5 ms·

How isn't their brand tarnished around the world? Besides the emissions scandal, their vehicles are just expensive and difficult to maintain. I've got a diesel

How isn't their brand tarnished around the world? Besides the emissions scandal, their vehicles are just expensive and difficult to maintain. I've got a diesel VW Jetta. It has been nothing but a money pit. I'm in the US for reference.

joeberon 6y ago
Here in the UKs, VWs are considered reliable and among the easiest to find parts for
- 2rsf 6y ago
  Same in Sweden and many other places
- jcims 6y ago
  Going to second and extend TheAdamAndChe's assessment in the US to include the Audi division as well. It seems electrical/electronics are the main quality area. I had an S5 with dash lighting issues, console control issues, premature clutch failure (to be fair the previous owner could have roasted it), a nearly new SQ5 with a failed cabin blower fan and more console issues. My sister-in-law had a Jetta with aggregate months in the shop for variety of engine management and other electronics issues. My nephew had a CC that broke a seal and the resulting oil leak wasn't detected by the oil pressure sensor and he seized the engine (also had a fuel pump failure). These are the only VWs in the extended family. Now I have an F150 with way too many electronics in it for a pickup truck...fingers crossed.
- input_sh 6y ago
  A running joke in the Balkans is that you can find parts for older Golfs in the nearest ditch.
  - Vrondi 6y ago
    In the USA, this is Chevrolet/GMC. VW parts you may have to hunt for/pay more for.
- judex 6y ago
  Agreed, also compare the failure statistics with e.g. Ford and you will see VW outperforms for example Ford in reliability. Not sure about other cars.
moooo99 6y ago
Here in Germany VW is also considered pretty reliable and obviously has a huge network of service stations. But I'm pretty sure that's a pretty biased perspective.
lokedhs 6y ago
Here in Singapore VW has as good reputation as it's always had. I think the reputation problem is limited to the US.
captainmuon 6y ago
A friend in Germany said he trusts VW even more after the scandal, because it showed their engineering cleverness. And also because they cared for their customers and gave them even better performance than the government allowed. In general, VW has a good, somewhat inflated reputation in Germany + parts of EU. In my experience, the cars are quite solid and reliable, albeit considered a bit boring. But you can also buy a Seat or Skoda which is basically the same car with a different exterior but cheaper... Maybe the issue is that they are different cars in the US. VW didn't have a Jetta in Germany for years. I owned a Golf MK3 convertible in the US, and I felt it was of lesser quality than similar VWs for the European market.
- yunohn 6y ago
  >> better performance than the government allowed My understanding was that this performance came at the expense of more pollution, which is what the gov is regulating?
  - YinglingLight 6y ago
    Your flaw is the assumption that all, or even most, customers prefer the non-tangible idea of "reducing pollution" to the tangible experience of greater performance.
    - yunohn 6y ago
      >> non-tangible idea of "reducing pollution" That's exactly the problem with the public's understanding of pollution [1]. If they can't see people dying in front of their eyes, they won't believe it... [1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/fossil-fuels-pollution-deaths-research https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/fossil-f...
  - toast0 6y ago
    Different pollution, not necessarily more. Tuning the engine for more fuel efficiency generates more nitrogen oxides (above the legal limit in this case) and less carbon dioxide.
globular-toast 6y ago
Name a German brand that isn't expensive and difficult to maintain. German car manufacturers have the strongest marketing departments in the world and people will swear blind that their vehicle is reliable and costs nothing to maintain. It's incredibly difficult to get car owners to be honest about how much it really costs them and how reliable their vehicle really is. Another problem is people don't know any better. It's not like the average person has owned cars from all the major brands for enough time for things to go wrong with them. Most people own only a few cars over their entire life. I think this is particularly true with brands like VW. People just don't know any better and think it's normal for a car to be a money pit. Cars are a strange thing. Very quickly after getting a car it becomes an essential part of life. When the bill comes through to repair whatever has gone wrong, there's no choice but to pay it. You can't just choose to not pay because it's too expensive. People take their car to the garage where it's essentially held captive until they pay the ransom. I own a VW myself but I'll never own one (or any other German car) ever again. I will be going back to Japanese cars next time. Honda or Toyota.
- TheCapn 6y ago
  I think a lot of people's opinions on cars continue to be based on anecdotal experiences. I owned 2 VWs in my life, my first, a 1999 Golf was an amazing car. It felt solid and was super reliable right up until I T-boned someone who made an illegal turn and it got written off. I drove an Acura Integra for years after that and had just tonnes of quality issues where it was needing constant maintenance. As soon as I was able to, I bought another VW, a 2003 GTI which I drove with only 1 major repair (AC Compressor) in the 200,000kms I put to it (sold it to a friend at 330,000kms, it still hasn't needed repairs). I went to a Mazda most recently, but I can't say anything about its reliability since I just bought it in December and only have 5,000kms on it so far. But my experience, and those among my friends (I was part of a local VW enthusiast club) is that the cars are fine. But the kicker is you need to stay on top of your maintenance. If you skimp on the regular work, you end up paying for it in the end. I had to do various work on the car merely due to its age, but ultimately I loved the VW GTI. It was solid and reliable for me.
  - steverb 6y ago
vagrantJin 6y ago
In south Africa, VW is still held in high regard. Especially the Golf GTI. However, most dudes in a relationship have nightmares about it.
ajarmst 6y ago
I'm not sure it remains possible to 'tarnish' a brand when the general public have the attention span of a weasel on crack.
fomine3 6y ago
Even in Japan, VW is considered as one of the most reliable import car brand. Of course Toyota is different level.

