re: Driven: The 2011 Volkswagen Passat Quote:
Originally Posted by ajmat Better drive train and more equipment although brand image is not as good
It is pretty neat but it may not alway detect things like open drains, plants, people sleeping on pavement etc. Great for malls! |
Hi Ajmat,
I am not at all sure of the reliability of the park assist feature.
A few days back I test drove the passat and wanted to personally check the park assist system as i had heard a lot about it. I was driving with the sales associate sitting next to me. We stopped a little ahead of a proper 90 degree parking slot with no standard Indian obstructions like potholes, stones, walls, humans, dogs, cows, etc available in between a Honda City and a Zen , the sales guy put on the park assist, gave it a few seconds to calculate the distance, etc and then I slotted into reverse and left the steering and took my foot off the brake and accelerator as instructed by the sales guy.
Suddenly some ghost took over the controls of the car and it reversed at a good speed missed the slot between the city and the zen which was identified by us instead it went onto park in the next slot which was after the zen and before a Mahindra Bolero Pickup, the steering turned on its own and suddenly bang.
The drivers side rear corner had struck in to the side of the Bolero pickup truck.
When the car started reversing fast and missed the first slot i asked the sales guy if i should brake but he tells me "No no dont get scared and do not touch anything the sensors have identified the next slot it will park on its own" and when the car crashed the first thing he uttered was "oh **** how did that happen?"
We got out of the car assessed the damage and here i have to compliment the build quality of the passat, the tail light cover had broken, the bumper had a big dent on the corner and had come off which was put back immediately by the sales guy and it fit back, one punch on the side of the dent and it just came out leaving no trace of a mishap. So just a big scratch on the side of the bumper and a broken tail light which was not bad at all from what i had assumed the damage would be when i saw the car hit into a tempo in the rear view mirror. No damage to the Bolero whatsoever.
The sales guy had no explanation as to what and how it happened, he did blame the kachra (dirt) in the sensor once and neither could i understand it, especially since the parking slot was a good one with no obstructions.
So i am not sure if i would have the guts to own a car worth almost a fortune and then leave it for the computers to park. In this case i got out of the car shocked but still smirking, I am sure that would not have been the case had i owned the car and worst had we banged into a private car rather than a Bolero pick up.
VVB |