Volkswagen Routan Review. A large percentage of TTAC readers arrive here via a Google search of a specific vehicle. They know nothing of– nor care much about– our “take no prisoners” editorials or Inside Baseball auto industry analysis.
So, in their honor, let’s start with THE key fact: the VW Routan is a rebadged Chrysler minivan. Rebadged as in mildly reworked.
BG is an automotive products company that makes chemicals and equipment for a long line of automotive needs. Here's their main web site. http://www.bgprod.com/. Volkswagen Routan Review. November 24th, 2010 at 10:09 am; Routan is The BEST minivan in the U S. High quality features and superb handling. 2009 volkswagen routan repair manual online 1. Online 2009 Volkswagen Routan Repair Manual When you use the easy to operate RepairSurge digital auto repair.
So why buy a VW Routan instead of a Chrysler product? For the same reason you’d buy a Chrysler minivan over a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna: no reason at all, really. But there’s more to it than that. At least in theory…Externally, the Routan’s metalworkers have done what they could to differentiate their “German engineered” product from its American/Canadian cousins (i.
If the Dodge Caravan is a lunchbox, and The Town and Country a Chrysler 3. Routan is an inflated lunchbox with a VW nose. That said, the Routan’s schnoz demonstrates the importance of a vehicle’s “face; ” VW’s plunging trapezoid re- brands the box, transforming it into a significantly more coherent vehicle. Whether or not the resulting VW- ness appeals depends on how many hours/dollars you’ve spent at a VW dealership.
The aesthetic improvements continue inside… somewhat. VW recast the Chyrsler product’s cheap ass dash in a faux painted metal.
What's happening right now with VW? Check out our Social and News page to get the skinny on all-things-Volkswagen. Volkswagen Owners Manual. Volkswagen (often abbreviated to VW) is an car maker from Germany. Volkswagen was originally founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front. Research the Volkswagen Routan with news, reviews, specs, photos, videos and more - everything for Routan owners, buyers and enthusiasts. Edmunds has detailed price information for the 2010 Volkswagen Routan Minivan. See our 2010 Routan page for detailed gas mileage information, insurance estimates. DOWNLOAD 2009 VOLKSWAGEN ROUTAN OWNERS MANUAL Did you searching for Download 2009 Volkswagen Routan Owners Manual? This is the best place to read. Join Date Sep 2009 Posts 37 Thanks 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Rep Power 7.
For those who remember the original Microbus, itâs a constant reminder of the innovative, iconoclastic vehicle that the Routan is not. There’s no disguising the Routan’s modern roots: a non- Germanic vehicle made for people comfortable living inside a box. If you can’t see the problem, blinded as you are by the steering wheel’s big- ass logo, you can feel it. The switchgear and cabinetry respond with Chrysler- esque imprecision. Also lacking: Chryslerâs oh- so clever Stow- n- Go seating.
Jumbo cargo schleppers will have to remove the Routanâs mid seats and leave them somewhere. On the flip side (get it?), the Routan’s second row seats are considerably more comfortable than Chryslerâs origami ones. If youâre going to be carting more humans than old armoires, the Routan is the way to go. Our test van had a power tailgate, which is helpful. You can lift things out, hit the gate with your elbow and walk away.
The power- folding rear seat is jewelry: a nice touch that serves no practical function. Minivanistas will know that reconfiguring seats means crawling around in the back moving CD collections, abandoned sippy cups, Tonka trucks and such before you can start the folding. After that, who cares if seat accordionage is just a button away? Theyâve Veedubbed the Dodge, but itâs still a Dodge. For example, the spare tire. You must lower it to ground from a knob on the floor near the driverâs seat. Had VW bolted the wheel to the front grill, I would have given this thing five stars just for old timeâs sake.
Hell, I may have bought one. As nice as the Routan is– with its cubbies and LED map lights and 1.
Brooke Shields in The Muppets Take Manhattan. The Routan offers the same engines as its supposed Chrysler platform mates (duh): a 3. V6 making 1. 97 hp or a 4. V6 turning- out 2. Bigger is better.
The larger- engined SEL is not slow; zero to sixty in 8. More importantly, thereâs plenty of torque on tap, allowing smooth, predictable acceleration at all speeds.
AND the bigger motor gets slightly better gas mileage. VW claimed they spent millions on the Routanâs suspension to give it that âVW feel.â Marketing execs now join TV weather people and my high school guidance counselor as people whose information must be ârecalibratedâ with reality. The whole world is not a parking lot.
Thereâs simply too much waft, wallow and float, even for a minivan. Iâve driven heavyweight Dodge Chargers and sprightly VW GTIs. Both donor companies can do better. I didnât take the Routan on the Autobahn. Maybe thereâs a difference between this four- wheeled crate and Dodgeâs version at 1.
The set up did seem a tad more taut than the Caravanâs⦠if I concentrated. What I came to believe, after a couple of mixed miles, is that whatever VW spent got diluted. Tweaking a suspension, while keeping everything else, yields nothing very much. Taken as a whole, the Routan is the most desirable of the three minivans sharing this platform– provided you donât need the trick seats. If Honda, Kia and Toyota weren’t in this space, the Routan would rule. But they are, so it doesnât.