RE: Volkswagen Phaeton: Guilty Pleasures

[culverwood]

I had a Phaeton in the early 2000's and went to Dresden to see it being built in the transparent factory. I kept it for 6 years and it was by the standards of its day the best car I have ever had. Like a number of other Phaeton drivers who have posted I now drive a Maserati - perhaps we just enjoy not following the herd.

My current plan is to get a zero emission Tesla or similar on the firm and buy a second hand Phaeton for long runs.

[BIRMA]

Hackney said:

Possibly, but W12

If you're buying one of these now, particularly the larger engine either petrol or diesel, you've got to want something a bit.... ludicrous really.

A 2.0TDi Passat would have done 90% of what my Passat W8 would have done.
But I bought it for that other 10%

Couldn't agree more, if you are willing to take the chance and buy a monster engined Phaeton they will reward you with many 'big smile moments' I also run a hooligan of a car in an SL63 and the Phaeton gives me the same sort of buzz and only uses half the fuel.

[ilovevolvo]

Always liked the phaeton great to read some owners story's

[BIRMA]

Just don't let anyone customise it.

[ilovevolvo]

BIRMA said:

Just don't let anyone customise it.

Not a chance

funny enough i spotted you in Havant a few months ago in your V10 and thought how good it looked do you know what year the V10 was made up to ?

Russ

[BIRMA]

ilovevolvo said:

BIRMA said:

Just don't let anyone customise it.

Not a chance

funny enough i spotted you in Havant a few months ago in your V10 and thought how good it looked do you know what year the V10 was made up to ?

Russ

I don't know exactly but have seen 2006 registered cars for sale in the past. So as far as I know not very long up to the end of cheap road tax perhaps

[blindswelledrat]

Barchettaman said:

I can´t help thinking that if you´re in the market for a large refined saloon without ´badge appeal´, a newer Superb will do 99% of what an older Phaeton will, without the risks of massively expensive repair bespoke parts if/when things go wrong.

I bought one as a result of a thread on here (I think Bimma was a significant contributor)
My choice was an A8, 7 series or a Phaeton which I plumped for.
What you cannot get from pictures or rhetoric is quite how well built the things are. Mine is a 57 plate but the interior could have left the factory last week. There is not a single sign of aging on the inside and not even the slightest rattle of any kind.
I have owned and driven a lot of cars but I have never been in anything close to being this well built. Ive had it a few months now and every time I drive it I am still astounded by what an incredible car it is and what incredible value they are. Mine is genuinely as quiet at 120 is it is at 60 and if you can get on a smooth bit of motorway that eliminates tyre noise it is silent.
A Skoda Superb is not a valid comparison for this car at all.

[ilovevolvo]

blindswelledrat said:

I bought one as a result of a thread on here (I think Bimma was a significant contributor)
My choice was an A8, 7 series or a Phaeton which I plumped for.
What you cannot get from pictures or rhetoric is quite how well built the things are. Mine is a 57 plate but the interior could have left the factory last week. There is not a single sign of aging on the inside and not even the slightest rattle of any kind.
I have owned and driven a lot of cars but I have never been in anything close to being this well built. Ive had it a few months now and every time I drive it I am still astounded by what an incredible car it is and what incredible value they are. Mine is genuinely as quiet at 120 is it is at 60 and if you can get on a smooth bit of motorway that eliminates tyre noise it is silent.
A Skoda Superb is not a valid comparison for this car at all.

Great you got one as well some pics would be good

[BIRMA]

blindswelledrat said:

Barchettaman said:

I can´t help thinking that if you´re in the market for a large refined saloon without ´badge appeal´, a newer Superb will do 99% of what an older Phaeton will, without the risks of massively expensive repair bespoke parts if/when things go wrong.

I bought one as a result of a thread on here (I think Bimma was a significant contributor)
My choice was an A8, 7 series or a Phaeton which I plumped for.
What you cannot get from pictures or rhetoric is quite how well built the things are. Mine is a 57 plate but the interior could have left the factory last week. There is not a single sign of aging on the inside and not even the slightest rattle of any kind.
I have owned and driven a lot of cars but I have never been in anything close to being this well built. Ive had it a few months now and every time I drive it I am still astounded by what an incredible car it is and what incredible value they are. Mine is genuinely as quiet at 120 is it is at 60 and if you can get on a smooth bit of motorway that eliminates tyre noise it is silent.
A Skoda Superb is not a valid comparison for this car at all.

I'm glad it suited you and you continue to enjoy the car, it's always difficult when you as an owner are enthused about a particular car which in this case doesn't suit many PH members. As they say the proof is in the ownership experience and every time I get in mine having not used it for a while say to myself 'hello old friend' rather than the string of expletives one or two of my past cars has prompted.

In answer to what years they were available ilovevolvo according to how many left there were just over 100 V10's registered in the UK between 2004-2007 with just one in 2007 with just under 100 4 and 5 seaters registered now.

[ilovevolvo]

BIRMA said:

I'm glad it suited you and you continue to enjoy the car, it's always difficult when you as an owner are enthused about a particular car which in this case doesn't suit many PH members. As they say the proof is in the ownership experience and every time I get in mine having not used it for a while say to myself 'hello old friend' rather than the string of expletives one or two of my past cars has prompted.

In answer to what years they were available ilovevolvo according to how many left there were just over 100 V10's registered in the UK between 2004-2007 with just one in 2007 with just under 100 4 and 5 seaters registered now.

Thanks Birma that's very useful

[Gompo]

Saw my local one parked up for the first time over the weekend. Didn't realise it had those wheels on it, but I quite like the look.

NB. the registration.

