Used 2014 Volkswagen Passat Diesel Consumer Reviews

2014 Volkswagen Passat TDI SEL Premium, Automatic: 3 Months / 7K Miles

Researching The Cost: I researched and test drove many vehicles, including Ford Fusion Hybrid, Lincoln MKZ Hybrid, Lexus Hybrids, Honda Hybrids and even some fuel efficient Buicks. I considered that if I was going to get a car that had great gas mileage, then the sticker price had also better make sense. I didn’t want to pay an extra $8k for a car that would save me only $2k in fuel costs. So, it had to make sense base upon sticker price, residual value and fuel economy. The Passat came out ahead because the car was less expensive than the others (even loaded), and had an acceptable high fuel economy.

My Dad's Volkswagen

Like the title says, this really is my dad's Volkswagen. I traded in my '12 GolfR for this after my dad's glowing review of his '13 TDI SE. This is my 4th VW, and I'm as happy as ever. Build quality is top notch, with a lux leather/suede combo for the seats, and upgraded faux woodgrain for the '14 model. Gas mileage (why we buy these) is better than advertised. On 85 miles of mixed driving yesterday, I averaged 43+mpg when I parked at my door. The Fender sound system is great, and Bluetooth seems more clear than in my GolfR. The leg room in the back is incredible, and there's quite a bit of trunk space (though not as much vertical space as you might hope). Overall, I'm thanking my dad.

Unmatched TDI mileage, huge and comfortable, early build quality worries

1) Mileage: You will get blown away - the EPA numbers are junk (as usual) but in the opposite direction of gas cars. Here you get more, a lot MORE than claimed. Note: Hybrids will always outperform in stop and go city traffic. However, on the highway, diesels will blow hybrids away. The choice is thus dependent on driving environment. 2) The engine is silk smooth, once above 1.3k rpm. 3) The car is big, especially the back seat and the trunk. 4) Suspension is on the softer side and absorbs bumps very nicely. 5) Very low road noise 6) Have had a couple of squeeks and rattles from the dashboard in the first month. A little worried about build quality.

Exceeds Expectaions

Having gone through literally a dozen or more of newer type cars over the last decade I can safely say that this car lives up to and exceeds expectations. No car is perfect and there are a couple of annoyances such as the traction control (too intrusive), or the slow navigation unit; but car is fantastic. I've had it 2 months and average right at 40mpg all the time. I just took it on a 1100 mile trip and averaged 42mpg going between 75 and 84 mph. Also, acceleration is great all around. This is only the third car I've owned that exceeded gas mileage (others were 2013 Mercedes and 2008 Golf GTI). Overall the car is solid with no rattles. It's an excellent family car.

Outstanding car. Get one before they fix 'em!!

Right now (summer 2016) this car is the bargain of the year if not the decade. The bottom has fallen out of the resale market because of Dieselgate. We couldn't resist any longer so we picked up a 1-owner specimen from a dealer in PA. We've had it for about six weeks and put 2500 miles on it during that time. Highway MPG is phenomenal.... you can achieve high 40s without really trying. Keep the speed under 80-85 and you will see 45-48 average MPG. We drove 1200 miles on two tanks full of gas last week, during a long road trip. Passing power on the highway is great, not spectacular, but again... you're not buying this car to set land speed records. That said, you can easily get to whatever speed you need to achieve, this side of 100. We can't speak to how hard it pulls when you're into triple digits. We're guessing it runs out of steam pretty quick, but then again, this isn't 11th grade. High-speed stability is excellent. The steering is tight and the car doesn't wander. City driving is a pleasure.... acceleration is very quick, as you'd expect with 230+ pounds of torque. MPGs in town will range from 20-30 depending on how aggressively you drive and how heavy the traffic is. The dual-clutch DSG tranny knocks out instantaneous shifts and matches the revs for you too. I've driven manual transmissions my whole life but this is an automatic you will never regret buying. It's always a pleasure driving this thing. The interior is well-designed and roomy. Some people have complained about the materials being less than top-shelf but it's really not an issue. We'd prefer a plain-looking interior that will age well, to one that will start to look tacky after a few years. Same story with the exterior styling, which is boring at first blush (it almost looks like an Impala from 10 years ago) but grows on you, and is actually halfway classy... just understated. You're not gonna impress a future love interest in this thing. (Get an Audi or BMW if you need to show off your spending power.) The front seats are roomy and supportive, the back seat is gigantic, and so is the trunk... except for the hinges which intrude into the cargo area. In terms of interior space, you're basically getting an A6 for less than A4 money. We've heard all the horror stories about reliability and dealer service. Hasn't been an issue yet and we're keeping our fingers crossed. Our other ride is a 17-year-old, '99 Passat V-6 with 220K miles which is still running well, so we know these cars can last a long time. Overall, as you might guess, we couldn't be happier. If VW ever asked us what else this car needs... we'd say (1) an AWD option for the 50-60% of Americans who get to deal with snow for 4-5 months a year; (2) a rear-seat DVD / entertainment system; (3) standard HomeLink garage opener on all trim levels; (4) bubble mirrors built into the side view mirrors; (5) a real front bumper..... yeah we know, super retro; (6) bump strips on the doors to protect your sheetmetal from idiots in the 7-11 parking lot; and (7) at least one 12v outlet that stays on when you turn off the ignition. That's about it. Like we said.... right now this car is definitely the bargain of the year.

