Topic: CD Article: 2006 Volkswagen Passat

[Autos_Editor]

You may discuss our cover story of the day in this thread....
First Drive:

All-new for 2006, the sixth-generation VW Passat is a little bigger and a lot more powerful than its predecessor. Assistant Editor Jil McIntosh drives it through New England and reports on a smooth ride and 120 features, but with a price-tag that can climb fairly high.      More...

[a4_tom]

$32220 Passat 2.0T with convenience pkg and Tiptronic is best buy. My local dealer has sold 25 new Passats in August, outsold Jetta completely!!

[si]

the car has no key hole!!!  I know many manufacturers are just doing keyholes on drivers side door only (not trunk either), but zero keyholes on a vehicle?

[Shnak]

$32220 Passat 2.0T with convenience pkg and Tiptronic is best buy. My local dealer has sold 25 new Passats in August, outsold Jetta completely!!

Yeah that is a good deal, but there's something inside of me that would be disgusted to pay close to $40k (taxes included) and still only have plastic hub cabs... Alloy wheels definitely should be standard on all Passats...

So for that reason alone, I would have no choice but to get the Luxury Package which also includes the sunroof, that I would definitely want. $3,800 is a bit steep for alloys and sunroof though... they should have thrown in the dual-zone climate control system in that package... it'd make a bit more sense.

But as usual with VW, packages will get better as years go by... by mid-cycle, the Passat will be one heck of a car IMO... its packages should be a bit more interesting (feature and price-wise) and its reliability will be proven... And as a bonus, the wagon will be there too! 

[chrischasescars]

the car has no key hole!!!  I know many manufacturers are just doing keyholes on drivers side door only (not trunk either), but zero keyholes on a vehicle?

Yeah, I'm with you and Jil on this one. WTF are you supposed to do if there's an electrical problem and you can't unlock the doors?

It's especially disconcerting given VW's history of electrical gremlins, though those have typically involved coilpacks and window regulators.

[Shnak]

the car has no key hole!!!  I know many manufacturers are just doing keyholes on drivers side door only (not trunk either), but zero keyholes on a vehicle?

Yeah, I'm with you and Jil on this one. WTF are you supposed to do if there's an electrical problem and you can't unlock the doors?

It's especially disconcerting given VW's history of electrical gremlins, though those have typically involved coilpacks and window regulators.

I hate it when people, ESPECIALLY reviewers, don't look any further than their nose before complaining about something...

A quick google search revealed to me that you can easily extract the key from the keyfob, and that there is a key hole on the driver's side door handle. Check this pdf: http://www.vw.com/vwcom/content/objects/pdf/service_maint/PASSAT_SUPP1.pdf, in the section appropriately called "Manual vehicle entry using the emergency key" on page number 4.

Why can't reviewers research this kind of stuff before bashing a company because they think they forgot an essential feature? I guess providing good information is too much to ask from reviewers? 

[si]

Somebody dislikes VW for whatever reason and snack there gets his pants in a knot.  So Jil is wrong.  Don't get angry if we consider what she says, a paid car reviewer, to be true.  After all, we are all using a website originally devoted to reviewers like her.

Still... alarm goes off when you use the real key to get in.

[Bullet Blue]

Very nice car. But get rid of that facking chrome grille plate, and those facking tailights. Why did VW decide to revert from it's orange turn signals? Nice looking interior though, as usual from VW.

[davidm]

Shnak, you're right from a technical level.  On the flip side, Jil did/saw/noticed what most "average" consumers would do/see/notice.  If it wasn't obvious to her, it certainly isn't going to be obvious to Joe and Jane Doe.  So, technically it works, but fails in basic user interface/understanding.  This is why engineers have trouble with consumer products - engineers are smart and logical, consumers are not.

Admission: I'm a reformed engineer who became a product manager and built/designed a consumer product so I might be touch biased on the topic.

[Shnak]

It's only for EMERGENCY situations that will you need to figure out how to open up the door with your key. It's clearly written in the manual, and there's no need for it to be easily understood for basic users... just like when your battery dies and you need to reset your car radio, there isn't a button that says "reset radio" on the console... you need to look up in your manual and figure out how to do that. Exact same thing with the key.

In about 3 years, I have never opened my different vehicles with the key, always with the remote. So I really don't understand why there would need to be a key hole on my car, other than when my remote battery dies... and that's exactly how the Passat was designed... in case of an emergency, there is a way to open up your car anyways.

[Drivesideways]

Admission: I'm a reformed engineer who became a product manager and built/designed a consumer product so I might be touch biased on the topic.

Hmmm...why haven't I seen you at the meetings?   

[a4_tom]

Next thing she will complaint the remote will use battery fast.

[Shnak]

or that the car stops when it doesn't have any more gas... poor drivers, they won't know what to do if there isn't a button that says "fill car with gas"!

[wing]

The funniest is that the average joe/jane will not read the manual.  Then the battery will die and they will be locked out of their car, with the manual stuck inside!

Lucky for them, I just read Shnak's pdf link, so if some damsel is in distress at the local grocery store I can be her night in shineing armour

[mark]

Where do most people keep their owner's manuals?  In the car perhaps?  And if its locked and you didn't read the emergency access portion of the manual? (as most people don't)....

Anyway, not really a "BIG" deal, but I'm sure there will be a few people cursing when they are locked out, standing in a freezing parking lot a couple of winters from now when the battery conks out on the remote.

(edit: Damn, James beats me to the punch with his comment)

Generally I like the car, but damn, that rear overhang is brutal.  Caprice, Crown Victoria, Passat???

[a4_tom]

I keep owner's manuals on my desk, for easy references. Other than the keyfob, I bet 9 out of 10 ppl who drive Mk5 chassis don't know how to move the wipers when they need to wash their cars.

[Shnak]

So it's VW's fault if people are too stupid to read their manuals?

[chrischasescars]

So it's VW's fault if people are too stupid to read their manuals?

No, it's VW's fault (along with countless other manufacturers) for making cars more complicated than they need to be.

[Shnak]

So it's VW's fault if people are too stupid to read their manuals?

No, it's VW's fault (along with countless other manufacturers) for making cars more complicated than they need to be.

I'd rather have a key hole hidden under a plastic cap than a key hole pierced in the sheet metal that I will NEVER USE that will eventually rust. Have you ever noticed that a lot of the rust starts around key holes (on doors or trunk)? Well if I can have a car that doesn't have any uncovered key holes, I'm all for it. It's not like it complicates things a lot that the emergency key hole is hidden under a plastic cap... you just have to know it's there. And if you read your manual like you're supposed to, you'll know it's there. And the salesmen (or dealership delivery manager) are supposed to show you little details like that.

[chrischasescars]

Got your point about never using the key hole - when I drive a car with power locks (mine doesn't have them) I only use the fob. That said, how many cars even have the key hole punched into the sheetmetal anymore? Most are incorporated into the door handle - like the Passat's hidden one is - so it won't be the keyhole causing rust, it'll be the door handle itself.

Is the information in that PDF even in the owners manual that comes with the car? And if not, WHY not? The title of the document is Supplemental Information but it contains info that should really be in the manual in the chapter on "what to do in case of an emergency", right beside where is says how to change a flat tire. If it's only available on the VW website, then that's an oversight on VW's part.