2019 VW Jetta
#16
Lexus Fanatic
Has nothing to do with holding a grudge or punishing the company. Has everything to do with past experience. As I mentioned, my Passat was not too reliable and today's Consumer Reports does not list most VW's as reliable. My hesitation is due to both those things.
The high-tech Insight, I have a feeling, will be priced much higher than a basic Jetta/Corolla/Sentra/Elantra-classed car. The Ioniq and Niro are a little more reasonable for what's given, but still climb higher than their gas counterparts. Not really apples to apples. A Prius would be more in line, but again, those are mostly priced above their non-hybrid counterparts. Thanks for the suggestions though. I will still look at everything when the time comes.
The high-tech Insight, I have a feeling, will be priced much higher than a basic Jetta/Corolla/Sentra/Elantra-classed car. The Ioniq and Niro are a little more reasonable for what's given, but still climb higher than their gas counterparts. Not really apples to apples. A Prius would be more in line, but again, those are mostly priced above their non-hybrid counterparts. Thanks for the suggestions though. I will still look at everything when the time comes.
p.s. sis in law had a Passat TDI, and when the radiator exploded at 700 mi,, they were told it wasn't covered. My brother read them the riot act, and miraculously, the next day, it was covered. Then, the entire headlamp went out on one side, and once again, told not covered. VW got slapped with a class action and it was, you guessed it, covered. Bad corp policies
#17
Lexus Fanatic
I had a close friend (as close as a sister), who had a 2006 6 cyl 4Motion Passat purchased new. The amount of time and money she spent on that car, she could have gotten easily a AWD BMW 328, with a total overall lower cost. The worst of it all is the poor service, on top of how unreliable the car was. Maybe people had different experiences with FWD 4 cyls. Germans are always going to make more appealing cars imho, question is, at what cost. My relatives had a '99 Passat 4 cyl purchased at 2 y.o. It went 160k but needed tons of work, cousin was stubborn, but uncle who is a mechanic from Munich said junk this car, and they did.....this isn't about holding grudges, it's about sensibility. My advice would be work a little harder, and save up for a A4 or 328. Or, buy a Corolla used.
p.s. sis in law had a Passat TDI, and when the radiator exploded at 700 mi,, they were told it wasn't covered. My brother read them the riot act, and miraculously, the next day, it was covered. Then, the entire headlamp went out on one side, and once again, told not covered. VW got slapped with a class action and it was, you guessed it, covered. Bad corp policies
p.s. sis in law had a Passat TDI, and when the radiator exploded at 700 mi,, they were told it wasn't covered. My brother read them the riot act, and miraculously, the next day, it was covered. Then, the entire headlamp went out on one side, and once again, told not covered. VW got slapped with a class action and it was, you guessed it, covered. Bad corp policies
#18
Lexus Fanatic
THE most arrogant auto salesman I ever met sold VWs at the VW/Subaru shop I bought my old Outback from in 2005. He spewed out contempt for other competing products, never smiled, acted like he (and the brand) were God's special gift to the human race, and, IMO, simply made an a** of himself. I don't know how he lasted as long at that shop as he did....but, from what we know about VW as a company, his personality may have not been that far off.
https://www.carcomplaints.com/news/2...adlights.shtml
#19
Lexus Champion
THE most arrogant auto salesman I ever met sold VWs at the VW/Subaru shop I bought my old Outback from in 2005. He spewed out contempt for other competing products, never smiled, acted like he (and the brand) were God's special gift to the human race, and, IMO, simply made an a** of himself. I don't know how he lasted as long at that shop as he did....but, from what we know about VW as a company, his personality may have not been that far off.
#20
Lexus Champion
I know someone that currently works for VW they are almost exactly as you describe. They spew lies about Toyota in particular constantly. At this dealership VW actually has training sessions where they brainwash the sales people on how cheaply made Toyota cars are. I'm not kidding.
#21
Lexus Fanatic
I find it hard to believe that I will never own a GTI, I had liked that car since being a little kid. But why would I do that to myself, spend hard earned money on one lol I did have the pleasure of having one on business for 4 days in 2015, and I loved it. But one has to acknowledge getting slammed for service and it costing almost the same as BMW out of warranty (how's Passat front brakes at the dealer for $680 grab you? My friend went to an indie and was able to get it down to $590 lol). I will acknowledge that even DIY, my OE BMW front rotors were $135 each, and the pads were over $120. Do the math, that's already $390 online discount, add a $15 sensor and it's $405 DIY...just that this is BMW, not VW....
