Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion drives 2458km on single tank of fuel

By Brett Davis | October 05th, 2010

Volkswagen has been entered into the Guinness Book of Records after completing the mother of all fuel economy runs and breaking the production car, single-tank economy record in a Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion.

The car was driven by Gavin Conway from The Sunday Times who drove the distance using just 77.25 litres of diesel. He was accompanied by a film crew and a navigator. Although there were no fuel stops made, Gavin Conway and the team didn’t do the trip in one go, in fact, they done it in an equally surprising three days.

Those without a calculator at hand may not realise this means the car achieved overall average fuel consumption figures of 3.1 litres of fuel per 100km. Volkswagen says Conway’s average speed was around 72km/h. The company also said the car wasn’t simply driven on a freeway the entire time either, twisty back roads were also part of the journey.

The record is sort of like driving from Melbourne to Townsville without stopping. Not bad for a family sedan using a 1.6-litre conventional combustion engine outputting 78kW. If only all cars could manage that.

MK

Being a VW, is the AA van following for the expected second break-down (done over three days)?

sam

good one mate.. I know very few people appreciate the reality of it..

Grant

Having just read MKs comment, are VW really that unreliable. I am keen on a second hand Golf type 5, but I am feeling rather hesitant, after reading his, and other comments. I have owned 2 VWs in my life, the first was a 68 1500 sedan, the worst car I have owned. I am now driving a 96 Transporter bought new ( the most reliable car I have owned) now done 387000ks. But its a basic 2 litre petrol ( no bells and whistles). So id love to hear from other VW type 5 golf owners what their experience has been like. Cheers.

VW

Hey Grant, a great resource is vwwatercooled.org.au

Jabba the Hutt

Or… Google “Complaints Corner Volkswagen” for an unbiased view.

Can anyone imagine driving Melbourne to Townsville at 72 km/h without a caravan and a pension? Impressive economy nonetheless.

lazza

Google “complaint ” and report back when you don’t find anything in the first 5 links…

lazza

That should read Google “complaint (any car manufacturer)”…

nickdl

There’s quite a few horror stories regarding the Golf 5′s. They were built in South Africa (not necessarily a bad thing) but the main problem is the price of fixing them once out of warranty. I guess there isn’t much wrong with your Transporter because it was well built in Germany and there isn’t much to go wrong. Because of the questionable build quality of the Golf and the number of expensive parts it is quite a risky buy on the used car market.

Have a look at a few of the owner reviews on drive as well. They tell you a lot more than a journo can.

John of Perth

We have a 3yr old (Oct 07) Mk5 TDI SAfrican built, with 94000kms on the clock and it hasn’t missed a beat. Only issue is oil consumption which requires a regular check every 1500kms.

John

Docck

Sorry but a three year old car with oil consumption problems is a big deal.

John of Perth

I wonder how many actually check their levels – you might be surprised with modern common rail diesels running euro 4 , 5 and above.

Hung Low

Wow John, only one issue with your VW!
Pity that issue requires an engine rebuild to properly rectify!
Devil’s Advocate

The oil level on many of the newer common rail diesels actually goes up in normal operation…

mmmmmm

check the country of origin.
the south african built ones are not as good the the usually bullet proof german built cars.

ABMPSV

I agree my friend VW Golf is from Germany nothing wrong.

crownleyian

We I can tell you one thing GRANT.

In Portugal due to the economic situation everyone uses Diesels there.
Allot of Polo’s 1.4TDI and Golf’s 1.9TDI and 2.0TDI, those engines just go and go but you do have to properly maintain them.
They are the most reliable there is, especially when it comes to the TDI engines the best diesels there is followed by Renault’s DCI, Peugeot HDI there is no better.

VW’s very reliable as a “Toyota” would be.
Golfschwein

My Golf V is the best, most perfect and most enjoyable car I’ve ever had. It threw a turbo impellor at 77,000 kms and was outside warranty, but VW Australia and my dealer looked after the claim with incredible grace.

You might think that’s pretty serious, and it is, but doesn’t compare badly with a company supplied Camry and Commodore, both of which I ran from brand new. The Camry was lunching major components by 45,000 kms and the VS Commy had a passing parade of major faults throughout its 100,000 kms.

