2020 Volkswagen Passat SEL

The 2020 Volkswagen Passat SEL is an ideal sedan and it comes with all the bells and whistles you could want.

Full transparency, I love Volkswagen. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to spend time in many of their vehicles over the years and I am never left disappointed. Every single time I’ve finished up a week in one of their vehicles, whether an SUV like the Atlas, a wagon like the Golf Alltrack or sedan like this one, I’ve come close to buying it. Considering how much time I get to spend testing out cars, I think that says something about the brand overall.

For 2020 the Passat got some noticable updates like the updated grill and 19” wheels. It comes in four different trim levels ranging from $22,995 to $31,095. The one I tested out was the 2.0T SEL in Aurora Red Metallic and it cost $32,410. So almost, 10K more than the base model. For the purpose of this review I am only going to cover the one I drove. I had it for about a week during the beginning stages of the pandemic and turned out to be the only car review I would do for the next year.

Table of Contents

2020 Volkswagen Passat SEL

Powertrain

The front wheel drive SEL is the top tier with three lower trim levels under it: S, SE, and R-Line. All models have a 2.0L Turbo engine that delivers 174-horsepower and 206 lb.-ft of torque. It’s mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission that isn’t the smoothest in the world, but isn’t a deal breaker. The fuel economy is city 23, hwy 34, combined 27 mpg.

Safety Features

Lane keep assist, park assist that will park the car parallel and perpendicular, adaptive cruise control, front assist with pedestrian monitoring, blind spot monitoring, and rear traffic alert.

2020 Volkswagen Passat SEL Interior

The interior is quite nice boasting lots of leather with heated front and back row seats. There’s also a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear shifter.

The driver’s seat has an 8-way power adjustable seat with power lumbar support. I felt that the lumbar support was adequate. Upfront is also a USB port, one 12-Volt and two cup holders. You can fit one large and one medium drink from McDonalds in the cup holders.

We felt like we had plenty of room in the second row and appreciate that there was air vents in the back row. There’s also two USB ports back there. The seats fold down in a 60/40 split. You could easily fit two car seats back here with room leftover.