The VW Phaeton

VW's Answer to Mercedes and BMW

Introduction

The VW Phaeton was produced from 2002 - 2016. The car was built in the Transparent Factory located in Dresden.

The car was first imagined by Ferdinand Piëch, Volkswagen’s ex-chairman. He wanted to create a car that would out class the cars that any of the rivals were producing whilst boosting VW’s image. The Phaeton was designed to be comfort oriented, giving both the driver and passengers a pleasurable experience.

Piëch was a perfectionist to such an extent that he set out ten different parameters that the car must meet. These parameters were seen as impossible, half of his engineering team walked out as they the said it could never be done.

Only one of the ten parameters was ever released to the public. The parameter was that the car must be able to maintain an interior temperature of 22 °C whilst the exterior temperature was 55°C and whilst the car was travelling 186mph.

Specifications

The car itself shipped with a list of engines. A 3.2L V6, a 3.0 V6 TDI, a V10 TDI and the famous “Bentley” W12. In foreign markets a 3.6L V6 was also offered along with a 4.2L V8. The 3.2L V6 was the only front wheel drive Phaeton produced, with all other models having VW’s 4 motion system. The power outputs from the engines are quite respectable with even the 3.0 V6 diesels producing around 240BHP and 369lb-ft torque.

The platform was shared with the Bentley Flying Spur, Bentley Continental GT and the Audi A8. All 4 cars share the same drive train and suspension setup. They also all shared the same W12 , with Audi sharing the same diesel V6 and petrol V8.

The car itself was so technologically advanced that VW spent over 1.3 Billion dollars on its development and warranting over 100 new patents on everything from its smart “Climatronic” system that adjusts the cabin temperature perfectly (and eliminating the windows from misting up…automatically) to the “Best 4 motion” all wheel drive system.

Attention to detail

The Phaeton is unlike any other luxury car. The attention to detail is fantastic. The boot hinges, the clocks on the dashboard, the air vents. Every component has been designed to be perfect. Unlike the Bentley which is designed to be modern whilst following British tradition, the Phaeton doesn’t have a rule book to follow, Piëch designed the car to be a signature of modern luxury as oppose to a car that tries to be a modern adaption of tradition or a flash sign of wealth.

The Phaeton is unlike any other luxury car. My dad drives his to work every day and unless someone knows what it is they assume its a Passat. The car is so understated that it goes under the radar of most people. The Phaeton is stylish and contemporary, it keeps to itself in a world of flashy Range Rovers and Bentleys. It passes through unnoticed.

The Phaeton treads this fine line between a business mans car and upper class luxury. It gives you this mixture of both where it was the same price as most Audis at the time yet has the feeling of a 100k+ land yacht. It can both hug the road tight and eliminate the bumps.

The Dark Side

The Phaeton proved VW as being capable of making a luxury car, however with sales coming to a decline the Transparent Factory adopted the production of the Bentley Flying Spur in 2013 and the VW Phaeton ended production in 2016 with the new Arteon taking its place. I cannot find any evidence to support this however I suspect it ended its production due to VW’s diesel gate scandal.

Will the Phaeton make a comeback or is it left in the history books as VW’s stab at the big dogs in the luxury market?

The Used Market

The used market in the UK is not massive. Currently there are 32 for sale on Autotrader with only one of them being Front-wheel drive. For the level of luxury you get, the cars themselves are relatively cheap with the V6 diesels coming up for around £6,000 with 120,000 miles on the clock.

LWB versions are also for sale with a V10 diesel up for just under £5,000! So if you want a cheap-ish luxury car then the Phaeton would be the answer.

Note: If you buy a diesel before 2008 then it will not be subject to the higher tax bracket.

Disclaimer

This is most likely a one off post. The post is being created due to a few reasons. The first being my fascination with the VW Phaeton. My father actually owns one and every since he got it I’ve been fascinated with the car from its production to hidden details on the car.

Yes, you could say I am ripping off CannedRex24 with his “Cars you probably didn’t know much about” (which actually inspired me to create this post) but I have tried my best to not rip off his format.

I also understand that I don’t have the best reputation on CT and have decided to somewhat prove myself as being more than some one who steals memes and starts arguments. As much as I have criticized the platform for its posts I do genuinely like the platform as it allows for literally anyone to experience being an author of an article, even me.

Please, if I got any details wrong, correct me. I hope you enjoyed this. Big thanks to the CT staff for not banning me when I started that massive argument over basically nothing other than myself getting triggered over Canned Rex’ comment.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_Phaeton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xm2swohEtYM&t=127s (Topgear - VW Phaeton)

http://keegan.populr.me/phaeton-engineered-without-compromise

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transparent_Factory