Of other faults supposedly afflicting my Golf, according to armchair experts here, there are none.

nickdl

Oh ok so every other Golf is exactly the same as yours… Of course there are well-built Golfs out there. The thing is when a Camry has something go wrong with it the cost of fixing is much smaller than a Golf. And let’s face it a Camry is generally much more reliable than a Gen V Golf.

Golfschwein

Did you actually see what I wrote? Try again. The Golf is a joy to drive and own. VW Australia looked after the repair. In the Camry’s case, it was a complete yawn, so it’s lucky that the company I worked for stumped up for the repair of the 3rd gear synchro and blown head gasket. The same thing was happening to others in the fleet, too.

Peter

You blew a turbo at 77,000km and you think thats reliable? Geesh, people are willing to forgive a lot nowadays.

Golfschwein

Ahem, no…please read again, then once more to let it all sink in.
Hung Low

Not to forget all future potential issues with bits of the impellor sucked into the engine.
Checked you oil consumption lately?
Ridiculous in these times to blow a turbo that prematurely!

John of Perth

The usual rubbish sprouted by those who don’t own one. Have had my Bora for 9 years and honestly the only issue was the window regulator mechanism – a known issue which VW fixed at the 5yr mark without cost. Regular servicing is essential.

They are just as reliable as any other good quality brand.
kennyboye

Just for completeness sake:
MkV GTI 3 door DSG (Made in Germany). Only just hit 30K. Overall very happy with it BUT some minor quality niggles like door handle coming off, leaky sunroof, plastic trims coming loose. Nothing to cry about but for a (close to) 50K hatch am a teeny bit disappointed. On the other hand still a great drive. I suspect the issue is that people expect better from a relatively high priced euro.
Eureka

I expect what appears on the internet is biased towards the minority who have experienced problems rather than the majority who haven’t. What’s the point in someone posting “my car hasn’t broken down again this month”? Nobody would be interested.

My personal experience is that VWs are very reliable. (How boring is that). In the past 15 years I’ve owned 7 in total and the only issue I’ve ever had is a faulty starter motor on a Mk V 2.0 TDI (which VW Australia paid for even though it was a few months out of warranty).

ABMPSV

Very good fuel economy for such a big car and good average speed.
Nick K

Buy a copy of the dog and lemon guide before considering a mk5 Golf… Scary!!!! I have had 2 Golfs, one was a total lemon, the other okay, but gave more trouble than a Japanese car. The Germans build in a lot of complexity that results in more issues and higher ownership costs. The Golf is still a nice thing… Maybe you need to find a good VW specialist so maintenance is more affordable.

ABMPSV

Dog and Lemon guide is for USA and most VW coming from Mexico that is why quality is so so. Would you buy a Falcon or Commodore from China?

Golfschwein

Dog and Lemon guide is total rubbish and written by a Toyota salesman. It’s such frightening reading, that’s all you’d buy. Thank goodness, then, that I was GIVEN a dodgy brand new Toyota to drive!

fawefwa

i’d love to smash your face in

ShockJock

Fool

crownleyian

For people that bash VW for their maintenance being expensive, it is the same thing in Europe.

Very expensive to maintain a VW there too.

ABMPSV

What is your source. I checked the net and Hyundai Accent in Germany is 380 Euro, Audi A3 30,000km is 253 Euro, Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi 30,000km 240 Euro, VW Golf 30,000km 290 Euro.

Stoney!

My golf has had two clutches replaced for the supercharger, a new engine, window regulator replaced, SAT NAV system kept shutting down, vanity light wouldn’t go off, had a blown speaker, rain sensor played up. All fixed and can’t wait to buy another one, such a magnificent car!

Stoney!

Nat

i guess thats not soo good but i mean if vw fixes it all for you under warranty all asap and with no complaints than you can take it but i think vw will soo be one of the best car companies around kicking toyota off there spot especially when they bring there awesome looking new amorak ute in top car all vws are nice cars my dad has a vw transport constantly carries 2.2 tonne around as he is a builder done 170000kms in 3 years and never had one fault only a perfect car and is just trading it in for another always been a toyota man but got a vw and you couldnt pay him enough to get away from european loves em

nickdl

The full stop button is located below the ‘L’ button on the keyboard…

It’s a major inconvenience having to take your car in to be fixed, free of charge or not.

