This is an awesome automobile for anyone who has actually seen it in the States. Too bad it is no longer sold here, but the American buyer was, and is still not mentality accepting an expensive VW.

The 3.2L seems a little pointless with the new V6 making only 2 less horsepower. Gotta love those big plants though!

F451,
I think people just prefered the looks & elegance of the A8.
Putting a 240hp 3.2L V6 in a car like this is just retarded.
BTW, I can’t see the “face-lift”. I guess I have to dig up some pics on google and compare side by side. I just don’t see it.

NO……… it is not an awesome automobile.
It was and is a larger overpriced VW Passat and that’s why it didn’t and will not do well in the US.

US preception is as follows:
VW = Honda
Audi = Acura
and that’s the way it is.
This car is proof.

I thought VW = Honda – reliability. I never hear anything good about a VW longterm.

^um…get your facts straight before you post man. It was based on the A8 platform, it was sold here in the U.S but was halted for import due to really poor sales, and your ideas on “US preception” in automobiles is just plain stupid. I don’t know where you get your info from but it’s all wrong. Due us all a favor and just leave your dumb posts over at the streetfire site. Come back when you have hair on your chest.

^that was meant for DeezNutz BTW.

The Phaeton was a cool car, esp. since it’s basically the Bentley Flying Spur underneath. The prob. with the Phaeton is that the A8 is not only a better looking car, better built, with a nicer interior, but also because of it’s better attributes, more bang for your buck.

Jon.

I’m sure it having horrible electrical problems helped take from our shores too.

I agree that it was a very nice car, but regardless of what platform it had, it still looked like a Passat on a half dose of steroids. Beyond that the perception of most people I’ve discussed this with is… “VWs don’t cost this much”.

Andre Neves…read before you blow your top. DeezNutz didn’t say is was a Passat platform. He was refering to the simularity of looks.

Dre:
Learn how to read and comprehend.
What “fact” of mine was incorrect.
I never said it was “based” on the Passat.
Boy, I have bought and owned more cars then you have ever sat in.

Thank You Bush.

It didn’t need a facelift. It needs a markdown.

Exactly what everyone else is saying: the A8 was just a better car all around. The phaeton was beautiful and rare and elegant, but the A8 matched it and then stomped on it. As much as id say id drive this great car, id drive an A8 over it.

And andre, about the 3.2 V6, all these grand-luxury cruisers in europe have the smaller corporate V6’s. MB, Audi, and BMW all have V6 options for their S/A8/7-series.

Fat, far reaching and a self indulgent effort by Volkswagen. The factory is a looker though.

that interior is terrible

Stealth Wealth at its finest. Shame they couldn’t sell it here. The specs on the car really shocked me for such a machine. Maybe they’ll try to sell it in America again in a few years on an “on Demand” basis.

Has anyone ever even seen one of these on the road? ive seen so many new bentlys ive lost count, and i live in a ****y little town. what a blunder, and to thoose who say ppl wont pay for an expensive vdub what about the tuareg?

Still looks bland to me. Has no soul and does not fit into the VW lineup.

There are a few, owned by business men and by doctors. They’re real easy to mistake for Passats.

Hollywood celebrities would sue over a facelift this subtle!

The interior used to be really nice, like 2+ years ago. Now so much now though. However it is stealthy as Blakkarr, and good looking from the front.

VW Phaeton = The answer to a question no one ever asked.

In response to people paying for the Touareg.. I may be incorrect here but Audi only just now came out with an SUV, correct?

But yeah, I wouldn’t buy an Audi/VW myself. Just not into the brands, and the reliability (or lack thereof) record isn’t particularly making me want one.

I can’t believe they’re still building this thing…

I can’t remember the last time I saw one. Why does it need a facelift, no-one’s seen enough of them to be bored of the last model.

I can’t believe how many retards around here refuse to get their small minds around what the Phaeon is. Its a Bentley quality car at 1/2 to 1/3rd of the price. Infact the initial construction of Phaetons and Bentleys takes place in the same factory in former east Germany. This car destroys the Lexus LS, Mercedes S class, and BMW 7 series. This is the daily transport car for Pope, and The Chancellor of Germany. If you refuse to understand the Phaeton, it just means you’re stupid.

bb_454: well, over here they get a beating and keep on going. Best of all, they don’t begin rusting after only a year, unlike some other company…

Expensive as hell, and they can’t figure out how to design a center stack so the shifter doesn’t block the lower buttons, lol.

Madcapp, the Phaeton does not destroy any of the cars you mentioned except maybe in price and I think that is even debatable. The car has a horrible electrical system even by German standards. If you get the small engine it is painfully slow and if you get the W12 they suck down dead dinosaurs faster than you can put more in the tank. The cars reliability record is not too great either. Oh and the reason those people you mentioned have them is because VW gave them the cars not because they bought them.

god just kill it. its not selling

Ahh the Phaeton… one of the best buy used car out there at around $36K. Only an idiot would buy a new one though.

its a big passat. deff not worth the price tag.

