You never forget your first, and we’re sure that Matt Duchesne of San Jose, CA will always remember this as the day he bought the very first American-made 2012 Volkswagen Passat.
At the Stevens Creek Volkswagen Dealership in San Jose, Matt selected a 2012 Passat TDI SEL model, a clean diesel vehicle that delivers an estimated 43 miles per gallon* on the highway and a range of up to 800 miles per tank**. Matt’s 2012 Passat was built at the all-new Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, TN and features a TDI Clean Diesel engine, best-in-class rear seat legroom and the new Fender® Premium Audio System.
For most people, getting the first model of a new car would be more than exciting enough, but Matt’s story doesn’t end there. To celebrate this momentous event, Volkswagen is sending Matt and a guest on a VIP tour of his car’s birthplace: the Chattanooga facility where every 2012 Passat sold in America is made. The plant, which recently rolled out its 10,000th all-new Passat, will host Matt as part of a celebration scheduled for early November. Matt will also receive a gift bag stuffed with VW gear and $500 in fuel gift cards courtesy of Shell so that Matt can fill his new Passat with high quality Shell diesel.
Matt was the first—will you be the next? Contact your local VW dealer and drive away smiling, just like Matt did.
*43 highway mpg EPA estimates for 2012 Passat TDI® Clean Diesel equipped with manual transmission. Your mileage will vary.
** Range based on 43 highway mpg EPA estimate and an 18.5-gallon tank in the 2012 Passat with optional TDI® Clean Diesel engine and manual transmission. Your mileage will vary.
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Congratulations to Matt but the selection process of the first person to buy a 2012 Passat seems a bit contrived. There must be hundreds of people that paid depoits on stock allocated to dealers, like me, but couldn’t get the vehicle released to the dealer to close the transaction. My Passat has been in Brunswick GA since early July; many others are waiting for theirs. The first sale occured in California because VW shipped those vehicles first. VW hasn’t even announced that the model is officially available for sale. As a five time purchaser of various VW models, I am disappointed with VW’s approach in releasing this model. I hope that the Passat measures up to my expectations but corporate VW has dampened my enthusiasm.
My husband and I signed and drove our VW Passat TDI SEL off the lot of Chapman VW in Scottsdale, AZ on Sept 8, 2012, so we actually got the first one. We love it. We traded our 2010 VW CC for it. We will always be VW fans
I put a deposit down on Passat TDI manual transmission over 6 weeks ago. My dealer keeps telling me that the plant in Chattanooga hasn’t produced ANY of the manual TDI’s yet and won’t until November or December, and won’t be able to ship until January! I called customer relations to try and confirm this, they told me all of the models have been produced and will be getting shipped this week. My dealer told me that is not true. Who do I believe?
I am in the same boat. ordered a TDI SEL Passat in early august in Atlanta and am now being told vaguely–expect delivery sometime in november. really unimpressive communications!
Ditto here,
I test drove and ordered a Passat TDI SEL on July 22, from my dealer in Cincinnati with a promised delivery date of early September and just keep getting vague excuses from the dealer. There must be something really wrong at the plant to get them so backed up on deliveries. Virtually no communications from the dealer unless I call them. VW is looking at a major PR disaster if they don’t get their act together real soon.
The new 2012 Camry looks real nice, has more features and cost less, which could easily offset the mileage advantage of the TDI. 2 grand buys a lot of gas!
John, we would very much like to see you as a member of our family. So we can look further into this for you, please call us at 1-800-822-8987, referencing the case number we have created for you: 110501463. We hope to hear from you.
OK. I will try leaving a comment here instead of my dealer/Customer Care. That has gotten me nowhere.
I ordered a Passat TDI SEL in August. Nothing special Reflex Silver/Titan Black. All my dealer can tell me is it is in the order system. Two months is way too long not to even have a ETA.
