On delivery:
A rattle from a misfitted engine cover plate.
Rattle from insecure wiring harness in front nearside door.
Both faults were immediately remedied.
Having retained my B5, I can compare the B6 on a day to day basis and find that VW have improved an excellent car. The engine noise is much reduced and improved handling promotes a very comfortable journey. The car can be driven in 6th gear at 30 mph in a built up area and my combined mpg (so far) is 46. Having added all the bells and whistles, at $41,000 (in the UK) the car is not cheap, but like its predecessor I believe depreciation will be low.
The "electro-mechanical" parking brake did take some getting used to, as do the over eager parking sensors. The extreme braking facility which activates the hazard lights will (hopefully) remain on the page in the Book of Words and never be used along with the ESP warnings.
Dual Zone Climate Control? I have to ask, "Why?" but it does keep one amused. Oh, and if anyone can think of a reason why there is a 230v socket in the rear console, let me know.
Having been treated like an unwelcome nuisance by my local VW dealer and VW Customer Care (a misnomer if ever there was one) whilst trying to get the catalogue of faults resolved on my B5 TDI 130 Sport, I disregarded the B6 out of hand. I'm sure it's a fabulous car to drive, although I note your car had two quality control issues on delivery, the same as my B5 had. The fact my B5 then went on to become the most unreliable car I have ever owned will I hope, not be repeated in your case.
In all seriousness though, surely we have the right to expect a car to be fault free on delivery, particularly from a manufacturer which has marketed itself on quality for the past two decades, and prices itself against "real" prestige brands such as Mercedes and BMW. Within reason, one can accept the odd problem arising in service, but for a so-called "quality" vehicle to be delivered with faults, however trivial they might be, is unacceptable in my humble opinion.
I would be very interested to hear your comments after 3 years and 60k. In my experience, VW's Quality Control and reliability is not what the quality plastics and "image" initially suggest. Maybe they have resolved these issues at long last, but sadly it's too late for this buyer. For the cost of a B6 2.0 TDI Sport with my required options, I took delivery of a 12 month old, barely run-in Mercedes C270 Avantgarde. I can honestly say, the Mercedes is superior in every way.
Well, they say you never buy another VW... but you proved them wrong, and they thanked you by supplying a faulty new car and failing to do a proper PDI on your new car! I'd be furious!
VW have convinced a frankly astonishing number of people that soft touch dash plastics and blue panel lighting equal quality. Things such as panel gaps, paint depth and finish, routing of wiring and cabling, mechanical reliability and the thousand other things that genuinely make a quality car get completely overlooked. Viewed on these things, a modern VW is of no better quality than a Ford or any other mass market product.
The fact your car was delivered with faults is yet more evidence that VW aren't a quality manufacturer any more. I personally would have walked out of the showroom, stopping only to collect a full refund. What does it say about a manufacturer's approach to quality and customer service if it's a) got brand new cars with faults and b) tries to palm them off on paying customers anyway? I cannot believe you accepted it!
Buy Japanese, or a BMW. Nobody else, not even Mercedes, builds cars properly at the moment.
Search for New and Used Volkswagen Passats available in the UK
Click here to advertise your car
Both the reviwer, and the commenters seem to have had a preconceived expectation of "Quality"... Quality is what it is, Bigger price is not = better quality...
Quality grade 1 contains Volvo BMW Audi MERC SAAB, Honda etc
Quality grade 2 contains Ford, VW, Toyota, Hyundai and yes, Skoda among others.
Quality grade 3 contains Nissan, Fiat, Citreon, Mitsubishi, Kia, etc.
You bought from Grade 2 and expected a Grade 1 car.
That's not how it works.
Note: A Comments RSS Feed 
is available. New comments appear in the Members Area before the main site