triman54

Avast, you naysayers who have failed to heed...for I said unto thee, "Some day all will bow at the Altar of Wolfsburg!" Oh ye of little faith whose hearts are hollow, whose souls are empty. You are now condemned to an automotive diaspora. The day of reckoning has come, and you who have been deaf to my prophacy shall abandon all hope. All bow at the Altar of Wolfsburg!

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/11/10/vw-take...ie-meister-mei/

airgate

Bleh. VW = POS. I didn't listen to _ANYONE_ when I bought my VW Passat and it went to the dealer 12 times in 10 months. I paid $4k to get away from that POS and back into a Honda.

Do they make good looking cars? Sure. But I'll NEVER own another that requires me to rely on it.

...oh, and triman...go back to the doctor and ask him/her to up your dose...

triman54

I am purely on electro-shock treatments.

GinoGT

Bowing at the altar? Please. Oh boy, maybe Porsche will now be so lucky as to sell a $50,000+ Beetle along with Audi.

Here's hoping that Wolfsburg doesn't screw up the Boxster/Cayman or 911.

[DT]

I would, but I might piss off my Lord and Master Dagon, Destroyer of Worlds, Eater of Souls.


He's cranky like that. Though he does drive a Golf.

Ralleh

I don't understand why Germans can't make reliable cars. Seems like they would be on the same level as the Japanese (axis and all).

rockville

Man, talk about interesting times in the auto industry. I don't think anyone was surprised when Toyota finally passed GM. However, I also don't think any one expected Toyota to remain on top for what, just one year! I figured Toyota would remain on top for at least a decade.

Of course these are also really turbulent times for car companies. It wouldn't surprise me if in a model year or two Toyota is back on top. I could see Ford passing GM in the next three years unless GM really completes their product transformation AND matches Ford's now excellent quality. Heck, if Ford keeps it up they might actually move back into the number two spot.

Chris S

They can and do make reliable cars, but there's a lot of ignorance that perpetuates the stereotype. Have you seen Porsche's JD Power rankings? In general, German cars are higher performing and more complex than their Japanese counterparts, which works against reliability.

I used to be a total Japanese car/motorcycle fan. I've largely switched to European cars and motorcycles, and haven't had any significant issues with any ex. the Ducati Monster than died on me (but it's Italian). Our '06 Jetta TDI has been rock solid, w/ better reliability than many experience w/ their S2000's.

airgate

You can't really compare the TDI...nearly all diesel power plants are pretty "rock solid."

I think what makes German cars "reliable" by today's standard is that many folks LEASE their German marques and therefore don't encounter issues as they don't own them long term. My Passat was still under warranty when I traded it in...which was right under 50k miles... Again, many, many issues. I heard from lots of people who told me to stay away from VW, Audi, etc...but I didn't listen and sure enough, learned the hard way.

I've heard plenty of folks say, "only get an Audi on a lease." Not saying a whole lot for the brand...

Oh...and 1 more thing...when I lived in Charlotte and took my Passat in for service (again, 12 times in 10 months), I can't tell you how MANY other VWs were there for warranty work and the like...can't say I've ever seen that with the Honda dealers. And while it may be true that the Germans engineer their cars with more "complexity," they also charge accordingly for it.

There's no better value than a Japanese car...you can't beat their reliability and "just works" way of being.

Chris S

What the F does leasing have to do w/ long term reliability? Do you think that German cars are put out to pasture after the lease is up? If anything, leasing is a negative towards reliability, b/c I'd be much less inclined to maintain it as well.

No doubt, Japanese cars are a better value, but sometimes you want a better car instead of a better value. As w/ most things, the law of declining marginal benefits per dollar spent apply to cars.