18 thousand kilometers later

Six months, 18 thousand kilometers later, I can say that the new Passat TDI is a great car. Among the things that I like about this car are the following:

• Trip computer – The computer tells you how much you've traveled, the remaining range on your tank of gas (total km), your mileage (liters/100km), average speed, time traveled, and the outside temperature.


• Climatronic temperature control – Driver and passenger side air temperature can be adjusted.


• Bluetooth handsfree system – Although this was not a factory original option, it works well (most of the time anyway) whenever I need to take or make a phone call.


• Sound system – The radio and CD player sound great and I like turning up the volume when I’m driving alone.


• Cruise control – This is the first time that I’ve owned a car with cruise control. It's quite nice to use on those long drives. I understand that there's a higher level cruise control (adaptive cruise control - ACC) available but it’s not offered in the Taiwan models. ACC will automatically adjust the speed depending on the car in front of you.


• Heated seats – This is really useful on those days when the temperature is in the single digits and you can’t wait for the heater to kick up.


• Fuel economy – The fuel economy is just great! I can get up to 17 kms./liter on the highway and average 14 kms./liter on combined city/highway driving.


• Electronic parking brake – To engage the brakes all you do is press a button! To disengage, just put the car in drive and the parking brake disengages automatically.

Despite being an automatic with a manual option, I've really enjoyed driving this car. I always thought that manuals were more fun to drive. But this car shifts very well and is very responsive and quick. It has what they call DSG technology. DSG is essentially two clutches that make the automatic shifting real smooth.

There are, however, some things that I don't like so much:

• Rain sensing wipers – This is what the car has for intermittent wiping of the windshield. It relies on optical sensors on the windshield that detect the amount and frequency of rain falling. These sensors regulate the interval between wipes. Although the sensitivity of the sensor can be adjusted on the control, I find that it’s too sensitive for my tastes. The intervals between wipes is still too short for me and I often just turn off the wiper and wipe manually or just go to the low setting.


• Ashtray and lighter doors in back seat – These are not childproof enough! My two girls with their curious little hands have managed to take these covers off very often.


• Service button – There is a service button which tells me when the car needs to go for service. At the moment it is practically useless as the information is not correct. The VW dealer probably still doesn't know how to program this.


• Auto hold button – This button is for automatically keeping the car stationary when you come to a full stop. It’s supposed to be useful in stop and go traffic. I’ve tried using it but now keep it off most of the time and just use the parking brake instead.


• Bucket seats – I'm no fan of bucket seats. They may feel good at first but your back will hurt if you go for long drives. I had to add an extra pillow to give me some lower back support.