Took the plunge and ordered a new B7 Passat TDI Highline Wagon (Icelandic Grey) at the start of March, expecting delivery by end of June. Car is on the boat - on-line tracking says the car carrier has just left Panama and is now on its way across the Pacific.

Re options ordered: have bitten the bullet and gone with the 'fruit salad' approach - got every option EXCEPT kids seats, electric front seat adjustment and DynAudio. A much shorter approach than listing all options I did get!


Have been lurking on these Forums for a while - some great posts and info! The only problem - many, many great ideas and lots of useful information . . . am already working on my list of 'things to do' . . . and I haven't even got the car yet!


Some of the things I learnt from these Forums is being put to good use right now:


1. I have decided to use Lakin mounting brackets for my license plates - as these use the existing holes on the car, and from all the pictures I have seen, look great!

My decision was easy once I realised how the dealer fits the plates: drills 2 holes in front bumper and puts self-tapping screw in through the top edge of the license plate and drills two holes right in the middle of the rear license plate (along the centre line) to use the existing holes in tailgate! and it deserves a second

As soon as I found this out, I told the dealer that they were forbidden from drilling holes in either my car or license plate (if they did I would demand that the damaged parts be replaced before I would accept the car!).

The Lakin brackets have been ordered (Philip from Lakin was fantastic to deal with!) and I have arranged with the dealer for them to give me a call so that I can come in and fit the license plates and mounts myself!


2. With my tow-bar, I was concerned about the finish of the work (see this thread!). So I went to the dealer and they had a B7 Wagon with tow-bar sitting outside . . .

Did what you normally do, got down to have a look and the install was mechanically clean BUT the size of the hole they cut into the underside of the bumper (and part of the vertical drop) was gigantic! I will post later in the other thread (previous paragraph) to show you the hole I saw (took some pics)

I spoke with my dealer about this and told them that I want the installation of the tow bar on my car to have the minimum sized hole not a gaping chasm. We have agreed that their installer and I will speak before any cutting of the back bumper is done. I will probably have to draw out where I want them to make the cuts . . . just enough for the pin to be able to be inserted/removed without excess material being removed.


That's it for an intro . . . will post more later.

So far the experience with the dealer has been good and they have been responsive to my requests - not sure if it is all the options speaking or them chasing a good rating on my sale