Passat Alltrack availability in Australia?

[Marakai]

Hello all,

New to the VW forums and only starting out on the quest to become a Passat owner late in 2012 or early 2013.

Some background:

Wife and I fell in lust with the Passat ever since we visited my folks in Germany and had a chance to ride with my step-dad, a fanatic Passat owner for over 15 years. I still remember sitting next to him, thinking his board computer was faulty, because we were going 200km/h on the Autobahn yet his Bluemotion was sipping around 5l/100km He's now on his fifth Passat and never had an issue.

What really got us excited was a) the announcement that Bluemotion tech would finally come to Aus and b) the announcement of the new Passat Alltrack.

So, WHEN is that wonder-vehicle available on our shores? If later this year, the timing could be perfect, but we'd like to get a chance to test drive it and also expect that the delivery times are going to be in the 6-9 month range. If it won't be available until whoknowswhen in 2013, it would be a bummer as our options are then somewhat limited.

There don't seem to be many alternatives: either theres's no TDI frugal engine (every Aus and almost every import car), or no 4WD (e.g. the "normal" Passat), or out of our price range (e.g. Audi Allroad Quattro) - or surprisingly uncomfortable for our very tall frames (we're both >6footers) (e.g. Subaru).

We have no interest in going "full" SUV, but a "sportwagon" may be just what we require for our lifestyle. Said lifestyle includes the need to occasionally haul a horse-trailer about (*). That means the Alltrack, with 2200kg up to 12%, while otherwise still offering a nice roomy, yet sporty vehicle with room for dogs and riding gear sounds just like what we need.

Concerns are some of the stories about reliability, especially the whole "injector saga". Friends who own VWs of various models have been similarly enthusiastic in their praise, so I'm not sure what to make of statistics...

If you're a dealer reading this feel free to post if you have any "official" information. I do understand that so far the announcements have been limited to press releases. However, on volkswagen.de you can already download specs, prices and order it, so it's not a vapourwagen.

Sorry for the lengthy "stream of consciousness" post, just wanted to show that we'd been pondering this for a while and this is/was sort of the decision process.

Cheers
Mike

(*) I feel the need to add:

If there are people with experience in towing horses whose hair is standing up at the thought of a non-SUV towing a massive 2-horse trailer (which can go up to 2500kg): yes, I would agree. Thus let me emphasize that we envision only 2 reasons to do this:

a) a single horse needs to go to the vet or similar, or a new horse was purchased and we bring it home. At estimated <2000kg that's safely within the towing capacity
b) in a life or death emergency which requires transport of 2 horses, such as a bushfire that requires evacuation in which case a temporary exceeding of maximum weight is the least of our worries

A full-bore petrol-guzzling SUV for those rare-if-ever occasions is just not wise in our estimate. Most of the time we just need lots of space for riding gear and carrots.



We don't envision casual hauling about of 2 massive warmbloods just for the lulz.

[richdave]

Your wait will not be too long according to this article It appears to be essentially the passat version of the Subaru outback et al. Why not juts get a Skoda Scout? They are available now and quite cheap too...

[Marakai]

Your wait will not be too long according to this article It appears to be essentially the passat version of the Subaru outback et al. Why not juts get a Skoda Scout? They are available now and quite cheap too...

Hi there! Thanks for the reply. My wife actually ogled the Skoda - it looks like a twin of the Passat in many ways.

My concerns are that it's "more nichy", i.e. support, service and spares could be an issue, now or long-term. As well as the fact that quality-wise, the Passats I know are still Made in Germany (unlike other VWs and unlike Skodas, AFAIK). Maybe a bit of left-over chauvisnism. I've owned and driven German, American, Japanese and Australian cars, but apart from the Mazda 626 Coupe years ago in Germany, I've never been happier with a car than when it was an Audi, BMW or VW.

EDIT: whoops, hit the post button too soon. Also, we're not in the market right now. We've almost got the house paid off and then we plan to pay cash for the car. No intention to borrow or lease.

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

Your wait will not be too long according to this article It appears to be essentially the passat version of the Subaru outback et al. Why not juts get a Skoda Scout? They are available now and quite cheap too...

Just checked the spec on the Scout. It's not in the league of a Passat and its towing weight is only 1600kg. That's an empty 2-horse trailer. Wont do. The Superb just seems to be a 2WD sub-Highline Passat, with an even lower towing weight of 1500kg (even the higher 2WD Passats manage 1700-1900).

[entice]

We have a 2 yr old outback and its phenomenally good at what its intended purpose is. Seats are suprisingly good on long trips, not as good for the short stints. From day 1 i've been waiting for the horrible Yoko Geolanders to give way but at 35,000km's they're still over 50%. they are the worse part of the car.

in a few weeks (maybe even months) we'll be receiving a replacement for this, and that's the Passat TDI. the level of fit and finish and refinement is completely different, but then again so too is the price.
Oh, and the Outback diesel is a manual only item. But, it is a brilliant tow vehicle. We took a tandem trailer from brunswick to Bairnsdale, went out to the bottom of a paddock, winched up a car from a shed, and drove it back up the paddock, and all teh way back to reservoir. The thing didnt struggle going uphills in 6th, and returned less than 8L/100KM for the trip. And remember, we were towing, with the A/C on!

So, dont discount the subie if you're on a budget and want something that is really HUGE. I mean the rear legroom is massive, and teh boot is huge! But you'll have to have a manual, and have to settle for japanese build "quality" and fit and finish, but phenomenal reliability.

[team_v]

The All-Track is expected to be released in Australia by March, then you can test-drive it.
Ordering would usually place you 4-6 months later unless they bring on in that you are happy to purchase.

See here: http://www.vwwatercooled.org.au/foru...tor-65328.html

[phaeton]

According to http://www.goauto.com.au/mellor/mell...25799000224D0A GoAuto Alltrack is scheduled for August release 2 months after revised CC arrives in June.

[FSI 220]

Hmmmmm I am about 12 months away... But that is a contender at that price... Hope they keep the model when the new architecture comes out as a b8.... Might be worth holding out for....

[drad81]

The other thing with Alltrack is the leather is Vienna as in TSI instead of Nappa as in TDI. Since wood is not offered for TSI, I suspect it won't be offered for Alltrack.

That's disappointing. I was expecting the Alltrack to be a 125 highline with raised suspension and 4motion

[Marakai]

That's disappointing. I was expecting the Alltrack to be a 125 highline with raised suspension and 4motion

Too early in the morning, but IIRC in the German brochures your fav combo was possible. Aussie consumers are, of course, far too unsophisticated to be given too many choices. Nanny state and nanny vendors know what's good for you, so hush!

/sarcasm off.

[VAG newbie]

Too early in the morning, but IIRC in the German brochures your fav combo was possible. Aussie consumers are, of course, far too unsophisticated to be given too many choices. Nanny state and nanny vendors know what's good for you, so hush!

/sarcasm off.

You can get Nappa leather, but its part of the $2800 sports package!