Achilles heel: Navigation System

Overall good results, but the one exception is so frustrating and "in your face" that I would not buy this vehicle again. It's the Navigation/ Bluetooth/ Stereo/ Backup Camera combo. The system is super slow and locked up for me four times. Music keeps playing, but nothing else works. Volume is stuck, navigation may or may not continue. Once the unit rebooted by itself after about 20 minutes, the other times I had to stop and shut the car off for 5-10 minutes. Onscreen button are slow to respond and sometimes don't respond at all. Entering an address while on the go is not practical. Valid, well-established addresses often don't work (~30% of use).

TDI modified

The infotainment system has periodic lags. The TDI modification lowered fuel economy by about 7 mpg. Highway is max 43 mpg now.

A-lot of car for the buck - seats

I was in a market to buy a family size sedan, which is safe, reliable, and with high MPG numbers, due to my long commute. I previously owned Cavalier, Infiniti I35, Toyota Camry, and all these cars are great car, and sold them once reached 150k miles. This time around, I wanted to buy a diesel car, hoping to be economical in terms of commute, and reliable well above 200k miles. After doing lots of research, I fell in love with Passat, and decided to buy one. In February 2014, I bought myself a Tdi Se Passat. I love the car at first. Very spacious interior, car came with 2-year maintenance package, so there was nothing to worry at this point. First time owning diesel car, I was greatly impressed with the engine performance, and fast shifting, auto manual transmission. Best Features Cabin and trunk space is quite generous. Certainly, enjoy the dual clutch manual shifting while passing others on highway. Over all feel is quite safe, while driving in bad weather conditions. Drove through winter blizzard and still felt confident, traction controls, and weight distribution has significantly improved the driving dynamics of this car. I certainly enjoyed filing the tank twice for 1500-mile road trip. One tank full lasted about 725miles, significantly reduced my daily work commute cost. This car achieves higher MPG then listed, 29 combined, and 40 on highway. Worst Features I found Passat has the worst seats IMO. It is almost impossible to access the seat comfort, when you by the new car after driving for 15 minute. I thought, once I start driving, leather will loosen up, and seat will become more comfortable, but I was wrong. I love the car, but the terrible seats was causing back pain. After some of my friends complain about the bad seats, I took the car to professional upholstery car shop, and they pointed out, there is not enough cushion to support the lower back. After a year, and driving 20k miles, I had to give in, and finally trade in for other car. When you have a 100-mile daily commute, it is important to have comfortable seats.

Slow And Steady

This was my first ever big boy purchase when I was 24, when I saw you could unlock the door by grabbing the handle I was all in (I drove a 2002 Toyota previously). This car is very good looking for its model year (2014) the outside looked a little dated but the interior was one of my favorite parts. I upgraded to a 2020 Passat and the interior still looks pretty similar. This car drove so smooth and gripped the road so well, the steering was very responsive. But … This car ended up costing me a LOT in maintenance and repairs. 400 for DSG fluid, 200 for battery, expensive oil … etc. The throttle valve needed replacement, nox sensor, engine coolant leak, faulty struts … thankfully was all covered under the warranty I purchased but still was a 200 deductible each time. I had SEL trim and I absolutely HATED the suede seats. I had the beige color and even water would leave a ring stain. The seats aged terribly and would’ve been so much better with all leather seats like the trim below it. Even tho this car gave me trouble every year I owned it, I still loved the car and how it drove. I will miss her deeply. Also it was a TDI

Great First Car

I'm 19 and I just got my drivers Liscence about 6 months ago, I went to a Mossy Honda dealership and financed a 2014 VW Passat with a 2.0 Turbo, And i'd say for the past 2 months of owning it I am very proud of owning this vehicle. My first thoughts when I did my first test drive on it was that the interior was very smooth luxorious similar to the audi design, wheels were great the engine bay looked smooth and robust. The VW I own has premium feautures including a navigational system in the radio. The car it self is very reliable, Smooth take off, Very Touch sensitive break pads but after a day of driving you get use to them. Very good on gas it is definetly a reliable car for cross country traveling, Great on gas. It doesn't suck your money dry. The only few cons I noticed about it was the fact that the navigational system in the car that I own is very slow, on times it tends to be all over the place and I wish it was just a little bit more modern and knew what it was doing. Overall very satisfied with driving it. it's a very quite car inside and has a nice engine sound too it when you're driving on the road. Very spacious and has plenty of room to fit luggage and other stuff in there too. Great sedan car and I would highly recommend this car to anyone if they are looking for a good first car that doesn't suck money out of your wallet.

