After all, every buyers also will have their opinion on other cars... no point debating on who or why ppl buy... juz like honda buyers will criticize toyota buyers... nissan criticize the mazda buyers.... no end on this loop.... everyone always deem to assume the decision they made are the best and perfect as they had owned that particular car.... no point debate on which car is the best after all.... just my 2 cents....

Perfect answer. Everyone is free to make his/her own choice! The choice is usually based on issues that appeal to the buyer!

You are right, no point in debating which is a better car. Better car for who?

In economics sense, an additional RM90 may be "a lot" for the car manufacturer, but if they cannot spend that additional RM90, then might as well not spend RM5-10 on a piece of cardboard that won't bring any noticeable difference to the roof, if any.

What is a headliner? Although the Passat (or Jetta) has cardbox pieces on the roof, it is not only the carboard isn't it, but some soundproofing material stuck on the piece of cardboard. Just like the stock soundproofing of the BMW as shown in the photos. The cardboard may act as a support for the insulation sheets in the soundproofing of the car. If just the cardboard alone, the effects will be almost negligible.

May I ask what soundproofing material have you used for the roof of your Passat in place of the stock soundproofing of the car? Is there any tangible improvement in the soundproofing after you have done it?

This post has been edited by Volkswagen2: Nov 19 2015, 02:10 PM

It's a mainstream car, there's no reason to spend more than they should. The profit on mainstream cars are low enough as it is.

The headliner is actually the immediate ceiling where you can touch, it's actually a combination of the plastic frame, the cotton or leather cover and a thick or thin piece of foam inside that covers the metal ceiling, so the corrugated cardboard piece acts as insulation.

So what I have now is a vibration dampening mat that is pasted on bare metal roof sheet, the stock corrugated cardboard piece is placed between the dampening mat and another piece of heat and noise insulating foam layer and finally covered by the headliner. Needless to say, the noise from heavy raindrops is more drastically muted and surprisingly there is a noticeable improvement to the bass of the audio and the overall audio quality. Using a sound meter registered about 2 to 3 dBA drop in ambient noise.

Er. They did sell it in Germany, but since no one wants a C segment sedan in Germany they stopped. They do sell it in Southern Europe, where people do buy it. I've seen quite a few in Spain.

Also, it is basically a Megane sedan. Just like the Jetta is a Golf sedan. They only gave it a new name.

Calling it a Korean car is plain wrong. It is built there, but the design and engineering is from Europe.