The Passat Wagon

The Passat Wagon

Both Audi and BMW have successfully sold wagons in the North American market where overall demand for these types of vehicles is fairly flat. Still, that hasn?t stopped Volkswagen from staying in the mix by continuing to offer a nifty wagon version of its solid Passat sedan. As a five passenger all wheel drive wagon that comes equipped with a potent V6, this could be the best German wagon out for the money. Please continue to read on and we will take a closer look at what some are considering is the finest wagon available in any market.

Over the past several decades the fortunes of station wagons has dropped dramatically across the U.S. With minivans and SUVs replacing wagons, few manufacturers have been offering them for sale. Indeed, Toyota dropped the wagon from its hit Camry line up in the early 1990s as sales were not high enough to sustain production.

True, small wagons from Ford, Subaru, and GM managed to hang around for awhile, but nothing of the caliber of the Passat wagon was available to consumers until 1998. The most current wagon produced by VW is no slouch either as it comes equipped with a 3.6L V6 engine, producing 280 horses and 265 lb.-ft of torque, far higher than many vehicles in its class. Coupled with a six speed automatic transmission, the Passat wagon achieves a respectable 25 mpg on the highway, close to the mileage of many comparably equipped minivans now being sold.

The Passat wagon features crisp, sport-like handling and it comes standard with 4Motion all wheel drive, electronic stability control, four wheel disc brakes with ABS, a power operated tailgate, keyless entry, six disc CD changer, front/side/side curtain airbags, and a large cargo area. Optionally, consumers can choose a DVD navigation system or luxury packages that include leather seating, leather wrapped steering wheel, 12-way power adjusted heated seats, and dual zone climate control. Yes, fully loaded the Passat wagon tops out at about $38,000 not far from the price of the Audi wagons but tens of thousands of dollars less than a similarly equipped BMW wagon.

For 2007, the Passat wagon has been thoroughly updated and, in its ninth year of existence, the car has only improved with age. If you want to receive many of the amenities found in a BMW or an Audi wagon, then the Passat is certainly worthy of a look by you.