What Is A VW Arteon Shooting Brake - And Should You Buy One? (2020 Arteon Elegance 150PS Review) 

“They don’t have a Phaeton” is insane to say for a VW heritage fleet

"An absolutely superb way" well an an even better absolutely superb way is a Skoda Superb 2.0 d L&K trim and trouser in the region of £ 8k.

Pity VW didn't make the current Passat to look like this in the first place.... used to be a popular model in the UK. Ironic that smart phones are banned, yet car makers are sticking them all over dashboards. Legislation is required imo.....

The obsession with enormous wheels irritates me especially when you pay for the tyres yourself .

The Passat CC was always a rather neat thing. They simply made it it's own product instead of a part of the Passat line. Unfortunately, VW prices have gone coocoo for cocopuffs in recent years, in general. For that sorta money, sorry, but I ain't gonna buy a VW...

I HATE touch sensitive controls. They're a major distraction.

How have I not seen this channel before? It's fantastic! Loving it, Jay! Kudos from Brazil!

Love what you said about the touch screens. At last! Some of the electric cars seem even worse - impractical on a bumpy, UK road.

I’ve recently purchased an Arteon R-line shooting brake. I test drove a variety of other cars prior to purchasing the Arteon but when it came down to finding a big practical car with all the gadgets and a fairly sensible engine the Arteon was a clear leader for me. I got serious deal on an ex Demo, saving myself nearly 10k off list price! I’d 100% recommend these to anyone looking for an upmarket practical estate 😎

One of the best looking cars in class Edit - for that money though if I want a practical luxury estate I’m buying an e class

UK car pricing makes me depressed. The Arteon starts at 58k £ here in Denmark.

Volkswagens dash designers aren’t very bright. Bring back proper tactile controls, ban touchscreens, electronic handbrakes, lane keeping assist systems, and bring back cars to drive .

Enjoyed your honest review as always! I recently bought a used arteon 2018 pre face-lift with actual buttons with high spec and the saving is unbelievable. Saved nearly 30k from purchase price! This is the best way to get into an Arteon!

Great review as always but it does highlight two things I can't wrap my head around with VW at the moment. First, the price. Is it just me or have VW somewhat lost the plot? No better example than the performance Golf models IMO. GTI starts at, what, £33.5k? Somewhere around £37K for the clubsport and £40k for the R and that's before you add any kit (of which there's a surprisingly large amount). A Civic Type R GT with the most expensive colour option comes in around the same base price as the Clubsport! Or, if you want to go the other way, a BMW 128 or 135 run about the same as their Golf equivalents. And it's the same pretty much everywhere in the range with VW products running big price premiums over Skoda / Seat but nowhere near the quality uplift of, say, an Audi and with standard kit levels that feel like a tribute to mid-90's BMW's. Leaves them stuck in a (very pricey) middle ground. And second, of course, is those touch controls! To be clear I've got no problem with tech in cars. By all means put big touchscreens and the like in but the controls the driver *should* be using (i.e. steering wheel) need to be useable without looking down. For that reason I'd prefer knobs for climate control as well but could just about live with the touch sliders here as at least they're in their own little section. What on earth they were thinking with the new Golf / ID dashtop mounted sliders though I've got no idea! The thought of a touch sensitive slider that isn't backlit just boggles the mind. Same with the steering wheel controls being touch sensitive. I'd kinda sorta maybe get it if it made them configurable (i.e. an actual screen) as that might be a benefit to some people. But this just seems a worse way of doing things for the simple reason of saving a buck or two in component prices.

VW consistently believes they can sell upscale (Passat CC, Phaeton, Touareg, Arteon). They are wrong. For the price, no way I'd buy this over a Volvo V60 or Audi A4/6.

Yup. I hate touchscreens in cars as well. Physical buttons are far superior to actually use while driving.

If this was the new Passat, it d be kinda okay but this is a Passat with an Audi price tag and the horrendous Golf 8 controls/ infotainment

It's not really a shooting brake. It's just an estate. A shooting brake should really only be a two door as they are normally a coupe with an extended back end. I also want a physical speedo with a needle with the rest of the gauge cluster.

Hi I purchased a 6 month old ex dealer principle car in 2018 , so the GT version of today, saw the Arteon first on youtube at the a motor show ,loved the look . Got the 280 bhp R line with 10k of options for a lot less than the list price of that one . The A5 is not the same car its feels so much smaller and is not as great a place to be. The old Arteon does not have the touch sensitive controls, easy to find without looking. I love it . Been in a VW for now 22 years use the same VW service centre in Maidenhead UK , Great guys. Still see my old 2008 Passat sport its going strong , but not as clean .