Great engine/DSG automated manual

I have the TDI SE diesel 6 speed DSG automated manual transmission. The fuel economy is insane. At least 50mpg hwy/37mpg city, 45mpg combined. The automated manual, once you got it, is great. The interior is massive. The V-tex leatherette is durable. I almost bought the SEL but leather trimmed velour is not my cup of tea. The stereo is great. HUGE back seat AND trunk. The space leaves you lacking for none: no need for extra feet room, shoulder room, head room, or seat or seatback room. They used to call this a "body" trunk back in the day. You keep it serviced with VW at proper intervals and you'll have a car that is like it was new up to at least 500k miles. We will regret not being able to purchase this 2.0 liter TDI engine again, and some rumors of the Passat going away in September 2020. Idk.

Passat has many mfg flaws

Great mileage. Comfortable seats. Large trunk. Great acceleration. Excellent for trips and daily commute. However, i have just had the 3rd heater core installed in 2.5 yrs. Too many repairs and recalls. Unless vw can improve their mfg controls, I Do Not reccommend it

Adblue, and customer service.

If your adblue doesn’t reset itself after refilling, count down to a no start , which in my case was in 150 miles. If this happens in the winter time, you and your families life could be at stake! If it doesn’t start while on a trip, or away from home, it WILL NOT START. It happened to me in freezing weather, no dealerships would see my car for 15 days, our only vehicle, In subzero weather, I had to keep it running , never to turn the key off, or it would not start, and drive 513 km. Out of province to Alberta where there was a dealership that would help a retired couple. Very happy to find one out of 4 dealerships that showed enough compassion to fix an old couples only car that , V.W.s adblue system that is still under warrantee failed ! Thanks to Medicine Hat V.W., but shame on all Saskatchewan dealerships! Another BIG complaint, is the speedometer is supposed to be an instrument to measure distance and time! But v.w. In their wisdom calibrated the speed to be 9-10 km. Per hour faster than actual. That is up to 10 % inaccurate, you will not get to where you are going , on time! Appointments, ferries, air flights,,,,all because the speedometer is reading , in my car, 9 kilometres faster than actual, which puts me late or I have to calculate all the time, the speed has to be adjusted in v.w.s ,,,10% faster on the signage, or 10% slower on my gauge! And the v.w. Dealership said ALL v.w.s in this year range come from the factory that way! Unbelievable!

Nice Riding car Bad parts and Bad company

The company swindled lots of people into buying these So called clean diesels, They were actually a minimum of 5x the legal limit on NOX emissions. The Maintenance costs on the VW is obsurd, and the car has had nothing but recalls, the entire time I've owned the car. I Can't get any of my recalls fixed, because One recall is over a year old with no resolution, and 2 are several months old with no parts for the air bag or the defective connector seals, which could go on fire. VW does not care about your safety or your business. They will lie, cheat and steal to get your money in their pockets. I would not recommend a VW to anyone. I'm still fighting to get my recalls completed. VW's air bag announcement stated I may not have an air bag for 3 years. Shows how much they care about making your car safe. They will not give you loaners or rental cars while recalls are being completed where cheaper manufacturers such as Honda does so voluntarily. Stay away. There are much better quality cars for much less money. Oil changes are a minimum of $90. They claim that because you don't have to change oil for 10k miles that it justifies the price. Take my advise. DO NOT BUY VW. They are a rip off, and you don't get what you pay for. The car is very basic for the money. No real tech features come standard.

Desil issues

On my second one and had both come on with repeated deaf fluid light. My second one was in shop over a year waiting on desil part from Germany

Ok

Great fun & economical car.

Looks great, responsive in acceleration, handling, and braking. Had it about a month. Previous cars were Camry XLE V6 and Infiniti I30. VW has a 110+ wheelbase which gives it a better ride than my Camry. The 2.0 TDI is responsive - 3.9 torque and breaks loose if not careful. Ride is quiet on 18" wheels. Previous reviewer got a Base model, with a 5 cylinder engine. If he paid $32k it was well over List Price!

VW Passat TDI Forever!

A solid car with a great engine. Quiet, sleek, great for people up to 200+ cm tall, and the best looking car on the road.