Vehicles just like the 2004-2006 Volkswagen Phaeton are automobile outliers that fans generally tend to have a selected fascination over. The Phaeton, as an idea usually, by no means made just right sense for a emblem like Volkswagen. Until you imagine a luxurious flagship style that carries a W12 engine and a just about $100,000 beginning value to be “the folks’s automobile,” then it’s simple to conclude that VW used to be means out of its zone right here. Hindsight is 20/20, proper? American citizens most well-liked their luxurious vehicles with luxurious badges, as a result of despite the fact that the Phaeton will have pushed and acted like a top-tier luxurious flagship sedan, it carried the downmarket VW badge of vehicles like the Golfing and Jetta.
It’s this very incongruence that made the Phaeton a gross sales failure right here within the U.S. It used to be as a result handiest to be had for 3 style years, then unceremoniously discontinued. In other places on the earth, the Phaeton used to be fairly well-received. It even were given to reside via more than one generations due to robust call for in Europe, and maximum significantly, China. That’s fortunate for VW, too, since the corporate sunk a ton of cash into this mission, going as far as development a unique all-glass manufacturing unit — the “Clear Manufacturing unit” — to completely bring together it in. The Dresden manufacturing unit used to be cutting-edge on the time, and it’s nonetheless a sight to behold — this present day, this location produces the electrical VW ID.3.
Why the Volkswagen Phaeton?
Are you interested by the height of German luxurious from the early-to-mid 2000s? If this is the case, line up proper right here. The Phaeton is an alluring, but additionally horrifying, proposition at the moment. VW spared no expense making this automobile right into a flagship-beating luxurious sedan, which means that it’s loaded filled with candies. You get to choose from both a 4.2-liter V8 or 6.0-liter W12 engine. The V8 makes 335 horsepower, whilst the W12 makes a stout 420 horsepower. Each get deficient gas economic system, however the W12 is remarkably deficient at simply 13 mpg mixed — after all, each require top class gas.
Stand-out options like a complicated air suspension, a draft-less local weather regulate gadget (to steer clear of direct airflow on occupants), heated/cooled/massaging seats (even within the again), a 7-inch infotainment display screen (with CD-based navigation), an to be had high-end 12-speaker audio gadget and high-speed-rated air con. The local weather regulate used to be designed such that it will stay the auto at a at ease 72 levels Fahrenheit while touring at 186 mph at the autobahn in temperatures as much as 122 levels. And sure, the Phaeton with its W12 engine used to be able to 186 mph. The automobile shared a platform with Bentleys and the Audi A8 in spite of everything, so it’s in just right corporate from an engineering point of view.
You purchase a Phaeton lately for its elegant, at ease using enjoy, quirky luxurious options and inexpensive value. Simply be ready to invest in upkeep to stay it in complete running order. To carrier it, you’ll wish to discover a Volkswagen broker with a Phaeton-certified technician on personnel, too, as a result of this automobile may be very other from another commonplace VW product.
Which VW Phaeton must I make a choice?
Because it used to be handiest out for 3 style years, there aren’t many selections to make. Deciding between the V8 and W12 may be very most likely the largest conundrum you’ll have, or even then, you could already know which one you’d moderately have. Acceleration isn’t very other between the 2, however the W12 is quieter and smoother than the V8.
Apparatus-wise, the W12 vehicles got here highly-optioned as same old, however it is advisable choice up the V8 Phaetons, too. It simply relies what degree of luxurious you’re after. The upper-option W12 vehicles have extra issues that might theoretically ruin, and servicing the W12 has the upper attainable restore price, however enjoying it “protected” with a V8 then begs the query: Who needs a low-spec Phaeton? We’re going to additionally observe that you can pay extra up entrance for a W12 at the moment, because the nicer examples have a tendency to be priced north of $20,000. If you are feeling actually fortunate, V8s will also be had for nicely beneath $10,000 — do not say we did not provide you with a warning, although.
If you wish to have a colour outdoor of black, white or sunglasses of grey, it’ll be slightly more difficult to seek out. Maximum bought have been in somewhat generic and inconspicuous sunglasses. In the meantime, maximum interiors have been in both black or beige/tan. A rear seat government package deal of types used to be to be had that swapped the middle seat out for a full-length heart console, so be careful for that if it’s in your wishlist, too.
Our used car listings will also be useful to discover a just right deal close to you. Slim the choices down by way of a radius round your ZIP code, and be aware of the deal ranking on every record to look how a car compares with others in a an identical space.
What else to imagine?
Reasonable luxurious sedans are available in the market if you wish to have them. They lose their worth temporarily, so any selection of Ecu luxurious sedans would make respectable choices to the Phaeton. That you must hunt down a Mercedes-Benz S-Magnificence, BMW 7 Sequence or Audi A8 of the similar antique. Whilst the ones fashions aren’t anyplace close to as cool as a VW Phaeton is at the moment (if simply because of weirdness and shortage on my own), they’re affordable and in addition supply very good luxurious automobile stories.
If reliability is a priority, it is advisable attempt to hunt down an outdated Lexus LS. In the meantime, a Jaguar XJ or Maserati Quattroporte are sitting at the reverse aspect of the spectrum. And for those who actually desire a German automobile that can convert cash into tears and bloody knuckles as successfully as imaginable, there is at all times the W8-powered VW Passat. In truth, although, for those who’re after a Phaeton, only a few vehicles can be a correct substitute. From the Ferdinand Piëch backstory, to the flat-out improbability that one of these car even existed, the Phaeton is a one-of-a-kind form of car. Now, we handiest hope that yours treats you nicely.
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