We currently have a black 2010 VW Routan. When you first look at the car it looks great. The interior is all leather. Both of the front seats have two levels of heating for cold days. There is a large screen navigation, color reverse video view, aux inputs, CD player, as well as front access DVD player. There are two drop down screens for each of the rows. The second row of seats are two large captain chairs. The sliding doors open at a touch of a button. There is also a pull down screen to block sunlight. The back row can accommodate two adults comfortably and 3 children comfortably. The car looks great and has wonderful amenities. However, the drawbacks are all with the structure of the car and maintenance of the car. We have had several flat tires and getting the spare tire is extremely complicated and requires specialized tools to lower it from underneath the car. Additionally the tire pressure monitors frequently erode and cause the tire to become flat. Additionally we have had to replace the brakes and related parts several times. Our mechanic has told us that this is common in this model.

I like that the car seats a lot of people without sacrificing too much in terms of handling and power. The van has a lot of power, good acceleration. It is also fully loaded with lots of different entertainment features -- I wish we had been able to pick and choose only the things we wanted versus having an all or nothing approach, however. My favorite thing about this van is that we can bring our entire family with us, including the dog, with plenty of room left over for cargo. We use the van on road trips a lot, and drive over seven hours at a time in the van. While it doesn't have the best gas mileage, it is certainly cheaper to use the van than to fly to visit far away relatives. This is the main family car, so it gets a lot of use, but has held up pretty well with only one major repair (beyond normal maintenance). It is also very easy to clean, with leather seats and plastic mats.

I was excited to have a Volkswagen minivan. However, all of the parts and mechanics of the vehicle were Chrysler parts, and I had problems from the beginning. Because of a defect in the design, I was forced to replace my brakes, including the rotors and brake pads YEARLY. I also had to replace the master cylinder within the first year. The cable for the television broke during the 2nd year. Thankfully I was able to YouTube how to fix it ourselves to save $800 for repair. The vehicle runs low on oil far before it's due time for change... every time. I am now running into a problem of the car not always starting. I've taken it to the dealership, and because they cannot replicate the issue, they cannot diagnose. I do enjoy the vehicle. It is great for a family with young children. It has two RES systems and is easy to operate. In comparison with Honda and Toyota, the price point of the vehicle was right. The vehicle does get pretty good gas mileage on long trips, but not so great during city driving. The performance is standard. I don't expect anything great with a minivan.