Anyway, back to this Jetta, I think it looks great. But I wouldn't bet 26k on it....and I wouldn't bet on the car co. Save up and get an Audi A4...
Anyway, back to this Jetta, I think it looks great. But I wouldn't bet 26k on it....and I wouldn't bet on the car co. Save up and get an Audi A4...
#22
Congratuations. I see you are not one to hold a grudge...a lot of people won't deal with VW because of the emissions scandal. Like I said in the post above, though, I'm generally not one to hold a grudge, either.....though there came a time in my own life (a long time ago, back in the early 1980s) when I had to say enough was enough, and I just wasn't going to spend any more money on the American-designed junk of that period. I converted to Japanese cars, like millions of others, during the 1980s......but, today, the market is quite different from then. The first sign of a (once-again) good American car was the Saturn S-series of the 1990s.
Customer service among Korean car dealerships varies enormously.....some are like crap; others treat you like a king. And, sometimes, it can vary even at the same dealership if and when new managers and/or employees come and go.
Our and above the dealer-service, Did you actually look at the Cruze diesel? I did a review on one some time ago, though they can be hard to find at dealerships, and are not readily kept in stock.
#24
Lexus Test Driver
No one is holding a grudge against VW except those who actually had the diesels yanked from them. The rest of the populous does not care about car scandals and has a short-term memory. I've already done the study. Only auto enthusiasts remember and talk about things like car scandals. The average Joe could care less when buying a car five years later after the incident. Now, those who have owned past VW's and seen how unreliable they are, that is something that sticks in one's mind. And just from this thread alone, it appears there are still serious problems with the company and reliability. That makes a big impact on brand loyalty. Although, VW sales are setting records lately, so perhaps people don't even care about reliable cars anymore. One thing with VW's is they sell to very low aged, hipster people. These people are trying to spread their wings with some unique wheels, something with chic German DNA (VW commercials pick right up on this), and don't care about reliability until a few years into ownership when repairs and dealership visits start getting old.
Since it was brought up, I too have a crazy VW dealership memory. My 1999 Passat was in for service and warranty work many times, and I got to know the service writers quite well. One of the guys had been there since the dealership opened (VW of Van Nuys, since the 1960's), and really put on a show and theatrics. Whenever I had a problem, he immediately directed the reason to something that I may have done to the car. And of course, I drive like a grandpa on a stock car, so there was no way I could have done anything to cause things to break. He basically ended every lecture to me by saying, "remember... help the care to help you..." lol I always got a kick out of him... he was super arrogant, aristocracy, and had a heavy Euro accent even though he was Asian. Quite the character. They nicknamed him "The Dutchman." He looked just like the actor guy who tried stabbing himself while sitting next to Robert Hayes in the movie AIRPLANE.
Since it was brought up, I too have a crazy VW dealership memory. My 1999 Passat was in for service and warranty work many times, and I got to know the service writers quite well. One of the guys had been there since the dealership opened (VW of Van Nuys, since the 1960's), and really put on a show and theatrics. Whenever I had a problem, he immediately directed the reason to something that I may have done to the car. And of course, I drive like a grandpa on a stock car, so there was no way I could have done anything to cause things to break. He basically ended every lecture to me by saying, "remember... help the care to help you..." lol I always got a kick out of him... he was super arrogant, aristocracy, and had a heavy Euro accent even though he was Asian. Quite the character. They nicknamed him "The Dutchman." He looked just like the actor guy who tried stabbing himself while sitting next to Robert Hayes in the movie AIRPLANE.
Last edited by Fizzboy7; 01-16-18 at 09:14 PM.
#25
Lexus Champion
I don't mind boring--but when it passes you on the road, you are going to need to look twice to confirm it's a Jetta. There's just nothing distinctive about the design at all. VW can produce boring without just completely blending in.
