What do you think of the 2009 Volkswagen CC?
11 Answers
The base models ar 2.0 liter turbo gasoline engines. Not turbodiesels!
To preface, I worked as a VW salesman from Feb 2006 to Aug 2008 and am a VW enthusiast. My first car was a 1996 VR6 Passat, and have since owned three other VW's. I dont dislike the Passat CC, but from a car selling standpoint, i dont think it's enough. I think the Passat lost a lot of its charm from the b5.5 generation (up to 2005). It was at one point the best selling car on the planet in 2003, but it has since fallen. It is probably due to a number of factors including downturning economy, but more like the relative unreliability of the previous VWs. Any car manufacturer would need a fair amount of time to recover from a bad rap like that, but in improving the vehicle's mechanical longevity aswell as its general quality, they cast the charm factor aside for a more homogenized Japanified look for the Volkswagen line. Though the cars are incredible examples of machinery now and really are worth the sticker price, they lack the humble appeal that past VWs have inherently had. I have had friends mention that the outgoing Passat was one of the ugliest cars on the road, but in the same day had people gush about their passat with 187,000 miles on it and how it just seemed to greet them with a smile every morning. and this would be in the service department when they're getting their 3rd repair that month (which was also not indicative of miles because I saw plenty of people with well under 100k come in for service repeatedly). There is an intangible factor in the design of the car. You never know who's going to like it, but you take a calculated risk by designing it out of the norm, but not insane. The new Civic comes to mind, an out-of-the-ordinary and risky design, but like it or hate it, they did it so well it's hard to argue with. The Prius comes to mind, and more extreme examples include the Element, the xB, the Beetle, etc. these cars are all love 'em or hate 'em designs, but the key to that is that some people love 'em, and thats what you need. you need people to fall in love with the car, and then price and reliability history and tepid reviews start to become slightly less important. The thing is the Passat has good reliability now, it has very good reviews, and is in general one of the better cars for the money on the road. It's ride and acceleration and fuel economy and entire feel are incredibly impressive, but it has fallen short in the design department. It doesnt stick out like the outgoing passat did. It may not have been a flashy car, but the design was certainly different from anything else in its segment at the time (Accord, Camry, TL, Maxima, Avalon, etc.) It had down turned headlights instead of pointy cat eyes like all the rest. It had straight and elegant body lines without over achieving accent lines and flares. it wasnt trying to convince you that you "weren't getting a family sedan at all. in fact, this thing is a sports car really. those extra two doors and back seat...no one will notice you've got kids. It's really sexy to have this car." In fact the Passat embraced it's humbler plan for life as a well-to-do family car or a grocery getter or a nicer version of all those other cars. And in that the design became sexier than all the rest by being honest with itself. It is a sedan. And it did sedan better than anybody, which was proven by it's stand as the best selling car of 2003 worldwide. This character was lost with the forth coming passat. It's design lost its humble design. Lost its dowdy down turned headlights. Lost its subtle body lines. Gained hard edges, gained that silly bulge at the bottom of each headlight which will age this car by the non timelessness of that design, gained flare body work and jewel tail lights and a raked back body shape with steep angles and swoopy, sporty accents and stance. These all sound good, but not on a family sedan. Sexy is good for a family car, but a different kind of sexy. Remembering that most buyers of the Passat are people at least past 35 with kids and more likely past 47 and with kids out of the house. These are the people who were attracted to the Passat before. They are generally a little quirkier and well educated. They understand what they are buying and thats what they want, but now it isnt available. I had a lot of people begrudgingly go into the new Passat because they didnt want to leave their old one for one that they liked, but just didnt love the way they did their old car. That VW character is what has been lost from the brand and I want it back. A lot of people want it back. Now they have have the Passat CC, which I will say looks much better in person than it does on screen. In itself is a very good car and is a good price. i have a few minor complaints such as the lack of a fully opening sunroof (it just tilts and you cant upgrade) and the trunk loses a bit of space, but who cares really. I love the way the interior looks, even with the peanut butter leather and i like all the little accoutrements they've added to the interior, dash and steering wheel to differentiate it from the sedan. I like that they've deleted the middle seat and made the backs a little more bucket-y. I in fact like the design of the entire car a lot and commend VW on making a very attractive car that sits as a wholly well made vehicle with no larde complaints to be made. However, there are two problems about it: 1) partly a personal grievance that this further distances VW from their long standing design M.O. of standard but different. Putting a lovable and/or charming spin on a vehicle archetype that sets its buyers apart in the car world as "VW Drivers". The start with the beetle being nothing like anything else out there, up thru the golf which reset the hatchback trend, the Jetta, which by the mid-nineties was a counterculture car, and to the New Beetle which reset the norm again. And not to mention all the designs along the way that have always been charmingly blocky or dowdy looking, but full of personality. VW designs hold a spot dear to my heart and seeing them stray away is painful. I also think they will be losing some of that demographic of people who want something that looks different and is different; but wont gain many buyers from the group of people who were previously turned off by the VW out-of-norm-ness or the group who traditionally buy from the Japanese market for all the reasons to be buying from Japanese automakers. This will leave VW identity-less in the market, which is the last place you want to be as an automaker. They will be adrift halfway between their previous market island and the mainland of the Japanese market, but not close enough to either. Brand identity is a problem GM and Ford are both struggling