VW Passat W8

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Thu 3 Apr 2003 12:40
VW Passat W8 - daryld
is it me or is the VW Passat W8 heading the same way as the Renault Avantime i.e. knacker's yard?

I note that in the Telegraph motoring pages a used example was being offered for around £30K; now one VW dealer is offering used low-mileage ones for £21K.

Seeme to me that the W8 Passat is not a good seller, and a mistake by VW.
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Thu 3 Apr 2003 13:42
VW Passat W8 - Morris Ox
The W8 never was going to be a good seller. It is, I guess, a loss leader intended to provide a bridge between their mainstream products and the launch of the Phaeton luxury car later this year, and also provide another outlet for the W8 engine.

It'll trickle along until a new Passat launches next year. I don't think VW ever expected it would notch up many sales over here (I seem to recall a forecast of 300 annually) but the weakening economy and company car tax changes clearly won't help a non-prestige car with prestige car costs. Even with limited supply I suspect residuals are grim.

Could turn into a bit of a sleeper in years to come as the performance is actually quite spectacular when you consider its humble origins. It's no BMW, not by a long chalk, but the four-wheel drive means impressive stability and the W8 has impressive grunt.

£21k for a fully-loaded 150mph car with four-wheel drive? Not bad, I'd say.
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Thu 3 Apr 2003 14:27
VW Passat W8 - madf
"£21k for a fully-loaded 150mph car with four-wheel drive? Not bad, I'd say."
Try a Subaru Impreza.

Large VWs are like large Audis used to be (and all large French cars are): unloved, unwanted and winners only in the competition to see which depreciates 50% in the fastest time:-)
madf
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Thu 3 Apr 2003 14:35
VW Passat W8 - Morris Ox
Sure, but we're hardly comparing like with like, are we?

VW's ambitions for the W8 were never big, and I suspect they'll be taking a similarly conservative approach with the Phaeton, which sis supposed to be a very impressive beast until you look at the badge.

Read HJ's comments about the Touareg, though. Suspect that one might open a few doors for VW.

Interesting thing is, though, that I suspect neither the Phaeton or the Touareg would have been launched (certainly not in their current form, anyway) if it wasn't for the ambitions of Ferdinand Piech.
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Thu 10 Apr 2003 09:21
VW Passat W8 - volvoman
Co-incidentally I spotted an 02/02 W8 4.0 estate advertised with a local dealer as having tiptronic, leather, sat nav/tv, climate control, full eletric pack (don't know what comes as standard BTW) @ £25,995 and I thought that seemed very low. £21k seems ridiculous - how old were those cars ?
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