Which W12 Would You Pick? 2004 VW Phaeton vs 2012 Bentley Flying Spur

For our final installment of Same Platform Week, we’re looking at two luxury sedans built on Volkswagen’s D platform. The D, of course, stands for “Damn, this thing is complicated.” Only one wears a Volkswagen badge, however. The other, improbable as it may seem, is a Bentley.

We had another really close vote yesterday, as often happens with two similar cars. The two Honda SUVs we looked at shared engines and drivelines, but had different transmissions, and that seems to be what tipped the scales ever so slightly in the CR-V’s favor. Many of you said you would have chosen the Element if it had a manual gearbox.

I think I might pick the CR-V regardless. The manual is just the icing on the cake. I don’t have anything against the Element, but the CR-V just seems more my style. It’s just a decent little car. The Element is more of a lifestyle choice, and it’s not one I’m sure I want to make.

Every automaker has made at least one truly boneheaded move in its history. Ford had the whole Pinto fiasco, Chrysler partnered up with Daimler, Daewoo came to America. In my opinion, Volkswagen’s boneheaded move was hiring Ferdinand Piëch to run the place. Piëch insisted on moving the brand upmarket, attempting to turn the People’s Car into the Rich People’s Car. He also bought up luxury brands and folded them into the Volkswagen Group. The result of all this putting on airs was this unlikely pair of automotive siblings: a Passat with delusions of grandeur, and a Bentley that would have given old Walter Owen a migraine with its complexity. Oh, for the carefree days of nice simple Beetles and Rabbits. Let’s check them out.

2004 Volkswagen Phaeton – $9,000

Engine/drivetrain: 6.0-liter OHC W12, five-speed automatic, AWD

Location: Ravenna, MI

Odometer reading: 74,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Volkswagen’s fanciest car to date was Piëch’s pet project, intended to compete with Mercedes and Lexus. It cost a fortune to develop, and absolutely flopped in the marketplace. It turns out that if you want a Mercedes or a Lexus, you go buy a Mercedes or a Lexus, not a Volkswagen. The few buyers who did pony up for an ultra-premium Volkswagen lost their shirts on depreciation: This car is being sold for less than one-tenth of its original price.

The base model Phaeton came with a 4.2-liter V8 from Audi, but this one has the optional engine: VW’s bonkers W12. Imagine two of the VR6 engines in your cousin’s GTI joined together on a common crankshaft, and you get the idea. This six-liter monster puts out 414 horsepower through a five-speed automatic to all four wheels. It’s ferociously complicated, and not what you’d call trouble-free. This one runs and drives well, according to the seller, but there’s no telling when the next sensor will find something it isn’t happy with and trigger a check-engine light. Right now the only warning light is the tire-pressure monitor; the car has new tires, but obviously someone didn’t reinstall or reset the sensors.

It’s as fancy inside as you’d expect from a car in its price class, with power features galore, and every surface adorned with leather or wood. I want you to pay particular attention to the control panel on the side of the driver’s seat; it will become important in a minute. It’s in good shape overall inside, but it could use a good cleaning.

I think one of the big problems with the Phaeton is that it really does just look like a slightly bigger Passat. There’s nothing special or memorable about its appearance at all. This one is in good shape, but it appears to be missing the VW badge on the back. How are people supposed to know it’s a Volkswagen?

2012 Bentley Continental Flying Spur – $27,999

Engine/drivetrain: Twin turbocharged 6.0-liter W12, six-speed automatic, AWD

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Odometer reading: 63,000 miles

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Unlike Volkswagen, Bentley has a long and rich history of building big fast cars, going back more than a hundred years now. The marque has been owned by Volkswagen since 1998, and this big sedan has been around since 2005. Depreciation hasn’t been kind to this one either. This Continental Flying Spur was a nearly $200,000 car when it was new, but now you can buy it for about as much as a Hyundai Elantra.

The Flying Spur is also powered by a W12, but Bentley worked its own magic on it: this one puts out 552 horsepower thanks to twin turbochargers. Combined with a six-speed ZF automatic and all-wheel-drive, it made the Flying Spur the fastest production sedan in its day. It’s no slouch even today. Of course, it sucks down fuel like nobody’s business, and trying to do any service or repairs on it is likely to drive you insane, but that’s the price you pay. The seller says this one runs and drives well, though it has a check engine light. They think it’s a fuel cap issue, but it’s worth checking for yourself. Do those cheap Autozone OBDII scanners work on Bentleys? They must, right?

Remember those seat controls on the Phaeton? Look at this photo. Deja vu, right? It’s one of my problems with “premium” cars; you can always spot the parts that came out of someone else’s bins. The rest of the interior is awfully nice, though, I have to admit. And apart from a few little things, it’s in really good condition.

Honestly, this one doesn’t look all that special on the outside either. It’s a fairly generic large four-door sedan. Take the Bentley badges off, and no one would know what it was. It’s in nice condition, as it should be for the price. I think the black wheels are aftermarket, and frankly, I’m not a fan. A dark gunmetal gray would look better, I think.

I try to be as impartial as I can about the cars I feature here, just in the interest of fairness, but I guess I can’t hide the fact that I don’t actually like either one of these. The Phaeton is just silly, and the Bentley brings out my inner class-warrior. But I’m curious to hear what you all have to say about them. You’ve got all weekend to vote and discuss. See you back here on Monday!