Volkswagen Arteon (2023)

Alex on Autos is strongly positive about the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, calling it exceptionally distinctive, comfortable, solid, and practical. The 300-hp turbo engine, quick DSG transmission, confident 4MOTION system, quiet ride, and spacious liftback cargo area make it an appealing grand tourer with near-Audi character. He especially appreciates its supportive seats, roomy rear accommodations, and real-world fuel economy. Still, the Arteon’s $51,000-plus price, small infotainment screen, touch-sensitive controls, light steering, soft brakes, limited top-trim amenities, and occasional low-speed transmission hesitation weaken its value. Overall, he considers it highly likable but overpriced and destined to be overlooked.

Redline Reviews is genuinely enthusiastic about the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon. After a week, the reviewer praises its striking fastback design, spacious rear seat, useful hatchback cargo area, refined ride, and surprisingly rapid 300-hp powertrain, recording 4.7 seconds to 60 mph with launch control. It feels like a budget Audi A7 with Golf R performance, yet remains comfortable and easy to drive. Reservations include noticeable turbo lag, modest fuel economy, dated infotainment, a small screen, no head-up display, and a high price, while deleted luxury features further frustrate. Still, its rarity and all-around versatility make it a compelling non-SUV choice.

Matt Maran is warmly impressed by the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, especially its refined comfort and newfound performance. The 300-hp Golf R–derived engine, smooth adaptive ride, spacious rear seat, huge liftback cargo area, and excellent highway range make it an unusually appealing daily driver and road-trip car. He particularly enjoys its upscale styling, ambient lighting, and confident 4MOTION traction. Still, the eight-inch infotainment screen feels dated, deleted ventilated and massaging seats are poorly compensated, and the DSG is frustratingly slow in automatic mode. Most importantly, its roughly $51,000 price is hard to justify beside the cheaper, stronger Kia Stinger, making the Arteon more compelling used than new.

Savage Geese is strongly impressed by the Arteon’s upscale, spacious, and distinctive character. They praise its quiet, refined ride, responsive automatic transmission, cohesive design, supportive seats, and unusually useful hatchback cargo area, which make it feel Audi-like for less money. The review also appreciates its solid build quality and sophisticated cruising personality, while cautioning that the sporty R-Line styling overpromises performance. Major complaints target the frustrating capacitive-touch steering-wheel and climate controls, fingerprints everywhere, limited North American powertrain choices, and especially the painfully poor base audio system. Overall, it’s a polished, comfortable, mature family cruiser with memorable practicality but avoidable technology compromises.

Chasing Cars is highly impressed by the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, calling it a handsome, spacious, and genuinely appealing premium-mainstream car. The reviewer praises its refined 206 TSI engine, quick acceleration, confident handling, generous hatchback boot, upscale cabin, and family-friendly rear-seat practicality. It feels like a more affordable alternative to larger Audi Sportback models while retaining useful everyday versatility. Reservations include firm, occasionally crashy ride quality on 20-inch wheels, limited rear headroom, non-cooled R-Line seats, premium-fuel costs, and some hard plastics. Overall, the Arteon is enthusiastically recommended, with the cheaper Elegance trim potentially offering better value.

Doug DeMuro is impressed by the Arteon’s gorgeous, Audi A5-like styling and unusually practical liftback design, but ultimately feels it is too expensive for a Volkswagen. He appreciates the upscale interior, extensive technology, comfortable ride, roomy back seat, and clever touches such as the logo-mounted hatch and camera. Still, the 270-hp turbo four-cylinder feels merely adequate, handling and fun factor are unremarkable, and details like blank switches undermine its flagship image. His 56/100 score reflects a distinctive, well-equipped car that suits a small niche, but rivals offer more prestige or driving excitement for similar money.

MilesPerHr is strongly positive about the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, especially its distinctive fastback styling and polished driving character. He praises the smooth DSG transmission, adaptive-damper ride, quiet cabin, 300-hp performance, and surprisingly entertaining handling despite comfort-focused suspension and mediocre Continental all-season tires. The hatchback practicality and upscale road presence add real appeal. However, the interior feels underwhelming for a roughly $52,000 SEL Premium, with frustrating touch controls, cheap-feeling paddles, limited rear headroom, and missing expected equipment. He considers the mid-level SEL the better value, but still views the Arteon as a charming, compelling underdog he’ll miss.

Car Confections is highly enthusiastic about the Volkswagen Arteon, calling it an Audi-like luxury experience for less money. The review praises its striking fastback styling, upscale Nappa-leather cabin, massaging seats, spacious rear quarters, and unusually practical cargo area. Performance also impresses, with refined turbocharged power, smooth shifts, quiet cruising, and adaptive dampers that absorb rough roads well. The main reservation is price: a fully equipped Arteon approaches $50,000, narrowing the gap with Audi and weakening its value proposition. Overall, it’s presented as a distinctive, polished alternative to conventional sedans and worth serious consideration.

TheTopher is genuinely enthusiastic about the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, calling it one of his favorite recent Volkswagens. He praises its striking fastback design, spacious liftback practicality, luxurious ride, quiet highway manners, smooth seven-speed DSG, strong 300-hp turbo engine, excellent headlights, and useful technology. He considers it a compelling “ultimate Volkswagen” for buyers who want near-Audi polish without stepping into Audi pricing. Criticisms are limited: the haptic steering-wheel controls and climate sliders can be finicky, ventilated seats were deleted, and the optional 20-inch wheels compromise pothole comfort. Overall, his recommendation is warmly positive, especially with smaller wheels.

