any vw passat wagon owners out there?

[shanerpvt]

i was wondering if a bike fit standing upright inside the car with the smaller side of the rear seats down and front wheel off............if so, did you install a fork mount?

thanks for reading,

shaner

[oldfatslow]

I have a 2007 Passat Wagon and ride a 54-55cm bikes and they will not sit up right in the back. You should try your bike in the dealer ship (easy and convincing way to determine if it will fit).

It is nice sometimes, following a ride, to simply slide the entire bike with both wheels (on it's side) in the back with the seats down (great if you have to drive to a ride by yourself). I have roof rack if I need to rack more than one bike.

[David Kirk]

I have a 98 Passat wagon (great car btw) and it will fit my big bike in on it's side with both wheels on easily. It will not fit upright. I think only extremely small bikes would.

Dave

[TMB]

I have a wagon and a sedan.

They have both been wonderful cars.

A bike will fit in to either of them , lying on its side.

The great thing about the Passat is that the roof line is low enough that it easy to get the bike on and off the roof rack.

[shanerpvt]

thanks to all that replied!

once again this forum has turned out to be a wonderful source of knowledge.

:beer:
shaner

[39cross]

It is nice sometimes, following a ride, to simply slide the entire bike with both wheels (on it's side) in the back with the seats down (great if you have to drive to a ride by yourself).I do the same thing with our 2000 wagon. I don't see how you could get a bike to stand upright in that space however.

[Hardlyrob]

We have a 2000 Passat wagon.

As others have said, slide the bike in on it's side with the wheels on - works great.

I have managed to get my 55cm CSI in upright, but you need to take both wheels off, put a plastic bag around the drive train to control the grease and drop the saddle all the way down. Like this it will fit across the back, leaning on the rear seats that are still upright. I've done this a couple of times when we I wanted to bring the bike, the dog and luggage.

You can also get a plastic bed liner for that car to minimize the grease on the carpet.

Great car, but get the timing belt replaced early. Ours let go at 75,000 miles - even though it was warranteed for 100,000 and caused a huge amount of damage.

Cheers!

Rob

[sjbraun]

We had a '99 wagon, that was the year Consumer Reports rated the Passat higher than the Accord and Camry. Loved the car, when it ran. In less than 40,000 miles we replaced wheel bearings, a water pump, tie rods and the interior started to disintegrate. I've had two VWs and loved them, until they became money pits.
If VW could make a vehicle that ran as dependably as my 96 Toyota, (it's never required a repair, only routine maintainance,) I be driving one today.
Alas, I'm not holding my breath.

[erikbrooks]

Mine is a 2002 wagon. I can get two 63CM road bikes on their sides, with wheels on, and a blanket between them. I do have to fold down the rear seats to do that, of course. Still plenty of leg room up front for 2 people.

Another thing I like about it is that the back is large enuf that I can sleep in the back with the rear seats down. Occasionally I will drive some distance to a race or ride and arrive too late to bother with trying to set up a tent, so I just set the bike outside and lock it, and sleep in the back, and it's pretty comfy. I've only done it alone, and I'm sleeping corner to corner. It'd be fine also to share the space with an SO.

Mine has 50K. It's had some reliability probs too. I'm hopeful that I can get another 30 to 50K before it becomes a money pit. At 5 to 10K/year, that should last me awhile. It's really a pretty comfy car, and it swallows a lot of gear!

But if you're looking at new cars, I'd suggest something that's got a bombproof reliability record, and that's not VW, sadly.