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| My 2007 VW Passat in New Mexico |
I was somewhat disappointed to read that Volkswagen will be ending Passat sedan sales in the U.S. after the 2022 model year (the car will continue to be sold in Europe). I probably would not have been surprised had I known sales had dropped to about 23,000 last year (down from 78,000 in 2015). Why do I care about this mid-sized sedan I once called "the German Ford Taurus"? I had a 2007 demo model I bought at a discount and proceeded to drive for the next 10 years. It road tripped from Taos to Savannah to Asheville, and I put thousands of miles on it for business trips in Texas and Oklahoma. It even drove down the long unpaved road from Hwy 550 to Chaco Canyon (though we thought it might become a permanent fixture) and survived a snowy mountain crossing driving it through the Carson National Forest. It was great on the highway and deceptively large in cargo space. To sum things up: it was a great car for 9 of the 10 years I owned it and the best value for my automotive dollar so far. Had I sold it in 2017 I'd probably have even fonder memories.
I've also driven the Passat's more exciting cousin, the Audi A4. My brother used to have an A4 R-line which was quite fun to drive. Assuming Audi doesn't kill the A4 to make way for more SUVs in the line-up, that's a car worth checking out.
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