125 TDI - Highline spec

[Dubbegood]

Hi there,

Relative newcomer here although I've been lurking for a fair while picking up all sorts of useful info, especially all the threads on corporate plus. Thanks to you folks a $100 investment will hopefully get me at least $6K off a new Passat.

My question is about the Highline spec for the new Passats: my wife and I test-drove a MY10 125TDI this afternoon and (mostly) loved it. Quieter than I expected, great interior, and a lot of gizmos for your buck.

My wife, however, hated the seats. I wasn't as fussed, but they were a bit average - in keeping with some of the negative reviews you can find about what seems otherwise to be a damn good car. Apparently VW has now included sports seats as standard for the 125 TDI: can anyone tell me what they're like, especially for lumbar support? I'd hate to have a seat to be the deal-breaker, since my promises of millions of cushions seem to be falling on deaf ears. And I'd especially hate to go and buy an Outback, which is hideously ugly... but is the main contender which we're having a drive of tomorrow.

Any feedback greatly appreciated!

[J-P]

Why don't you sit in a V6 Highline since they have the Napa Leather seats the new 125TDI Highline will have. You can also upgrade them to 12-way electric adjutment with memory which I imagine offers all the lumbar support you'd want. To try that sit in a CC which should have the same seats with Napa leather and the 12-way adjustment. If seats are important to you and you will both be driving it then I'd be going for the seat upgrade with memory so you both have your own settings.

[Dubbegood]

Yeah... unfortunately I live on a small island where the number of demo Passats available at the dealer is precisely 1 (an old 118FSI). Not a CC or V6 to be found. Just to get a drive in the TDI the dealer had to scam it from a previous client for the day.

Apparently they have an R36 due in about 3 months (I wish!) but their stock is mainly Golfs and the odd Tiguan.

I guess that's one of the downsides of living in Tassie. But on the bright side, the beer is miles better...

[tryingavw]

Hi there,

Relative newcomer here although I've been lurking for a fair while picking up all sorts of useful info, especially all the threads on corporate plus. Thanks to you folks a $100 investment will hopefully get me at least $6K off a new Passat.

My question is about the Highline spec for the new Passats: my wife and I test-drove a MY10 125TDI this afternoon and (mostly) loved it. Quieter than I expected, great interior, and a lot of gizmos for your buck.

My wife, however, hated the seats. I wasn't as fussed, but they were a bit average - in keeping with some of the negative reviews you can find about what seems otherwise to be a damn good car. Apparently VW has now included sports seats as standard for the 125 TDI: can anyone tell me what they're like, especially for lumbar support? I'd hate to have a seat to be the deal-breaker, since my promises of millions of cushions seem to be falling on deaf ears. And I'd especially hate to go and buy an Outback, which is hideously ugly... but is the main contender which we're having a drive of tomorrow.

Any feedback greatly appreciated!

i'm with your wife: the seats are the biggest disappointment in the whole car so the upgrade to sports seats ( maybe they are like the CC seats which are EXCELLENT) would be just great. if the dealer says they are the same as the CC seats just do it as they will not disappoint.

[Dubbegood]

Thanks for the feedback and advice. I went ahead and pulled the trigger this arvo after the dealer assured me the sports seats were the same as the MY09 R36.

An interesting negotiation which started with the dealer offering $1.5K off the idiotic first total of $54.5K, and suggesting the February price reductions on Passats applied to everything BUT the TDI. He suddenly 'remembered' that wasn't true when we were getting closer to something more realistic.

Ended up ordering a 125TDI wagon with RVC-plus, headlight and bonnet protectors and a rubber boot tray for $46K, which I make out to be about 14% off. Pretty happy with that, and we owe it to this exceptional forum that we are soon to join the Dub Club!

By the way we also drove an Outback and found it very agreeable and well-mannered, but completely unremarkable - not to mention a bit tacky inside... and ugly outside, as I mentioned before.

I'll update about our new beast once it arrives off the boat. Now the waiting and sleepless nights begin!

[J-P]

Congratulations. Hope you don't have to wait too long. Ours is due in April. I also ordered a MY10 with the 'Highline' upgrade, ACC, Lane Assist, Bi-xenon headlights, and 12-way electric front seats with memory.

It's not exactly true that they are the same as the R36 which have some different materials and have electro-pneumatic side bolsters (whatever that is) and you won't have as many adjustments and memory unless you take the upgrade. From the brochure:

Driver’s seat with 6-way electric adjustment for backrest and lumbar - Standard
Front seats with 12-way electric adjustment, driver’s seat with 3 position memory
(Automatic kerb view function, electrically foldable and memory function for exterior mirrors are included with this option) - Option ($1500 I think).

They are the same as the V6 though and you won't be disappointed. The Napa leather is high quality and soft. It doesn't have the R36 sports trim but is all made for comfort (see photos in the borchure). Even if you didn't take the upgrade to 12-way adjustments and memory, they are still heated, are the same leather and have lumbar support and 6-way adjustments. Standard they are the same as the MY09 V6 and I'm sure you'll be happy with them. I took the upgrade more for the memory since I'll be sharing it with my wife.

