MY08 Passat

[Pete57]

I ordered my Passat today and I get it on the 21st Feb..

Hi richdave,

Are they ordering from Germany, cause that's pretty quick delivery time, we ordered in Jan and 3 months wait.

Maybe sourcing from another dealer?

[richdave]

Maybe sourcing from another dealer?

My car was on the lot at another dealer thus the fast delivery... I could have gotten a Jan build car in about 5 weeks that is already on the boat but I did not want to wait for another interest rate rise to happen before I signed my finance.... also the price was right so why wait

3 months wait sounds like a special build... I went in with a list of options I wanted but also said that leather and paint were the only non negotiable items... they found me 4 cars to choose from with varying options ranging from a 07 build/07 compliance thru to an 08 build with a 5 week wait...

[azza67]

Hi Fellow Vdubbers!!!

Sorry for the delay in writing a response to this thread that i started way back when...but life has been very busy of late.

I finally picked up my 125Kw Tdi on the 15th of Febuary

Now i'm not much for car dealers and such but Rick @ Barloworld in Glen Waverly (Vic) was very professional and went over the Passats finer points (and there was many) with a fine tooth comb!! Oh i forgot to add that was after he unveiled it in the showroom for all to see

My Passat of choice is silver in colour with the optional Electric Leather seats,Sunroof,Fog lights, Ipod Adapter (I'll get to this another time), window tint, a few other small extras and of course the 125kw TDi where it counts the most.

I thought i was excited at having this baby in my driveway but my little ones(4 and 3 yo's) were overjoyed at "the silver car" and love being in it and also touching it......with dirty hand prints on its side for all to see(but hey their kids)

It is a pleasure to drive and boy! does it get along when needed!! I'm sure in licence losing territory by default at times such is its response to my right foot and believe it or not i'm being gentle as i'm still running it in.

Its handling is to the firm side...which i like and its grip and poise is surefooted and goes where pointed.

Economy is fabulous!!! It's MFD is telling me i'm averaging 5.9/100kms and that DSG box is a sweet little thing. The blue instrumentation is classy and as is the red ambient lighting as it shines down.

The quality is excellent but road noise is a bit louder then it should be for a car in this class but its ok.(Different tyres types should reduce this)

Now for some bad news....If i had my time again at the dealers i'd option the Xenon headlights. If anyone knows where i can purchase quality after market Xenon headlights please let me know. (The dealer said they were only available from the factory).

The standard headlights are ok but not brilliant. My other car (A Commodore)has brilliant headlights.

The bad news is whilst travelling home (alone) the other night i failed to see until late a kangaroo as he bounded right to left across me. (I was doing about 90kph in a 100 zone).

A reason why i chose the Passat was because of all the safety features it offered as standard including the ESP, the Brake Assist, T.C...etc and i'm glad that i did.

At 90 kph with late visual warning, i braked and swerved instinctively to the right to avoid the roo. The Passats handling was excellent in my moment of crisis and had the roo not stopped to admire the car i'm sure my front left quarter would still be intact.

Anyway i hit the roo at about 30 to 40 kph...a little shunt really! It seemed to bound off hopefully with nothing more than a bruised hind leg and a heartbeat to match mine.

Whilst very disappointed at breaking the silver car (as told to my kids), life does go...

To finally wrap it up..let me thank everyone that contributed to this thread. Your thoughts and experiences have made great reading and like you guys and gals...i am one very happy Vdubber

ps I chose the ipod adapter as i had ordered a MY07 Passat which didn't have MP3 capability at the time. With MY08 Passats having MP3 capability don't bother with the Ipod adapter as it is a very limited interface and really should be much better for the price they charge!

[drbass]

Hi azza,

Great to hear your first impressions on your new addition to the family. It's almost eerie how similar they are to mine. Shame about the accident though, hope it's only panel damage.

Just done a trip to Sydney (up via Gippsland, then Monaro Highway, back along the Hume), nearly 2000 km, and it was just a pleasure. Very relaxing, always sure-footed, and most certainly economical. I ended up at around 5.6 according to the MFD which ended up being just under 6 l/100 km in real life. That included peak hour traffic in both Melbourne and Sydney as well as a "leisure trip" down the NSW coast. Always at the speed limit (lots of cruise control), and plenty of fun along the Monaro Highway !! Can't wait until the engine is broken in properly (only done 6,000 km in just under 8 weeks).

Anyway, enjoy, and let me (us) know how things are with some more driving under the belt.

Seeya,
Michael

[vanDub]

The quality is excellent but road noise is a bit louder then it should be for a car in this class but its ok.(Different tyres types should reduce this)

Hi Azza, road noise is an issue for me as well. Which brand of tyres was yours delivered with? I ask because there will be an oportunity to swap if mine is delivered with the "wrong" brand.

RichDave (another thread) got his with Continentals and he seems happy with the (lack of) road noise from his experience.

[drbass]

Hi vanDub,

Should have mentioned my tyres (well, the car's, really): Pirelli P-Zero Rosso. Noise is not terribly intrusive but certainly something that could be improved.

Hope this helps.

Seeya,
Michael

[azza67]

Hi Gents,

My Passat has Dunlop SP Sports on each corner. Admittedly the road noise does vary with the different type road surfaces. I guess some are more coarser than others.

Thanks for the tips on the Ipod Adaptor DRBass which you posted on another thread. Still is a very limited interface with my Ipod which is disappointng because the car excels in most areas!

Oh and by the way its only panel damage to my front left quarter...Thankfully!

Any ideas on after market Xenon Lights??

cheers

Edward

[R36 Dreamer]

Too Hard Basket

Any ideas on after market Xenon Lights??

I think you should forget about it - way too expensive for a couple of reasons.

1/ Headlight washers would need to be installed (compulsory for roadworthyness) with Xenons - does the non xenon model have washers?

2/ Xenon lights have an auto leveling feature which is also a requirement for roadworthy. This leveling is controlled by a component which is on the rear axle of the car (so that if there is a load in the back etc. the sensor picks it up and lowers the beam accordingly). This would need to be installed and is very difficult to do from what I understand of the process.

In any case it would be more than the option is in the first place. There is a number of overseas forums who have discussed this very issue, and I have never seen anyone successfully (or legally) install the lights.

I would suggest you get brighter bulbs, as I did that on my GTI and it made the world of difference.

I must admit the standard lights in a commodore are pretty darn good - I suppose they are more suited to Australian conditions.

Hope this helps you in some way.

[R36 Dreamer]

[QUOTE=azza67;113653]Hi All,

42 days and counting
QUOTE]

Spare a thought for me, I set up a calender and it is 228 days today until delivery!!!

That is worst case scenario - dealer told me end of the sydney motor show.

Long wait - I hope its worth it.

[richdave]

Hi Fellow Vdubbers!!!

If i had my time again at the dealers i'd option the Xenon headlights. If anyone knows where i can purchase quality after market Xenon headlights please let me know. (The dealer said they were only available from the factory).

The price man... Ithought about it for about 9 seconds and decided that with 98% metro driving I did not need over $2K worth of lights..

Found this on ebay...
HID XENON CONVERSION KIT VOLKSWAGEN JETTA PASSAT H1 New

[azza67]

Thanks for the info R36 Dreamer with regard to the Xenon lights!!

Interesting reading about whats needed for RW compliance.....just kicking tyres for ideas on how to get my lights brighter and better as i do a fair bit of country driving.

The days will fly by and before you know it.........your pulling away from the dealer in your new R36 with a smile from ear to ear

Also thanks Rich Dave for the ebay link....more food for thought but at this moment i will source some big and brighter halogen globes for my Passat.