I know VW must have a system to track production down to the nut and bolt. How about letting us in on the picture. Is the car 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or 1 year out? I can track an envelop from Lithuania to my house, but you guys can’t seem to track a $33K car from Chattanooga, TN to your dealer network.
If you want to hit that “800,000 vehicles in the United States by 2018″ sales goal you set, you might start with some customer service.
Our family is terribly disappointed with VW. Our family ordered a PASSAT TDI SEL in July with a promise date of October for the delivery. Now, here we are four months later with no car. VW has not provided any answers as to where our car is or when we can expect delivery. Shame on VW of America for their inattention, inefficiency and poor customer service! And don’t be fooled by some promise of a case number: it meant nothing as they could not find the answers either. The BMW 335diesel is looking great right about now!!!!
Well, here I am again and still waiting for an answer from VW. They opened a case number on Oct 20 and promised to find out why no car 3 months after ordering. Called me back a few days later to say they still didn’t know anything and that was the last correspondence. Today I received an automated email asking how their follow up was. They must be kidding. Not only can VW not fulfill orders in a timely manner, their follow up is awful. If anyone wants to really know where the Passats are going, just go to the VW web site and search for dealers using zip code 91342 (S. Calif) and check our every dealers inventory. 8 to 12 cars on every lot. Automatic, manual, gas, TDI’s; every configuration. So hey VW, quit with the B.S. and just admit that everything is going to the West Coast.
Like John Morris i ordered my Passat TDI in July ( the 8th) and i am still waiting for it. Heard from my sales-rep at the dealership yesterday that my car is being transported on Monday Nov. 7. According to MapQuest it is about 780 miles from TN to NJ, does that mean I actually might have my car next week? I had a similar situation with my 2009 Jetta TDI, ordered it in mid-July received it end of Oct. The difference here is that I was told upfront that it would be Oct, and the car came from Mexico. Per my sales-rep she has had other dealerships here on the East Coast asking if they could have my car, the answer is no. I guess the next time VW has a new TDI model that I want I will temporarily move to CA. Love the cars, can’t say the same for the corporation. BTW, on what date did Matt Duchesne put a deposit down on his car? If it wasn’t before July 8th then by my calculations I bought my car before he bought his, so does that mean I get a trip to the plant in TN and all sorts of other goodies?
Hi Moira, we would very much like to see you driving your new Passat! To get started looking into this, please call our Customer CARE team at (800) 822-8987 and they’ll be happy to see what they can do for you. Thanks!
Picked up my Passat two days ago. Thank you Sue and the entire team at Princeton VW!
Way back on august 15th I put a order in for a fully loaded 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI SEL Premium. List price was 33,500 dollars. Here we are at Thanksgiving and I still have no clue as to when it will get here… From what I understand the new Tennesse plant is set up to produce way more gas powered Passats than diesels…. When the dealers started flooding the plant with tdi orders the folks down there kind of freaked out a bit and are still trying to play catchup. I understand it is not the dealers fault that my car is still not in but I’m sick of them giving out untrue predictions. First it was september. Then it was going to be in by halloween, and now they say thanksgiving! I swear if they tell me it will not be in till x-mas i will lose it! To make matters worse I am trying to trade in my 07 BMW X3 suv which back in august had 60,000 miles on the odometer. They said they would give me 19 grand for it. However after almost 4 months of driving it now has 68,000 and will not be worth 19 grand anymore. So im getting screwed on both ends here. It’s a shame because the car just won the motor trend car of the year award and is a pretty sweet ride. However if It is not at my dealer by dec.1st im heading down the street and dropping 35 grand on the 2012 Hyundai Genesis V6. 335 horses and 30 mpg highway seems pretty badass to me!! Get your stuff together V-Dub!!!!!!!!!!!
We’re sorry to learn of your concerns, Peter. Although your dealership is in the best position to provide updates regarding the arrival of new models to their inventory, you are welcome to contact the Customer CARE Center at (800) 822-8987, for them to look further into this for you.