Volkswagen 1.8t Station wagon, five speed (UPDATED)

{I've updated below)

This is the first ever car I have purchased new, and frankly, it is wonderful.

I test drove everything on the market. I don't exactly know why, but I fell totally in love with the idea of a station wagon. [a little odd for a 26 year old, but oh well...] I have previously been an all-suv owner, but ever since switching over to the passat, I'm never going back...

Ok, enough ranting, let's talk about the car:

The car is a Volkswagen Passat GLS station wagon, it is silverstone gray (kind of a gunmetal grey color), it has a black velour interior, a moonroof, and the monsoon sound system.

The first thing that I noticed driving the car was how quiet and how smoothly it drove. The car itself rides like it is on rails. Additionally, the 1.8 T is very quiet for a four-cylinder motor.

The only issue I can foresee with the 1.8 is that it requires premium gasoline. Also, because it is only a four, it is a little weak off the line. However, VW thoughtfully put in a low-boost turbo, which spools up around 2,500 rpm. In a stick, the lack of a low end is not really noticable, however, I have heard it can be a little annoying in an automatic.

I also have the velour seats (I really cannot stand leather), and the seats are firm, but are still comfortable. The cool thing is that the seats raise and lower, and they have lumbar support, which is nice if you have a sore back one afternoon.

The 5 speed stick shifts with precision, and the ASR [traction control] really does help the car stay on the road. The 4-motion [all wheel drive] is supposed to be really great, but frankly, I was not willing to go over 30k for the W8 motor.

The sunroof is nice, albeit a little on the narrow side. The funny part is that all of the overhead lights are either in the front of the car, or directly over the door...so why they had to chintz out on a small sunroof is a little confusing to me.. but then again, the rest of the car is so nice, that it isn't that big of a deal.

I would say to pick a car that suits your needs.. I personally was looking for a smooth-riding car with decent mileage. I have pretty long days at work, and I wanted something with a good ride that would be good to be in while wading through Los Angeles traffic.

This is a little outside the exact review of the car, but here is a smallish list of the cars that I was looking at, and what I thought of them:

Mazda Protege 5 - nice car, a bit slow, engine kind of noisy...also, it just felt kind of cheesy.

Volkswagen Jetta wagon - faster than the Passat, but noticably smaller than the Passat. I'm a big guy, and if you put me in the front, no one would be sitting behind me.

Subaru WRX wagon - I have to give this car credit, it was fast as all hell...but then again, I thought the ride was a little bumpy, and the car just didn't want to cruise - you always felt like you should be driving fast, and honestly, I live in LA, and won't be driving in the Daytona 500 anytime soon.

Honda Accord - not a wagon, stick-shift was not an option in the 6 cylinder engine. The four cylinder was nice too, but it just felt kind of..."blah" - kind of generic [like they should have painted the car white, but two blue stripes on the hood, and written "car" between it].

Anyway, take a drive, see what you like, but definitely keep the Passat on your list - it is a great car, wonderful to ride in, gets great mileage [consistently 23-25 mpg with traffic, 30 on highways], and, no matter how lame I feel saying this, there is nothing like hearing the hiss of a turbocharger when you stomp through the gears...

Good Luck Shopping!

-J


UPDATE:
____________________________________

For example, what are your thoughts on the Passat's brakes, handling, interior noise, seat comfort and cargo capacity? What do you think about the quality of the interior? And the overall build quality?
____________________________________


All good questions, I'll answer them the best I can.

The passat's brakes without a doubt are excellent. The car stops on a dime, and they feel strong when you step on them - this is a contrast to my old Explorer which would "flutter" [I don't know the technical term for this] when you stepped on the brakes while going over bumps. This car definitely stops.

Handling in the car is excellent - I've driven it through Sepulveda near the 405 freeway, and I am amazed how well it handles for a station wagon, or moreover, for a car generally. I've never driven a Porsche, but I have driven a Lexus GS 400, and I can say confidently that the car handles quite well, even on the stock 15" crummy tires that came with the car.

As to interior noise, the 1.8T is quiet for a 4-cyl motor, but would probably be a little louder than the 6 or the 8. At freeway speed, the car is quiet enough that you simply hear the wind as it passes over the car. I think the Accord's 4 cyl was a little quieter, but not by much.

As to rattles, the only thing that seems to make noise is the rear license plate, which rattles when you shut the rear door. However, a little weather-proofing tape on the back of the rear plate will probably take care of that, but I haven't received my plates yet, so I haven't bothered fixing it.

However, the grain of salt with this is that I don't have 1000 miles yet on the car, so I cannot really state how silent the car will be down the road. Right now, the interior of the car is silent.

The seats in the Passat are quite nice. I think I addressed this earlier, but to continue on, the only thing I noticed about the rear seats is that they are not adjustable - eg. they are either locked in the seated position or they are folded down. However, I've sat in the back, and the angle seems comfortable to me, and so far, everyone that has rode in the back has not complained to me yet.

Cargo capacity in the rear seems more than adequate. I have not had a chance to put anything substantial in the trunk yet, but it seems pretty wide to me. What I really like about the trunk is that the door opens tall enough that I can basically stand under it without bending over (I'm 6'3" tall - and I only crouch a little bit, but the rear is not too high off the ground either. Also, it has a metal rim on the bottom between the cargo area and the bumper. This is nice because you don't have to worry about gouging plastic when you put things in the rear of the car.

As to build quality and interior quality, this car seems spectacular. Every mechanical detail in this car works flawlessly, and it has a very high-quality feel to it. The only thing that doesn't "sound" right are the doors. I personally am used to my old Ford which made a very distinctive "thunk" when the doors closed [the reason of course is that Ford had a division of its R&D department whose sole goal was to make the doors sound good when they closed].

However, after a week I got used to it, particularly when I realized that this car has an excellent safety record, and a whole bunch of air-bags. Its pretty funny actually, the car has airbags on the front A-pillars, the steering wheel, the dashboard, the space in-between the front and rear doors, on the sides on the driver and passenger seats, and somewhere in the rear as well.

The only gripe about the interior is that there isn't enough space in the center console. I don't know why this is the case, but the center console is only wide enough to accommodate 5 or so CD's and a pack of altoids. But it does have areas in the doors, a small area to the left of the steering wheel on the dash, and in the glove compartment, so space hasn't been too big of an issue yet.

Anyhoo, hope this has been helpful, but once again, make sure you test-drive any car before you buy it! Everyone's needs and such are different, and only you should be making a decision about how and where to spend 20k of your own money - No matter what anyone tells you.

Good Luck!

-J