Volkswagen CC: The cost of looking good just got better

Call me selfish, but I've always been more interested in how a car impresses me from the inside than from the outside. After all, I'm the one who has to live with it, spend time in it, and gets to foot the bills to keep it around. So in my view, things like ride, handling, sensible controls, and comfort are more important than the shape of the sheet metal.

That said, I realize not everybody agrees with me. An excellent case in point is our Volkswagen CC, which I have been driving the past few days. The CC turns more heads than anything I've driven recently, and some of those heads have commented on what a good-looking car it is. My head tends to agree with them, but I also think the CC makes a really good case for the garden variety Passat on which it is based.

The two share a platform, powertrains, and suspensions, so performance and handling are virtually the same. But where the more stylish CC gives up interior room and visibility in the interest of impressing people outside the car, the not-so-bad looking Passat sedan looks and feels a whole lot better to the folks inside. And it can appeal to more of them, because the standard Passat has seating for five, while the CC can only accommodate four. Not that the CC's interior is shabby – its fit and finish is impressive.

But there is some good news for those of you more style conscious than me, something, incidentally, that it isn't hard to be. While looking good in anything from cars to shoes often comes with a monetary cost in addition to sacrifices in comfort and practicality, that isn't the case with the CC. Prices for the better-looking sibling start at about $1,200 less than the more upright Passat, but a big part of that difference is that the CC has a standard manual transmission while the Passat comes with an automatic.

Score one for the fashionistas. Unless, of course, you're the guy who just lost a seat.

–Jim Travers