RE: Volkswagen Phaeton V6 TDI | Shed of the Week

RE: Volkswagen Phaeton V6 TDI | Shed of the Week

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Fink-Nottle

388 posts

44 months

Sunday 25th February
quotequote all
I just did a quick search on mobile.de.

Total number of Phaetons available: 388
Total number available for < 20k Euros: 358

Total number available with >200k km mileage: 201

So, fully half of these seem to have been financially tolerable enough for their previous owners to take them to a fairly high mileage. 41 of them even passed the 300k mark.

I was going to buy a Golf 7 this coming week. Perhaps a Phaeton is a more sensible choice.

Most of the Phaetons available in my area are 3.0 TDI 4Motion. Is there anything worth being aware of about these? Too slow? Failing AWD, etc.?

rallycross

12,858 posts

239 months

Sunday 25th February
quotequote all
MagooGlasgow said:
I have owned 2 Phaetons. The first was a 3.2 Petrol LWB AWD. I loved that car. I did around 120,000 miles. I understand that they are going to be expensive to fix if something breaks, nothing ever did. Unfortunately I was driving past a parked car when the the driver opened his door and kinda wrecked everything on my passenger side. By coincidence the car he was in was a Bentley Continental which as others have remarked is a close descendant of the Phaeton. I sold that one as a fixer upper and its now being driven around Aberdeen area by a man who knows his cars and also loves it. There have been comments about it being related to an A8 , its not, I have had an A8 and an S8, both were good cars but with nothing like the build quality of the Phaeton. Also the suspension on the Audi's was overcomplicated and unreliable. My second Phaeton, I bought about 3 years ago, its also a 3.2 petrol but SWB and not AWD and without some high spec stuff like window blinds etc. In the last 4 weeks I have driven it as follows, Glasgow - Felixstowe,
Hook of Holland to Salzburg, Salzburg to Chamonix, Chamonix to Venice, Munich to Amsterdam. Hull to Glasgow, It has not missed a beat and I get out of the car tired for sure but relaxed. It is a mile muncher par excellence. BTW on these journeys I can confirm that i will get 30mpg at around 75 mph.
I recently tried to buy the Phaeton which the Lord Provost of Glasgow was ferried around in. Sadly being diesel it was not ULEZ compliant. For about 10 years I had a 1979 Silver Wraith which was very comfortable but drove like a barge whereas the Phaeton is more comfortable and miles better to drive.
The only vehicle that has come close in terms of build quality was a Mercedes delivery Van I drove about 40 years ago. I had to open the window before closing the door because the seals were so good. I think that vehicle did around 500,000. The dream Phaeton would be the 3.2 petrol AWD with an LPG conversion. I fitted proper snow tyres on my AWD Phaeton. Absolutely unstoppable!
That’s high praise indeed good review

The Dodger

2,375 posts

265 months

Sunday 25th February
quotequote all
Great write up and an obvious bargain for somebody in the market.
I've always been a fan of these but it would have to be the W12 for me - or maybe the V8 petrol. I don't do diesels.

Edited by The Dodger on Sunday 25th February 13:36

mercedeslimos

1,661 posts

171 months

Sunday 25th February
quotequote all
Fink-Nottle said:
I just did a quick search on mobile.de.

Total number of Phaetons available: 388
Total number available for < 20k Euros: 358

Total number available with >200k km mileage: 201

So, fully half of these seem to have been financially tolerable enough for their previous owners to take them to a fairly high mileage. 41 of them even passed the 300k mark.

I was going to buy a Golf 7 this coming week. Perhaps a Phaeton is a more sensible choice.

Most of the Phaetons available in my area are 3.0 TDI 4Motion. Is there anything worth being aware of about these? Too slow? Failing AWD, etc.?
If you live in Germany,it's the emission zones. Stuttgart has one now, and Munich and Berlin are probably not far behind. All these Phaetons are all Euro 5, though I wonder in Germany can you get an AdBlue retrofit

jon_273

113 posts

89 months

Sunday 25th February
quotequote all
Gad-Westy said:
Master Bean said:
This or a Citroën C6 2.7 Hdi. Decisions.
Tough one!

Isn't it funny how the (apparent) commercial flops always seem to be the most interesting cars!
They both make interesting barges!


Fink-Nottle

388 posts

44 months

Sunday 25th February
quotequote all
mercedeslimos said:
If you live in Germany,it's the emission zones. Stuttgart has one now, and Munich and Berlin are probably not far behind. All these Phaetons are all Euro 5, though I wonder in Germany can you get an AdBlue retrofit
Oh, good point, thanks! I just moved to Germany, so I clearly have things to learn. My city doesn't have an emissions zone, but one does want to move around...

mercedeslimos

1,661 posts

171 months

Sunday 25th February
quotequote all
Fink-Nottle said:
mercedeslimos said:
If you live in Germany,it's the emission zones. Stuttgart has one now, and Munich and Berlin are probably not far behind. All these Phaetons are all Euro 5, though I wonder in Germany can you get an AdBlue retrofit
Oh, good point, thanks! I just moved to Germany, so I clearly have things to learn. My city doesn't have an emissions zone, but one does want to move around...
How do you find it? I almost moved but it didn't work out. Often wonder if should I have. Go often on holidays though.

Fink-Nottle

388 posts

44 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
mercedeslimos said:
How do you find it? I almost moved but it didn't work out. Often wonder if should I have. Go often on holidays though.
It's an interesting experience, but I'm a special case. I'm a native who just returned after 25+ years in the UK, the US, and Switzerland. Everything's the same and everything's slightly different.

BTW, this one claims to be emissions grade 4 (green). Per Wikipedia, that's true for all V6 TDIs, just not for the V10 TDI.

https://suchen.mobile.de/fahrzeuge/details.html?id...

