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Many years ago I did a tour of the Phaeton factory in Dresden. They take you through the buying process of specifying your car options, and you see the build process, much of it was by hand with small teams working on the major sub components, rather than your whole job just being fitting the left hand headlamp. Then you get to watch the car picker pull a vehicle out of the massive glass cylinder stack of cars. Amazing. There was also a driving sim. Pretty sure this was way before Merc started with this kind of customer experience centres.

Having owned a Phaeton for 8 years and driven over 100000 miles I watched you report start to finish; I compliment you on an excellent piece of journalism. You have been thorough, informative and accurate in your report. Well done that man!!

I own two W12 GP1 Phaetons and I have to say they have been very good to me. Nowhere near as scary as people make out. 130k and 208k miles and they are still sublime and hardly break a sweat doing jail speed in them even after doing all those miles. Never understand the whole “looks like a Passat” thing because the B6 A4 looks exactly the same as the A8 of the same generation yet no one bats an eye about those cars

The boot hinges were made by Campagnolo of Vicenza, the bicycle component manufacturer which was also famous for alloy wheels in the past. We need to see you reviewing a bike with some Campagnolo components James.

I have owned a Phaeton for 8 years and driven over 100000 miles. Absolutely love it! luckily have a local VW specialist who knows how to maintain it. Have had no real issues or horrendously large bills like the one you are driving. It has been a joy.

I’ve owned a 2009 V6 TDI for over 4 years. It has now done 115K and has been a great car to own. My usual garage has been able to deal with all the maintenance, having originally gone to a bentley specialist. I’ve had some issues with the wiring loom in the boot but that’s about it. You say it’s steel but all the body panels are actually aluminium. I’ve found part costs have been fine. Good review.

Ahh perfect timing! Was looking at these yesterday as I was looking for an understated luxury car. Searched KZfaq for reviews and opinions yesterday and sadly not many reviews or review I’d trust. Then I get a notification today about your review. What are the chances!

I bought a 2012 Phaeton for when it was 3 years old and kept it for 4 years / 60,000 miles. The only reliability issue was an intermittent air conditioning fault in the last few weeks before I sold it. It had routine servicing at a VW dealership in London, and I never paid more than £500 for a service. Tyres, brake discs, tax and insurance all quite pricey. And when an idiot knocked my door mirror off, it was £1,600 to replace. Great car though, especially on the motorway - where it would do 40mpg.

My dream car reviewed by one of the greatest car youtubers. Oh boy.

As much as I love the A8 D3, I'll still consider the Phaeton 4.2 or 5.0 TDI(If I can afford one of course), because I always like how understated it looks and the subtle details that differentiate the Passat and it, plus it's unlikely to find another V10 TDI sedan like ever, I just like how unique and quirky it is, I'll definitely try it someday!

I'm of the mind that vanity projects are no bad thing because it is, regardless of the reason for existence, a pursuit of "excellence" and that pursuit, if carried out truly free from the normal limitations of having to make money, is one of the things that leads to learning, understanding and new developments.

I'm a serial buyer of old luxury cars. The thing that put me off these (as James said) is the total lack of specialists. There are even only a couple of VW dealers who actually have the knowledge to deal with these.

£500 to replace a bulb is criminal.

James, i believe this is your most perfectly crafted video yet. Its a must watch. Very well done Sir.

Yesss! Very underrated car. I had s-classes, several 7 series, a8s, xj350 and still loved my old GP2, basic 3.2, dead reliable even after 340k km, mint condition and great ride. Im looking to buy one again. But 4.2 this time. :)

Those cars were built back in an era when manufacturers were not afraid building high complex engines. Nowadays the four banger became the "state of the art" engine. I miss those times when they were building V10 Diesel engines or W12. Those engines are a piece of art and technology.

In 2004 I remember closely examining a 12 cylinder version of this car in the dealership showroom in New York. I liked it. Not sure I ever saw another one. Parked or moving

I remember working at a VW dealers in 2004/5 and these were coming in with numerous faults … only one technician was qualified to work on them … the customers were seldom happy with them & they just seemed like a nightmare at the time … I’m amazed to learn that they went all the way to 2016

I just bought a 2004 Phaeton V8 this summer. Very comfortable and more roomy than my previously owned S-class. Maintenance is about the same as my S-class too. I’m gonna baby this gem. It was built on the same platform as the Bentley Flying Spur.

Audio at the start is weird?

