6E non turbo at work and while it was a step up from the falcons of old, they seriously are still cheap and nasty. The leather is like vinyl, the dash materials are laughable, and it still feels like a boat. When I drove it and got back into the R32 the difference in quality (performance aside) was massive. I think you'd be crazy to take a G6E over an R36.

[gead]

for me it came down to a choice of the car i already have and the r36...if the r36 wasn't such a blast to drive i would have kept my MY06 liberty STi for another few years....nothing else on the market was remotely tempting me...

[vwrallycar]

im selling my 06 XR6 to buy a new diesel passat, and i have thought about it long and hard and it boils down to the ford having an extremely low resale value, which is a shame for such a good car. Also further to that is the quality between the 2 cars, the quality in the ford is nowhere near where it should be, e.g. poor paintwork, rust in only a couple of years etc, things that wont happen on a vw. buy the vw, you wont be disappointed

[Autopia]

Thanks for your feedback guys.

I thought long and hard about it last night and whilst I really like the Ford I don't love it. A car needs to offer more than merely the thrill of super fast acceleration.
If my leasing company can show me that the R36 is affordable it will be my next car. Although the CC is cheaper and has the same motor.

[Lance B]

After the delight in having the extra power that the Ford affords (sorry about that) has worn off, the real benefits of the R36 will show through, like the brilliant DSG gearbox - man I love that gearbox and it is the one thing I doubt I could now live without, the AWD, the build quality, superb seats you will never rue your decision.

[Cro]

I was in car limbo for a year not knowing if the R36 was comming to Australia or not...so I tried a large range of cars to see if I could do without.

3.2L V6 Passat - Too slow
Golf R32 - Too small
Subary Libery GT - Too slow & not enough luxury features
HSV Senator - Nice car but Australian build (depreciation & lack of quality) & only 4 star safety
FPV Force6 - Not enough luxury features, depreciation & lack of quality, after sales service is pathetic, handles like a boat & only 4 star safety (at the time)
BMW 335 - Too small
Lexus IS250 - Too small & way too slow

For my requirements there just wasn't an equivilent car on the market..

A word of advice on the Ford, if the shoddy build quality doesn't turn you off the 1 wheel drive (no LSD on G6E Turbo) and after sales service will.
I have been to over 10 Ford service centres, and still couldn't find any genuine customer service when it came to warranty repairs.

[Autopia]

Thanks again for all the opinions and feedback. It's been very helpful.
The Ford dealer gave me the G6ET for 3 days to "get a good feel for it". Very generous but in the end it hasn't fully lived up to what I expected.

I take it back tomorrow at 4pm and I'll need to be polite, grateful and diplomatic.
R36 here I come. I hope the waiting list isn't too long for a Biscay Blue wagon with Nav, Dynaudio and power tailgate. Might even look into some after market 19's (see pic)


Cheers
Sean