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I had a high old time trying to find the CD changer in my 2006 Volkswagen Passat. Was it that slot in the dash? No, that was for the navigation CD. Was it in the glove compartment? Nothing in there but the 6-inch thick owner’s manual. The trunk? Nope. Between the seats? Nada. I was ready to give up when, in desperation, I tried the glove box again and saw a tiny tab marked CD. Yes, it was there, but to give the owner more room, it folded up out of sight.
Little touches like that are what endears me to European cars. The Germans are the best industrial designers in the world. Who hasn’t admired a Krups coffeemaker or a Grundig radio? Fortunately, that design sense is tied to old-world craftsmanship that demands the best possible materials, giving everything a high-quality feel. The 2006 Passat is just like that, a jewel of a car that’s practical too.
Of course, it’s also $36,115 as tested, a price that buys a whole lot of car these days. I used to think of the Passat as just a slightly upscale and more European Jetta, but it’s moving up in the world. Consider today’s Passat a "near-luxury" car and the price makes the most sense. Its competitors are cars like the Jaguar X-Type, the Audi A4, the Saab 9-3, the Chrysler 300 and the Cadillac CTS.
The new Passat is an undeniably handsome beast and is wider and longer than its predecessor. Like the 2006 Jetta, it bears some rear resemblance to the Toyota Corolla, but up front its classy chrome grille and Euro lights stand out. The latter can be enhanced with a $950 package that includes extra-bright washer-equipped Bi-Xenon lights that swivel with the car’s nose.
My car featured the combination of a 3.6-liter, 280-horsepower V6 and a Tiptronic-equipped six-speed automatic transmission. An alternative is a two-liter turbocharged and intercooled four offering 200 horsepower (up from 170). If you want affordability with your Passat, go for the $22,950 "value edition," which comes with the four- and six-speed manual. The price inches up if you order the "luxury" and "sport" packages, which will set you back from $2,700 to $5,500. The luxury option is great for winter driving because it adds heated seats, heated washer nozzles, heated side mirrors … I’m surprised there’s no heated trunk.
The Passat is fun to drive, with nicely weighted electronically enhanced steering, but with the automatic it’s more about hushed long-distance driving than performance. My tester had some weird malfunction that caused reverse gear to spend a minute or so thinking about it before engaging. I noticed this feature shortly before setting off northward, in blizzard conditions, as night fell. But, since I wasn’t going backward, all was well and the car displayed a tenacious grip on snow-covered roads. It has excellent supportive seats that do not destroy backs over the long haul. Rear-seat passengers generally do well, also, and the trunk is large.
The Passat has been not only the best-selling Volkswagen, but the best-selling German car, period, with sales of 75,000 a year. This new model should do well also. If you’re concerned about gas mileage – and who isn’t these days – note all models of the Passat are fuel-conscious. But there’s a significant span between the 22/31 mpg of the value edition and the 18/27 of the 3.6 4Motion.