[colonel2jays]

+1 about the napa leather seats. Test drove the 125TDI Highline last week and was very relieved that I need no longer be preoccupied with the idea that I might slide off the seat after a bit of vigorous cornering...

My next steps? Arrange finance, finalise options list, order ... wait for the boat to turn up.

Damn.

[Dubbegood]

Yes, was doing some after-the-fact research this evening and you're absolutely right - they are the 09 V6 highline seats. No dramas.

Estimated delivery date for us is April 20. It has been built and about to get put on the boat (in fact it was pre-ordered by another dealer and they did a swap). Much better than the 4-5 month horror stories I've read about. We were just lucky they had the colour (icelandic grey) and spec we wanted already destined for Australia.

Our dealer was pretty good, actually. Everyone expects the negotiation phase to be full of BS, and it was a bit in this case, but there wasn't anything drawn out and annoying, and he went out of his way to get us a drive in a car that can be hard to come by. Everyone seemed happy at the end of the day, and you can't really ask for more than that.

[evr]

Hi there,

Relative newcomer here although I've been lurking for a fair while picking up all sorts of useful info, especially all the threads on corporate plus. Thanks to you folks a $100 investment will hopefully get me at least $6K off a new Passat.

My question is about the Highline spec for the new Passats: my wife and I test-drove a MY10 125TDI this afternoon and (mostly) loved it. Quieter than I expected, great interior, and a lot of gizmos for your buck.

My wife, however, hated the seats. I wasn't as fussed, but they were a bit average - in keeping with some of the negative reviews you can find about what seems otherwise to be a damn good car. Apparently VW has now included sports seats as standard for the 125 TDI: can anyone tell me what they're like, especially for lumbar support? I'd hate to have a seat to be the deal-breaker, since my promises of millions of cushions seem to be falling on deaf ears. And I'd especially hate to go and buy an Outback, which is hideously ugly... but is the main contender which we're having a drive of tomorrow.

Any feedback greatly appreciated!

Hi there & welcome!

As a matter of interest, which institution did you join for $100 that gives you access to the Corporate Plus discount scheme?

[Dubbegood]

PM sent...

[RF 4MOTION]

I envy you. I have an 08 Passat V6 4Motion wagon (pre Highline spec) and the seats are CRAP.....

[MikeeR]

Just picked up my new Passat 125Tdi wagon today. Icelandic grey and very smart looking. The seats are a major highlight, after demoing an R36 I was going to find it very hard going back to the older style benches. Had little chance to drive it other than in city traffic today, but so far so good, I think you'll be very happy. I too did numerous test drives in new Subarus and was very uninspired - and that after owning four Liberty's over the last 15 years.

I also got a similar deal with Corporate plus. I might ask this question in a new thread, but I'm interested in how this deal works - where do those few thousand dollars of discount come from, who pays for it. I got the deal pretty easily and I'm just a little uneasy that my employer is aware of this deal and whether they suffer any consequences.

[Dubbegood]

Just picked up my new Passat 125Tdi wagon today. Icelandic grey and very smart looking. The seats are a major highlight, after demoing an R36 I was going to find it very hard going back to the older style benches. Had little chance to drive it other than in city traffic today, but so far so good, I think you'll be very happy. I too did numerous test drives in new Subarus and was very uninspired - and that after owning four Liberty's over the last 15 years.

I also got a similar deal with Corporate plus. I might ask this question in a new thread, but I'm interested in how this deal works - where do those few thousand dollars of discount come from, who pays for it. I got the deal pretty easily and I'm just a little uneasy that my employer is aware of this deal and whether they suffer any consequences.

Yeah, I'm absolutely delighted and can't wait for it to get here. And whilst I am sure the Subie would be a great car in the long term, it really didn't have any 'wow' factor. But to be fair I wasn't really expecting it... the difference was that I was also not expecting wow factor from a car as supposedly conservative as the Passat! How wrong I was.

Regarding the corporate discount there are numerous threads on here that deal with it - much of which seem to be from Tig buyers - with dribs and drabs on the process. As far as I've been able to piece together it seems that Volkswagen Australia give the dealer a rebate (in other words, some of the 10% discount on RRP is passed on to VWA). This stands to reason since VWA would surely not let dealers sell at a loss to corporate buyers or anyone.

But in addition there would usually be bonuses of some sort on a certain number of fleet discounts, corporate sales, and so forth. In other words, the dealership may well load up the sale on the 'back end', with a variety of rewards for making a sale, especially if it is coming at the right time.

I know this is speculation, and others may want to correct me, but it seems a more or less reasonable assumption that VW want to attract a corporate clientele and are prepared to back dealers to attract them without leaving them out of pocket.

If that's the case, it has worked for me, and I am happy to recommend Volks to my colleagues. In fact, one of my workmates is test-driving a V6 Highline next week after hearing me raving....

[mbeejay]

Price paid

PM sent...

hi, just wondering how much you paid for your TDI wagon?
thanks