Renting a Jetta or Passat?

Andrew Szafran wrote:

> In rec.autos.driving Pooh Bear > wrote:
> > I know somone who bought that model and had to sell it because he found the
> > seats intolerably uncomfortable.
>
> > If you like great seats I can recommend Saab.
>
> > Graham
>
> Seat comfort is very much a personal thing. The original poster might
> find the 'old' Passat quite comfy (and I'm not sure how different the
> 'new' Passat's seats are anyway).
>
> I find my Volvo 240's seats to be extremely comfortable (not to mention
> the best seat heaters ever), but a short friend complained that the
> pass. seat was 'awful' on a long trip.

My own experience of a Volvo seat was the rear passenger's side in an 850-T5. It
was a trip to Frankfurt from the UK so - quite a few miles ! My back felt
absolutely fine afterwards. I believe that Volvo and Saab use ( used ? ) thae same
Swedish seat manufacturer btw.

In comparison I once had to endure a relatively short trip ( about 20 mi ) in the
back of a Ford Escort. My back was killing me after about 15 mins.

Graham

John Bartley wrote:

> The callsign shows I'm in the Pacific NW of the US

What 'callsign' is that ?

Graham

Bill McKee wrote:

> "Bert Hyman" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In nk.net "Bill McKee"
> > > wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> "Bob Ward" > wrote in message
> >> ...
> >>> On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 06:31:16 GMT, lid (Király)
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>>Rent? Are there no local VW dealers willing to let you take a test
> >>>>drive, for free?
> >>>
> >>> You don't often learn a lot in a trip around the block with the
> >>> salesman pressuring you about buying the car, never shutting up long
> >>> enough to even listen to the radio, much less check seating comfort
> >>> over an extended period with two or more drivers at the wheel.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Hell, any GM or Saturn dealer will give you a 24 hour test drive.
> >
> > But I don't think the OP could get a Passat from his local Saturn dealer
> > :-)
> >
> >
> > --
> > Bert Hyman St. Paul, MN
>
> A used one. Or mention the offer to the VW dealer.

In the end it's all down to how keen a dealer is to make a sale methinks.

Graham

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 18:03:13 -0500, "Daniel J. Stern"
> wrote:

>On Sat, 17 Dec 2005, Andrew Szafran wrote:
>
>> In rec.autos.driving John S. > wrote:
>>> You might want to look at something larger like one of the 4 door
>>> sedans from Chevy or Ford. Also, the Toyota Avalon seemed to have a
>>
>> Look at the Crown Vic. Seriously. Once you get past the "old guy's car"
>> rep, it's a damn good car.
>
>It's a shoddily-engineered, shoddily-built piece of garbage from Ford.
>
>>[*]- You see NYC cabs with 250+ k miles running around all the time.
>
>Big deal! I still see '85-'87 Yugos, Chevrolet Cavaliers and other such
>dreck with that kind of mileage on them. With enough parts replacement,
>you can make anything last that long.

How many Yugos have you seen that survived 200,000 miles of police
patrol car duty plus another 200,00 miles of taxicab duty?

Your ignorance speaks volumes.

Bob Ward wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 06:31:16 GMT, lid (Király)
> wrote:
>
>
>>Rent? Are there no local VW dealers willing to let you take a test
>>drive, for free?
>>
>>K.
>
>
> You don't often learn a lot in a trip around the block with the
> salesman pressuring you about buying the car, never shutting up long
> enough to even listen to the radio, much less check seating comfort
> over an extended period with two or more drivers at the wheel.

Last time I bought from a VW dealership (Nov '02), they handed me the
keys to an '03 Passat GLX and let me drive around with nobody else in
the car. Ironically, my previous car was an '00 Saturn (you know, the
"hands-off no-pressure people"), and there was a salesman in the car
yakking at me the whole time.

--
Mike Smith

Pooh Bear wrote:
>
> Andrew Szafran wrote:
>
>
>>In rec.autos.driving John Bartley > wrote:
>>
>>>The IIRC 'silver' rating of these sedans for protecting driver &
>>>passengers in a crash
>>>http://www.iihs.org/news/2005/pr120405.html
>>>has me looking at them to replace my '95 4Runner, which is now overkill
>>>for the driving I do these days.
>>
>>I'd say get an 'old' (1998-2005) Passat. It has a better AWD system for
>>handling and has better weight distribution. Your dealer might even still
>>have a few in stock and be more than willing to get rid of them for under
>>cost since they're "last year's model" (but IMHO a better car than the
>>current Passat).
>
>
> I know somone who bought that model and had to sell it because he found the
> seats intolerably uncomfortable.

