Volkswagen Passat Estate - long-term review

What if the end game isn’t SUVs, whether electric or not? Could fitness-for-purpose still have a place in a world dominated by uniform crossovers? And therefore, is the car before you not old fashioned and outdated but (part of) the future?

It’s called an ‘estate’ and the big boxy shape prioritises boot dimensions over design. It’s low to the ground as well, because not everyone needs the high-set seating position of an SUV, and this in turn brings myriad improvements in aero, weight and agility. Not everyone can charge an EV or plug-in hybrid either, nor wants to drag any hybrid’s batteries on a long journey, so this ‘estate’ comes with not one iota of e-assistance or energy recuperation.

Thus the pure-ICE engine is light, ringing those virtuous improvements again – and when refills of energy are needed, they come quick, thanks to the ability to inject liquid into an onboard tank (at a sustained high rate) in mere minutes.

Sadly though, cars like the Volkswagen Passat Estate are getting fewer and further between. Core rivals like the Insignia and Mondeo are long dead, and up in more rarified air, Volvo has just built the last V90 and Porsche won’t sell a Sport Turismo version of the current Panamera.

Don’t mention saloons either, because they’re even more imperilled, so much so that VW is only making this generation of the Passat available as an estate. In fact, it doubled down on its uncertainty with cars of this ilk by handing development over to Skoda. Yes, VW Group products are always incestuous, but the Passat Estate is related to the Skoda Superb more so than usual. Still, in world of big, comfortable estates, that’s the equivalent of Audi asking Porsche to bring the Concept C sports car into production. In other words, the Passat Estate couldn’t be in safer hands.

We’ll get to comparing and contrasting with the equivalent Skoda, the future of the estate, and lots more, in months to come, but for now let’s concentrate on the spec. It’s in R-Line trim, because in anything less you get a gaping big grille with horizontal chrome strips that’s too akin to a teenager smiling awkwardly with braces.

R-Line unlocks all the engine options (none of which are diesel) but R-Line is only a trim level rather than an out-and-out performance model, so there’s nothing to bait hot hatches here. Instead, it’s a choice of three variants of a 1.5 that range from mild hybrid to plug-in, from 148bhp up to 268bhp. But we’ve gone old school, like a Golf GTI from a decade ago: 2.0-litre, with a turbo, for 201bhp.

Our car is an ex-press vehicle so the options, while tasteful, are plentiful. The colour is Reef Blue, which is usually a £825 option. But ours has the Grenadilla Black roof, which doesn’t cost more per se, but also costs £3,400 more, as the R-Line Signature Pack with Black Styling is an auto-select option with the two-tone paint. For that you get heated, cooled and massage seats, a heated steering wheel, lots of black exterior trim, LED rear lights, a rear spoiler, rear privacy glass (plus laminated side windows), Alcantara headlining, and ‘self-sealing’ AirStop® tyres.

The 18in ‘Coventry’ wheels are also switched to 19in ‘Leeds’ alloy wheels, with a diamond-turned finish – and yes, someone somewhere in a marketing department decided that should be the upgrade every company car driver is striving for. The leather seat upgrade in the same pack is designated ‘Puglia’, which is a region in Italy that isn’t anything like a city in West Yorkshire.

In addition to that, we also have a tyre-pressure monitoring system (£205), a diddy spare wheel (£360), the Drivers Assistance Pack (£635, and featuring 360-degree parking camera, extra safety systems, and electric child locks for the rear doors), an enlarged 15in infotainment screen plus HUD display (£870), a towbar (£1,095, so Jethro will be in touch soon to haul his Porsche or Citroën somewhere) and a tilting, sliding panoramic sunroof (£1,385).

We’re out of time, but is the Passat Estate? More in the coming months.