Tommy is highly enthusiastic about the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, calling its design exceptional and its value compelling. He praises the 300-hp turbocharged engine, quick DSG shifts, comfortable ride, spacious rear seat, and genuinely useful hatchback cargo area. The SE R-Line stands out to him as the sweet spot, offering strong equipment without the cost of upper trims. Still, front-wheel drive can suffer torque steer and wheelspin, while larger-wheel AWD versions cost more and ride less comfortably. Overall, Tommy views the Arteon as a distinctive, quick, near-luxury alternative to the Toyota Crown.

Joe Rady is genuinely enthusiastic about the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, calling it a surprisingly polished alternative to the Genesis G70 and Kia Stinger GT. He praises its distinctive fastback design, Audi-like cabin materials, comfortable ride, spacious rear seat, huge liftback cargo area, and engaging 300-hp turbo engine with 4MOTION grip. The Arteon feels refined and planted through corners, though acceleration from a stop has some turbo lag. Rady criticizes the small eight-inch infotainment screen, rough backup-camera resolution, absent ventilated seats, limited rear USB-C access, and fake exhaust outlets, but still finds it a compelling, smile-inducing sport sedan.

Forrest Jones is highly enthusiastic about the Volkswagen Arteon, calling it a convincing bargain luxury car. He admires its aggressive styling, upscale materials, excellent ambient lighting, spacious hatchback cargo area, full-size spare, and exceptionally quiet, stable highway behavior—especially after driving it from Texas to Ohio. Still, he acknowledges that the SEL R-Line’s roughly $48,000 price is substantial, the engine feels merely adequate, DSG downshifts can hesitate, steering lacks feedback, the backup camera is grainy, and the cabin has some hard plastics and unused buttons. Overall, he favors it over a comparable Audi A5 Sportback for its value and practicality.

Regular Car Reviews is sharply negative about the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, despite admiring its performance. The 300-hp turbocharged engine, quick DSG transmission, AWD traction, comfortable seats, roomy rear accommodations, hatchback practicality, and full-size spare make it unusually capable and pleasant for long drives. But Brian sees the Arteon as an unfocused, overpriced near-luxury sedan undermined by its anonymous styling, aging platform, confusing capacitive controls, awkward charging pad, and questionable market positioning. The humor is relentless and the recommendation is skeptical: a genuinely good driver’s car that Volkswagen failed to make desirable.

ReDriven is enthusiastic about the Arteon’s striking design and unusually strong value. They praise its fastback practicality, spacious rear seat, premium equipment, comfortable ergonomics, and 300-hp performance, especially compared with a Golf R or mainstream sedan. Still, this is a cautious recommendation: reported sunroof leaks, electrical and infotainment glitches, rattles, harsh 20-inch-wheel ride, numb steering, DSG behavior, water-pump failures, carbon buildup, and oil consumption make maintenance history crucial. With a meticulous service record, inspection, and several thousand dollars reserved for repairs, ReDriven considers a used Arteon an appealing bargain rather than a carefree purchase.

Ben Hardy is impressed by the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, calling it an affordable luxury car with exceptional ride quality, comfortable seats, upscale Audi-like design, and strong practicality. He especially appreciates its refined interior, spacious rear seat, hatchback cargo area, and 300-hp turbocharged engine, though he finds some turbo lag. His main reservation is strategic rather than mechanical: buyers seeking this experience may prefer an Audi, BMW, or SUV for the badge and status. Overall, he considers the Arteon excellent value, but an oddly positioned and potentially overlooked Volkswagen.

Hansen is enthusiastic about the Arteon, calling it Volkswagen’s best version yet. The 300-hp engine and quicker DSG transmission make it noticeably faster and more eager than before, though low-speed shifts can hesitate. He loves its distinctive, upscale styling, spacious cabin, and genuinely useful liftback cargo area, but the Arteon’s light steering and large, heavy body make it less engaging in corners than a Golf GTI or Golf R. Touch-sensitive climate and steering controls also frustrate him. Overall, he sees the Arteon as an underappreciated, practical sport sedan with near-luxury presence and strong everyday appeal.

Gold Pony is highly impressed by the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon, especially its striking design, rapid DSG shifts, quiet luxury-sedan ride, and remarkably effective adaptive suspension. He enjoys the premium cabin, excellent Harman Kardon audio, spacious rear seats, and unusually practical liftback cargo area. His main reservations are noticeable turbo lag, merely adequate braking feel, an unclear rearview camera, fake-looking exhaust outlets, and pricing above some competitors. Even so, he considers the Arteon exceptionally attractive, safe, quick, and compelling enough that its distinctive styling largely justifies the premium.

Nothin’ But Car Reviews is highly impressed with the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon SEL R-Line. He praises its striking fastback design, quick 300-hp acceleration, rapid-shifting DSG, comfortable ride, and excellent adaptive cruise with lane centering. The hatchback cargo area, spacious rear seat, wireless smartphone integration, navigation, heated seats, and premium features make it feel like a strong value. He acknowledges that it costs more than some rivals and lacks the interior luxury of an Audi, Acura, or Lexus, while the leatherette seats omit ventilation. Still, he considers the Arteon a compelling, fun, well-equipped alternative.

Anthony from Hawkeye Rides is highly enthusiastic about the 2023 Volkswagen Arteon SEL R-Line 4MOTION. He is impressed by its 300-hp turbo engine, 4.6-second 0–60 time, adaptive DCC suspension, hatchback practicality, and spacious cabin, arguing that it can outperform pricier Audi, BMW, Kia, and even Porsche alternatives for under $50,000. His excitement is tempered by modest exhaust sound, a wide turning radius, non-power moonroof shade, excessive chrome, and uninspiring wheel design. Even so, he views the Arteon’s discontinuation as a major loss and strongly recommends its performance and value.