It’s well-known that Malaysians buy cars based on price, not segments, and any vehicle that strays too far from the buying public’s perceived pricing barrier tends to have a hard time. That hasn’t stopped Volkswagen from trying with the Arteon, which has aspirations greater than its Passat underpinnings suggest.
The svelte five-door fastback is priced quite a bit higher than its sibling, putting it well inside premium brand territory. And for 2022, the Arteon is more expensive than ever – at RM258,019, it costs more than even the very capable BMW 330e. That takes some serious cojones.
But the Arteon theoretically has some advantages to make up for it. Apart from its dramatic coupé-like styling and frameless windows, the VW is also packed with kit, driver assistance systems notwithstanding. And in its latest facelifted guise, it packs some serious firepower – 280 PS and 350 Nm of torque, to be exact, fired by a 2.0 litre turbo four-cylinder to all four wheels via a seven-speed wet DSG dual-clutch transmission.
You don’t drive cars on paper, however, so does the Arteon really have the substance to hold its own against a sea of attractive premium metal from Munich, Stuttgart and further afield? And does the lack of even the most basic autonomous emergency braking system dock off any points (spoiler alert: it does)? Watch Matthew Tong take a swing at Wolfsburg’s new pretender in our video review above.
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For the price, of course it’s better than a BMW or Merc. But it’s still not a BMW or Merc, if u get what I mean…
If U just can afford 250K
Buy Merc because good RV
Buy BMW less good than Merc
Buy Volvo less good than BMW
Buy Audi less good than Volvo
Buy VW is as good as total-lost
Volvo is more Peugeot class bang
For this type of car category, if you are looking at RV, then you are not a Rich Man lah….
Let’s put a simple illustration (rough value):
Buy C300 – 300k
Maintenance for 5 years – 40k (inc tires and batt)
Sell on 6th years – 200k
Buy 330i – 280k
Maintenance for 5 years – 5k (4 tires)
Sell on 6th years – 170k
And btw, VW produce one of the best car in the world, just that the initial setup was a failure with the wrong model and parts. Try them now. it’s different.
Yes, i think it’s better than BMW and Mercedes especially for the value you are getting at this price. but then for this range of buyers, price vs value isn’t really their priority. It’s the feel and their personal preference.
You will be surprised. There are still people that look at the value they get at this price range.
An attractive ride aside from the lack of ADAS, but this can be remedied outside — AEB can be retrofitted, and the prices for additional retrofitting of the 360 cam and adaptive cruise features are way more reasonable than for BMW G20. The only reason this doesn’t sell as well as it probably should is the brand perception and reliability concerns.
For same money, better buy XC40 EV 407HP.
they are in an awkward position.
are you planning to own a car for more than 5 years?
1. yes = similar price bracket you have toyota harrier or lexus or the cheaper camry. that will last easily to 15 years.
2. no = you should and most likely you will go for bmw 3 series or mb c class.
Overpriced, overrated, overhyped.
Agree!
Yes, most Malaysians are driven by price. For that price range, the car is a bargain for the practicality and performance it offers (as compared to C200 or 320i). I don’t get why you have to say it is an emotional purchase rather than a logical one.
If compared to other 4 door coupe by other German manufacturer, it is a no brainer.
Nope. Based on the road quantity appearance here. The consumer have made their choices at that price. BMW and Benz for sure. A VW must be below 210k.
Beating a dead horse. Q1 US sale is 47 units only, the whole USA, not even one unit per state.
VW has no AEB, BMW has no AA or CP, Merc has no 360cam, Audi has no service center.
Buy X70 better maa!
Outdated technology in Continental Cars.
Many malaysia models Don’t have Autonomous Cruise Control – low spec.
Selected Hi spec model get it.
good luck on having a proton’s X series.
