What Else?

[Lance B]

After the delight in having the extra power that the Ford affords (sorry about that) has worn off, the real benefits of the R36 will show through, like the brilliant DSG gearbox - man I love that gearbox and it is the one thing I doubt I could now live without, the AWD, the build quality, superb seats you will never rue your decision.

[Cro]

I was in car limbo for a year not knowing if the R36 was comming to Australia or not...so I tried a large range of cars to see if I could do without.

3.2L V6 Passat - Too slow
Golf R32 - Too small
Subary Libery GT - Too slow & not enough luxury features
HSV Senator - Nice car but Australian build (depreciation & lack of quality) & only 4 star safety
FPV Force6 - Not enough luxury features, depreciation & lack of quality, after sales service is pathetic, handles like a boat & only 4 star safety (at the time)
BMW 335 - Too small
Lexus IS250 - Too small & way too slow

For my requirements there just wasn't an equivilent car on the market..

A word of advice on the Ford, if the shoddy build quality doesn't turn you off the 1 wheel drive (no LSD on G6E Turbo) and after sales service will.
I have been to over 10 Ford service centres, and still couldn't find any genuine customer service when it came to warranty repairs.

[Autopia]

Thanks again for all the opinions and feedback. It's been very helpful.
The Ford dealer gave me the G6ET for 3 days to "get a good feel for it". Very generous but in the end it hasn't fully lived up to what I expected.

I take it back tomorrow at 4pm and I'll need to be polite, grateful and diplomatic.
R36 here I come. I hope the waiting list isn't too long for a Biscay Blue wagon with Nav, Dynaudio and power tailgate. Might even look into some after market 19's (see pic)


Cheers
Sean

[Steve]

There wasn't a whole lot on the market that did what we wanted when we ordered the R36. Criteria were a mid sized wagon, comfortable, European (my parents got confused when they drove my Commodore), all wheel drive, and more fuel efficient than my Commodore.

The regular Passat was the right size, but the seats were horrible and the options needed were fairly pricey. The Liberty wasn't large enough or European enough, and had a fairly cheap interior.

That left a few expensive Volvos, a couple of Audis (A6 allroad, Q7 - but we already have one) and very little else.

The dealer didn't know much about the R36 back then but we placed an order on the expectation that the diesel and V6 Passat seat problems would be fixed and more fruit would come as standard. Sure enough, two weeks later VW Australia forwarded the details of the "soon to be announced" R36 to the dealer and we decided to go ahead with the order.

[vwrallycar]

i have to disagree with the ford handling not being very good, try one thats 10 years old, then try a new one, they really are awesome in that department, as with the engine and the 6 speed auto, its the body's build quality that lets the car down.
im looking forward to having a new vw though

[olcoop]

Thanks for your feedback guys.

I thought long and hard about it last night and whilst I really like the Ford I don't love it. A car needs to offer more than merely the thrill of super fast acceleration.
If my leasing company can show me that the R36 is affordable it will be my next car. Although the CC is cheaper and has the same motor.

I was told that the CC would work out a lot dearer.

The dealer said that no fleet discounts would apply!

Has anyone got info different to that?

[Autopia]

I was told that the CC would work out a lot dearer.

The dealer said that no fleet discounts would apply!

Has anyone got info different to that?

Don't know about fleet pricing but the standard RRP of the R36 wagon is $67590 and the CC is $65990.

[Audemars]

I had a really hard time making up my mind (until I heard about the R36).

I looked at several options but for me price was really an issue. It wasn't so much the budget itself, but rather finding "bang for the buck" (quality, specs, performance, looks, safety, and space).

Having lived all my life in Europe I still find most European cars to be outrageously overpriced here in Oz. I just can't bring myself to justify paying 50-90% $$ mark-up when I know how much I would have paid for the same car in Sweden/UK/France/Germany.

The shortlist consisted of:
- BMW 3-series Touring (too small and overpriced)
- BMW 5-series Touring (nice ride, enough room but again overpriced)
- Subaru Liberty (too small, ride was too harsh, didn't like the interior)
- Audi A4 and A6 Avant (look great but A4 too small, A6 too pricey)
- Holden Sportwagon (don't love/trust the brand, could get R36 for similar money to the Calais V-series)
- Mazda 6 wagon (nice exterior but no options available, boring engine)

The R36 just seems to me like outstanding value for money whilst being great fun to drive and practical too. Having said that, if my wallet had allowed for it I'd probably have gone with the RS6, the M5 wagon or the E63 AMG wagon.

[tryingavw]

The shortlist consisted of:
- BMW 3-series Touring (too small and overpriced)
- BMW 5-series Touring (nice ride, enough room but again overpriced)
- **Subaru Liberty (too small, ride was too harsh, didn't like the interior)
- Audi A4 and A6 Avant (look great but A4 too small, A6 too pricey)
- ** Holden Sportwagon (don't love/trust the brand, could get R36 for similar money to the Calais V-series)
- Mazda 6 wagon (nice exterior but no options available, boring engine)
:

interesting, i went through exactly the same analysis although suba ( too jappy) and holden ( usual reasons) not on the list.

was pretty keen on the mazda -but way too plasticy. nice drive though.

also looked at peugot 408 which in v6 diesel is very nice. but quite large & we didnt really need that.

final shortlist was a4 wagon, 323wagon, passat. glad we got the passat though i reckon a4 would also be great.

just about to head off to philip island again ( hope i dont cop another ticket! )

[Deedub68]

Yup, I looked at a G6E T as well.

To be honest, I was kind of sold on the R36 already, but wanted to eliminate possible contenders.

So I went to the dealership and plopped myself into the G6E in the showroom. Seems solid enough, and looked the business, but on opening the doors did not have that "built like a tank" feel of the Passat. Strike 1.

Salesman goes to get the key...and the electric seats refuse to work! And this on a showroom car! Hmmm, not a good sign...Strike 2.

So anyway, the sales guy says that next week he has a G6E T coming in and would I like to take one for a drive? Yes I say and give him my card (I'm a company director, and this is stated on my card, so he should have taken my request seriously). Long story short...I never heard back...Strike 3.

No doubt the G6E & G6E T are pretty good value for money, but I pity the fools who cannot look past a Ford or Holden badge.

At the end of the day, I love my R36: those seats, that engine, the gearbox, the handling, and that engine NOTE leave the local 6's for dead.

Just my .02c