#26
Lexus Fanatic
No one is holding a grudge against VW except those who actually had the diesels yanked from them. The rest of the populous does not care about car scandals and has a short-term memory. I've already done the study. Only auto enthusiasts remember and talk about things like car scandals. The average Joe could care less when buying a car five years later after the incident. Now, those who have owned past VW's and seen how unreliable they are, that is something that sticks in one's mind. And just from this thread alone, it appears there are still serious problems with the company and reliability. That makes a big impact on brand loyalty. Although, VW sales are setting records lately, so perhaps people don't even care about reliable cars anymore. One thing with VW's is they sell to very low aged, hipster people. These people are trying to spread their wings with some unique wheels, something with chic German DNA (VW commercials pick right up on this), and don't care about reliability until a few years into ownership when repairs and dealership visits start getting old.
Since it was brought up, I too have a crazy VW dealership memory. My 1999 Passat was in for service and warranty work many times, and I got to know the service writers quite well. One of the guys had been there since the dealership opened (VW of Van Nuys, since the 1960's), and really put on a show and theatrics. Whenever I had a problem, he immediately directed the reason to something that I may have done to the car. And of course, I drive like a grandpa on a stock car, so there was no way I could have done anything to cause things to break. He basically ended every lecture to me by saying, "remember... help the care to help you..." lol I always got a kick out of him... he was super arrogant, aristocracy, and had a heavy Euro accent even though he was Asian. Quite the character. They nicknamed him "The Dutchman." He looked just like the actor guy who tried stabbing himself while sitting next to Robert Hayes in the movie AIRPLANE.
Since it was brought up, I too have a crazy VW dealership memory. My 1999 Passat was in for service and warranty work many times, and I got to know the service writers quite well. One of the guys had been there since the dealership opened (VW of Van Nuys, since the 1960's), and really put on a show and theatrics. Whenever I had a problem, he immediately directed the reason to something that I may have done to the car. And of course, I drive like a grandpa on a stock car, so there was no way I could have done anything to cause things to break. He basically ended every lecture to me by saying, "remember... help the care to help you..." lol I always got a kick out of him... he was super arrogant, aristocracy, and had a heavy Euro accent even though he was Asian. Quite the character. They nicknamed him "The Dutchman." He looked just like the actor guy who tried stabbing himself while sitting next to Robert Hayes in the movie AIRPLANE.
Last December? They did my PA state inspection for $40.XX, OUT THE DOOR. That is the cheapest I've had in 16 years across 4 vehicles. The 2nd cheapest was with a coupon at a Exxon station, where the $34.95 coupon was $46 out the door. Toyota dealer was $76 out the door. Why was it so cheap, I asked the service advisor if he could discount it, and he said we'll work something out. Car was ready in 1.5 hours, got a text bill is $40.xx, and I brought the loaner back at 17:30 EST. Sometimes we don't realize how good or bad something is until we have had a chance to see others...and from what my brother and former friend and cousin has said about VW, it's terrible....hard to envision that's changed in 2 years....
edit p.s. I was really young, so as a young boy, I got a thrill when Julie Haggerty went in the cockpit to inflate the pilot, and he had a smile on his face when she was done...
Last edited by Johnhav430; 01-17-18 at 10:00 AM.
#27
Lexus Fanatic
One thing with VW's is they sell to very low aged, hipster people. These people are trying to spread their wings with some unique wheels, something with chic German DNA (VW commercials pick right up on this), and don't care about reliability until a few years into ownership when repairs and dealership visits start getting old.
#28
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
I used to hold a BIG grudge against VW for many reasons, though the scandal was the biggest one. However, I said to myself that I should not reserve a judgment against something I never even tried before. So, I went to test drive one and I came home with one. I think my lesson here is to be more open-minded and I may just be surprised by what does happen in reality. I'm currently having an anti-American automaker mindset due to various reasons (service being one of them, and the other is personal dislikes on design aspects), but I may change my mind down the road. I hope I get to be surprised like this again with American cars.
good attitude. never thought i'd own an american vehicle but love my jeep!
#29
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
I find it hard to believe that I will never own a GTI, I had liked that car since being a little kid. But why would I do that to myself, spend hard earned money on one lol I did have the pleasure of having one on business for 4 days in 2015, and I loved it. But one has to acknowledge getting slammed for service and it costing almost the same as BMW out of warranty (how's Passat front brakes at the dealer for $680 grab you? My friend went to an indie and was able to get it down to $590 lol).
Just get an extended factory warranty, what's the big deal?