Oh right, it’s our fault that:

Your overall brand reliability ranks near the bottom of Consumer Reports latest testing.

You take to long to get product to market (Where is the Tiguan? Every single company has a CUV on the market)

Your products are consistently thousands more than your competitors.

The dealer repair experience is less than satisfying.

All three of my VAG products have had electrical problems, mostly related to power windows.

You try to move the brand upmarket for some drug-induced reason, when the brand stands for affordable German engineering in this market.

I have never related to the average American driver very well.

I had a series of Mustangs (’64, ‘66, ‘81). The two last cars were six cylinders. Everyone commented on how I ought to switch to a V-8 and all I could think about who big the engine was 3.3L and how little power it made (90 HP in the ‘81!).

I liked the six but wanted a DOHC six with side draft carbs mated to a good 5 speed. The funny thing was that I knew nothing about BMWs at that point (I was 16-18 years old). The size was okay and the weight was okay but it was the tractor technology that I had out grown. I appreciate them for what they were worth now better.

When I switched to VWs it was b/c I was in Italy and VWs were common and familiar b/c friends had them in the USA. The Beetles were huge by comparison to some of the Fiats and I found a driver car and parts car for a good price. My mother lamented from 5,000 miels away about how unsafe they were until she and Dad visited. It was then that they came to know what a REAL compact car (microcar) is.

I was facinated by what the VW engineers had done to make it “live” and “last”. Neat package too. And it seemed so much more advanced than the Mustangs though it wasn’t. Tiny engine and yet it made enough power (1.2L = 40 HP) without a radiator. Enough that I towed a Bronco II 30 miles for a repair…

VWs cars continue to impress me. Small packages, well built, good details, and a hoot to drive and own. Of course their base car is still pretty simple compared to the VR-6, turbos and DOHC engines. I just wish their quality was better.

I defended my VW Cabrio a few weeks ago on TTAC as a good car with minor problems. I retract that statement as my a/c has failed and my power steering pump has begun to whine. Oh and my shifter bushings failed suddenly giving me twice the shifter movement as before. I still like the car, would buy another but if I relied on a mechanic to keep my car running it would cost more than the space shuttle to own.

FWIW I have never recommended their cars to “normal” people who have to pay for everything.

The a/c problem is a leak in the evaporator. ~$150 to repair myself. Shifter bushings are $25. Power steering pump is less than $75.

Yes I meant VW “let it get away in the USA” (hey that rhymes) not “worldwide”

US consumer is certainly at fault, average wants to drive loaded F150 as personal vehicle, or similar, while eating and cell phoning, at full throttle in traffic. Food to fuel.

This is changing somewhat, but not the “loaded” part. Now they want loaded B-class cars with automatics styled as manuals.

Its hard to like the “average” car in USA, or its driver, being out on the fringe like I am.

I make my own fuel at home. It costs me about $1.45 a gallon. I could care less what it costs at the pump. Keep eating french fries America!

Geotpf: Many parts of California are very polluted. Diesels pollute a lot. Therefore, the state of California has some very good reasons to be extra picky about allowing the sales of diesel cars here.

But is that enough reason to kill the most fuel efficient technology available? Diesel “pollution” is mostly in the form of soot. Soot is mitigated by rain. I live in a place where it stops raining for about a week out of the entire year (Puget Sound, WA, USA) yet your state dictates that I can’t buy a car technology that I want? WTF?

–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org

They don’t really care about the shareholders either, all such talk is just for show. Management cares about lining their own pockets and stoking their own egos.

Wow, those POS ATE sourced modules also failed on countless Volvos, but Volvo only charged about $500 for a new one.

Westmoreland was a terrible buy, they should have started greenfield plant then.

Modern day Beetle is Yaris. Or Focus. Its not VW Beetle. I am repulsed by the Beetle. Give them credit for trying with it though.

VW is a high cost producer with mixed bag of mildly attractive and unattractive products made for USA with well deserved bad reliability image. They over featured, which Americans want, and had to go cheap on the components. Tough starting point.

Plus they are short tens of billions of past revenue, having missed America’s self destructive SUV/Pickup craze.

Their small “other market cars” look great but average American wont buy them yet, especially at a premium.

With Porsche in controlling position, I have more hope.

Actually, it sounds like a Lincoln Town Car to me. The gas mileage isn’t very good, and they want 50-large for it(!), but nothing rides like a big-ass American land yacht. It’s like a couch on wheels.

Nuckinfuts…you crack me up. Fell off the chair with that one.

I just want my diesel, damn it!

I drive a tremendous amount of highway miles between Chi town and southern MO…2 trips per month.
I simply need great HWY MPG…and seats that feel like a lazy boy.
Now, this sounds German to me.
And it needs to really enjoy putting on the mileage.
Now this sounds like diesel to me.

Maybe, just maybe, the new Subaru diesel boxers or the new Ford Ecos or the Honda (Sorry, I mean TSX) diesel will arrive soon.

But somehow Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Hyundai do just fine…

I just can’t imagine how any literate human beings could possibly choose to waste their time and money on a Volkswagen. And the VW plan for world domination sure won’t happen if they continue to try selling the most unreliable pieces of junk on the planet.

Chuckgoolsbee: The global shortage of diesel is even causing price spikes in Europe. The price differential her in the US almost negates the improved fuel economy.

The joke is that VW expects to sell cars that sell at a big premium over the established competition from little “dives” that garner little to no respect for the brand. Today VW reminds me of Alfa-Romeo or Pugeout in the USA back in the 1980s when they were dying.

It seems that most customers that buy VWs buy based on safety. The guy I was talking to about his Passat wagon said he bought it because of the safety features and that he and his wife liked the looks of the car.

I have a friend that I tried pushing toward a TDI to for a while because he has a bit of a commute. But he’s not mechanically inclined, so I decided to stop trying. He wants to buy a low end Lexus, so I think that would be a better fit for him. He’s been driving a Corolla for about 8 years, so he knows what to expect with Toyota. If he bought a VW and was at the dealer constantly, I’d feel really bad.

“Friends don’t let non-mechanically inclined friends buy VW group products.”

VW is completely clueless about marketing in the US. I’ve seen the occasional TDI ad on TV in Canada, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the US. The funny thing is there’s really no reason to advertise TDIs in Canada. With 50 state legal engines becoming available, I’ll be annoyed if they don’t advertise the new generation of TDIs in the US. Instead they’ll probably just advertise the gas 2.5 and the 2.0 FSI models.

Cases in point on my 98 Passat:

Control arms (which suck on most Audis and Passats from 98-02): $2,000+ at the dealer, or $500 and an afternoon of DIY for a low/mid-skilled shadetree mechanic.

ABS module (another common failure): Around $1,500 for a new one at the dealership…or $200 for a remanufactured one with a 5-year warranty. And 20 minutes of DIY for both removal and reinstallation.

But 95% of their customers never know of these alternative…so I can’t blame them for running from the brand.