I'm glad you did this review. Just last week I almost bought a 3.2V6 (2004) Phaeton from a garage in Crewe for £3,495.00 Perhaps someone was test driving it because when I arrived it was conspicuous by it's absence. Seems like I dodged a bullet.

The Phaeton is beautiful beyond beasure. Especially the interior. If it wasnt such a gas hog and all the expensive extras like air suspension etc I would drive one gladly.

These are great! My pal had a 2008 TDI and the air suspension did a great job on the rural roads around Helensburgh.

I had the V10 5.0 for about a year... what a stunning car, I miss it terribly. I didn't have any problems with it - but I could tell they were looming, so got rid of it. If I had deeper pockets I would have kept it, and given it a cheeky remap. The biggest problem I had was the coating on the glass meant that mobile and satnav reception was terrible inside the car.

I remember when VW introduced the Phaeton and Touareg they were designed to herald in a new super-luxury sub-brand with unheard of benefits like roadside assistance where a technician would be helicoptered to you within five minutes of the SOS button being pressed (I exaggerate but it was something crazy like that) and other really serious luxury perks. Only a subset of VW dealers were allowed to sell these two models and they had to invest in dedicated facilities and technicians and a special Phaeton plinth in the showroom. When I visited the Dresden factory Phaetons were being hand-assembled on the same production line as Bentleys. Needless to say, as sales didn't materialise (for the Phaeton at least) all the super-luxury support stuff quietly fell away and Touareg was opened up to the whole VW network to sell. I have run the 3.0 and V10 diesels, 3.2 and W12 petrols and they were all shockingly good, coming from nowhere and jumping ahead of the S-Class and 7-series of the day, massively over-engineered but somewhat troublesome to begin with due to the complexity. I think they had something like 40 ECUs when the average car might have had 5 or 6 at that time. I generally have a soft-spot for Q-cars, it's a shame it didn't work out.

It is interesting the British take on the 1990s VW car line verses the states. VW had always been a car line of the 1960s and hippies. By the time I was in high school in the 1990s in Oklahoma, I never saw new vw cars. When I was shopping for my first car, I really wanted a VR6 VW Corrado. My dad refused saying that VW were shit and bought me a 1994 Pontiac grand am...it lasted 18 months. It was not until the new vw beetle that I thought about buying a vw...and they were most popular model around while I was in college. I remember when the phaeton came out and really liked it. Great review, keep up the good work!

I will always remember my ride sharing journey in a Phaeton through Germany as a student, back when it was fairly new. Such a great long distance car.

I saw one rolling around Los Angeles years ago with a Jetta badges on it. Confusing but cool! Very few people caught on.

Good review. Glad to see we are back to good quality commentary rather than just revving engines and thrashing a car up and down a country A road for no apparent reason

Very cool video and sensible advice. It is interesting how well the looks of this car have aged.

I had 3 Phaetons consecutively, used in my chauffeur service company. They were all 3.0 turbo diesels . Great car, all LWB models. I eventually got into an Audi A8, LWB. The Phaetons were great cars, drove well, with plenty of room. The problem was Particulate Filter. I had one of each model upgrade. Each one had problems with theParticulate Filters. On a run down to London of around 200 miles, then half a day in London traffic, Particulate Filter light would come on. This meant I had to find a dual carriageway set the tiptronic to4th gear at 55mph and the filter would clear. If I did not do this quickly enough, It would go into Limp Mode. A real pain, so I eventually got rid and bought the Audi A8 LWB. Better car, never goes wrong !!

Always called these the Passat XL. Nice video. Keep up the good work.

My father used to own a earlier example of the w12 version. It was just superb, and it tops at 186mph without limiter it will go over 200. The real problem with the car is the spark plugs of the old w12 engine is somewhat problematic and it’s very expensive to replace labor wise plus the gearbox gave up regularly after 3 years the car is in the shop more often than on the road which is why my father get rid of the car.

Great video as usual James. I even enjoyed the drive by of the Focus!!!

450.000 km on my Phaeton, didn't have a serious break until then, which is crazy to think about, but after that.....Well lets say we might as well build a new car xD. However, the best car ever owned, motor was still going very well, though became quite lazy, but other parts started failing one by one, it was not worth maintaining anymore. It will stay in my heart forever

You, Alex Kersten, Matt from High Peak. Top gear re-booted and back to its roots. Calling it now.