Geely in China is to do away with the 3 cylinders due to some technical reasons and we are here in Malaysia building our capability to produce it.
we pantang number 4. so they give 3 cylinders whenever possible
even a camry is better than a merc or bmw these days
Better as in reliability reputation only. For similar status you have to go to Lexus. that is how these luxury brand is born and marketed. Then again, many still believe in the old saying of “German Engineering”.
please go to a mercedes showroom and look at the hopeless cheapo feeling but atas price a250 sedan and see how crap it is compared to the camry
For reliability Toyota and Lexus always win hands down to any other brands even include their Japanese rivals. But for technology and fun of drive Toyota find it hard to compete with German brands.
I have a VW and it is really fun to drive than Toyota. But the maintenance cost is much higher than Toyota while second hand value is lower than Toyota.
Yes agreed better then bmw 3 series.
I drive both car at show room.. Arteon is more stability compared bmw 3 series. Super starting power.
Please take out the face mask for next video…
VM can never become BMW or Merce level. They need to come out with new brand. Now EV era is the chance if they do it right. Come join me Tesla
VW alread indicated they will sell more EV’s than tesla by 2025.
Tesla almost go bust now as what Elon Musk said. It is in the red…..
The only time they made profit was when they went into China but that’s only on paper. The money are all in China now and they can’t move it out due to china law. Good luck Tesla.
If based on current situation alone, mean based on price, design and driving exp, definitely a better car. But people will have many other consideration too.
Brand image (this one is top priority. Many actually do not know car, they only comment based on brands)
Reliability (even though bmw n merc also full of problem)
More workshop n spare parts (even though workshops and spare parts are everywhere)
Durability (evrn though bmw n merc also not duranle)
Second hand value (no choice, there is people before buy a new car already think of selling it)
People can have thousand of points to support a rubbish and thousands of points to condemn a good thing that they dislike.
Overpriced VW. Sorry, VW is always below Beemer/ Merc/ Audi.
That’s right. In the EU, the VWs (also SEAT and Skoda) are the euro version of what Perodua and Proton is for Malaysians. Their slightly premium rides from VW are the Audi vehicles.
but unfortunately, you just can not afford rm250k that is myvi for europeans. You need to buy a car that is considered as bicycle price for europeans.
Vw owns audi and Porsche, lamborghini snd bentley.
It’s about time the Paultan team ditched their masks when they are doing review alone!!!!
Can’t hear what they say properly!!!
Our video shoots involve a team of production crew. We were definitely not alone.
In any case, we’ve found that having masks or not have very little difference to the clarity of our voices. In this case, Matt would have sounded pretty much the same whether he had his mask on or not.
Nvm, there are always people that simply comment something that they do not understand or know the details of operation. There people even do not border to wear mask in the public or with mask under nose.
I’ve been driving this version of the Arteon for a while now (4yrs) and never looked back. It makes me smile every time and makes me forget about marquee or brand. A great car is a great car, it looks great and reliable. I didn’t care about resale value anymore #YOLO.
When you enjoy how a performance VW handles, you will truly fall in love. The haters out there are either hasn’t even owned/driven one or just brand knobs… or JDM lovers who keep talking about RV. Buy and own a car you truly love to drive…
Is it expensive to maintain? i really want to get a 2021 one. How was your experience?
ARTEON R LINE 4MOTION已经开了5000多公里，不论是配置还是动力，加速，静音，都非常满意，现在就是发现了一点小的问题，用S档有一点丝丝的声音，其他一切都好，而且物有所值。这么好的四驱，音响，是宝马奔驰给不了的，在这个价位上。
Didn’t mention the sub-woofer in the spare wheel well which is a full sized spare wheel.
AEB in Malaysian roads is annoying especially with cars cutting in and motorbikes cutting in and out. I find it really irritating when my Volvo brakes all on in own when there is actually still loads of space.
开了一年整，就因为他的配置比330I 和C300高，才买的。至今没有后悔，开起来安静，加速指哪打哪 音响12个喇叭，还是4驱。这个动力。这个价格。在马来西亚没有第二个了。物超所值。