Month: April 2015

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The VW Passat is the M&S of family cars. BMW is Waitrose and Skoda a worthy Tesco…

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Volkswagen sell more Passats than BMW or Audi make cars, a staggering 1.1 million a year. The benchmark family-mobile is bought in huge numbers around the world – especially in the US and China.

After a week in the top spec GT estate, I think I can understand why. The Passat is the M&S of cars. It has a perceived quality in the UK which many people aspire too. BMW and Audi? Well, I guess they would be Waitrose. Skoda and Hyundai equals Tesco.

The British still believe a car says more about you than most of us would care to admit. And over the last 42 years, the Passat has built up an aura around itself that seems to appeal to that vast majority of people.

Our 4Motion GT model might be from M&S’s premium range but there are plenty of diesel-powered gems that cost much less lower down the range.

The bottom line is that the Passat is a class act. That’s especially true of this latest version which somehow manages to be all things to all people. Which I seem to remember is what VW was originally created to be…

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The VW Passat GT estate we have on test this week is far too slick and sporty to gain my late father’s approval.

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I could never persuade my father to buy an exciting car. I grew up in a succession of Datsun 120Ys and Vauxhall Vivas. The most exciting wheels we ever saw on the family driveway was a Citroen CX saloon – the one with the self-centering steering wheel.

The CX with the crazy hydropneumatic suspension was eventually stolen and found burnt out – which only further proved my father’s point that it was pointless buying a flash car.

In desperation I took him to see a secondhand VW Passat. It ticked all the boxes and was suitably dreary enough not to offend him. It didn’t work – possibly because it was built in Germany and he was funny about stuff like that.

Fortunately, he wasn’t looking at the GT estate model we have on test this week. It’s far too slick and sporty to gain his approval. It’s not as bling as the latest Mondeo but at least designers in this day and age built cars that look even more desirable than a Citroen CX saloon.