Went shopping for either Passat Alltrack or CC today.......

[brad]

For the wife. Her work car.

She was very keen on the CC. Me being Mr Practical, I was trying to steer her into an Alltrack (she currently has an Outback & it gets used as intended).

In the end, the boring & bland colour choices turned her off & she walked away.

Tomorrow she puts in an order for a Metallic Burgundy Captiva7 V6. She's had a Captiva 7 seater about 5 cars back (diesel with 4 speed Auto) & decided that if she had to be practical then she'd be "really practical".

She'll be revisiting the CC in 2015

[Marakai]

You do know that it's very hard not to stereotype if colour overrules the actual model of car and its specs, right?

Glad I married a woman (graduated electrical engineer) where specs and practicality come before "bland colour choices".

What exactly is bland about them? Icelandic Grey is an absolutely stunning colour, I love how it changes hue depending on ambient light, yet hides dirt and dust so well.

Chacun a son gout, I guess.

EDIT: I told my wife about this and the first thing out of her mouth was "oh god, what a stereotype". With all due respect to your missus.

For the wife. Her work car.

She was very keen on the CC. Me being Mr Practical, I was trying to steer her into an Alltrack (she currently has an Outback & it gets used as intended).

In the end, the boring & bland colour choices turned her off & she walked away.

Tomorrow she puts in an order for a Metallic Burgundy Captiva7 V6. She's had a Captiva 7 seater about 5 cars back (diesel with 4 speed Auto) & decided that if she had to be practical then she'd be "really practical".

She'll be revisiting the CC in 2015

[PI27OL]

Went shopping for either Passat Alltrack or CC today.......

Sorry to hear about the Captiva..

[brad]

Well, I think if her employer is happy to buy her a CC, insure it, maintain it, fuel it & let her (and her family) use it however she wants & change it every 2 years then she probably aint dumb.

I get the feeling that she wanted the CC (autumn Brown was her preferred colour of the very bland, male orientated colour palette) but could see it wasn't going to quite work in our current situation & didn't want the Alltrack, so used colour as the excuse.

BTW: when somebody says "With all due respect" they usually mean the opposite.

Have you actually looked at the specs of a Captiva7 LX? Quite a bit of car for the money ($37k inc PD + State charges with towpack, roof racks & additional tint) & having had one before, you can punt them around fairly quickly. Even if it's showing its' age, 2 years goes pretty quick then you go car shopping with somebody elses money (again).

[brad]

Sorry to hear about the Captiva..

Meh. It's free. They go much better when they are free.

[Jake02]

Sorry to hear about the Captiva..

Could be worse, could be a Kluger or a Colorado 7, or pretty much any other compact SUV.

[Marakai]

Have you actually looked at the specs of a Captiva7 LX? Quite a bit of car for the money ($37k inc PD + State charges with towpack, roof racks & additional tint) & having had one before, you can punt them around fairly quickly. Even if it's showing its' age, 2 years goes pretty quick then you go car shopping with somebody elses money (again).

It's a Holden. Shall never cross my door step. I mean car port step. Garage, whatever. Not going to happen.

PS: yeah, occurred to me about the "with all due...", apologies. It used to not be, rather just a formal phrase to express strong disagreement without denigrating the recipient.

[davo]

In the end, the boring & bland colour choices turned her off & she walked away.

The colour selection in Australia for the Alltrack (and other Passats) does look boring if you're looking at the brochure (especially the PDF version which is all we could get because our dealer had run out of printed copies). Basically black, white, three shades of grey, two shades of brown and dark blue -- even sounds boring . My wife made a comment about how boring they were when she saw it and I was thinking the same thing. I was very disappointed that the Tornado Red that features in much of the European promotional material was not available here. I think it looks absolutely stunning and suits the style of the Alltrack very well. But apparently, according to VW, there is no demand for such a colour here. That seems strange to me -- I thought red was quite a popular car colour in Australia.

Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised when we were able to see some of the available colours in person. I agree with Marakai about the Icelandic Grey. However, we decided to go for the Black Oak Brown instead. That was the colour on the test vehicle we drove and it looks much better in real life than in the brochure. Decided against any of the grey/silver options as our current car (Mk5 Golf) is grey and we wanted a change.

[Marakai]

Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised when we were able to see some of the available colours in person. I agree with Marakai about the Icelandic Grey. However, we decided to go for the Black Oak Brown instead.

Funny how tastes run different between continents and people. On the German forums, the brown tone is compared very unflattering to.... well, you can guess what you'd compare something brown to.

[brad]

It's a Holden. Shall never cross my door step. I mean car port step. Garage, whatever. Not going to happen.

Now who's the stereotype "Euro-snob"?
We've had about 15 Holden products in the drive in the last 22 years (and a few Toyotas, Mitsubishis & Fords). The Holden's have proven to be reliable & trouble free but generally they were gone by 40,000km & I think it was probably down-hill from there (dampers, brakes, steering racks). They were generally harsh & un-refined but got the job done. Apparently when she was discussing the VW with her fleet manager, he asked if she liked visiting the dealer as they haven't had a good run from the VWs they have bought over the years.

I can understand the private buyers reluctance to buy Holden/Ford/Toyota as the private purchasers discount is half that given to fleet purchasers & the depreciation in the first 3 years would turn your hair grey.

I was very disappointed that the Tornado Red that features in much of the European promotional material was not available here. I think it looks absolutely stunning and suits the style of the Alltrack very well. But apparently, according to VW, there is no demand for such a colour here. That seems strange to me -- I thought red was quite a popular car colour in Australia.

If red had been available she would have had her order in like a shot.

[Marakai]

Now who's the stereotype "Euro-snob"?

Me! And this here kraut is proud of it, yawoll!

If red had been available she would have had her order in like a shot.

I wonder who makes the decision to withhold such choices from the Australian market. Is it happening in Wolfsburg or here in Australia? Seems the tornado red ones sell pretty well in Germany at least many of the German forum members rave about it.

[Riker]

I am at work so do not have time to look but someone here has a red Passat wagon. It was available as a special order.....

If red had been available she would have had her order in like a shot.

[drad81]

Maybe I'm bias but I didn't find the Icelandic greAlltrack with sports trim boring. (actually I am bias)


Here's the guy from Melbourne that has a special order red Passat.

http://www.vwwatercooled.com/forums/f27/my12-5-tornado-red-passat-125tdi-wagon-73401.html

There is also a Norwegian Red Passat wagon that looks absolutely stunning IMO

[brad]

Me! And this here kraut is proud of it, yawoll!

Wife has Austrian citizenship. She didn't feel inclined to get a Uni_Mog or a Chrysler Voyager.

[brad]

I am at work so do not have time to look but someone here has a red Passat wagon. It was available as a special order.....

Well, we've asked at 2 dealerships & both just wanted to sell what was in the brochure. No mention of the ability to put in a special order.

Her fleet manager seems to have stuffed the timing too - appears to be pushing for an "in stock" vehicle. I can't see them agreeing to a 3-4 month wait. These guys are so used to dealing with the (relatively) high volume sellers that take the risk of making vehicles hoping they will fit somebodies requirements.