Does anyone have any experience with a VW Phaeton? I was up close and personal with one today and it was damn nice! Phenomenal paint and it simply dripped quality.

Do the air suspensions have similar issue thats MB's do? IOW hideously expensive to service/repair. W12/V8?

My curiosity has been piqued.

 

Sir Frederick,

Speaking on personal opinion, I would much rather have the V-10 TDI in the T. Awesome machine. . .

 

I've got a customer that bought one off lease, for $18k. Dang thing was 3 years old with 15k miles on it. The last thing I saw that nice was a Bentley. I've kinda been on the look out for one that cheap.

One of VW's worst marketing attempts but one hell of a nice car.

 

Funny this subject is coming up. I've been looking into this car as well. Seems like a heck of a lot of car for the money. Just wondering about maintenance.

 

Make sure it has a warranty on the transmission. On the Canada forum a member had one and he was thankful for that.

 

I have some experience with a pre face lift V8 as a company car.
18 months ,45000klm zero issues.
Very expensive services.
Otherwise, a different car in its class, good looking and with a quality interior with more space than an S-class. (drives better too)
Euro prices are on the floor, no idea about the US.
Go for it.

 

The only thing I'm really concerned with is the suspension. I know that similar suspension systems on MB's are like $1200/corner or some absurd amount like that to repair/replace. The tranny's are robust especially the 5sp on the W12, that I do know.

 

I had talked to a local VW dealer service rep about one.

They said just make sure that you get an extended warranty. In the conversation I learned that the "head unit" controls basically everything and that one simple/small break could cost a LOT more than you might expect. Don't know the specific details of failure/s.

I chose to buy my Evo X instead.

Michael

 

It is a Bentley,Piech put a VW badge on it to avoid the start up costs going to Bentely which would prevent it from ever being profitable. VW absorbed the costs no problem. Put Continental GT body on a phaeton and you have the most succesful Bentley ever.

 

I thought the Phaeton and A8 were close cousins? other than the heavy steel VW frame compared to the lighter aluminum frame on the Audi.

 

Yes on the suspension.

They switched to a new air strut at some point. Suspension failure was somewhat common on early models and required replacing all four corners to upgrade to the new design. VW was paying for replacement of the three good shocks when one would fail. I don't know if that is still the case.

If you read the Phaeton forums, there has been a lot of discussion about where to find extended warranties. As is the case with any recent luxury sedan that cost $80K+ there are lots of electronics to go wrong.

Timing belt service interval on the V8 is 80K miles, so you see a lot for sale in the 80-90K miles range.

The four seat version is pretty cool, but they go for a hefty premium. I would love to pick one up at some point.

I think there is at least one Rennlister who owns a Phaeton (auzivision I believe). You might PM him.

 

Friend of mine had one - awesome car. He had no troubles but service was expensive. He enjoyed telling people that he was "scaling back his lifestyle and mostly drove his VW". I also think it is shared platform with the A8.

 

They share parts with both the A8 and the Bentley Continental. A8 has an aluminum frame resulting in a lighter car. The Phaeton's frame is steel. The interior on the Phaeton is nicer than the A8 though.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?3691491

 

I love this car... one of my favorite 4 doors ever

 

Moved? Really?

This is a dumbass practice that needs to stop. Everyone in OT is a car guy/gal with a take on any number of makes.

I would approve of this moving practice if all of OT becomes threads about Camaros, Corvettes, and 90s Rustangs, but a small production VW - that is the parent company of Porsche - come on.