Hung Low

Geez Stoney, what a piece of sh*t you have there!

Stoney!

Best car ever, and can’t wait to get my next one, or might even upgrade to the new jetta!!!!

Stoney!

Hung Low

Based on your standards a Great Wall X240 or Mahindra would be a significant upgrade in reliability!

Hung Low

Yeh right Stoner!
Your ideology is bent and akin to going out to sea with a hole in the boat!

Reliability is first. Toyota has been the worlds largest car manufacturer solely because of the stigma of its reliable past nothing else. And they did not have to aquire other car companies to get there….hint hint VW!

One thing I applaud you for is your honesty in admitting that your VW is a lemon on these blogs. But your reasons for dismissing that as an issue for a new car purchase are bordering on ridiculous.
Stoney!

As is clearly stated that you seem to keep missing, reliability is only part of the product, great wall offers nothing else I want you idiot..

Stoney!

My Cars Called T-Rex

All thoes problems and you think its good,your a glutton for punishment.

Stoney!

My car rewards me every day I drive it, I\’ve barely been without the car since I bought it and had many a good times in it, it hasn’t let me down once.

It absolutely loved the trip to Queensland From Sydney, averaging 5.8L 100k’s and a fat torque band from the turbo supercharged engine for overtaking. Great stereo to keep me entertained, DVD player to keep the mates organised whilst I was organising accommodation each day. Heated leather seats and mirrors for July’s chilly weather. Aero wipers giving the clearest vision I’ve ever had in torrential weather, not to mention the extensive active and passive features making me feel safer than I ever have on the open road, there’s a reason I bought this car, and I knew before I signed I might have troubles with it

Stoney!

F1MotoGP

In England 3 year or 30,000 mile service cost 250GBP = 415AUD

Stoney!

Was that a reply to someone? Cause I failed to see the point.

Stoney!

F1MotoGP

Toyota Yaris 3 year / 30k mile service £118.50 for the service and another £50 to change the coolant $279.
Hayzel

German cars in general are made with such precision that they won’t withstand wear and tear like japanese or korean cars would and that is a fact. When you buy a german car you basically trade in reliability for quality/refinements so don’t expect german cars to be reliable. They can be for sure but you really have to look after them and that will mean $$$$$$ in the long run.

There is a reason why german cars are relatively much more expensive than their japanese or korean counterparts, german cars are reserved for those with rather high income. If you are looking to buy a car that is reliable and cheap to maintain with good resale value…forget it..you can get none of that out of german cars. What you would get is, however, quality and driving experience, that you can’t get from any other car.

Flying High

“…What you would get is, however, quality and driving experience, that you can’t get from any other car…”

What absolute rubbish!! Back in your box!

Hayzel

You can’t just call people comments rubbish..not only is it rude, it is thoughtless and immature. Give me a brand that represent premium motoring that is “relatively reliable”, practical and not astronomically priced. You just can’t get away from german brands.

Sure a Honda for example drives really well for the price but you still can not get the same driving experience as you would in a much more expensive german car. A lexus you would say might be a non german contender but then again Lexus still falls short to a refinement say of a Mercedes.

You just have to accept the facts..the prove lies in the reality that german brands such as Audi, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, etc can charge a very high premium for their cars. They can do that because people generally agree that the price justifies what they would get. What they would get is not reliability, no, but quality/refinement.

Robin

To quote Hayzel “Give me a brand that represent premium motoring that is “relatively reliable”, practical and not astronomically priced. You just can’t get away from german brands.”

Easy – A Mazda 6 or Subaru Liberty.

Hayzel

Errm…Mazda and Subaru are not premium brands.
mmmmmm

not ‘premium’ to some, they’re just reliable as in very reliable not relatively
and subbi and mazda are at least as premium as VW for most buyers money

Mythfrances

Its the first time I heard “quality” is in reverse relationship with “reliability”.

