B8.5

Has anyone got any inside information on when the B8.5 will be available in the UK?

Hi,

According to our company car coordinator, orders should be able to be placed end May/early June. Delivery in October?

Thanks. I was at my VW dealer last week and asked them - one of the salesmen didn't know there was an update coming and the other one said "oh yeah, it's not really much of a change, probably be about the end of the year"!!!

I'm waiting to order the facelift too, and the lack of news is frustrating....

My dealer says month end. Anyone else have any information?

VW Germany configurator already up.

Just gone live and the brochure can be downloaded.

As is usual with VW, the facelift brings with it a reduction in equipment levels with some very odd choices.

In simple terms, all cars get nice LED lights (the basic ones on the B8 don’t look brilliant) and a few other bits like lane keeping assist

the SE loses sat nav, climate and heated seats.
the GT is gone with a new spec of SEL which is basically SE with heated leather, sat nav, folding mirrors and different 17” alloys
R-Line which has 18” wheels, no spare, 3-zone climate, black roof lining, the usual R-Line trim and keyless entry and tailgate
Alltrack is basically R-Line spec, minus any sporty stuff and the leather plus the usual Alltrack styling/trim.
R-Line Edition is Estate only has the Pretoria alloys (which look rubbish on the Golf R), dynamic chassis control and XDS, IQ LED lights, Pro sat nav, area view and the TFT display

Engines being slowly released, remarkable feature is that a 4Motion R-Line 190TDi is now available for those who don’t want Alltrack and the R-Line Edition can be had with the 272ps petrol.

So, I think I’ll be looking for a 18 plate BiTDi GT next time around rather than a 19 plate car.

Yeah.. the previous Rline had active info display and the panoramic roof as standard.

Also I don't see the partition net and acoustic glass in the options. Irritatingly, the active info display must be paired with the discover pro...

Forgot to mention the panoramic roof going, doesn't look like the improvements are worth the newer model.

I found it laughable that a saloon in 2015 came with DIY air con, that they repeat this in 2019 is really past a joke especially on the mid-spec model. Muppets

Oh dear, big price increase and equipment cutbacks mean this is now off my list, even with the 1.6TDi is unattainable. Shame as the 2.0 TDi EVO engine sounds interesting.

Not unique to the Passat, but VW have stopped putting any useful technical details in their brochures - weights, performance stats, engine details beyond capacity and PS.

I can probably find it somewhere but it seems a bit lame.