Earlier versions on a say 18 plate for example are equally as plush inside but have regular controls on the dash and steering wheel. As a happy CC owner I regularly monitor the used prices of these as I love them. I view these completely as a new version of my beloved CC. A high spec R Line on an 18/68 plate is high teens at the moment. As soon as they reach nearer the 10-12 k region I'm pulling the trigger on a Turmeric Yellow R Line 100%

I mean it's literally a Skoda Superb for £47k.

I'd never even heard of this car before today. It appears to be a very nice, handsome vehicle and, although expensive, an extremely well put together, comfortable and practical way of transporting your friends and family from here to there. Unfortunately, being an up market VW, like the Phaeton, it will depreciate like crazy. If one can afford to not worry about such things though, I'd say it makes a much more interesting choice of car than many of it's rivals, from the likes of Mercedes, BMW and even Audi.

14:46 Pretty much a Superb with a VW badge from where I'm sitting. I wonder how different the driving experience is to the Škoda.

As always, you're spot on with touch sensitive controls. however the real elephant in the room is at 4:03 - a massive boot lip. isn't a shooting brake supposed to be a elegant estate with a flat floor, rather than a hatchback with a boot lip?

Maybe driver ergonomics should be included in NCAP test scores (surely they are a factor in driver awareness and therefor safety) This would make manufacturers think more about their steering wheel and cockpit designs. While I'm on it, they should include pillar thickness and hence visibility too.

Beautiful looking vehicle - but go with physical buttons please !!!

Totally agree about touchscreens even though some EV enthusiast tried to compare buttons and the touchscreen upgrade in smartphones 🙄 I also have a hatred of SUV and much prefer a nice estate which I'm looking for now. If for nothing else I hate the SUV driving position, don't get the obsession with them.

Complete agreement about using tactile buttons. Technology run amuck.

Mmmm. Arteon. Stunning. R for me please. This button nonsense, or lack thereof, is madness.

Insane amount depreciation to come. Love looks tho

Excellent video , James’s videos have improved so much recently

I have to say, it is a pretty car, however the estate version is very similar looking in many ways to the old Insignia Estate, which has been around for 12 years. :/

I’ve owned various new VWs, Audis and Beemers. Loved them all inc a 2013 Passat - lovely. I really liked look of Arteon but when it was a very over priced , I realised the lovely shape wasn’t worth that extra as you were into decent Beemer and Audi territory. Shame really. Love VW bit silly money now

Those seats do look comfy. Nice looking car and as you say if you can get some money off from VW, a great car for long journeys.

Elegance is top spec. It's like r line but less tarty.

Could do with a six cylinder version but that would really step on audi toes

Can't even stand non tactile volume control on my phone, why the hell would I want that in my car?

This is a car I might have suggested my 70-year-old parents take a look at, but the touchy-nonfeely-disappeary buttons kill that idea immediately. Hopefully it's a fad that will look dated and silly by the end of the decade.

I have a Passat which is essentially the same car sans the lowered suspension and it is our family car, accomodates every need we have, drives well, feels nice inside. The touch climate controls are a step back indeed but they are very easy to use and do not require any swipes, you can simply press. It is above average on every level except for engine insulation which has been an ever present deficiency on all vw products

I drove the saloon one of these from Leeds to Glasgow, was great on fuel, a nice place to be, but lacked feel. Not a drivers car but would make a great taxi! Loads of rear space. Haha got to the end and he called it a taxi too...

The Passat estate is one of the best selling cars in my local region, they are in the top ten along with the Golf, Discovery, Range rover Evoque, Audi A6, X5, Tiguan, Cayenne, Mazda 3 and Volvo XC90s

I always had a secret crush on the Phaeton. And now you present us the Arteon. And you loved it. I think we have twin tastes when it comes to cars. If everyone wants it and drives it we wouldn’t be seen dead in it! Right James?

this is just a Skoda Superb with some better quality materials. Skoda Superb Estate is a great car, good value people mover. But can we get rid of the touch sensitive fake buttons? All, or nearly all tests are saying the same thing. They are not selling very well in Australia either.

Love the way you ended this review, very diplomatically put to VW to change to knobs not touch. I had a little chuckle to myself.

At some point somebody will sue the hell out of vehicle manufacturers for touch sensitive controls, and the government that approved them. They are a complete distraction and menace. If you can’t have a mobile phone hands feee because it’s a distraction and you need to look at it to use it, why are touch controls allowed? Worst thing ever in cars.

