After 2 months of owning the V6 Passat

[Lance B]

IMO I wouldn't talk to anybody who drives Subaru to swap the wheel for VW. If it was a friend, it could spell the end of the friendship.
Any Subaru model has one advantage over any VW model and that's THE RELIABILITY.
Which means fewer trips to the dealer to fix little things (could I call it a better build quality or better quality control).
Subaru is also cheaper to service than VW.
And the all wheel drive system is standard in every Subaru.

Well, I had 4 Subarus in a row, a 3.0H6 Outback, then the new shape 3.0lt Outback, then the 3.0R B spec and then another 3.0R B spec. All very reliable except that they all chewed oil like they were drinking it instead of petrol. most disconcerting and you can read about their oil guzzling nature on any of the Subaru Liberty forums. Don't get me wrong, I really did like my Outback/Liberty's, but they are not as good as the Passat, for my desires.

If I were to advise someone about a new car and a VW or Subaru was mentioned as possible canditates, I would still advise them of my favour of a VW due to the reasons outlined in the other posts here. I would also say that they should consider the reliability of the Subaru which is unquestionable, however, I have not had any problems(yet) and nor has a friend who has the R32 Golf. I am sure there are stories of woe about various VW's, but for me that may be the price I pay for the other benefits over the rather bland Liberty.

[DubDub]

Great review Lance. Many thanks.
I'm taking delivery of a new 3.2 wagon just like yours, hopefully on Friday. My first venture into Dubland!

I was wondering whether the very latest 3.2s off the production line have overcome the annoying hesitation from standstill that I have noticed in 3 separate V6 Passats I tested. I had an extended drive of a second-hand car built about May 2007, and the hesitation was almost enough to stop me from ordering one. I've noticed on a couple of US websites that the latest software for the DSG on the 3.6 Passats ostensibly overcomes this hesitation, and I'm hoping they've installed the same software on our models.
What has been your experience?

Great tips, BTW

Cheers
DubDub

[Transporter]

Well, I had 4 Subarus in a row, a 3.0H6 Outback, then the new shape 3.0lt Outback, then the 3.0R B spec and then another 3.0R B spec. All very reliable except that they all chewed oil like they were drinking it instead of petrol. most disconcerting and you can read about their oil guzzling nature on any of the Subaru Liberty forums. Don't get me wrong, I really did like my Outback/Liberty's, but they are not as good as the Passat, for my desires.

If I were to advise someone about a new car and a VW or Subaru was mentioned as possible canditates, I would still advise them of my favour of a VW due to the reasons outlined in the other posts here. I would also say that they should consider the reliability of the Subaru which is unquestionable, however, I have not had any problems(yet) and nor has a friend who has the R32 Golf. I am sure there are stories of woe about various VW's, but for me that may be the price I pay for the other benefits over the rather bland Liberty.

How long do you have your Passat?
Oil usage on Subaru is very unusual - if driven normaly on the roads sticking to road rulles. After all they are the cars for road use not a race. In race you wouldn't care if it use a bit of oil would you?
Check this forum and other VW forums for VW engines oil usage.

[Cro]

Great review Lance. Many thanks.
I was wondering whether the very latest 3.2s off the production line have overcome the annoying hesitation from standstill that I have noticed in 3 separate V6 Passats I tested. I had an extended drive of a second-hand car built about May 2007, and the hesitation was almost enough to stop me from ordering one. I've noticed on a couple of US websites that the latest software for the DSG on the 3.6 Passats ostensibly overcomes this hesitation, and I'm hoping they've installed the same software on our models.
What has been your experience?

Hi,

I did a bit of research into this when I was looking at ordering a 3.2 Passat and the hesitation is normal behaviour on DSG equipped cars.
From standstill the computer engages the clutches (via oil pumps) on throttle input, and the hesitation you are talking about is the time taken to smoothly engage the clutch.
The US don't get DSG gearboxes (only fluid driven automatics), and their hesitation issues are different.

It is something you will have to get used to, especially if you look at the other benefits of having a DSG equipped car.

[Vene]

You can always use the launch control feature for a briskier take off!

[Lance B]

Great review Lance. Many thanks.
I'm taking delivery of a new 3.2 wagon just like yours, hopefully on Friday. My first venture into Dubland!

I was wondering whether the very latest 3.2s off the production line have overcome the annoying hesitation from standstill that I have noticed in 3 separate V6 Passats I tested. I had an extended drive of a second-hand car built about May 2007, and the hesitation was almost enough to stop me from ordering one. I've noticed on a couple of US websites that the latest software for the DSG on the 3.6 Passats ostensibly overcomes this hesitation, and I'm hoping they've installed the same software on our models.
What has been your experience?

Great tips, BTW

Cheers
DubDub

Congrats on your upcoming Passat V6 4 Motion. I am sure you will love it as much as I do mine.

Our business also runs a VW Caddy 1.9TDI with DSG and it seems to have the hesitation whereas my Passat does not, so I do know what you are talking about with regards to hesitation. Maybe there is something they have overcome with the new DSG's? Who knows? Or maybe I was lucky?