He must have an awfully sensitive butt. I've found the seats in my '03
Passat to be just fine for 200-300 mile trips.

--
Mike Smith

Andrew Szafran wrote:
> In rec.autos.driving John S. > wrote:
> > You might want to look at something larger like one of the 4 door
> > sedans from Chevy or Ford. Also, the Toyota Avalon seemed to have a
>
> Look at the Crown Vic. Seriously. Once you get past the "old guy's car"
> rep, it's a damn good car. They're RWD, very durable[*], comfortable, and
> get 25-27 mpg on the highway. Not "flashy" for sure, but nonetheless
> good.
>
>[*]- You see NYC cabs with 250+ k miles running around all the time.
> There's something to be said for a car that lasts that long in *hard*
> city driving. (NYC roads aren't the best, traffic is stop-and-go all the
> time, and it gets *hot* in summer.)
>
> -Andrew

That's an excellent choice, as is Chevy's counterpart.

In rec.autos.driving John S. > wrote:
(about the Crown Vic)
> That's an excellent choice, as is Chevy's counterpart.

By Chevy's counterpart, you mean the 1992-1997 Caprice, not the new
"Impala" which is basically a glorified Lumina, right? The first car is
awesome (I had a 1992 Caprice wagon for a while, it lasted 190k miles, got
stolen, and is probably still runnin' around somewhere), but the second is
a stop-gap pile of dreck thrown together by GM so they'd have *something*
to sell to cops after they discontinued the Caprice so they could build
more SUVs.

Unfortunately, I think the original poster is looking for a new car. If
he weren't, I'd highly recommend any Volvo 940 made up to 1996 or so.
Same bulletproof engine as the 240 wagons (good amount of power if you get
a turbo), comfortable inside, huge interior, etc... Unfortunately, not
available with a manual tranny, but the auto trannies that came with those
cars (71L made by Aisin-Warner or Borg-Warner IIRC) were very strong and
troublefree.

A 90s Bimmer 5-series also wouldn't be a bad choice (this was before
Bimmers got obscenely overcomplicated).

-Andrew

In rec.autos.driving Pooh Bear > wrote:
> My own experience of a Volvo seat was the rear passenger's side in an 850-T5. It
> was a trip to Frankfurt from the UK so - quite a few miles ! My back felt
> absolutely fine afterwards. I believe that Volvo and Saab use ( used ? ) thae same
> Swedish seat manufacturer btw.

All I can say is that Volvo was putting bucket seats with adjustable
lumbar support in their 140/240 models at the same time when most US
makers of "family station wagons" were using flat bench seats in front.
Granted, being able to seat 3 in front is a nice feature, but why couldn't
they have contoured the left and right parts of the benches where people
usually sit (the middle part is for occasional use only)?

-Andrew

Andrew Szafran wrote:
> In rec.autos.driving John S. > wrote:
> (about the Crown Vic)
> > That's an excellent choice, as is Chevy's counterpart.
>
> By Chevy's counterpart, you mean the 1992-1997 Caprice, not the new
> "Impala" which is basically a glorified Lumina, right? The first car is
> awesome (I had a 1992 Caprice wagon for a while, it lasted 190k miles, got
> stolen, and is probably still runnin' around somewhere), but the second is
> a stop-gap pile of dreck thrown together by GM so they'd have *something*
> to sell to cops after they discontinued the Caprice so they could build
> more SUVs.
>
> Unfortunately, I think the original poster is looking for a new car. If
> he weren't, I'd highly recommend any Volvo 940 made up to 1996 or so.
> Same bulletproof engine as the 240 wagons (good amount of power if you get
> a turbo), comfortable inside, huge interior, etc... Unfortunately, not
> available with a manual tranny, but the auto trannies that came with those
> cars (71L made by Aisin-Warner or Borg-Warner IIRC) were very strong and
> troublefree.
>
> A 90s Bimmer 5-series also wouldn't be a bad choice (this was before
> Bimmers got obscenely overcomplicated).
>
> -Andrew

Actually the Lumina is pretty roomy - I've rented them several times.
The point of mine and other messages is that the VW cars the OP is
looking at are not roomy. If he has some sort of back problem then one
of the larger american-size cars like the Avalon, or the Ford/Chevy
products are viable alternatives because of their interior dimensions.