Here in Ireland I passed out my taxi exam in 2012. Phaeton V6 diesel was towards the top of my list. Couldn't find one. Says it all. Still, cool.

I will own a phaeton at some point. This video has made me respect its engineering even more

VW sent me a lovely sales brochure for the Phaeton at launch, I still have it but no way I'd have even thought about buying one at the time. Massive depreciation seemed the obvious downside that could not be ignored.

I remember these coming and for some reason being giddy with excitement!!! Must have been the name or something 🤔 I have to say its the identical looks to a Passat that really kills it for me. Here's another brother from another mother VW to review James.....the Passat CC 😐

Back when VW were adventurous! Speaking of which would you review a W12 Touareg if having the chance? I know of one person who owns one.

Only yesterday I was asking myself why you didnt review a Phaeton yet. An upcoming classic with, at least in Germany and an eastern europe, a loving fanbase already. Too bad your example doesnt have any of the extras that make the car worth buying.

Thanks... A lot... the last two videos (this and the Alpine) have both been about cars I desperately try to resist buying on a monthly basis. Having reminders in video form really doesn't help my TVR fund.

Excellent video James! I’ve always thought these were cool but being in the US, you NEVER see them. Neat piece of automotive history imo. Cheers!

A flop is not the right word. The inchassis of the Phaeton was used in the hugely successful Bentley Continental Gen I Other offsprings in the VW concern are Passat CC etc.

I've had a couple of 3 litre TDI Phaetons, rear 3 quarter is the best angle. They were cheap and reasonably frugal and much better trimmed than a 730d, S320 of the era. As you say, parts are a nightmare and they suffer from water ingress into the wiring looms at the scuttle, as also affects early Bentley Conti GTS - this is the most costly fault to remedy especially if the ECUs get fried. I'd have an XJ X350 of the same value any day over a Phaeton

The explanation for the Phaeton is quite simple: Ferdinand Piëch had such a huge presence in the company as Il Padrone assoluto that nobody could contradict him. The car was not an internal tussle with Audi nor a proof of VW's design prowess but Piëch's very bad idea that nobody was in a position to gainsay.

Great video! Thank you for the shoutout to me and the Phaeton Owners UK group :)

I got a good chuckle that you included the Ford focus drive by Jay 😂

I quite like the Phaeton, it's all the car you'll ever need in a VERY understated package. If you know cars then you get it, but if you don't care about what the average Joe or neighbour thinks its great. I seriously looked at getting one, but it's very difficult to get one in a decent condition outside of the very top price bracket.....like an S class really.

Had 3 Phaetons, 2 LWB and a shorty. Fantastic cars. They did have a habit of corroding, not through rust but where steel met aluminium, pretty much all around the car. Avoid the V10 as its noisier and no faster than the V6 diesel. The V12 is hugely thirsty and still no improvement over the V6

Haha you kept the focus drive by in at 16.00 love it

I have a 1993 Mercedes W124 300E - 100,000 miles. Number 7 older Mercedes that I have owned since 1978. None bought new. I am now 75 so this is likely the last car I will own. These non-computer cars have an enviable reputation for reliability and build quality and my experience so far bears that out. New cars leave me cold!!

Awesome car. Drove the W12 when it came out. Deserved more recognition.

I drove a W12 Phaeton in early 2004 as a company car delivery driver. I collected it from the head office of the Halifax building society and drove it the 200 miles back to base. The seats are amazing - 20 years ago they had more little electric motors in them than most cars! The performance was pretty epic too, and it was enormously comfy and quiet (and pretty enormous on some of the smaller roads). After that, I always wanted to own one, but a friend ran a small fleet of luxury cabs, and had a few - they were always breaking. When the regular V6 diesel breaks loads and costs a huge amount to fix, you definitely think twice about the idea of a W12. Wish I had had the money and balls to buy one though- it would be the car to have for long distance driving.

🤔 I remember the Phaeton for a brief time. Yes it was quite the exciting thing to see on the road, but only us car guys could tell the difference between it and the Passat. Hey Jay, speaking of the W12, should it be possible to get a hold of a Volkswagen W12 Nardo for review, I would much like to see that happen. Cheers. ✌🏻🇺🇸

I used to deliver these when they came out and I fell in love with them.

The rumor that i heard is that VW wanted to build a new car for their newly purchase Bentley but couldn’t get the necessary budget for R&D. So the phaeton project is born which in turn produce the Continental GT, Flying Spur which basically secures Bentley future.