Both Japan and Germany make some highest quality and most reliable cars in the world. Dont just hate one another because they are competitors. Like I love Mercedez Benz and Honda at the same time. (though I admit I dont really like BMW cos their recent cars are not just so ugly…but also so expensive!=D)

Hayzel

Quality don’t always corresponds to reliability, simple as that. An AK47 assault rifle vs m16 assault ifle for example. AN AK47 has a lot of “give” in their design and construction allowing them to fire even after buried in mud. An M16 however would not fire after getting buried in mud because they don’t have a lot of “give” in their design, a single sand would obstruct the barrel of the rifle causing a jam. Cars are the same way.
Hayzel

FYI, I’m not a fan boy of any car brand. I like any car that is a good car, whether, it is japanese, Korean, German, Italian, etc. What people need to learn is to accept cars as what they are…german cars are expensive to maintain for them to be reliable, while on the other hand a japanese car is much cheaper to maintain for it to be reliable.

matt

no but your clearly a communist, demanding people think your way otherwise their wrong, go back to mother russia, drive skoda’s and fire AK47′s al day long, jap cars and now koreans more then ever match euros for reliability and refinement without the need of superchargers/turbochargers or even, rediculously, both in VW’s 1.4 engine. but i concure euro/jap cars are the ants pants at the moment, although ford america seems to be going in a good direction (but please leave our falcon as is )

on topic though, driving that far on a tank with an average speed no less than what you would achive driving down the queensland coast is amazing.

Hayzel

A communist eh? I have not demand anything, I gave out my opinions and i give reasons and explanations for why I think the way I think. I am a free thinker and that is the most important foundation for democracy not communism. Besides why are you thinking that I am supporting german brands? I did say that jap cars are cheaper and more reliable than their german counterparts that are more expensive to maintain, so I have no idea what are you getting at.

satisfied driver

I think there is perceived quality that comes across in the feel of the car, and then there is robustness of the essential systems which is not always apparent till very late in the life of a car. The two are different, eg. you could conceivably implement a very good interior, and have a very well tuned chassis yet have dodgey electricals and a transmission that requires overhaul after 140k kms etc. There is no inverse relationship, the two qualities are simply decoupled, although manufacturers of premium cans usually aim for both, but it is as Hayzel said, they are necessarily built to tighter engineering tolerances and have more complex systems which have to be respected in the form of a strict service and maintenance schedule.

Hayzel

That is exactly my point, thank you satisfied driver.

John of Perth

what rubbish
K20A

Hayzel, you are absolutely correct.

I have always used this analogy when trying to explain the differences between Jap vs Euro cars: Euro cars are like a screw / bolt that is screwed too tight.. it feels superb, nice and tight initially, but over the years it will loosen up and loses its tightness.. Jap cars are screwed just right. Not too tight, not too loose… and will stay this way for years to come.

I have owned and driven many Japanese and European cars in the past, alternatively! In fact, the last 4 cars have been German -> Jap -> Jap -> now back to German. I won’t mention brands / manufacturers because I don’t want to split opinion / look biased.

In absolute terms, Japanese cars are of course more reliable than European. Please don’t confuse reliability and ‘quality’. When people associate ‘quality’ or ‘build quality’ with European cars, they are mostly referring to ‘perceived quality’. Japanese cars don’t care much about ‘perceived quality’.. except maybe Lexus. Japs care about ‘true quality’ / long run reliability. If you still don’t get the two concepts above, this debate will go on forever..

This is why, no matter how upmarket a Japanese car is, it will still feel different ot European cars. And yes, I’ve also driven Lexus. On the other hand, no matter how reliable a European carmaker is, it will struggle to beat a Japanese maker for reliability track record, especially when number of cars in operation and mileage are taken into account.

I drive a German car knowing full well I have to spend more in terms of servicing, potential electrical gremlins, etc. But at the end of the day, I love the ‘hidden luxuries’ that only European cars can provide.. the sound of the doors / boot closing, the fullsome steering, the heated mirrors, the uniformly lit instruments at night time, the ambient lighting softly lit the centre console, etc. All this comes at a cost though.. that is reliability.

I love both equally (Japs & Euros), and each has its own merits. If you want a trouble free motoring, please help youself and get a Jap or Korean (Hyundai / Kia) cars. If you really like your cars, want to spend a little bit more in maintaining it, promise yourself never to skip a scheduled service AND accept the fact that it won’t be a trouble free motoring, then you may get a Euro.