Here’s a nifty fact, a W12 Phaeton without a limiter will go 201 miles per hour without any engine modifications. Top gear did a great video which explains the genius that is the Pheaton. And will help even the belligerently ignorant to understand why it is so vastly superior to the Mercedes S class, BMW 7 series, and Lexus LS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmGNRMOpg7E

Madcapp: It’s humorous that you never responded to jonstew’s comment about how all of those high and mighty characters you mentioned before that “drive Phaeton’s”, such as the Pope, etc, own them because VW gives them to them as GIFTS. I’ll break it down even more for you: THE PHAETON IS A FREE GIFT FROM VW TO THE POPE. The Pope and the Chancellor of Germany don’t have Phaeton’s because they CHOOSE them, they have them because they were FREE GIFTS. End of story! Not to mention how the Phaeton does anything but destroy the 2007 S-Class, are you…joking? The Phaeton might have been good competition for the LAST gen S-Class, but the current one? NO COMPETITION! Hand’s down the S-Class demolishes the Phaeton, it’s a known fact. Now I agree with you on the level that it is an underrated car, I realize that it actually is quite good in its class and people simply ignore it due to the fact that there is a dinner plate sized VW emblem on the grille, but that doesn’t make it a class leader. That’s one thing it never was, and still isn’t, no matter how decently competitive it is.

There’s no humor to my method. The Pope is simply provided with the very best, always. Its not a matter of who is willing to give him a car… Everyone is, don’t you think all manufacturers want that product placement? Don’t you think the Cathloc church can afford wahtever they want?. After 75 years of being provided with Mercedes-Benzes from their special vehicles division, the Pope is now in a Phaeton. There’s a legitimate reason for it, that you choose to ignore, and that reason is because the Phaeton is simply superior to the S class, its not an act of desperation. All those characters, like the chancellor of Germany can request/be provided with whatever they want. And there’s more examples, The Government of Hong Kong replaced its E38 BMW 7 Series fleet with 35 Phaetons in October 2006. The Prime Minster of Portugal and North Korean Officials are all chauffeured in Phaetons. Grow up and deal with it, the Phaeton is a world class car. Don’t forget VW is also Bentley, Bugatti, and Lamborghini…they have the finest engineering staff in the world. Is it any surprise that the Phaeton is so superior? Is it any surprise that Americans are too stupid to look past a badge?

this may be good but the fact of the matter is, its not selling. kill it.

Madcapp: Clearly I understand that the VW/Audi group makes pristine vehicles, I’m a true diehard Lamborghini fan, and the quality of Audi and Bentley are known far and wise. The Phaeton, however, doesn’t seem to be the world class beater you describe. Yes, famous people drive them, but does that make them necessarily good? You know the old saying, just because something is popular doesn’t make it good (which is ironic as we’re talking about the Phaeton as being popular, one adjective I’d never attribute to that vehicle). The new S-Class is the car to beat, it’s been revised so that it exceeds the rest of the class in almost every way possible, the Phaeton is still the same as it was in 2004, like I said it’s a good car, but since then times have changed and the S-Class has become the finest, most modern example of the luxury sedan there is. And the Pope was also given a Volvo XC90, another “good” car, but it sure as hell ain’t the class leader either, now is it?

Fair enough LamborghiniZ. I just see too many people who are instantly dismissive of the Phaeton because its got the wrong badge in the grill, without bothering to understand the car at all.

If I understand it correctly the Phaeton is a car that really wasn’t supposed to be. It wsa the out going project of a retiring exec in the company. As such VW made an awesome first go at it, but to my knowledge is not pursuing it further. Building such machines, as over the top as this one seems to be, is not VW’s M.O.

Compete with eth S-class or 7-series? it could trash them, if VW decides to throughly update it. VW is not known for making junk, so one could rightfully expect one truly magnificent car… But somehow I doubt it.

Audi might pick it up and continue it… as an Audi… I mean for pity’s sake, this car can do 200+ as is and feel like it was doing only 60. I somehow doubt the S-class and the 7-series can match that… I might be wrong… but still VW has developed a real winner in the Phaeton. I’d hate to see it languish.

The good news is you can get them for CHEAP here in the U.S.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-VW-Phaeton-Rare-Like-new-Fully-Loaded_W0QQitemZ200087805905QQcategoryZ147119QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Check that out, a 2004 Phaeton with 52,000 miles, and for a buy it now of $31,000. Now I found cheaper examples on there actually, one with a buy it now for $27,000, but this one has a MINT interior/exterior. What a DEAL on an ultra luxury car, see that’s what the VW badge and a lack of sales does to you, makes them real cheap. Wouldn’t even be a bad purchase at that price, you can buy loaded family cars for $31,000, or you can have a sleeper luxury mobile.

Actually this article that’s about a cosmetic update demonstrates VW is still committed to the Phaeton. Unfortunately, the photos here are of the most basic short wheelbase V8 variant which is a low spec car. Admittedly, they are pretty boring. However, the interior options VW makes available are staggering, and for those interested in seeing what is possible, here’s a link to some better equipped Phaetons.

http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1621229

Also interesting, nobody has ever been killed while traveling inside a Phaeton during wreck. And only 1 has ever been stolen…the insurance rates are dirt cheap.