Ok got the new one
It has 8500 miles on it

Let me start by saying I hate VW based off my 02 Jetta TDI.

I have 60 miles in it right now but will rack up about 800.
I will post more when I get more miles on it.

So...

I hate to say it and it pains me to do so....I love it!
My only complaint is the goofy steering wheel. It is flat at the bottom

Plenty of pep. Seats are COMFORTABLE. Car is quiet. Brakes are excellent.

This car is fully loaded. The controls are easy to use and understand! I love that.
Again I don't see much difference in the material used in this car from say the Toyota or my GM stuff.

No body roll. Had it up to 70 on the highway...silent. No wind noise no air coming in anywhere
Interior is roomy. I will say the VW interior has not changed a lot since my 02. It does have a bunch more gadgets.
I like the styling too.

To top it off, No check engine light on in this car. Not sure what was wrong in the Toyota. I couldn't get it to clear.

I love the R Line Passat. They are quite the value, our local dealer has them going for $24K. Glad to hear the 1.8 TSI moves the big Passat around nicely. I am a Honda fan boy through and through, but after spending time behind the wheel of the Jetta in my sig and delving in to the realm of all things VW I am becoming quite the fan of them as well

It is a nice car and know it has been years since my Jetta, but the Jetta was so bad I am still afraid.
So bad that we got a CTS and in 156,000 we did a crank position sensor.
But this has certainly made the Jetta a distant memory.

Cool.

The VW sedan that really has my attention is the CC's with 3.6. Those must be a real hoot to drive, and not as common as all the BMW/MB etc.

I had a rental 2016 passat while I got tires mounted/balanced on my golf. I really liked it. Rode alot smoother (less sporty) than my golf I guess because of the wheel base. The auto trans did pretty well, and the motor worked fine hauling the larger car around. The one I had was a base version, but for what these are probably selling for right now, great buys. I'd probably have a passat wagon if they had one in America.

Welcome to the dark side.

Im so jealous of you...I used to rent cars so often before I bought one..so much fun to drive different cars...think you got a bad Toyota..I sometimes got Toyota Matrix's that felt like the transmission was bad..glad ur enjoying the new rental

Well we can agree to disagree on that point. The other one I get a lot of exposure to is a 2013 XLE hybrid and is spends some time in the shop, more than I think it should. As far the rentals I get them for work every few months. This one was a vacation.

Weird. Maybe it was burned out?

LOL. I was waiting for it.

It was probably the Maintenance Indicator light that comes on every 5k miles, esp since the car had 25k miles on it. My brother travels a lot and rents cars through Hertz and always asks for a Camry. But I know some portly fellows usually like something different.

That's my car right there, have my heart set on it. Flat gorgeous, a joy to drive and amazingly quiet. Best of all it isn't Japanese.

I was raised on VW's, learned to drive on a VW, drove one all through high school and well beyond then an Audi when I was a young man. Got away from them somehow but I am dead set on going back home to them some 30 years later. I had forgotten all about them, then happened to drive the Passat R-Line on a fluke and realized how much I had liked them and was missing.

A dealer here will sell those 25k R-Lines for 19k. I am IN if I can get my finances to cooperate.

Thats a nice car but its not a wagon!

It was not the Maintenance indicator light. I know what the difference is.

I am 5'7 175ish pounds. I did not like it. I tried real hard. It was just not my thing. For me it did not have enough redeeming qualities to justify shopping one, buying one, or renting one. Again to each their own. The radio/info system was harder to use then the VW and the GM ones. In fact the GM and VW I used were very similar, very easy to use and even used some of the same symbols on the buttons. The Fusion I had was just as easy as the GM/VW stuff.

I know a lot a people like them. Perhaps they don't cross shop and just assume it is the best car out there because it is a Toyota. There is nothing wrong with that.

You read this thread so you know I HATE VW, but could not really find anything bad about the Passat. I found it very easy to like and I think I might need a drink or two now. The Passat may have changed my mind, while the Camry made my mind up for me.

See that right there?

We all know the Toyota is the "better" car, but the VW just makes you not care.

So which one is actually better?