Purchased a new passat wagon today. :)

[Riker]

Hillbilly, interesting that you were advised that a lighter front tint was required. It has been a requirement in the UK & EU for a few yrs now but I was unaware it had been introduced here or at least in QLD. I am quite sure it isn't a legal requirement here in NSW (if it is it isn't enforced anywhere) as I made the same enquiry to the dealer & a well known third party tint co.

Personally, I have read enough & tried myself the Dyna audio & agreed it just wasn't really worth it. I too have the Adaptive cruise & front assist/EB pack & the Driver assist & vis pack & am totally sold on them being the best options available on the Passat. I am also happy I didn't option the Sat nav.

[MJW]

Regarding the tint, I don't think it is to do with having lighter tint on the front doors but more to do with the fact that the rear doors & wagon area/rear screen is allowed to be darker than previoulsy allowable. From memory the darkest legal tint was 30% & the factory tint jobs on the rear look a hell of a lot darker than that.

Re options, I agree with Riker that the best for me is the ACC & Driver Visibility package. Re the Sat Nav, I was toing & froing a lot about this & only opted for it because the RNS510 is a higher res screen, provides DVD playback (now have coding to have it working on the move for the kids) & allows voice activation of radio, Sat Nav, Music & telephone which I find quite handy. I think without this you can only access your telephone. Lane guidance is a waste of time & the Auto Park is not much better.

[booba]

I find the RNS to be good and i only use it maybe once a month, have pretty much gotten used to it having it in the gti for ages.

i hear rumours that newer firmware will be disabling voice control on the rns. i only ever use voice control on the skoda bluetooth that i hacked into the golf, hope that i can disable it with coding on the rns.

[Guest001]

Hillbilly, interesting that you were advised that a lighter front tint was required. It has been a requirement in the UK & EU for a few yrs now but I was unaware it had been introduced here or at least in QLD. I am quite sure it isn't a legal requirement here in NSW (if it is it isn't enforced anywhere) as I made the same enquiry to the dealer & a well known third party tint co.

Personally, I have read enough & tried myself the Dyna audio & agreed it just wasn't really worth it. I too have the Adaptive cruise & front assist/EB pack & the Driver assist & vis pack & am totally sold on them being the best options available on the Passat. I am also happy I didn't option the Sat nav.

The rules on tinting are here. http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/~/media/c7..._vehicles2.pdf

I explained myself badly.
I wanted a really dark tint at the back as I had all my gear in the Cruiser and wanted to keep it so the tint on there was darker than legal.
Like Limo tint.

We then had to put the lighter legal tint on the front door glass.

As the guy who did it said You will get away with dark stuff at the back but not on the front doors so as we had cargo barriers to stop them getting in we did it like that.

[Riker]

There you go, thanks Hillbilly....

Yeah, same here in NSW as QLD then & I expect all the other States/Territories that light transmission cannot be less than 35%.

The rules on tinting are here. http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/~/media/c7..._vehicles2.pdf

I explained myself badly.
I wanted a really dark tint at the back as I had all my gear in the Cruiser and wanted to keep it so the tint on there was darker than legal.
Like Limo tint.

We then had to put the lighter legal tint on the front door glass.

As the guy who did it said You will get away with dark stuff at the back but not on the front doors so as we had cargo barriers to stop them getting in we did it like that.

[cru22z]

Does anyone of you that has a sports pack on their passat know why the side bottom part of the leather seats on the middle console part is fabric??instead of leather

[booba]

I suppose the sport seats are just like that. Maybe they went cheap like most vw equipment over time.

[FSI 220]

I thought about that when I got the car... figured it is to prevent chafing of leather on the console if the bolsters get splayed out by a wider load or a hard right hooking...

What do the Non Sportpaket seats have there?

[dopey]

I thought about that when I got the car... figured it is to prevent chafing of leather on the console if the bolsters get splayed out by a wider load or a hard right hooking...

What do the Non Sportpaket seats have there?

It's the same for the regular Leather seats too.

[booba]

My 2008 GTI got "Splayed" out due to my wider load haha. They are cloth down there as well.

I thought about that when I got the car... figured it is to prevent chafing of leather on the console if the bolsters get splayed out by a wider load or a hard right hooking...

What do the Non Sportpaket seats have there?

[booba]

So I got my VIN today! It is at the port and will leave the port on the 20th!.. Arrive Brisbane 9/11/2012! still 8 weeks away

[wind]

So I got my VIN today! It is at the port and will leave the port on the 20th!.. Arrive Brisbane 9/11/2012! still 8 weeks away

Know how you feel right now . . . mine seemed to take forever, got the VIN and tracked the ship all the way (like I suspect that you will do too) - all those stops in the US, Panama, NZ, Brisbane and finally Wollongong . . . then another couple of weeks of nail-biting agony practicing patience before it hit the dealer!

In retrospect, the wait has been worth it.

Is yours going via Panama canal or around the bottom of Africa? Not sure if it makes much difference in how long the trip takes.

[booba]

Yeah, going via panama. I couldn't exactly get the vin entered in to ww site. do you have the link that you used?

Also, what are the lakin plate mounts like? I have considered them for my custom plate, got pics?

[wind]

Re tracking - used a link I found on the forums (this one I think) that lets you put the VIN in and you can see which ship/where it is. I was not able to get into the VW system - you need to lean on your dealer to do this on your behalf.


Re Lakin plates - I like them - very very nice, clean, stylish and they do a great job.

I got the NSW slim-line license (looks good and doesn't cost an arm and a leg like they charge here for Euro plates!). The typical dealer will drill holes into the front bumper to fit the license and the middle of the rear-license to fit the holes in the tailgate. The Lakin plates I got replaced the POS plastic mount that comes standard on the front of the car (IMO not exactly the most flash looking thing they could have put on the car).

Speak with Philip @ Lakin Plates - he is very helpful and will makes sure that what is delivered will be just right for you (he can even do custom mounts with a bit of notice - this even includes powder coating different colours - not really an issue if you have large/Euro license plates which will cover the Lakin mount).

I told my dealer that I would fit the license plates on the day I took delivery and that they were not allowed to drill any holes in my car's bumper and if they did I would not accept the car until the front bumper and rear license plate were replaced - was rather firm in telling them this and giving it to them in writing.



Re pics . . . took a series as I mounted my plates.

removing the plastic mount



putting in the mounting lugs for the Lakin plate bracket (using the 4 holes already in the bumper)



bracket attached - ready for the license plates to be attached



finished front plate - I decided to keep no black above/below the license plate (and have clear covers), I used the 4 holes in the bumper and as the colour of the mount was black (powder coat) it looks good on the dark car.




rear plate - uses existing holes



the license mounts onto the holes on the Lakin plate



finished results (again with clear covers)

[wind]

Earlier in this thread tinting was discussed.

I got the front tinted to match the factory glass (told the tint shop that I had do the job, not done by the dealer, to use a metallic film for better UV protection) and they also put on UV protect clear tint on the dark factory glass (as the factory glass is dark but has no UV protection). The front had to be legal (35%) so is slightly lighter than the rear but the match is good - can barely tell that the front/rear is difference except in certain light/angles.

Pics of the finished result: