Volkswagen Passat Estate review - Practicality & boot space

While it might not quite have the wow factor of the Audi, BMW or Mercedes, the Passat Estate kicks them all into touch when it comes to boot space. In fact, it will be between this and the Skoda Superb if you simply want the most room for prams, golf clubs or skis.

Thanks to its fairly boxy shape, you also sit reasonably upright in the Passat, and there’s loads of adjustment in the reach and rake steering column and for the driver’s seat. The view out is decent, too – even without the added ride height of an SUV – so the Passat Estate doesn’t feel too unwieldy in tight spots.

The extra cabin length for this generation is certainly noticeable in the back, too, where rear legroom isn’t far off that in a luxury saloon such as the BMW 7 Series or Mercedes S-Class, whether or not you go for the petrol or plug-in hybrid Passat. Skoda’s influence on its design can also be seen in the myriad storage cubbies, from the numerous compartments between the front seats to neat pockets in the seat backrests.

Does the Volkswagen Passat Estate have a big boot?

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As we’ve mentioned, the big 690-litre boot is one of the Passat Estate’s top features, and it represents a significant increase of 40 litres compared with the previous model – a car we already praised for its practicality. This matches the Skoda Superb Estate, while also making it around 200 litres bigger than the space on offer in the A4 Avant or C-Class Estate. In other words, that’s like having an extra city car’s boot space on hand. The Passat does only have 60:40 split-fold rear seats, though, rather than the 40:20:40 design that can be used to load really long items between two back-seat passengers.

Go for the Passat PHEV and there is a knock-on effect, with its large battery pack reducing boot space to 510 litres. On the plus side, this is still a decent amount that’s 27 litres up on the outgoing Passat GTE’s and still beats most plug-in estate rivals. If you’d prefer a fully electric estate, the Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer offers between 565-605 litres depending on how the rear seats are configured, with 1,714 litres when they are folded flat.