10 years of 2.0 diesel Passats: the MPG truth

[LotusOmega375D]

I have kept a daily log of mileage and diesel purchases for my work cars for the past 15 years. Sadly I no longer have the data for the first 5 years on my computer, but I do still have the last 10 and a half years' worth.

As I have just this week swapped my last car for a new one, I thought it would be interesting to see what the actual MPG values for each car turned out to be. None of this dash computer display guesswork, which so many people seem to swallow as gospel. All cars were bought new and replaced after 3 years.

So here we go:

2005 saloon (140 BHP manual): 41.6 MPG
2008 estate (140 BHP manual): 44.8 MPG
2011 estate (140 BHP manual): 47.1 MPG
2014 estate 4WD All-Track (170 BHP DSG auto): 37.3 MPG

All cars have led a similar life (same rural home and job) and been primarily used for long journeys for work or holiday (no commuting at all), so I doubt that any real-world owner would achieve more MPG than this.

I have now gone back to a 2WD manual estate with the latest car, albeit 190 bhp, so am hoping to get back into the mid 40s MPG. I certainly don't think the 170 BHP 4WD DSG auto was worth the extra 20% fuel consumption over its predecessor. Unless you really need the traction of 4WD, I don't think it makes much sense to specify it.

[LotusOmega375D]

Having had a new diesel Passat without interruption since 2002, I think I know how to drive them!

[LotusOmega375D]

Road2Ruin said:

Not sure you do! My XC60 D4 163bhp, after filling up this morning I worked it out as 43.7mpg. That is a usual trip of 14 miles a day, 6 country roads, 8 town.

That’s nothing special, is it?

[LotusOmega375D]

Correct. I work from home so have no need to commute.

[LotusOmega375D]

The MPG figures were not for some sort of economy drive: just REAL values after 10.5 years of new car ownership. I am staggered that people think they’re too low. They just aren’t. Sorry guys.

[LotusOmega375D]

Haha. It’s actually been 15+ years. At least I have progressed a little up the power chart from 130 to 190bhp of my new one. None of them have ever gone wrong either. Perhaps more importantly there has always been at least one fun car in my garage throughout to maintain my sanity.