Jon Bon Jovi

“Although there was no fuel stops, Gavin Conway and the team obviously didn’t do the trip in one go, in fact, they done it in an equally surprising three days.”

Uhm… Has journalistic integrity gone out the door in regards to grammar and sentence structure? I expect more CA.

Casey

Yeah, grammar panda is VERY sad.
Kieran

Agreed! Very poor form, CA.

Shak

If you have been buying cars for aeon’s like me, for both company and private use, you realise a trend. With the Company cars i saw them last much longer than my personal cars. Reason? The Companies i have worked for are usually very stringent when it comes to servicing, and they don not scrimp on what has to be done. With my own cars i have from time to time become complacent, or adopted the “she’ll be right attitude”, and it eventually shows. If you can service even some of the most unreliable cars, and keep them to the manufacturers requirement they should last well past the double tonne mark. So far my most reliable car has been my VT Commodore. Till today it has only ever required a battery change from a flat one. Not a single thing went wrong, and it was a company car that i bought off the company after the lease period. Simple. keep your car healthy and it shouldn’t ever fail.
greenroom

luck of the draw, and long k drives always help. bugger this stop start driving stuff. my golf V is a winner. big ks, hot ks, a very reliable trouble free car.
freakson

VT Commodores were generally oil leakers, oil eaters and as far as electrical side is concerned they all pretty much have identical standards as equivalent EL series of the period and AU1 which always won, not only for reliability and zero need to open the bonnet or worry about lack of power “torque” while overtaking.
VT was essentially the worst car ever produced, only variants were the GENIII Calais VTII that were a real blast. But the 3.8L V6 was crap, it can only thank its 3.06 first gear that gives it a head start up to 45-50km/h by a nose length and then a typical EDII 3.9 MPFI just takes over, not to mention what an EF/EL did, AUs and not to mention how BA/BF’s mesh these cars, while new finer tuner FG 4.0L matches the GENIII 225kW variant by 98% and its a 4.0L!
technology has come so far. Ford rules!
Stoney!

Well as stated above, My as new golf has not been reliable, but customer service wins me over hands down. My car went in around 2 months ago for the ECU recall to attempt to stop engine failure, most people were saved by this but the damage was already done to my engine. I took it in for a harsh idle they came out 5 mins later throwing a complete new engine for me no questions asked, simply for buggered rings.

Customer service to me is more important than the reliability of any car, All cars break down, few companies treat you with the respect you deserve. If this was a ford I’d probably be fighting for a re-built engine after some of the horror stories with my falcon company car.

The driving satisfaction and highest-quality-in-class, materials used and fit and finish will keep me coming back fo more.

Stoney!

fattyandgeorge

I would be selling that thing asap, would I buy crap pizza cause the service is really good?? No I would not

Golfschwein

You’d never go back to Dominos, if you tasted what else was out there.
Stoney!

Why would I sell it, everything has been fixed, new engine. I got a new car again. I am over the moon with this car, I test drove the i30, mazda 3, awful focus, terrible TERRIBLE corolla and the astra and nothing came close, this thing is a driver car, and for those looking for a quality finished vehicle, sure I’ve had a few minor problems, and one major that should have been addressed in a recall. But it’s a fantastic car.

Pizza? your a moron…. Trying getting the same level of treatment from ford or holden when you do an auto in your focus or Astra, or one of the many many other things that go wrong with them. I rang my sales manager to tell him they had no more courtesy cars at the service centre and he brought be down a brand new jetta which I had for close to 3 weeks. If it wasn’t for the high standards of service I’d be bashing the brand. But I am more than happy with them.

Only 2 years till I get another golf!!!

Hung Low

Be brave and own it out of warranty! You would be wishing for one of those terrible cars you previously tested!
Imagine if all manufacturers sold mutton dressed as lamb!

Stoney!

6 years is to long to own a car I’m sorry!

Stoney!

fawefwa

i’d love to smash your teeth in.

