New B8 Passat Alltrack owner in Iceland

[greatness954]

Hello everybody.

I registered as a member here to read up on the Passat Alltrack as I was cross shopping it against a plethora of other cars. This was by far the most extensive forum that I could find for the Passat and as such I wanted to leave a quick review which I hope to update as time progresses from receiving my all new B8 Passat Alltrack last Tuesday (09.08.2016). First the specs as far as I´m aware of them:

Tungsten Silver. 18 " rims, panoramic sunroof, ACC, DCC, 8 " infotainment center dash, active info display (the 12,3" TFT screen), black leather interior, all electric front seats with massage function for drivers seat. read camera with trailer assist, electric tailgate, keyless entry, Led headlights with daytime running lights, swivelling tow bar. (not sure about other driving aids. and some other goodies that apparently are standard in Iceland like mudflaps, rubber boot mat and rubber floor mats as well as the regular mats.

I might have forgotten something in the list above so I will add to it if I discover something new.

I come from very humble beginnings in life and so the most expensive and premium car I ever owned before the Alltrack was an MKII Kia Sorento registered in 2013 which I bought second with about 30.000 km on the clock as it was a rental car. Every single car before the Kia had been either a Toyota Corolla and Mazda´s of various production years since they are quite cheap to buy and maintain in Iceland. The Toyota dealership for instance is probably the best regarded dealership in Iceland for customer service and after sales support.

We had the Kia Sorento for about 2 and a half years since we sold it in early June originally expecting delivery of the Alltrack on the 15th of June. It served us well since we live far outside the capital region of Reykjavík which is about a 450 km drive one way. The Sorento handled itself well enough on the Icelandic bitumen. What we disliked about it was the noisy ride and the driving characteristics. We wanted something that would feel more comfortable on the long drive between the capital region and our hometown, hence shopping for a new car.

Originally I had my mind set on the Skoda Superb since I had worked for many years as a police office in the capital and the Skoda Superb MKII was a regular choice as a police cruiser for the department. I liked the space that it had offered and I really liked the external look of the new model. The Skoda dealership is owned and located at the same overall premises as is the dealership for VW, Audi and Mitsubishi. We test drove the Superb and felt that it was an adequate substitude but then I also saw the Alltrack and really liked the more understated and what I felt was a more refined outward appearance. On the inside it was no contest as my wife was quite adamant that she would rather like to sit in the Passat than the Superb. Test driving the Alltrack revealed it to feel more comfortable, the engine responded better even though it had the same exact engine as the Skoda (190 diesel). The uptake was better, response was better and the driving characteristics all felt more refined. Might be because of the perceived quality of the exterior and interior but that was the overall impression of me and my wife.

We also test drove the new MKIII Kia Sorento (60K. GPB.) which we felt was an upgrade over the MKII but not enough to justify the price premium over the Alltrack (45K. GPB). All other models felt either too expensive or lacked the quality of the Alltrack. That includes Audi A4 allroad, Subaru Outback, Hyundai Santa Fe, Mazda 6 and more.

We were able to get the sticker price of the Alltrack down about 5% since it was a model that had already been ordered and was on its way or that is what we were told in late May when the decision was made. As already mentioned we expected delivery on the 15th of June so we sold our Kia MKII in early June on that expectation. I subsequently contacted the dealership to confirm the date since they had not bothered to contact me before hand. I was then informed that the date had really been the 15h of July. The proncounciation of June and July in Icelandic is very similar to the degree that I have always since I worked as a police officer for a long time repeated the month back several times to make sure that the person was saying June or July. I am quite sure this is what I did when dealing with the salesperson.

Anyway, nothing to be done about the supposed mixup so we decided to wait until the 15th of July instead of looking for another car. This meant that we would have to forgo the convenience of a car for about a month. We did a lot of biking over the summer with the little ones

As the 15th of July approached I contacted the dealership again and was informed that the car would arrive nearer the end of the month. In the last week before the end of July I contacted the dealership again and was informed that the car should arrive on the 29th. At that point I prodded the salesperson on the phone a little more and was able to extract from him that the car hadn´t even been built yet. Subsequently the date of 29th of July was not a certainty anymore as was born out. The car eventually arrived in country on the 5th of August and I took delivery at the dealership on the 9th of August.

During this whole process the dealership never saw fit to contact me at all to inform me of the progress of the car. Every single interaction was initiated by myself which I feel reflects quite poorly on the sales teams of the Volkswagen dealership in Iceland. That being said they were always very courteous on the phone and in person although they didn´t seem quite up to date on recalls (panoramic sunroof issue), infotainment operation or overall operation. Bear in mind this is quite a loaded car, haven´t had quite the time to fiddle with all the features myself.

Now on the car itself and the real reason why you are still probably reading this whole diatribe. I will focus my attention mainly on the overall driving characterstics since as mention I have yet to fiddle with all the gizmos the car is laden with.

First the car was driven in the city traffic of Reykjavík upon delivery for about two days. The car proved to be extremely well insuled from the noise of the drivetrain as well as from outside traffic. What is mostly intrusive is the tireroar which I am hoping can be pinned down to the conti wheels that come with the car. On the most refined bitumen it isn´t really that intrusive but when driving outside the capital on bitumen that is in parts less refined it can be quite loud. Although it is always relative since the Sorento was louder and you can always drown it out with the sound system.

The handling itself and the response of the drivetrain is quite the revelation. We had test driven it and liked it but after having driven it in the city traffic for two days I loved it. Keep in mind though I come from a very humble car ownership history. On the motorway from the capital to our hometown the car was felt very refined and quiet compared to the Sorento. I can honestly say that it has been a very big upgrade from going from the MKII Sorento the Passat Alltrack. Now I only have to fiddle with the entertainment system and see what other goodies the car might have.

I would love to hear from other owners if their experiences are similar or different to mine. I posted this here in the UK forum since there really isn´t a forum for this kind of post on any Icelandic websites that I know of. I don´t mind answering any questions if you have any.

Best regards.