Which options should I have...?

[YawnGumbo]

I admit somewhat of an open question, but after a slight wobble to considering a new A4 I then found I can only get the saloon with my company car list and I need the practicality of an estate, so have decided to go with a Passat Estate. I am looking at the following:

2.0 150 SE Business manual with:

- Vision & Comms Pack
- Discover Pro
- Active Info Display
- Urano Grey

My quandary then is I can either upgrade to metallic paint (which would probably be to Indium Grey) or I can have a few more options upto about £500, of which I am considering:

- Keyless Entry with electric tailgate and waggle-your-foot-under-the-bumper-opening
or
- Electric tailgate, ambient lighting or tyre pressure monitoring, luggage divider
or
- Winter pack with heated seats, tyre pressure monitoring

I have heated seats at the moment, with leather, but don't see that they're that necessary with the cloth seats(?). I drive 25000 miles a year and stay in a lot of hotels wandering out to my car with my hands full of luggage so wondered if the electric boot with waggle foot might be useful, or is it just a bit of a gimmick?

Any advice would be appreciated, including any better options to consider based on your experience. Does the Urano grey look ok on the SE Business spec car? It's really difficult to find examples online and most demo cars have metallic paint. Alternatively I just leave it as the above main spec and save myself some money.

Cheers.

[technik]

I had a A4 Technik and now have a GT. I'd never be without the heated seats - they're even better than the Audi's on the Passat.
I love my Indium Grey, but I suppose the colour is on the outside and it's probably better to spend the cash on things that make the driver experience better.

I think if I was in your position, I'd go for the Keyless entry system. Handy boot opening function! I've had mine about 4 weeks now and still don't know what to do with the keys every time I get in the car. If I'd gone for keyless entry they could have stayed in my pocket - as it is I take them out, open the car, get in and then think - damn, where can I put the keys. Small thing, but annoying.

(not as annoying as the small centre console slot behind the handbrake button that is too small to put a pen in though!!)

[Justin-W]

I would recommend the heated seats with windscreen (come together and I have both) its nice come winter especially for that bit of back ache.
I would go for the voice dialing as you can't go through your address book on by your steering wheel anymore (only can dial the 10 previous called entries or something so can include the same number 10 times)
Don't go for the Apps its pretty pointless as you have sat nav and my company block us from using Siri (iphone) so makes it even more pointless only thing it gives you then is displaying texts/emails and wont read them.
Agree with the whole keyless thing

[technik]

I haven't got the apps, but the Discover still displays texts and will read them if you want it to.

[YawnGumbo]

Thanks guys. Quite a few people I've spoken to have advised the keyless entry is good so I think I'm going to go with the keyless entry and automated tailgate option and stick with the solid paint. I saw the paint at the weekend on a swatch and think it will be ok.

I am a little confused with the options list wording around this option though. Does anyone actually know if the keyless entry with hands-free tailgate actually means the tailgate is fully automated for both opening and closing (basically is this option a combination of "keyless entry" and "electric tailgate" with added waggly-footness), or does it only open the tailgate automatically, but it has manual close? I know this sounds daft, and it's not exactly a deal breaker, but the options list isn't very clear.

Also, there is a lot of contradiction over the Vision & Communications Pack and whether or not it actually includes the Dynamic Light Assist. In the Pricelist PDF, it would suggest it does, but when you go through the online configurator the Dynamic Light Assist isn't included. I have contacted my local fleet dealer and they have just sent me an extract from the brochure, but couldn't confirm through experience either way.

In a lot of ways it's much easier buying a car second hand where you can push buttons and see for definite what options a car has! ;)

Cheers.

[technik]

Thanks guys. Quite a few people I've spoken to have advised the keyless entry is good so I think I'm going to go with the keyless entry and automated tailgate option and stick with the solid paint. I saw the paint at the weekend on a swatch and think it will be ok.

I am a little confused with the options list wording around this option though. Does anyone actually know if the keyless entry with hands-free tailgate actually means the tailgate is fully automated for both opening and closing (basically is this option a combination of "keyless entry" and "electric tailgate" with added waggly-footness), or does it only open the tailgate automatically, but it has manual close? I know this sounds daft, and it's not exactly a deal breaker, but the options list isn't very clear.

Also, there is a lot of contradiction over the Vision & Communications Pack and whether or not it actually includes the Dynamic Light Assist. In the Pricelist PDF, it would suggest it does, but when you go through the online configurator the Dynamic Light Assist isn't included. I have contacted my local fleet dealer and they have just sent me an extract from the brochure, but couldn't confirm through experience either way.

In a lot of ways it's much easier buying a car second hand where you can push buttons and see for definite what options a car has! ;)

Cheers.

It has the wiggly foot thingy, but not the electric closer - that's another 200 sobs.

29645

[YawnGumbo]

Yeah but on the estate price list it shows this
29648

[technik]

Well that's helpful isn't it.

[YawnGumbo]

Yeah indeed. Going to try asking the dealer and see if they happen to know (going on previous experience at this particular dealers, this is unlikely!).

[YawnGumbo]

Well the VW dealer advises that this option does include the fully electric tailgate - time will tell as I placed my car order today, so in about 5 months time I should hopefully be able to confirm!

Thanks all.