YUP touch sensitive crap is total crap and DANGEROUSE!!!!! The Merc Units we now use are like this. all goes through a touch screen infotainment thing. and there is 2 swipe things in the steering wheel. One of which doesnt work any more in the unit I use so I now can only change settings via the screen...... when bouncing down the road its a bit of a PITA! PUT BUTTONS BACK IN

Great looking and desirable car in estate guise, but not at the asking prices. As stated below, a Skoda Superb makes far more sense, in the right spec.

fk all that touch screeny nonsense... so bad

Even at 15% off , having owned a superb I've still no idea who'd buy this who doesn't live in a straight jacket.

Never heard of this car until this video, odd that it hasnt been advertised that much, given the new name

Seriously thinking about buying an Arteon so your down to earth analysis has been very helpful. I hadn't realised that the steering wheel buttons are toutch sensitive which, I agree, is a disappointment. But I'm going to have a test drive and see if the many positives you mentioned outweigh the negatives. Thanks for the review

Its a great car now but will be a fantastic used car when all the depreciation was someone elses problem

Used for 2 years i think it would be much more affordable, when we take into account that a lot of us can't buy a new vehicle. I think it is a very good car for a family that can only have one vehicle due to finances or lack of space.

What I find funny about small engines is they aren't faster than some older cars for example a 1.0l fiesta 125bhp is slower than a 1.8 astra mk4 with 125bhp. And when it translates to the real world in action they appear even slower and have to flog them to do anything where as bigger engine is unstressed. So a 2.0l is a better option over that breathless pigeon of an engine (1.5t) in the arteon. It won't be better on fuel in the real world

Vauxhall would like their alloys back please Volkswagen.

Was on verge of buying a 520D until one of these popped up. Looks like im gonna go wirh it

Great to see the Arteon getting some Love. I'm on my second RLine hatch back and will be buying (leasing) third soon. One thing to note. The earlier cars don't have the touch controls on steering wheel and Hvac, they have proper buttons. Both my cars have been the 190 bhp petrol engine. There is loads of shove and the fuel economy is very good on a run. Great cars and sure to be a second hand Bargain.

If I was replacing an Avensis I wouldn't suggest any German car. I would pick a Mazda 6 estate or new Toyota Camry and also save a lot of money.

150ps? For £47k? That'll feel underpowered empty, let alone fully laden.

Good list of stuff we don't need or even want. Sport suspension, Big wheels, touch controls, dark glass. Save some money, and possibly some lives, and make the car easier to use. Do the marketing dep't need to get out more?

"But found out it was a wagon.. And that's not certainly a bad thing" - As a W8 wagon owner, you have no idea how true that is

I think it's Decent looking car!

Would love to see a VW CC VR6 review! Always seemed like a cool car.

“47k for an ordinary car” is eye 🤯 watering.

Try a Merc CLS shooting break.

I had a VW Phaeton from 2005-2008 and loved it. A fantastic car and absolutely rock solid on the Autobahns at high speed. It's a real shame VW didn't update it other than a superficial facelift. I've currently got a VW Passat Alltrack which is nice but miles away from the Phaeton. 240ps diesel, 4WD & an eye-watering €73k list price here in Germany. Utter madness (leased for peanuts obviously)!

Saloon Arteon 2018 11k miles £16k..

It looked great when it was first launched.... back in 2017. Now it looks dated, especially the interior. I would just buy a Peugeot 508... £35k would get you a 2.0 Diesel, 8spd Auto, full leather, double glazed windows, night vision and all sorts like Focal speakers. And then it would look much much much nicer.

Can we pleeeeease stop with the touchscreen and button madness. I hate it! A million presses just to move a seat, change a temp , it's mental. Enough. Actually a nice looking car though, from the outside. Price is ridiculous

You can get double glazing in a Passat (and the same leather seats if you wish so) and its cheaper car. Not to mention Arteon is ugly in the estate form.

They do the capacitive buttons because it's fewer moving parts from fewer mouldings in the factory, causing fewer warranty claims and therefore is cheaper for Volkswagen Group.

James, any plans to do another Q&A? I need to pick your considerable automotive brains about a potential JCW Works GP purchase 😷 Another stellar review by the way.

The Arteon is a very pretty car and I was going to test drive one... until I measured my driveway and realised that to load the boot I'd have to lean out the lounge window.

Anyone else see the Lotus Europa at 16:59?

Correct me if I'm wrong, isn't a shooting brake a 2 door, four seater, estate?

I love the look of these, I would love an R Shooting Brake, but at the price VW are asking, even for your most basic of Arteon, no thanks.

From A to B...wow now that's something I haven't heard of for a long time. They're all on RU-vid, don't you know. Just started watching them again, truly excellent petrolhead viewing.