I sampled a cooking v6tdi which was pretty nice at the time, and then I drove the v10, now THAT was a real weapon. What really pit me off is the complexity of the thing, and horrendous bills to keep it alive, at least on the earlier ones. Major expense for suspension, servicing, headlights etc.... Think the v10 was a better bet because most of the mechanicals were gear driven

As far as I know you were able to get the VR6 Phaeton with a manual gearbox, although I don't know if that was available in the UK. There is a few for sale in Germany.

Would love to see a Vectra VXR on the channel. Very underrated cars.

Hi James would love if you would do a review on the MK7(.5) Golf GTD. Would be nice to hear what you tink about a sporty diesel. Cheers!

Very interesting and entertaining video, thanks. But how does the car now get through an MOT with its DPF and EGR removed?!

A good video enjoying the content on the channel 👌👌

I would be more upset about the gauges not being vertical when normal, but they all seem to be in the same angle when normal, so it's not bad, just rakish.

My final conclusion is the same as yours, "Stick with the S class (and not with the unreliable 7 or the A8)". The fact that the Phaeton looks just like a Passat is NOT a drawback, many people who want a Phaeton are not snobs, they intentionally want a very understated exterior to hide the luxury inside. In the US, because it was such a flop and only a few were sold, it's not even cheap to get a used Phaeton, esp the Bentley-like W12. In the UK they apparently sold a 6 cyl TDI, which, for most people, is by far the best one to buy, and if it is anything like my Merc TDIs, it should be totally reliable AND give you outstanding MPG compared to the V8 and W12 petrol engines.

Love your program dude it takes my mind off crashing bond markets therefore our pensions!

Enjoyed your video on the VW Phaeton. Sat in a few at Motor Shows but the VW Passat look doesn't sit comfortably with this car. VW should have tried harder with the styling. I'm a Jag Man, on my 5th. Keeping my current XJ8 Sovereign LWB (X308) despite its foibles and 208k mileage. Last of the Jags where you can source spares at reasonable cost and find an informative specialist with sensible labour rates. Watching the video reminded me that I can still change a light bulb, no air suspension problems, etc. I have friends with later Jag models who shell out a fortune on replacement components and lengthy labour costs! My problem is, what do I replace my worthless Jaguar with...especially when neighbour's tell me to "never replace that car". You see they perceive the vehicle as an expensive classic car. I had better continue to keep it clean and well polished.

In the future i will buy one of these, probably with the 3.2 VR6 Funny thing is with the VR6: they mounted it vertically

The VW Phaeton was a beautiful looking car. A real statement for VW. I was disappointed it never got any traction in the American market. That car was beautifully made.

I sat for about an hour going back and forth with the sales manager on a w12 version in 2002. It was really impressive. And for around 50k, a deal. But, delivery, and a few gray areas covered in that hour, had me just ordering a maxed option Passat wagon. Which, I absolutely loved. I had performance machines, so the Passat only had to please my engineering senses and feel. I was maybe my favorite commuter car ever, but was stupidly unreliable. Towed three times in 26k miles.

I would love an understated car like this. Would not mind at all if people confused it for a Passat. Just means the one who catches what it is will be most likely interesting. Making small talk worth it.

Love the Autostadt. Where the sausages in the restaurant have part numbers. Very nice they are too !

0:21 The timing of that piece to camera, talking about the jewel that shouldn't have flopped while being overtaken by the turd that should have flopped but didn't.

Was it a failure though? In hindsight it’s clear to me that it was really a test bed for the Bentley flying spur and others. Vw had a lot more money to play with than Bentley

At 16:00 minutes , that aforementioned Ford Focus does its drive-by. I think he even flashed his lights!

Much of the Phaeton was repurposed by Bentley to become the 1st generation Bentley Continental GT. They even kept the same steering wheel.

A sales failure it might be, but still one of the most important cars in VAG's history

Very interesting and informative!

I bought a nice sample with low kms in Germany for 5500 euros. Affordable and great to drive. Unfortunately, the top speed remained at 140 kilometers per hour, because both turbos were broken. The repair would have cost around 5,000 euros.

Probably shouldn't mention the DPF removal. It's illegal for on road use in the UK and can fail an MOT if detected.

