Volkswagen Opening Engineering Center In Chattanooga

Is that a fact? I've known lots of very high mileage VWs over the years. If anything they wear better than your typical Toyota with collapsed seat foam, delaminated steering wheel, push-on-a-string steering, and chipped/faded paint.

@heavy handle Aside from seeing one or two VW's that lasted a long time, do you have some data? Seems like I remember seeing Polk statistics that showed Honda wins the mainstream durability contest with something like 75% of their cars built since 1988 still on the road.

@LectroByte > Seems like I remember seeing Polk statistics that showed Honda wins the mainstream durability contest with something like 75% of their cars built since 1988 still on the road Statistics are for those who have little or no hands-on experience with automobiles. As someone who's turned a wrench on everything from a lawnmower to a C-5 Galaxy aircraft, I've had several VWs, three with over 300,000 miles, two with over 400,000 miles, and one with over 600,000 miles. All purchased at or near the end of the production cycle (after all the bugs have been worked out) - I refuse to become a beta tester for the automobile industry for the sake of being "fashionable" or being the first on the block to have the latest and greatest iteration of a vehicle. Bottom line - if you maintain a German car like a Japanese vehicle, it will wind up in an early grave. If you maintain a German car like a German vehicle - you'll be surprised how long they last. I'll take that over the 75% of the rust-prone recycled-steel Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans, etc. on the road today.

@LectroByte Polk must not count any cars north of Arizona. Around here it's rare to see a Honda over 12 years old, never mind 25. There are entire generations of Hondas built after 1988 that you just never see anymore, same with Toyotas. For instance, when was the last time you saw a FWD Celica (pudgy generation)? They used to be everywhere, now they are all gone. Remember the first-gen Rav-4? Have you seen more than one in the last 10 years? People will swear up and down that those cars were built to last, but they have all been junked. Or all the ones outside of California, Arizona and New Mexico have been junked.

@dantes_inferno Maintain a German car like a German vehicle like changing a cam follower on the high pressure fuel pump and walnut blast the carbon build-up on the intake valves every 60k? No thanks I'll take the Japanese rust bucket instead.

@dantes_inferno Why don't the Japanese OEMs just buy German platforms and bodies and add their drivetrains? Win-win.

@LectroByte "Aside from seeing one or two VW’s that lasted a long time, do you have some data? Seems like I remember seeing Polk statistics that showed Honda wins the mainstream durability contest with something like 75% of their cars built since 1988 still on the road." VW reliability has reportedly improved over the last decade, by leaps and bounds for some models & drivetrains. It will be some time before true long-term durability can be assessed because the cars aren't that old yet.

@heavy handle "Polk must not count any cars north of Arizona. Around here it’s rare to see a Honda over 12 years old, never mind 25." Funny you mention that, a co worker just drove his 02 Camry with 140k miles to the junkyard. Body was ragged out and had so many holes in the floor boards the carpets were molding and stunk to no end. Oh, but it did still run though.

Mike, I think you are right and there is precedence for what you wrote. When Nissan, Toyota and Honda opened their design centers in the US decades ago, they were nothing but styling centers. All the design decisions were still made in Japan. All the engineering decisions were still made in Japan. Remember the uniquely American Avalon? The only thing designed in America was the body styling. The guts were all-Camry.

@highdesertcat That's a really good point about the Japanese OEMs... Funny timing for two reasons: I just got back from a trip to Japan to meet with one of our customers. Even though the "Home Room" for the program is the US, any deviations to the requirements have to be presented and approved back in the old country. I heard a Toyota commercial during the Tiger's broadcast highlighting the Tundra / Tacoma development being performed in Ann Arbor... I think full size trucks might be the only exception to this rule..

The South will rise again! But without the help of the UAW.