[gold1640]

Also, there is a lot of contradiction over the Vision & Communications Pack and whether or not it actually includes the Dynamic Light Assist. In the Pricelist PDF, it would suggest it does, but when you go through the online configurator the Dynamic Light Assist isn't included.

I ordered the Vision and Communications Pack and the car came without DLA fitted - the salesman is now saying that VWUK say that it was a mistake that it was included in the V&C Pack and the web site, and I assume the pricelist, will be changed.

[YawnGumbo]

Thanks so just to clarify should DLA have been included or shouldn't it? My lease car company is saying it should be in the pack, and the dealer agrees but I don't want to find I get the car and it's not on there when I could have specced it separately.

Thanks.

[gold1640]

Thanks so just to clarify should DLA have been included or shouldn't it?

All I can say is that my salesman checked more than once, at my asking, and he was convinced that DLA was included in the V&C Pack, but the car came without DLA fitted.

After checking with VW UK, he now tells me that he's been told that it was a mistake that it was advertised as being included in the V&C pack and that's why the factory didn't fit it.

If DLA has been ordered as a separate option, then that, of course, is different. In my case I only really wanted the LED headlights and the reversing camera, so ordering the V&C Pack gave me those at a £190 saving, with the mobile phone amplifier and the DLA being nice extras, although, it now seems as though the DLA shouldn't have been listed.

I queried more than once that the configurator wasn't correct, but that didn't seem to ring any alarm bells.

If you really want the DLA then it might be possible to add it before the car is built - I understand that some options can be added fairly late in the process.

[RDT60]

Pretty incompetent, I'd say. And given DLA is spelt out in the price list as included in Vision and Comms pack, and I have a copy of the configurator, I would have thought breach of contract. Not that we can do much about it. Although it is not fundamental for me, I did think I was getting it in the pack.

I ordered:

2.0 GT 150PS estate
Dynamic Chassis Control
Vision and Comms Pack
Electronic Tyre Pressure Monitoring
Climate Control Windscreen

Ordered 20th Dec - given provisional build of week 6, now told week 11. I have told dealer I expect loyalty discount to be honoured - they said they will talk to VW.

[RDT60]

And metallic paint - Harvard Blue

[RDT60]

DLA is still included explicitly in the P11D Fleet brochure published on 22nd Dec 2015 and in the non-fleet brochure published on 16th Nov. Hmn.

[gold1640]

Although it is not fundamental for me, I did think I was getting it in the pack.

Who knows? You may be lucky. One more thing to check when you pick up the car. I would be interested to learn whether DLA is fitted.

[RDT60]

Who knows? You may be lucky. One more thing to check when you pick up the car. I would be interested to learn whether DLA is fitted.

I will let you know when I eventually get the car. I hope I don't have to have too big an argument to protect my loyalty discount if delivery falls into April. Thanks for the 'heads up' on this issue though.

[YawnGumbo]

Ok thanks a lot for the info. I had a "live chat" with a VWUK person through their website earlier and they also said DLA was included in the pack, but I do wonder if they were just checking the brochure in the background! I'm quite tempted to get it added as an option on my car by the dealer just to make absolutely sure it is fitted.

[technik]

Ok thanks a lot for the info. I had a "live chat" with a VWUK person through their website earlier and they also said DLA was included in the pack, but I do wonder if they were just checking the brochure in the background! I'm quite tempted to get it added as an option on my car by the dealer just to make absolutely sure it is fitted.

Take to Twitter to get a response from VWUK. At least then you'll have a written response for the future.

[YawnGumbo]

Great idea - I hadn't even realised they had a Twitter feed for such things. This is the response (can't insert a picture for some reason):

Volkswagen UK Help ‏@VWUKHelp (https://twitter.com/VWUKHelp) 35m35 minutes ago (https://twitter.com/VWUKHelp/status/687644059968630784) @ogib (https://twitter.com/ogib) The Vision and Comms pack does include Dynamic Light Assist Richard, however this is an optional extra. 1/2
Volkswagen UK Help ‏@VWUKHelp (https://twitter.com/VWUKHelp) 35m35 minutes ago (https://twitter.com/VWUKHelp/status/687644096324878337)
@ogib (https://twitter.com/ogib) You can find further details on the specification here http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new/passat-estate-viii/which-model/brochures … (https://t.co/nIGJt0rbjQ) 2/2

[RDT60]

Great idea - I hadn't even realised they had a Twitter feed for such things. This is the response (can't insert a picture for some reason):

Volkswagen UK Help ‏@VWUKHelp (https://twitter.com/VWUKHelp) 35m35 minutes ago (https://twitter.com/VWUKHelp/status/687644059968630784) @ogib (https://twitter.com/ogib) The Vision and Comms pack does include Dynamic Light Assist Richard, however this is an optional extra. 1/2
Volkswagen UK Help ‏@VWUKHelp (https://twitter.com/VWUKHelp) 35m35 minutes ago (https://twitter.com/VWUKHelp/status/687644096324878337)
@ogib (https://twitter.com/ogib) You can find further details on the specification here http://www.volkswagen.co.uk/new/passat-estate-viii/which-model/brochures … (https://t.co/nIGJt0rbjQ) 2/2


Sounds like you need to refer back to your dealer - clearly different parts of VAG do not know what other parts are doing and saying! Let us know what transpires.

[RDT60]

VW tell me loyalty discount valid for all cars registered until end May. Should be ok then.