I kinda want a Passat R line

[GTI Jake]

Anyone here own a current body style (B7-B8?) Passat? My wife and I have our second child due in December and along with her nesting I've been thinking about making room for another kid as well. The only thing holding me back is we both already have 2016s. My Gti and her big dumb Kia Sorento "SUV", which as if that's not bad enough is a lease. The other issue is she's for no real reason insisting on keeping the Kia (even tho she never drives it. 13,000 miles vs my car at 40,000 currently) since she drives a RHD Cherokee I bought her for work. I really don't want to sell my gti or pay for her Korean missle crisis Kia, but I feel like the Passat would make the perfect kid Hauler. And since our plan is for her to play the stay at home mom role that kinda leaves me now responsible for paying for her car...so there's my reasoning. If I'm paying for something I A. Want to own it in the end & B. Don't want it to be a Kia.

So outside of any first hand reviews on specifically the 1.8T Passat I'm also open to advice on my vehicle situation.

 

[nate704]

Anyone here own a current body style (B7-B8?) Passat? My wife and I have our second child due in December and along with her nesting I've been thinking about making room for another kid as well. The only thing holding me back is we both already have 2016s. My Gti and her big dumb Kia Sorento "SUV", which as if that's not bad enough is a lease. The other issue is she's for no real reason insisting on keeping the Kia (even tho she never drives it. 13,000 miles vs my car at 40,000 currently) since she drives a RHD Cherokee I bought her for work. I really don't want to sell my gti or pay for her Korean missle crisis Kia, but I feel like the Passat would make the perfect kid Hauler. And since our plan is for her to play the stay at home mom role that kinda leaves me now responsible for paying for her car...so there's my reasoning. If I'm paying for something I A. Want to own it in the end & B. Don't want it to be a Kia.

So outside of any first hand reviews on specifically the 1.8T Passat I'm also open to advice on my vehicle situation.

I'd keep the SUV since it's got more space for kids and stuff.

 

[Sandman GTI]

Why is Kia not good for kids?
The Passat is nice but more like a big boat.
Rides good but no feeling. The 1.8 is small for this car to me.
Keep GTI.
Keep Kia unless having issues.
If she is not driving much will last a good while and not many oil changes.
Do you just want the Passat?

 

[GTI Jake]

Not that the Kia isn't good for kids specifically, that it's no good in general. It's about 90whp awd and 4,000 lbs. Gets 25mpg if you're lucky driving in "eco" mode with an egg shell on the gas pedal. Plus the whole being a mechanic thing...having a Kia is about the equivalent of a Nurse pushing for someone to pick up smoking.

If all of that personal hate/subjective opinion isn't reasonable enough I feel like money wise it's a bad deal. She did a 39 month lease of which 20 months remain. $330 a month, so that's $6,600 still owed and that money's just gone when the lease is up (especially since she'll never use all of the remaining miles). A year or two old Passat can be had for $15-17,000 @35,000 miles ish and we'd own it. So payment wise even just in that span (20 months) it's a $1000 cheaper and hey, we get to keep it in the end.

Maybe I'm just biter since we were separated when I got the GTI and she got the Kia (same week). Especially since I traded the Ecoboost Ford Edge I had bought her on my GTI, and sold my daily at that time (TDI golf which was paid for). After losing money on the "SUV" I could stand to drive (edge was 275hp and got 30mpg, didn't have shit build quality like the Kia) I'm very reluctant to pay for the GTI/Edge & Kia

 

[MonkeyMD]

Just think of it this way.

You don't want a nice car with kids. You will just drive yourself crazy everyone a bottle of milk is forgotten and turns into cheese on your carpet, or your kid throws up all over your seatbelts and you have to take trim panels of to clean. Or he/she gets explosive diarrhea and it seeps nto seats.
I could go on and on.

Just use your kid to get revenge on the Kia. You will now laugh instead of cringe.

 

[GTI Jake]

That's a good way to look at it, I still don't wanna spend 6.6k on a driveway paperweight.

I'm fully trained on how messy kids can be, our son is three now but we learned the hard way about certain snacks and drinks in the car ha

 

[1SLOW2.01]

I had a Passat R Line as a rental for over a month, and I loved it. I really like my GTI, but I almost wished I had bought a Passat. It was incredibly comfortable and really nice to drive. It will not feel or drive like a GTI, but it is very nice.

 

[JC_451]

$330 a month for the Kia?

Yeah, that is definitely bad. That seems ludicrously high for a leased Kia. I wouldn't think twice about getting out of that deal, that's awful.