I have a 10 plate Alfa Romeo 159 ti Sportwagon 2.0 jtdm with 170 bhp, and I am in no way tempted by the Arteon, particularly for the price.

Yep - the Superbs I test drove 5 years ago simply didn't do it for me, as a chauffeur - I really wanted to like it (that's why I tried FIVE TIMES), but it simply felt and *sounded* like a cheap, standard car. I particularly noticed the road rumble sound, and general intrusion of ambient sound. I recently tried a Passat, and it was great, so I assume the Arteon will be similar, if not better again. What I'd actually like would be a VW or Audi version of the lift-back Superb. The reason is that the lift-back Arteon has insufficient rear head room, and whilst the Shooting Brake would probably solve that problem, I don't like the shape - I'd lose some work just because of the shape. Re the Passat - it's just a bit small for use as a limo.

I like the blacked out rear. My colleagues can be loading the shotguns up and getting their masks sorted and the boot is great for a lot of cash bags. Statham at the wheel job done

I hate the centre of the button for the volume. Can you not make it stay centered when it's turned 😤

Loving this review, as always. Yeah it is a cool "normal car", a prettier Passat or whatever they're called nowadays. I think it's a really nice looking car and I would almost want to have one, if I could ever love VW again. ://

Wagons/Estates seem to be having a bit of a moment these days and VAG is leading the way. This is a lovely car.

Jay could you please make a new video on updated 2021 Kia Stinger? Thank you, keep up the good work ;)

Dispensing with real, easy-to-find-and-operate knobs and buttons is so f'n stupid. Touchscreens are a solution looking for a problem - when there isn't one. I blame Tesla. Apart from taking eyes off the road there's also the difficulty of pointing your finger accurately on a screen in a moving car, which is bloody hard and even more time-consuming, distracting and dangerous. I can't believe management have let the muppets who design these things get away with it and I wonder how many accidents it's caused. I have a 16 year-old E90. I can find and adjust temperature and volume (volume on the steering wheel, with real buttons) by touch alone. (I don't have to worry about ambient lighting, changing gauge cluster layout, switching driving mode, displaying a G-monitor, monitoring the car while it drives itself for me, priming launch control or switching on fart noises. In fact I can do everything I need to without burrowing into layers of menus on a screen. Whatever happened to common sense? Talk about form over function.)

Did not know they made an estate of that… never seen one… want !

Seems quite nice but It's too expensive. Looks quite nice body though.

I have to admit, VW's styling is among the best at the moment, but dear God they still succeed in just being a bit boring. Perfect with their Function over Form ethos

My old 11 plate CC had the pop up badge reverse cam. Got a few "Ya boot's open" remarks while I owned it.

On the motor......yes, a good comment on the Estate vs SUV debate

"not so keen on the wheels." I focus on said wheels. WTF are those - urrggghhhh......

Defo a cool car and different

best looking vw in a long time!

What really amuses me about this car is the (aspirational?) branding ‘Shooting Break’. A few years ago Jag brought out the XF Shooting Break. I went to have a look at one. Its load carrying capacity was hopeless, unsuitable for a couple of dogs etc etc. So, here we go again! Compared with the Audi A6 Allroad and the Passat Alltrack (even bigger in the boot than the A6) this car, especially with the deep step into the boot, is pathetic for anyone (like me) who dislikes the current trend to SUVs but needs a ‘real’ ‘shooting break’. Unfortunately, VW has dropped the Alltrack in the UK so I’ve had to settle for a 4WD Passat Estate losing a useful bit of ground clearance (I got fed up with the fuel cost of the Allroad and never used the air suspension). I’m disillusioned by the thought that estate cars are generally being phased out by VAG. In the 1960s my father had an Austin Countryman Shooting Break. Now that was a real shooting break! With the back seats down it would carry just about anything and would handle rough muddy forest tracks if you drove with your mind engaged which in these SUV times folk seem to be unable to do!

You can literally buy 5 young - and oldtimers for the price of that thing. And that’s what I did. Edit: Still a great video as always ;)

It beggars belief that the TuV and German road standards won't allow people to change their suspension; but does allow cars on their road which have haptic controls for key functions which require looking away from the road...

I’m never going to buy a car with touch sensitive controls. Did motorists ask for them or did company accountants insist they be fitted?

Love estate car reviews. More please

Proceed is much cheaper, inside Arteon is better (except sensitive controls), but outside i think Proceed looks really nice from outside, and have 7 tears warranty... Difficult choose...

My Vxl Astra 2.0CDTI SRI Sports Tourer 2013 had Privacy Glass.