One of my favorite cities to visit is Boston.
So when VW invited us to the press launch of the 2006 Passat last week, I didn't have to think twice about jumping on the plane.
Let me see...I get to stay at one of my favorite hotels in Boston, The Four Seasons (The actual event was at the Nine-Zero), eat Lobster, AND get to drive the impressive new Passat!
Plus, I got to spend some quality time with 004 planning future site strategy and put the finishing touches on our site redesign.
How could I say no?
Before I give you my impressions of the car, I have to tell you I was a big fan of the last Passat.
It encompassed VW’s theme of ‘Authentic German engineering at an affordable price’ perfectly. It was attractive and many companies outright copied the look of the last Passat (Ford 500).
But the new Passat achieves the goal every car company aims for with the introduction of the new car.
Once you see the new Passat, you’ll never want to go back to the old one.
Easy to achieve you say?
Look at the ruckus BMW and Mercedes have created with some of their new designs.
So hats off to VW for doing it right.
First off, the 06 is way better looking than the last generation car. It's much more elegant and in my opinion looks even better than the Phaeton and one of its competitors, the Audi A4.
Go to the dealer and look at a black/black one and you'll know what I mean.
It looks much more expensive than it is.
I spent about four hours in the cars (both the 4 and 6 cylinder) during the ride and drive.
There is no question in my mind if you are going to buy one, go with the 2.0T.
The six is nice but unnecessary.
The four has all the power you’ll need and as a bonus you’ll get around 30mpg combined.
You get a little tourque steer with the front wheel drive but not as bad as on the Acura TL.
The interior finish is well above its competitors and you WILL be impressed.
But the shining star of this beauty is the optional Dynaudio sound system.
I’ve heard a lot of factory systems, but this one is the best of the best by a healthy margin.
Even better than the Lexus Levinson system.
The audio is SO good, you might buy this car based on the audio ALONE!
If you buy the 06 Passat and you don’t order the Dynaudio system, you are making a big mistake!
Over 150 not so standard features on the new Passat is the ad slogan and they’re not kidding.
Some of my other favorites…driver door umbrella holder complete with drainage opening, fold down rear seats, XM or Sirius radio, Ferrari leather pattern-looking sport seats and VW logo push-in trunk opener.
What didn’t I like?
I thought both seat choices were too hard on the seat cushion but believe it or not the sport seat felt better.
Pass on the nav system…really slow updates and it was inaccurate in my short test.
Premium fuel only.
So I told you about the authentic German engineering but what about the affordable part?
There is a value edition starting around $22K but the real deal is the stupidly cheap national launch lease they are running on the car.
Check this out…$299 per month, 36 months, $2,500 down! That’s for a car that stickers at $27K before you even negotiate!
I’m thinking of picking one up for myself as an in between daily driver at that price!
VW has huge challenges ahead, but if they keep putting out products like this, I see light at the end of the tunnel for them.