I just looked it up, $209 ($249 for the awd V6 version((with zero down, go figure))) a month for the Sorento, with $2599 down(36 months, 12K miles per year) . I assume that's the tier one credit option, but still.

 

[GTI Jake]

$330 a month for the Kia?

Yeah, that is definitely bad. That seems ludicrously high for a leased Kia. I wouldn't think twice about getting out of that deal, that's awful.

I just looked it up, $209 ($249 for the awd V6 version((with zero down, go figure))) a month for the Sorento, with $2599 down(36 months, 12K miles per year) . I assume that's the tier one credit option, but still.

Yeah we were separated at the time so I have no clue what she did. 39 months 2.4 awd base as base can be...it's a shit show to say the least

 

[snobrdrdan]

I'm on my 5th NMS/B7 Passat.....we have a '17 R-line (with lighting package) and a '17 V6 SE w/tech

The R-line is nice LOOKING and that's about it....although it's far from stripped down, you lose some features though
(definitely "needs" the lighting package btw)
The APR tune makes it fun, but if you're concerned about the warranty....just add the JB1 (the JB4 doesn't work on it), which is what is on our car currently. It doesn't have the same adjustability like the MK7 though...just put in 93 octane, plug it in & that's it. If you wanted to run 87 octane, you could buy the cable and then you have to lower the boost, but that's about it according to George.

The R-line was my car first, but then I wanted a V6 again....so I gave the wife the R-line and I have the V6 now

I'd step up to an SE w/Tech instead though....it includes waaay more than the R-line has.
You lose the ground effects kit, badging, paddle shifters, door sills, aluminum pedals & 19" wheels though....but it has so many other "goodies."
(Better interior trim, remote start, fog lights, color instrument cluster, sunroof, LED lighting standard, better door speakers, navigation, etc)

I swapped the 19's & pedals from her R-line onto my V6 car though, lol, and added a paddle shifter wheel.

It's definitely a big family car though (huge trunk and back seat), gets awesome highway gas mileage with the 1.8T, and I like them.

An R-line isn't a bad car/trim don't get me wrong, especially for the money, but it's just a cosmetic upgrade package.

 

[GTI Jake]

It would be my first time owning a newer car with any options. We've had a mk6 gti, mk6 Tdi golf, mk6 Tdi Jetta and now my mk7 gti. All of them have been base so I think the R line would satisfy me.

It's still a big debate and I'd ideally keep my mk7 and add the R line. Only thing I might miss is car play but it doesn't work all of them time anyway

 

[Mk7Matt]

My wife has a '17 R-line with the lighting package. Positives: Back seats have a ton of leg room, decent size trunk and lighting package.

Negatives: This car is the polar opposite of my GTI. The steering is way too light and lacks any feedback. Not impressed with the power but that could be because my wife only fills up with 87 octane.

The car in general is bland but if you are looking for something that is family oriented, safe and relatively good looking for this segment then it probably is a good choice for you. My wife won't let me mod it and we won't buy it after the lease is up.

 

[GTI Jake]

I don't plan to mod it at all, just strictly want it for two car seats and hauling groceries

That's why I wanna keep the gti. While I think it's big enough she's not convinced. So the gti will just be my commuter and the Passat the family car

 

[cornercarver]

I'm currently in a similar situation. My wife and I are wanting to add another baby to the family and the GTI with two small children in car seats and all of the baby gear will be a tight squeeze in the subcompact hatchback.

I almost bought a used '17 Passat R-Line with Light Package with 4800 miles for $18,500.00 OT, but I didn't. I really like the Passat but the engine is too anemic for me. While it is sporty and has a decent automatic transmission with paddle shifters, it was not enough for me to trade. The rear seat and trunk space is about 6" more than the GTI from my research and the trunk is obviously deeper but cargo cannot be stacked as high.

If you are ready to slow down and buy a full sized sedan which you can still mod (to an extent) the Passat is perfect. The 1.8 can be upgraded by the JB1, suspension mods are limit less. It just wasn't sporty enough for me and couldn't convince me to swap. I could have saved approximately $80.00 on my car payment or kept the same payment and have a shorter payment term than what I had when I purchased my GTI.

Cliffs: Almost bought the Passat R-Line 2 weeks ago and chose against it, even though it can be modded and would have reduced my monthly payment.

 

[MonkeyMD]

You need an Atlas VR6 with an HPA twin turbo kit.
Just saying. Might be more family friendly.