with. Chevrolet is making some true gems like the Corvette and the Silverado, but making some real pinto beans like the Cobalt and the Impala. Non-descript cars stabbing at the japanese market, but not enough to even poke thru their ever expanding armor. The goal for any of these car makers is to not just try and match the designs that the Japanese are producing, but to surpass them. Make it more beautiful, be more inventive, bring more ingenuity to the vehicle. Beat them at their own game. It's not just a battle of money and cost of materials and employee labor and benefits costs. It is a matter of making cars people WANT to buy. If you have a car that some one WANTS, they'll buy it. Think about the waiting lines for the New Beetle, the Miata, the Mini Cooper, the Fit, etc. All good cars, but it was their design that brought everyone thru the door and put their deposit down for a spot in line. 2). This car is not enough. It just isnt. VW needs to breath life into their line of vehicles, not reheat it. A passat with a chopped roof and boat tail trunk just isnt enough to draw customers out to buy one. Ive seen one one the road since they came out. ONE. The passat has been around in it's new design for a few years and hasnt caught on fire, so what's to say that making some relatively minor changes to it to make it look a little classier is going to have people running down to the showrooms to check it out, let alone buy it. It is the same car, and anyone interested in it will know that. Some will buy, but I doubt many. It just int anything new or exciting. not to mention the new Routan, which is a redesigned Chrysler Town and Country, and tho not a bad vehicle, is coming to the game too late with too little to offer. it doesnt look THAT good and isnt THAT different from anything else available and isnt priced THAT well. They need something that, even in economic down times, will actually draw buyers out. Something they cant HELP but to come check it out and inevitably buy. The Passat CC is not that car. Suggestions: The choice by VW to produce the Phaeton instead of the Microbus concept was one of the most frustrating decisions that I know of in the VW company. The Phaeton was destined to be a flop no matter how good it was (which was REALLY good) because it was a $65,000-$120,000 car with a VW badge on it. At that price point, people dont buy it because it can blow 67 degrees out of the AC at 200mph. they buy it because it has the right badge on it. no matter what big sedan you buy at $65,000+ it's going to be nice. Most people spending that money worked for a long time to earn that money and want that badge that says BMW or Mercedes. They should have produced the Microbus concept. At the time it was when Minivans were still at a major boom and were red hot. the market for them was starting to decline a bit, but was till very strong, and was only stronger once Honda introduced the new Odyssey that was no longer based on an Accord and no longer looked like a funny shaped car. If they had released it then (2002ish) then they would have caught the tail end of the strong part of the market with the nostalgia aspect while buyers would still feel confident with the practicality of their purchase. it would be a car soccer moms and dads could feel proud to drive up to the middle school to pick up their kids in. When the New beetle came out in 1998, i remember the first time i saw one on a wharf in Martha's vineyard. there was a small crowd of 6 or 7 around it and I couldnt help but join and look in the windows and listen to all the questions the new owner was getting. the Microbus concept may not have gotten the same buzz as the Beetle, but it wouldve spurned some serious interest and more importantly generated sales. The phaeton didnt even bring people to show rooms who ended up buying lesser cars, where as the Beetle and the Microbus wouldve drawn people in who may have even ended up buying something else due to too long a waiting list. This is what VW needs, this is what automakers need. They even passed up potentially amazing concepts such as the three wheeled GX3 (look it up) and the Eco-racer, each of which were very sporty and fun, but at the same time incredibly economical and very out of the norm, but unintimidating. I wish that VW had taken the risks now that they had in the past to maybe strike new path in the automotive world and maybe make something that people WANTed to buy. They also need to establish brand identity. the new Ford Mustang was a great example of brand identity. It was inarguably a great design and really screamed "FORD" and had people staring and longing. The problem is they dropped the ball after that. there were no other cars in the Ford line up that could stand next to the Mustang as such a unequivocally FORD vehicle. So the interest for the Mustang came, peaked, and went without stirring up a whole bunch of sales for other Ford vehicles. The VW line was at one point unmistakeably VW and it was supported by an incredible stretch of ads including the "Da Da Da" ad and the Pink Moon ad. When they ended their contract with Arnold advertising agency, they also left behind the longest running ad campaign in history of "Drivers Wanted". In that they left behind a remarkably well crafted brand identity. One of style and self awareness but lacking any presumption or arrogance. It was the quiet confidence in knowing that kinda quirky was actually kinda cool. Now they have nothing but the past to try to look back on for inspiration and thats a horrible business plan. The past was good, and now theyre in a quagmire, so it's better to look ahead and again redefine themselves rather than trying to recopy times that were better. I know this seems like an awfully long rant that is only partly related to the Passat CC itself, but the Passat CC is one of a few vehicles in a line up that is the entire face of the company. It is their entire persona and their entire source of income. With each new vehicle that they choose to be part of that line up, i would imagine that they wouldnt want to produce anything short of a spectacular vehicle to represent themselves. The current cars are definitely spectacular pieces of engineering, but when there is no identity or character to it like there once was, the wind disappears from VW's sails. VW needs to have a serious brain storm and get down to their gut feelings about the company and where they came from and who they want to be seen as. Whether they really want to try to run the same path that all the other car makers are running or create a new one and go it solo. They are a big enough company and have a large enough customer base to be able to pioneer new ground without terrible risk. They always have, and it seems unimaginable that they are just following the pack now.