One owner, warranty at extra cost. Except for the choice of wood it looks rather fetching...

Bad Bernie

15 posts

4 months

Monday 26th February
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MagooGlasgow said:

Great Review Herr Piech, would have been happy to see it......

He was asked once, which cars that he made he was most proud of......the Phaeton was one of them and considering all the greats he did make that is some accolade.

They took the limiter off a W12 once in the ME........they got it up to 220 mph with a bloke reading a paper in the back seat.........some car.

MightyBadger

2,213 posts

52 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
Alx27 said:
That interior looks to have some very cheap plastics.
How can you tell without touching them? Amazing eyes.

Passats always seemed pretty tough inside to me and well built.

Gad-Westy

14,671 posts

215 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
Bad Bernie said:
MagooGlasgow said:

Great Review Herr Piech, would have been happy to see it......

He was asked once, which cars that he made he was most proud of......the Phaeton was one of them and considering all the greats he did make that is some accolade.

They took the limiter off a W12 once in the ME........they got it up to 220 mph with a bloke reading a paper in the back seat.........some car.
I presume you meant to type 200mph? 220 seems seriously ambitious with just over 400 bhp. To be honest, so does 200!

MightyBadger

2,213 posts

52 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
Fink-Nottle said:
I just did a quick search on mobile.de.

Total number of Phaetons available: 388
Total number available for < 20k Euros: 358

Total number available with >200k km mileage: 201

So, fully half of these seem to have been financially tolerable enough for their previous owners to take them to a fairly high mileage. 41 of them even passed the 300k mark.

I was going to buy a Golf 7 this coming week. Perhaps a Phaeton is a more sensible choice.

Most of the Phaetons available in my area are 3.0 TDI 4Motion. Is there anything worth being aware of about these? Too slow? Failing AWD, etc.?
Put the money you would save by not getting a Golf R into the ‘Phaeton repair fund’.

BIRMA

3,813 posts

196 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
MightyBadger said:
Alx27 said:
That interior looks to have some very cheap plastics.
How can you tell without touching them? Amazing eyes.

Passats always seemed pretty tough inside to me and well built.
Actually the plastics inside the car weren't that bad. During the ownership of my V10 Phaeton I went to look at the Bentley saloon version as it had similar platform/suspension etc to the Phaeton.
Yes the switches and gear inside the Bentley were very nicely made being metal no plastic in that car but then the price difference was notable.

BFleming

3,621 posts

145 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
Fink-Nottle said:
mercedeslimos said:
If you live in Germany,it's the emission zones. Stuttgart has one now, and Munich and Berlin are probably not far behind. All these Phaetons are all Euro 5, though I wonder in Germany can you get an AdBlue retrofit
Oh, good point, thanks! I just moved to Germany, so I clearly have things to learn. My city doesn't have an emissions zone, but one does want to move around...
There are lots of German cities with emission zones, but some have introduced Diesel bans on Euro 5 or worse: Stuttgart, Berlin, Darmstadt, Munich and Hamburg. Even then, it's sometimes just certain streets or certain areas. https://www.germanemissionssticker.com/the-german-...

The ones with emission zones, for which you fundamentally require a sticker:

sidewinder500

1,189 posts

96 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
Regarding emission zones the police at my home town (munich) openly admitted not to bother with checking the permission..., I think it's no different in other larger cities...

Kawasicki

13,124 posts

237 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
Bad Bernie said:
MagooGlasgow said:

Great Review Herr Piech, would have been happy to see it......

He was asked once, which cars that he made he was most proud of......the Phaeton was one of them and considering all the greats he did make that is some accolade.

They took the limiter off a W12 once in the ME........they got it up to 220 mph with a bloke reading a paper in the back seat.........some car.
W12 NA and 220mph, sorry no, not possible. It wasn’t easy to hit 200mph in the much more powerful twin turbo version.

BFleming

3,621 posts

145 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
mikEsprit said:
I was pretty interested in getting a used Phaeton as they depreciated, or even a Passat W8, but the reliability and engine problems of the W12 and W8 became known before the depreciation got to my level. 
I always found it weird that VW only ever put the W8 into one model - the Passat B5.5 - using the 4.2 V8 for the Phaeton & Touareg.
The Phaeton 3.6 (which replaced the 3.2) must be a rare beast.

mercedeslimos

1,661 posts

171 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
sidewinder500 said:
Regarding emission zones the police at my home town (munich) openly admitted not to bother with checking the permission..., I think it's no different in other larger cities...
That's a real surprise from the rather efficient German police. I suppose they have bigger problems than that.

AmyRichardson

1,151 posts

44 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
BFleming said:
I always found it weird that VW only ever put the W8 into one model - the Passat B5.5 - using the 4.2 V8 for the Phaeton & Touareg.
The Phaeton 3.6 (which replaced the 3.2) must be a rare beast.

The W8 seems to have been a product of expedience. If you weren't trying to stuff an 8-cylinder engine into small-ish but longitudinal platform, you wouldn't bother; if you can suffer a bit more length (Phaeton could) then a V8 is your boy - even firing, balances properly, even intakes/exhaust routes,... ,... And if there's a V8 on the shelf...

rallycross

12,858 posts

239 months

Monday 26th February
quotequote all
BFleming said:
I always found it weird that VW only ever put the W8 into one model - the Passat B5.5 - using the 4.2 V8 for the Phaeton & Touareg.
The Phaeton 3.6 (which replaced the 3.2) must be a rare beast.
A Passat estate W8 would be a superb Q car / tow car - I’ve never seen one for sale would be quite tempted. Stick a tdi badge on the back and have some fun!