joeberon 6y ago

Here in the UKs, VWs are considered reliable and among the easiest to find parts for

2rsf 6y ago
Same in Sweden and many other places
jcims 6y ago
Going to second and extend TheAdamAndChe's assessment in the US to include the Audi division as well. It seems electrical/electronics are the main quality area. I had an S5 with dash lighting issues, console control issues, premature clutch failure (to be fair the previous owner could have roasted it), a nearly new SQ5 with a failed cabin blower fan and more console issues. My sister-in-law had a Jetta with aggregate months in the shop for variety of engine management and other electronics issues. My nephew had a CC that broke a seal and the resulting oil leak wasn't detected by the oil pressure sensor and he seized the engine (also had a fuel pump failure). These are the only VWs in the extended family. Now I have an F150 with way too many electronics in it for a pickup truck...fingers crossed.
input_sh 6y ago
A running joke in the Balkans is that you can find parts for older Golfs in the nearest ditch.
- Vrondi 6y ago
  In the USA, this is Chevrolet/GMC. VW parts you may have to hunt for/pay more for.
judex 6y ago
Agreed, also compare the failure statistics with e.g. Ford and you will see VW outperforms for example Ford in reliability. Not sure about other cars.

moooo99 6y ago

Here in Germany VW is also considered pretty reliable and obviously has a huge network of service stations. But I'm pretty sure that's a pretty biased perspective.

lokedhs 6y ago

Here in Singapore VW has as good reputation as it's always had. I think the reputation problem is limited to the US.

captainmuon 6y ago

A friend in Germany said he trusts VW even more after the scandal, because it showed their engineering cleverness. And also because they cared for their customers and gave them even better performance than the government allowed. In general, VW has a good, somewhat inflated reputation in Germany + parts of EU. In my experience, the cars are quite solid and reliable, albeit considered a bit boring. But you can also buy a Seat or Skoda which is basically the same car with a different exterior but cheaper... Maybe the issue is that they are different cars in the US. VW didn't have a Jetta in Germany for years. I owned a Golf MK3 convertible in the US, and I felt it was of lesser quality than similar VWs for the European market.

yunohn 6y ago
>> better performance than the government allowed My understanding was that this performance came at the expense of more pollution, which is what the gov is regulating?
- YinglingLight 6y ago
  Your flaw is the assumption that all, or even most, customers prefer the non-tangible idea of "reducing pollution" to the tangible experience of greater performance.
  - yunohn 6y ago
    >> non-tangible idea of "reducing pollution" That's exactly the problem with the public's understanding of pollution [1]. If they can't see people dying in front of their eyes, they won't believe it... [1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/fossil-fuels-pollution-deaths-research https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/09/fossil-f...
- toast0 6y ago
  Different pollution, not necessarily more. Tuning the engine for more fuel efficiency generates more nitrogen oxides (above the legal limit in this case) and less carbon dioxide.

globular-toast 6y ago

Name a German brand that isn't expensive and difficult to maintain. German car manufacturers have the strongest marketing departments in the world and people will swear blind that their vehicle is reliable and costs nothing to maintain. It's incredibly difficult to get car owners to be honest about how much it really costs them and how reliable their vehicle really is. Another problem is people don't know any better. It's not like the average person has owned cars from all the major brands for enough time for things to go wrong with them. Most people own only a few cars over their entire life. I think this is particularly true with brands like VW. People just don't know any better and think it's normal for a car to be a money pit. Cars are a strange thing. Very quickly after getting a car it becomes an essential part of life. When the bill comes through to repair whatever has gone wrong, there's no choice but to pay it. You can't just choose to not pay because it's too expensive. People take their car to the garage where it's essentially held captive until they pay the ransom. I own a VW myself but I'll never own one (or any other German car) ever again. I will be going back to Japanese cars next time. Honda or Toyota.

TheCapn 6y ago
I think a lot of people's opinions on cars continue to be based on anecdotal experiences. I owned 2 VWs in my life, my first, a 1999 Golf was an amazing car. It felt solid and was super reliable right up until I T-boned someone who made an illegal turn and it got written off. I drove an Acura Integra for years after that and had just tonnes of quality issues where it was needing constant maintenance. As soon as I was able to, I bought another VW, a 2003 GTI which I drove with only 1 major repair (AC Compressor) in the 200,000kms I put to it (sold it to a friend at 330,000kms, it still hasn't needed repairs). I went to a Mazda most recently, but I can't say anything about its reliability since I just bought it in December and only have 5,000kms on it so far. But my experience, and those among my friends (I was part of a local VW enthusiast club) is that the cars are fine. But the kicker is you need to stay on top of your maintenance. If you skimp on the regular work, you end up paying for it in the end. I had to do various work on the car merely due to its age, but ultimately I loved the VW GTI. It was solid and reliable for me.
- steverb 6y ago

vagrantJin 6y ago

In south Africa, VW is still held in high regard. Especially the Golf GTI. However, most dudes in a relationship have nightmares about it.

ajarmst 6y ago

I'm not sure it remains possible to 'tarnish' a brand when the general public have the attention span of a weasel on crack.

fomine3 6y ago

Even in Japan, VW is considered as one of the most reliable import car brand. Of course Toyota is different level.