WV's cars has been very ugly in my eyes for a long time, but this one looks good and sounds promising!
First of all, I'd like congratulate Jordy on his great summary of what he thinks is wrong (and right) with the company. I think it's a pretty good assessment. However, I would like to add that I'm hoping this new design is a trend that kinda matches the new design direction with the company - the new Mark VI Golf looks like it's got sharper lines (at least it does from whatever pictures I've seen of it), and this car is a looker as well. And of course it comes wit the trustworthy base 2.0T engine. My 2.0T Jetta's lease runs out in a year, and the CC is on the top of my list for the new lease as of now.
the new cc is a good looking car i own the previous one and ther'es no big difference just a few modifications to make it look more agressive and luxuous at the same time,but what i contest is the engine ,so for both the cc and the B6, i was expecting bigger engine in the diesel categories so i personnaly think that vw should take a step forward and dare a 3.0 V6 TDI on her CC still that the 2.0 TDI is a good engine but 140hp is what a corolla have under the bonnet ,if i were ask to choose btw the cc and the ALFA 159 2.4jtdm i'd defenitly go 4 alfa unless they put a serious engine on the cc
Just got a 3.6 FSI CC ! Interior looks nice , handling is nic,e I like the car in general...
The CC is actually very similar to the Passat. The interior is EXACTLY the same as the Passat. The rear passenger seats are actually very uncomfortable because of the angle of the back of the car, the roof is almost touching your head. The rear tail lights are horrible, look at the shape of them! Overall this car is not bad, with many possiblities for tunning, my buddy has one and tunned it to about 450 Hp.
I own a 2009 CC. I had it tuned. The car is very good on gas considering its a sedan. I love the way the body looks. The interior is very roomy except for the back. Its only2 seats because of the center console. I love this car!!! Handles great. The only question I have is why is it debadged? Not that I mind because allot of people stop me to ask!! I think it looks nicer than the more expensive LEXUS!!
Nice. Well thought out and well written. I must say that I do like the CC design. It is reminiscent of the CLS Mercedes design lines, without being too overboard with the concept; like the new Hyundai Accent. I'm disappointed that the Jetta is so bloated and almost indistinguishable from the Passat. The Phaeton was a bargain basement Bentley, with far more to offer than anything in it's price range for 10's of thousands of dollars. W12? how cool is that? But a $75K VW? Even fans such as us would have a hard time buying it over a MBZ, or BMW, though it is arguably a far better car. It makes no real sense, it's a stigma of the "peoples car". 75K isn't for the workin' joe. I would absolutely have got off the couch and sought out a new, modern day type II, if only to look. A camper model, a 13 window, a crazy P/U version? Hollywood is all about remakes, so let's have a type III notch-back or wait for it... a Thing even. How 'bout a 2 door, coupe full on sports car to take on the rally car/ street racers dominated by Subaru WRX and the Lancer EVO and Renault? Quirky is cool when VW is at it's best.
I think now that VW and Porsche are together an interesting thing that would sell is a new Beetle based loosely on the 911. It would have the true beetle RR Layout (instead of front wheel drive) and use a water cooled flat 4 based loosely on the 911 Engine. It would however be more of a sports car than a cheap economy car like the Type 1. It would be refined and modern, just as the 911s are, but it would also have that character that would make it sell. As far as price I see it sitting just above the new Golf GTI. I see it targeting buyers of the 370Z, MX5, and RX8, and maybe attracting some of the Camaro/Challenger/Mustang Crowd as well.
