Long-term update: 2012 VW Passat CC gets a bath

Long-term update: 2012 VW Passat CC gets a bath


The last few weeks were pretty awful in terms of weather. Daily sandstorms took a toll on cars in Dubai. It was even worse when, you think the worst of the dusty weather is over so you wash your car, and then there is yet another dust-storm the next day. Frustrating indeed. And it took a toll on a car’s performance too.

But first thing’s first. Our 2012 Volkswagen CC took a minor hit from behind by an ancient Kia Carnival at the valet area of the Atlantis hotel. I was pissed, until I took a look at the damage. The white Kia’s front bumper was cracked, but nothing happened to the VW except for some tiny scratches and a whole lot of white paint transfer. A bunch of Chinese dudes came pouring out of the minivan, all freaked out. When I tried communicating with them, they spoke nothing but Chinese. So I said “it’s all good” and went off, because it was the kind of accident that cops get pissed off at you for, since you’re wasting their time over a scratch.

I then went to my old friend at Farba Guard to bring back the shine around the scratched area. They buffed out the rear bumper, so only the dark bits remain where the paint has come off. I’m still surprised at how solid that rear bumper is. I guess there are still some German cars out that aren’t just all made of crumply plastics.

I finally got the car washed there as well, after accumulating 2 weeks of desert-dandruff. Incidentally, our fuel consumption went up by about 0.5 litres/100 km in the crap weather. We also tested some other cars in the middle of sandstorms, and got 0-100 kph times that were longer by 10% compared to previous tests we did with similar cars. All that sand flying into your air filter is never a good thing.

But after nearly five months with the Volkswagen, I have to say that I trust the brand more now. If you remember, I was the loudest one to trumpet about how unreliable Volkswagens were before. Half-a-year still isn’t enough time to gauge long-term reliability, but as we approach 10,000 km, I have to say that I’ve seen some other test cars start to fall apart by now. Everything on the VW is still in one piece.

Original Mileage When Borrowed: 435 km
Latest Mileage To Date: 9,749 km
Latest Average Fuel Economy: 11.8 litres/100 km
Cost of Latest Problems: Dhs 0
Cost of Latest Maintenance: Dhs 0

Total Non-Fuel Running Cost Since Borrowed: Dhs 0

Read all 2012 Volkswagen Passat CC long-term updates

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  1. Author

    By the way, those who signed up for our MyRide forums before 25th of December 2011 are still eligible for a 65% discount on a full detail by Farba Guard. The offer is valid for a few months more. Redeem it before it’s too late.

    https://www.drivearabia.com/news/2011/12/12/farba-guard-car-detailing-special-offer-dubai-uae-discount/

  2. Nice feedback.

  3. mash u seem 2 love this car and i can know why.the only thing bad about this car is its so good looking people and even other cars !! envy it,i guess u know what i mean since this is the second time u had anaccident..hhh.

  4. i guess this car is really tough and safe car.just the other day i saw a nissan pickup hit a CC’s rear bumper and i was amazed to see the so tough , rugged pickup’s front bumper had broke and fell to the ground and the CC was just as new , even though i heard they designed the exterior shape and materials soft and less harmful for pedestrians .

  5. I would like if you compare it to a mercedes-benz cls , to see why its so much more expensive even though it has much much less gadgets ..

  6. so next time car reverses on a pedestrian he dies the bumper remains in perfect shape.

    • You have rear cameras and sensors to avoid hitting anything if you reverse the car.

    • NO!!! , what ur saying makes no sense !! its like a teacher(me) spending the whole class teaching you about cells and a student(you) at the end say (what are cells).i said the complete opposite of ur comment.and why and how in the world would u kill someone by reverse !!! i never heard someone died by a reversing car.anyways i dont wanna add much to ironman’s perfect reply.

    • Web and Newspapers are flooded with news, serious accidents where kids have been overun by their own parents while reversing, even big people also, lot of cars have rear bumpers crushed or broken even big vehicles like Armada and Tahoe, having sensors and camers in car does’t gaurantee you will make no mistake while reversing, i was just joking at overhype over bumper strength, what i ment is if the same cc rear ends the Kia or Nissan pickup, it will also have a broken front bumper. I have never seen a car bumper survive after hitting a pickup from rear, it too have been in uae for several years and have seen what happens to car when it hits a hilux or nissan pickup, and please nobody needs lesson here, their are lots of people who owned many vehicle here and write good points about cars in drive arabia. Just read the forums may be you will get an idea.

    • man!! if i explain i will have to write a 2 pages.If you read my comment what i said was its a suprise for a car designed with people(V) in mind too not just the People’sCar(VW) to be tough cause if you wanna hit someone and not hurt him you dont put tough things like iron on the front bumper but something that will be easy on human legs like a giant marshmallow..hhh and u replied that the person who is hit by this car will die which is the opposite of my comment.but if u were just joking then i’m sorry .

  7. front LED’s would look great on this car especially on the lowest end of the front headlights like some audi’s . can you get it on this car , mash ?

  8. i didnt see it on the options list but a friend of mine has it on his car , he said its available as an extra accessory at VW dealers…

  9. and to add to my last comment i would like to quote honest mash (I’m still surprised at how solid that rear bumper is. I guess there are still some German cars out that aren’t just all made of crumply plastics).and we all agree that mash has driven more cars and abused them more so has more knowledge about cars than us
    too and he would be much less biased especially to this VW car than us because as we know VW has a very close relationship to AUDI.

    • Author

      I once touched the rear of a Honda Civic with my old Merc’s front bumper when the guy cut me off. My Merc got a minor scratch, but we wasted time finding cops because the Honda got a hole in its rear bumper. Which is why I appreciate solid cars more.

  10. old mercs are great too , we were in a nissan sunny near a traffic light and the driver braked then a 1989 merc e-class hit us quickly from the back and the rear bumper of ours was disentegrated and the only thing to fall from the merc was the dust on its front bumper.I didnt know you had a merc mash , what model was it ?

  11. I think those 190Es are reliable , right ? a neighbour has it until now he bought it new ..

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