octavia wagon to new passat wagon impressions

[nyc863]

I'm sure more than one Octavia owner is or has considered this change over

My impression of the B7 Passat wagon after much familiarity with the Octavia wagon.

I had assumed it was going to be entirely an improvement - because the Passat at more $$s should be slightly more up market, and the B7 should be newer and come with design advances you'd otherwise have to wait for the next Octavia to get.

Here are the negatives, some surprised me, some did not:

Smaller (to put the best face on it, more cosy) inside, many switches (eg RNS510, window switches, steering wheel buttons etc) feel like they've dropped a grade in pastic quality, the operation of pushing in the ignition key makes a particularly cheap sound.
Higher rear wagon trunk floor (less space)
Smaller trunk cupboards, the ones with the covers
No underseat storage bins, no overhead sunglass holder (if you opt for panoramic roof), no rear cubby below the a/c vents, no dashboard cubby
No umbrella holder behind the rear cargo cover
RNS510 screen resolution much higher but touch screen functions less responsive
The doors feel less substantial
No red warning open door lights (but better puddle lights)
There is less lateral space to lean my left leg towards the center of the car
The DSG6 coasting function adds a feeling of lightness to the car when you get off the accelerator it just rolls
The new vw group silver key feels cheaper (and it is larger). It rattles as well.
The glove box is small. More so after the operating binder goes in there.
Ridiculous pull out media connectivity thingie in the glovebox, hard to explain it.
The rear passenger lights operate with a cheap click, instead of two map lights and one center light there is just one ambient either side.
The auto-closing tailgate isn't soft close, it really slams at the end, it also moves less than perfectly smoothly
The hill start assist when releasing can be a bit unrefined
The MFD has not increased in resolution or quality since 2009, it is still black and white and low res dot-display

The positives are the more obvious stuff. Just features like the stop/start, the hill hold, the cruise control is on its own stalk, the media functions, the interior is brighter and better looking in general, the factory sound is a bit better, the exterior styling while dull isn't a styling mis-cue like the Octavia. Rear seatbelt icons in the MFD show who isn't plugged in. It has an attention assist thing. It would be unfair to compare the ride quality because my VRS was firmer by nature. visibility from driver position is better.

My overall feeling is that VW having satisfied themselves with the "Passat" are now working out how to build it more cheaply, taking away material that they don't believe are necessary.
For example -- I recently bought a new PS3 super slim game console to replace an old PS3 fat. The super slim is admirable in many ways it consumes less power runs cooler is much lighter and smaller and so on. But the materials have clearly gone down several grades in quality - you can tell it costs much less to screw together. I've the same feeling getting this new Passat.

I just hope that the hollowing out was really nothing important for reliability, but the tactile sensation is clearly less even if the overall look inside and out is better.

I'm wondering if Skoda is just picking from the VAG parts bin, if the new octavia will see the same down-rating in quality of some buttons and controls.

[BluChris]

This seems to be a trend across many mainstream brands - more features, often better tech at lower or same cost as the old model so less immediately obvious things like materials quality are sacrificed to make the sums add up. It would be a pity if Skoda went this way, though given the new Jetta it wouldn't be a surprise.

Even though people love to knock Falcons and Commodores I had tons of these as either privately owned family cars or (more so) new company cars in the past. It was the same deal - materials quality was better before the VE Commodore for eg, which went to the hard plastics etc. Hell, my daughter's old ED Futura had a better quality interior than the VE and lots of other recent vehicles of my acquaintance.

Years ago Merc and BMW went this way, with obvious detriment to aesthetics and in some cases relaibility. They had to sort it out because customers were discerning enough to pick it up and start complaining loudly.

[Inego]

Smaller (to put the best face on it, more cosy) inside

This is an interesting one. I was sitting in a Passat (front and rear) at the weekend and I perceived it as roomier than the Octy. The armrest between the front seats is def wider, so maybe the seats are narrower to compensate (the sports seats certainly support better.

I agree that the boot is shallower, but it's longer. Not sure about that trade off...

And I also fully agree about the decline in plastics quality across brands.

[gldgti]

So, thats a reasonably large list of apparent negatives... what made you buy the passat in the end?

[nyc863]

it's a nicer car than the skoda, better tech, better interior, good ride, 4wd, much much better seats: the vrs seats were breaking my back! good economy. More pleasant to look at. Stronger AC, Less depreciation, will be easier to sell or trade. can tow, the octavia will have cost me over 25k over 3 years in depreciation..

I was going to wait for the new octavia but I don't think skoda Australia has the pockets to compete on the new pricing paradigm in Australia. You can get a c class wagon for 58k now, skoda isn't cheap enough it needs to be down at cx5 / mazda6 pricing but with more included kit.

[Ocy_RS_TDi_Kombi]

can tow

Yes the VW Passat Alltrack has a 1,800kg tow capacity but only 100kg on the towball which is useless for towing anything other a garden trailer - no decent boats, caravans, etc

Hence why the Alltrack (and most VW based cars) are off my shopping list.

[Jake02]

I was going to wait for the new octavia but I don't think skoda Australia has the pockets to compete on the new pricing paradigm in Australia.

Considering they spent 4 years worth of marketing budget in 6 months, I agree. But what Octavia is $58k and who looks at an Octavia (or a Passat non V6 for that matter) and thinks oh it's worth the extra $20k? And an Octavia RS is a tiny bit more money than a CX-5 Maxx Sport diesel, yet has leather, 18's and much more as standard. Oh and Octy's don't get recalled for catching on fire either.

[woofy]

it's a nicer car than the skoda, better tech, better interior, good ride, 4wd, much much better seats: the vrs seats were breaking my back! good economy. More pleasant to look at. Stronger AC, Less depreciation, will be easier to sell or trade. can tow, the octavia will have cost me over 25k over 3 years in depreciation..

I was going to wait for the new octavia but I don't think skoda Australia has the pockets to compete on the new pricing paradigm in Australia. You can get a c class wagon for 58k now, skoda isn't cheap enough it needs to be down at cx5 / mazda6 pricing but with more included kit.

I would imagine the passat will cost you the same if not more in depreciation, strange reason really and something that keeps getting mentioned but reality is quite different. With the swap I'd imagine you probably lost even more again.

Easier to trade is true, but ppl seem to be on the lookout for private sales as there aren't many around.

[nyc863]

vrs from 43k to a trade in value of 15k in three years is quite severe depreciation. The best cars retain 70% of their value. redbook in 2011 listed passat as a safe retained value bet looking forward. of course it's just a guess, but vws like that have done ok.

Private vrs price of 19k if it is possible to get, is still retained value of less then 50%. I don't put high kms on my cars so depreciation is the biggest expense.

Anyway of course the cheapest thing to do is not to play the game, not buy new etc. But I wanted a change and that desire came at time when Skoda is a bit stagnant. I could test drive the same superb I did in 2009, I guess. Or buy a scout but the alltrack was better and there is zero risk vw will not be around in 3 or 5 years time.

Skoda need to show they are clearly the value brand and they aren't doing that very well at the moment. Barloworld pre owned told me they picked up a 1 yo 6000kms vrs for 26k .. how does that make someone buying new feel?
msrp for a new skodas should be 20% less to shift cars honestly.

[99_FGT]

How many Km's on your octy that they are offering such a low trade?
They are still selling for the 23+ mark at the moment. If you only want 15 for it and it is reasonable ks then put it up on here and watch it fly... I'd even be interested...
Al..