Ford Mondeo or Volkswagen Passat for an auto diesel?

Hi,

I'm currently looking to purchase either a Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi Powershift or a Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TDI DSG. Looking at year ranges from 2007-10. Can you please advise on both cars in terms of smoothness of gear change and fuel economy? Also, If I do purchase a 2008 or above model can you tell me the road tax based on emissions for both cars?

Thanks

Rory Roden (Cork)

Apr 2014 Filed under: choosing used car

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Expert answer

Hi Rory,

Both cars use dual clutch semi-automatic gearboxes, which are pretty slick-shifting, but Volkswagen's DSG transmission just edges it for smoothness and quickness. 

On the emissions front it's rather bad news I'm afraid. If you're buying 2008 model year cars then you're looking at emissions of 189g/km for the Mondeo 2.0 TDCi Powershift and 175g/km for the Passat 2.0 TDI DSG. That means tax of €750 a year.

It gets a bit better if you can spool forward to 2010 when the Passat's emissions drop to 158g/km so that means a tax bill of €570 a year. 

Just for reference, the Mondeo 2.0 diesel auto gets an official 39mpg while the 2010 Passat with DSG gets 47mpg.

To be honest, if you can live without an automatic gearbox you would be better to go for the 1.6-litre diesel versions of either car. Both have decent performance and much better economy and emissions. For instance, a 1.6 BlueMotion Technologies Passat gets 62mpg and has emissions of just 118g/km so tax of €200 a year.

Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Adviser
@neilmbriscoe