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“Having had two VW Passat estates I was ready for a...”

written by zmHurley1992 on 23/06/2014

Having had two VW Passat estates I was ready for a change and found an 07 plate 2.0 Sport estate with just 28,000 on the clock. The cabin is very good,comfortable, airy and no miniscule buttons on the dash, it has a good driving position for me ( I am 6' 3" ) and a proper handbrake and not one of these stupid electronic devices. Its a much more pleasing and refined environment to be in than a VW or BMW.It is also quite a good looking piece of kit which was half the attraction for me......however, this has not proved to be a good buy. The chassis lacks feel and the steering is also a little on the light side and doesnt provide good driver, road feedback.Its simply not as good as the VW and does not inspire confidence for brisk driving. The gearbox, although good badly needs a sixth gear and fuel economy is around 37mpg on a run (10mpg less than the VW) At tick over it sounds like a tractor. While 128bhp is just about adequate its not a sparkling performer and I suspect it would struggle to tow its optimum weight with confidence. It certainly doesn't merit a Sport badge. In six months of ownership it has had the brakes rebuilt, a new rear trailing arm bush,new clutch mechanism,and the boot lid re fitted.
I am considering re chipping this (£220) to lift its output to 170bhp with more torque and surprisingly better economy. However I have a feeling it wont be with me for long.