Nick K

The dog and lemon guide is not written for the USA, it is written by a kiwi for our market as well. He writes the truth… Just cross check with the JD Power quality and reliability survey and it lines up. My personal experience has been that the Toyotas I have owned have much better reliability… Boring and devoid of character, but reliable. As for poor quality not afflicting German built VWs… What utter nonsense, my lemon Golf was built in Germany… Problem was lots of poor components and unessary complexity. Would I buy another VW? Only if it was new and I got a 6 year warranty and I sold it before the warranty expired… A shame really as the car is great in so many other ways. Just my 2 cents worth.
Save It for the track

Stoney. All these trips in to VW for your Golf, did they give you a loan car. How long did it take to get the new engine in? By the sounds of it you have either the ‘GT’ or the current 118 TSi? How much time off the road have all of these trips to the service department caused? Just out of interest. As for the fuel economy run of the Passat, well it’s like any of these fuel runs, it’s not really done in ‘real world’ conditions I’ve recently had to run in a new car, and I noticed that the best fuel economy while trying to vary the speeds on the open road was around 80-85km/h. I guess different vehicles will vary. No doubt a ‘bluemotion’ VW will hace good real world economy as well.

Stoney!

Refer to my post above, yes they did give me a loan car, and because they had not courtesy cars left when I was getting the new engine they gave me a new jetta off the lot.

Stoney!

fattyandgeorge

So an engine blowing up is a “Minor” issue, well what is major issue exactly?, whole car falling apart like a smokey and the bandit scene?, car spontaneously combusting?
Please tell

fattyandgeorge

Not replying to that are you Stoney!

Stoney

Stoney!

sorry was trying to work out where i said it was a minor problem, no it’s not but has been handled very well. I’m still smiling, great car!

Stoney!

stuzz

vw transmissions are the weak link!
ohreally

“When you buy a german car you basically trade in reliability for quality/refinements so don’t expect german cars to be reliable”

LOL

having driven many second and third hand bmws and volkswagens I can assure you they last.

Even the e36 bmw with 260 000 kms on the clock drives just fine.

With the amount of volkswagen bashing going on i wouldnt be suprised if rival dealers were making half of these posts. Surely they are trembling at the coming price drop of the golf

Hayzel

They last sure, if you maintain them meticulously and really replace what is needed to be replaced because german cars are made out of many relatively intricate parts. The only problem with that is it will cost a lot of money, that can be a problem for people who are on tight income.

Japanese cars on the other hand is built not so intricately and in saying so they are made to last. For example, a toyota corolla doesn’t not need special engine oil or parts replacements every so often as say a BMW would.

A clear testament to this would be that with premium brands such as a mercedes, you don’t just go to your local mechanic to get a service, instead you go to a specialised mechanic. With our Australian made cars FORD and HOLDEN or even Japanese cars, you can just service them anywhere. From these examples you clearly see what I am getting at.

Your BMWs and Volkswagens maybe fine but that may be because:
1) Their previous owners are really meticulous with them and may have even replaced some of the old parts with new parts
2) You may have not driven them quite enough yet to experience any problem, this is considering the fact that you have changed cars so many times over the years. Most probably the previous owners of those cars would’ve experienced problems.

LukasUtopia

How the topic of fuel economy can easily digress into a reliability argument, it’s a really controversial topic this one.

Here’s how I understand it to be – If you have a decent amount of money and appreciate excellent fuel economy, quality design + materials (most but not all), high safety and the best innovative (not referring to most durable) engineering in the world, but are willing to pay a bit more for servicing and to be aware of the fact that anything which is more complicated is more so likely to break – buy German.

But If you, like the many are, don’t have that decent amount but want a car with reasonable fuel efficiency, reasonably well designed (some ever better than the more expensive but some just plain wrong), reasonably safe (some now very safe) then buy Japanese.

Simple isn’t it?
ABMPSV

Any article with VW turns to bashing VW. Look other cars with problems Honda Jazz gearbox. Costing owners $3000 to fix. Service cost VW expensive.. Honda charges for 80T km service for Jazz between $600-$800.

Hayzel

No one is bashing the brand. BTW you really shouldn’t bother to comment if your too lazy to even construct proper sentences.
fawefwa

off yourself cretin

Stoney!

Just for the record, My friend has a 103tdi DSG Mk 6 golf, which he has had for 18 months now without one single problem with the car, I was just unlucky it seems. Trawl the VW forums, you hear more of people with problems than people without. At first i thought I was banging my head against a brick wall because no one else was having the problems I was, once again, I was just unlucky, hasn’t strayed me from the brand though.

Stoney!