Lovely drive by shot at 15:59, well focused

I heard that VW planned another "luxury" sedan between the Passat and Phaeton to be developed with Maserati. It was to use the same chassis as the Quattroporte. They even developed a 4.0 W8 for the car. But with the apparent failure of the Phaeton made them scrap the idea and use the 4.0 W8 for other cars. including the Passat W8.

Focus shot @ 16:00 Well played Jay. Well played. 😂😂

What an excellent concept, pity it did not take off.

The VW badge was the problem. The BMW 7 series and Merc S class customer saw a VW as a downgrade

Ah, the Phaeton. Another of those examples of "overreach". But not the usual brand of overreach. Usually, the word "overreach" covers such follies as trying to build a car to a specification that is beyond the existing technology, or trying to stretch a development budget WAY further than it's possible to stretch it. VW suffered from none of this, having both excellent in-house technology AND the financial firepower to pull off tricks that lesser mortals in the car manufacturing world could only dream of. Here, "overreach" covers the business of trying to overcome some of the badge snobbery that the VW empire had been itself partially responsible for launching and sustaining. The very hierarchy you've mentioned, James, was not going to be overturned easily, and indeed, Mercedes-Benz found that out with their ill-fated Maybach venture, in which they tried to beat Rolls-Royce with a car that looked like an overstuffed S-Class instead of a self-propelled brothel for plutocrats. Your "It's too much like a Passat" refrain was, of course, one of the important features in the Phaeton's demise, though to be fair, cars in this segment have to err on the conservative side design wise, because the purchasing demographic doesn't take too kindly to being startled by the unusual. Throw something like the frankly silly "mobile greenhouse" Lamborghini Marzal at this customer base, and you probably won't get very far. But VW could have exerted more effort making this car distinctive, without exceeding the established bounds of taste, and had plenty of money and design expertise to throw at the exercise. Which makes one wonder why they didn't, given that they had already established serious engineering and style credentials with the Bugatti Veyron. Perhaps another reason this car died, was because it tried too much to be an S-Class. Had it tried to be something unique, it might have fared better. But I suspect the REAL reason centres upon the fact that VW built a halo car, with halo car purchase and maintenance costs, and people just weren't ready for a halo car with a VW badge and Bentley operating fees.

A friend of mine bought a perfect 2005 example about three years ago for £900. It cost him nearly that to fly over to London and drive it back to Ireland!

If you buy a well maintained one, I doubt one needs to worry about spending too much money on these. My dad bought one from 2011 a few years back and it has been working flawlessly since, only needed regular maintenance. The paint will bubble up on the doors though, that is a guarantee.

I pay luxury money and get a peoples car , a volkswagen in German . For that money I want no car " for the people " , I want an Elitewagen .

Peugeot 607 3.0 V6 with all the goods was a bit similar car as the Phaeton. It didn't have the correct badge so it wasn't "accepted" in the luxury car segment. But in the best trim it sure was a good car. Not quite up to Phaeton V12-level but right up there with A6 Audis, etc. Just think about it... almost all brands had a model for this segment in the 70's and 80's. Ford Granada 2.8i Ghia, Opel Senator/Monza, Fiat Croma, Citroen CX/XM, Alfa 164, Saab 9000, etc. Now it belongs MB, BMW and Audi. They have total monopoly in the class. I'm not even sure if Jaguar continues with the XF in the future.

The boot mechanism got me a bit excited. Do love nice hinge.

In america the dealers repair costs were astronomical and consumers ran away rather quickly and resale pricing plummeted.. pretty much true of all german luxury cars...

When a VW tries to sell at AUDI prices. In the states, Phaeton sold only in V8 and W12 for I think a couple model years, the W8 was in the Passat with 4-motion in manual or automatic for one year, then the CC came out when VW tried to call that the new Passat and VW fans were not having it that CC became a stand alone model. Seen a couple Phaetons around with V8 and super low mileage, the owners will not part with them. They look nice.

James you need to try my V8 LWB Individual specced one at some point. Much different car to the V6. And the bulbs are accessible on it 🤣.

My favorite VAG projects from the "Piech Vanity era" are the Audi A2 3l and the Vw Touareg, but this isnt bad as well.

Would love to see a video on the VW Touareg R50

Great video. To be honest, looks wize, yeah ok, but the shocking design issues with this, e.g. ha ing to remove a frikkin bumper JUST to replace a light bulb is utterly unforgivable

Yes it was a flop for VW brand but not for the VW group! The amount of cars that were built on this platform sold well. As You said Bentley especially.