[BIRMA]

Gompo said:

Saw my local one parked up for the first time over the weekend. Didn't realise it had those wheels on it, but I quite like the look.

NB. the registration.

I've seen those wheels on a custom painted V12 which was for sale a while ago and didn't like them that much but on a plain black car they look quite good.
You have to be careful buying wheels for Phaetons because of its weight. I bought some VW 'Performance' alloys for mine because I hated the standard 'Challenger' wheels that came with the car.

[BIRMA]

Just a heads up because something pretty rare has come up for sale in the form of a W12 Phaeton its a 2010 model so has the new head unit and the amazing Dynaudio sound package it's just appeared in the classified on here.
Put it this way if my V10 wasn't such a low mileage recent purchase I'd be straight up and buy it no hesitation

[Hackney]

BIRMA said:

Just a heads up because something pretty rare has come up for sale in the form of a W12 Phaeton its a 2010 model so has the new head unit and the amazing Dynaudio sound package it's just appeared in the classified on here.
Put it this way if my V10 wasn't such a low mileage recent purchase I'd be straight up and buy it no hesitation

Dammit! I'm six months ish away from buying a car (currently leasing, which ends in April)

[BIRMA]

Hackney said:

BIRMA said:

Just a heads up because something pretty rare has come up for sale in the form of a W12 Phaeton its a 2010 model so has the new head unit and the amazing Dynaudio sound package it's just appeared in the classified on here.
Put it this way if my V10 wasn't such a low mileage recent purchase I'd be straight up and buy it no hesitation

Dammit! I'm six months ish away from buying a car (currently leasing, which ends in April)

Although they did make them right up until recently I've never seen such a late model come on the market. Still there is hope for me once mine has passed it's sell by date if it ever does.

[bigfatnick]

I looked at these when I bought my LS460, as well a S classes. The thing that really put me off the phaeton, was the reality of the petrol v8's. Plus all the vw issues accociated with them. Ridiculous service jobs, generally reliability, all the petrol engines having coking up issues. Minimal costs is what swayed me to Lexus, I've had it a few months now, and aside from 18mpg, it hasn't cost me a penny, and I don't expect it to. If I had a pheatons, I'd have the fear, big time.

I'm a lorry driver however, and I do see a much higher proportion of these in Scotland. And I've noticed you don't see a lot of flash stuff in Scotland, it's rare to see a Ferrari outside of a city centre. I think the phaeton suits Scotland's "can't be seen to be flash" thing that it seems to have. I suppose it's government would probably organise a mob to sit outside your house if you were seen to be flash. I guess pheatons are the perfect car it you want a nice thing but want to avoid been seen as flash.




Has anybody noticed they now sell the Hyundai Genesis in the UK. Is this a good replacement/the only alternative to a phaeton in the UK?

[Bit of a Unit]

Just thought I'd bump this as it's rapidly jumping to the top of my barge list for an imminent purchase.

Is the interior spec standard across the range of engines? Or is there an extensive options list?

Any other ownership contributions appreciated. Particularly the 3 litre diesel as there aren't too many v10 on the market and I need to buy

[BIRMA]

Bit of a Unit said:

Just thought I'd bump this as it's rapidly jumping to the top of my barge list for an imminent purchase.

Is the interior spec standard across the range of engines? Or is there an extensive options list?

Any other ownership contributions appreciated. Particularly the 3 litre diesel as there aren't too many v10 on the market and I need to buy

OK you can tell if the car has the very nice cooled massage seats by the number of controls on the seat base/side. The non cooled massage seats have just a few basic knobs/controls whereas the cooled ones have quite a few. Some of the 2010 cars also have the Dynadio package which is really worth getting a car with, the later cars also have a slightly nicer central dash layout as the previous models do look a bit dated but I don't mind that. A careful check of the specification is required because I found a few dealers didn't know bugger all about what the cars have spec wise.

[Bit of a Unit]

BIRMA said:

OK you can tell if the car has the very nice cooled massage seats by the number of controls on the seat base/side. The non cooled massage seats have just a few basic knobs/controls whereas the cooled ones have quite a few. Some of the 2010 cars also have the Dynadio package which is really worth getting a car with, the later cars also have a slightly nicer central dash layout as the previous models do look a bit dated but I don't mind that. A careful check of the specification is required because I found a few dealers didn't know bugger all about what the cars have spec wise.

Thanks again for your help mate. There are 3 available within 20 miles of me right now that look to have good histories. I'm going for a few test drives this weekend!

[BIRMA]

Bit of a Unit said:

BIRMA said:

OK you can tell if the car has the very nice cooled massage seats by the number of controls on the seat base/side. The non cooled massage seats have just a few basic knobs/controls whereas the cooled ones have quite a few. Some of the 2010 cars also have the Dynadio package which is really worth getting a car with, the later cars also have a slightly nicer central dash layout as the previous models do look a bit dated but I don't mind that. A careful check of the specification is required because I found a few dealers didn't know bugger all about what the cars have spec wise.

Thanks again for your help mate. There are 3 available within 20 miles of me right now that look to have good histories. I'm going for a few test drives this weekend!

Have fun, just a few tips, if any you try have the auto gear indicator fully lit up as a block as opposed to individual figures/letters (its in the display between the speedo and rev counter) walk away it is very rare that a car will have this but best avoided. If any have a full VW history that would be desirable. When you turn on the ignition the rather nice wooden trims should disappear without problem if any stay down press the A/C button on the lower row of buttons and you will see a diagram of the air circulation on the display press the buttons to the side and they should open/operate.

Edited by BIRMA on Tuesday 25th August 20:22

Edited by BIRMA on Tuesday 25th August 20:39