GRR Garage: VW Passat Alltrack - Disseminating the virtues of VW group

Why? Because whether it’s a Bentley or a Skoda, a Lamborghini or a Seat, every single one of them while shot through with the hallmarks of an impeccably engineered VAG product, wears the individual identity of that brand like a finely tailored suit.

Have Lamborghinis ever been madder or more extravagant? Besides the overheating, pig-to-drive side of the relationship that notion has with Lamborghini, not really. And we’re not having that such wrinkles being ironed out are tantamount to a loss of character…

Commensurately, have Skodas ever been a better value motoring proposition? Compare and contrast, if you will, today’s bulletproof design and quality offered at incredibly competitive price points with whatever Skoda were before VAG’s acquisition. They’re cheaper, more cheerful and quirkier than ever before.

How does this all relate back to our Passat? Well, it’s in the family isn’t it? Volkswagen is the adoptive mother company. Now we’ve spoken at length about the virtues and wrongdoings of this car – the former thankfully coming in much greater abundance than the latter – but it also speaks for the group and that message is a positive one. 

It’s purely based on the positive experience I’ve had with this car – the level of quality, capability, equipment level and so on – that I’ve wholeheartedly been recommending the likes of the new VW Tiguan and Skoda Karoq to my Mum. Heavens, we’re on the verge of directly (sort of) attributing a sale to a long-term test.  

So while over the course of this long-term test we’ve been commenting on the vices and virtues of the Alltrack, we can also, thanks to the uniformity of the group, make inferences on the wider state of things. Based on what we’ve experienced, we’d say they’re in rude health.