[Lance B]

How long do you have your Passat?
Oil usage on Subaru is very unusual - if driven normaly on the roads sticking to road rulles. After all they are the cars for road use not a race. In race you wouldn't care if it use a bit of oil would you?
Check this forum and other VW forums for VW engines oil usage.

I have had the Passat for 2 months and not a drop of oil has been used.

The 4 Subarus I had consistently used between 1-2lts per 10,000kms. I ran the first 3 in according to what the booklet describes and they used oil. I then tried running the last Liberty in slightly differently, but it made no difference and it too used about the same amount of oil.

I am not a racer and stay with the traffic on the roads. I generally do not race the engine unnecessarily and mostly just totter about town with the occassional splurge for fun. One of the reasons for getting away from the Liberty 3.0R was because it was difficult to totter about as they required revving to get them going due to the lack of low down torque, which the V6 Passat has in spades.

As I said, search any Liberty forum and you will see that many have oil useage problems. Even where I took all my cars to be serviced at a Subaru dealer where I purchased them from, they said that they use oil and should be expected to!? I also used a variety of oils both synthetic(tried both diester based and non diester based) and non-synthetic, low viscosity and and slightly higher viscosity and it made no difference.

Not a big deal, but it shouldn't happen in a modern engine, IMO.

[R36 Dreamer]

I have had the Passat for 2 months and not a drop of oil has been used.

The 4 Subarus I had consistently used between 1-2lts per 10,000kms. I ran the first 3 in according to what the booklet describes and they used oil. I then tried running the last Liberty in slightly differently, but it made no difference and it too used about the same amount of oil.

I am not a racer and stay with the traffic on the roads. I generally do not race the engine unnecessarily and mostly just totter about town with the occassional splurge for fun. One of the reasons for getting away from the Liberty 3.0R was because it was difficult to totter about as they required revving to get them going due to the lack of low down torque, which the V6 Passat has in spades.

As I said, search any Liberty forum and you will see that many have oil useage problems. Even where I took all my cars to be serviced at a Subaru dealer where I purchased them from, they said that they use oil and should be expected to!? I also used a variety of oils both synthetic(tried both diester based and non diester based) and non-synthetic, low viscosity and and slightly higher viscosity and it made no difference.

Not a big deal, but it shouldn't happen in a modern engine, IMO.

My Boss had a 2006 Liberty STI Tuned Wagon, in Manual. He has sold it recently, as over the last 2 years he has had 3 engine failures.

Subaru were good in fixing the problem each time, and lamented that oil usage is a problem in 3lt engines with manual transmissions.

I agree that Subaru are known as bulletproof and reliable, but my bosses experience made me think twice.

The interior of the Subaru is not in the same league as the Passat IMHO, I cannot stand the japanese approach to luxury car feel... from the lexus to subaru to mitsuibishi, the luxury models look and feel cheap as SH%T I reckon.

[Lance B]

My Boss had a 2006 Liberty STI Tuned Wagon, in Manual. He has sold it recently, as over the last 2 years he has had 3 engine failures.

Subaru were good in fixing the problem each time, and lamented that oil usage is a problem in 3lt engines with manual transmissions.

I agree that Subaru are known as bulletproof and reliable, but my bosses experience made me think twice.

The interior of the Subaru is not in the same league as the Passat IMHO, I cannot stand the japanese approach to luxury car feel... from the lexus to subaru to mitsuibishi, the luxury models look and feel cheap as SH%T I reckon.

I think the thing is that there will be examples from all manufacturers of horror stories like your boss' Liberty GT. Some more than others.

I was once a staunch proponent of the boxer engine and AWD "symmetrical" layout but not now. It maybe the design of the engine or the implementation by Subaru, but I became a little more skeptical after the oil useage issues.

Don't get me wrong, the Liberty was very good and I can see why many like them, but it is not for *me* due to the issues outlined in my posts here. After all, like many things, it's all a compromise and you need to find which compromises best suit you.

I too like the interior treatment of the Passat and the way the Germans do *most* things on the cars over the way the Japanese do *some* things on their cars.

[R36 Dreamer]

I think the thing is that there will be examples from all manufacturers of horror stories like your boss' Liberty GT. Some more than others.

I was once a staunch proponent of the boxer engine and AWD "symmetrical" layout but not now. It maybe the design of the engine or the implementation by Subaru, but I became a little more skeptical after the oil useage issues.

Don't get me wrong, the Liberty was very good and I can see why many like them, but it is not for *me* due to the issues outlined in my posts here. After all, like many things, it's all a compromise and you need to find which compromises best suit you.

I too like the interior treatment of the Passat and the way the Germans do *most* things on the cars over the way the Japanese do *some* things on their cars.

Perfect Timing - Did you see the article on drive.com.au, saying all new 2.5T Subaru engines have been pulled from the market due to a fault.

Not saying anything bad about Subbies, just interesting timing given the above thread on quality