Where did all the Volkswagens go?
 

I'm in California this week. I drove from Tahoe to Fremont today, about 200 miles. Lots of traffic observed along the way.

All day, I saw only a few Volkswagens. Less than five.

I remember when VWs were really popular, among the most commonly seen import car. What is going on with Volkswagen?. Are they fading away in the US?. Or is this a California thing?. Seems like I see them more often in the Portland area.

They're junk. Never again. Fun to drive, but they will nickel and dime (and sometimes silver dollar) you to death. And their dealerships....there's a special place in hell for those bastards.

http://www.autonews.com/article/20150126/RETAIL01/301269949/how-vw-veered--off-target

Volkswagen Loses Market Share in U.S. in January - 24/7 Wall St.

VW is responding to its problems in the U.S. market

Sounds like VW doesn't have enough models, or at least not enough new models, in the US. Diesel sales are presumably suffering with cheap gasoline. VW has less market share than Mercedes in the US - incredible! I do know that VW's reputation for reliability has been inconsistent.

They are doing very well in Europe, but struggling in the US.

I think John is talking about Bugs. I'm sure they all went to Mexico/Central & South America. Lots of them down there. Brazil is packed with them.

The line-up for VW is getting old, and are aging especially since they have cut a lot of corners in the last 2 years by moving production to Mexico. Which for amount of time could not pass VW quality control. They have had a lot of problems with Passat's and diesels. Which I have even encountered including the need for a new A/C compressor at 30k, and a Diesel Particulate Filter at 45k. Metal shavings in the fuel filter indicates that I will have problems with the High Pressure Fuel Pump at a later date... The service at the dealership are a rip off by incompetent mechanics as well.

With that said they are a people's car. I see a lot of mk6's here mostly TDI's. On a rare day I will see mk4's, but only TDI models, as by now they have lasted the test of time. "well besides mine who saw the tragic end by a malevolent orthopedic surgeon"...

LOL, California has a lot of VW's. Nobody should panic just yet.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1438743578.jpg

They've always been unreliable. But when VW dumbed them down for the American market, that's really been their downfall. Everything that was unique about their products was sanitized ala Toyota and the market has responded in kind. They gave up what made them unique in pursuit of being the biggest, and it has ironically handicapped that goal. We'll see if they can recapture the magic, unlike Toyota.

This x2

Its actually pretty amazing how poorly built modern VWs are.

I'm still planning to buy a used golf for my kid. I just don't want to work on a Japanese car. Totally irrational.

I'm in Mexico (Cancun) now and they are EVERYWHERE.

In SoCal there are quite a few Golfs in particular, but I still see the aircooled stuff quite often too.

No, I mean I saw very very few VWs of any model or year. It's like the brand is nearly irrelevant, at least on highway 50, 80, 680 in northern California.

i have a great Touareg TDI for sale. Great gas mileage, torque monster. would keep but VW does not do ventilated seats and in AZ, that is a must for at least 3 months

V10, or one of the newer one? ^^

+1 on them being just another base sedan trying to compete with Toyota. A stripper Jetta or even Passat is just a boring ride with inferior build quality, slapped together overseas (as "not in Germany").

Around here, Audi and BMW are very popular and a step up from the Japanese. Even beating Lexus from a cursory look. Of course, Lexus also has jumped the shark, rehashing design over and over. With this said, don't forget that VAG includes Audi and Porsche, so they may have just been able to sell more expensive goods to the same clientele.

Now to my personal view on this. I have a 2011 TDI Golf which is made in Wolfsburg Germany with 70% parts from Germany, namely the engine and transmission. I have almost 70k and it is flawless. It is well built, the interior is fairly spartan but very good quality material, excellent bolstered seats, soft to the touch plastics, leather steering wheel, shift knob etc. I would buy another in a few years when mine gets old. But the new model is made in Mexico now. Not sure if the drivetrain is still German or if it is now Bulgarian or whatever. I will hold on to this TDI as long as I can and after that I'll get something else. Definitely not a VW from Mexico.

Note that the Golf in Germany is still made in Germany. That should tell you something. They aren't buying their own crap made overseas ...

G

I drive my '67 daily during the summer, but at 180hp {2.6L type 4) it truly is a poor mans porsche.

For DD's I've owned a Passat, nice car if it wasn't such a total POS. The wife has had base model standard Mk2 and a Mk3 Golf's they both lasted over 350,000km.
The best watercooled I ever owned was a '82 turbo diesel Rabbit, I got over 700,000km on that puppy with just basic repairs.
The late 90's early 2000 bone stock basic wheels had the least problems, the quality went downhill from there.

My buddy owns a independent VW shop, he'll tell you the newer ones are junk, but smile and say it's what made him rich.
He drives a Ford P/U.:rolleyes:

They're all at my Parents house!

Currently they have a 2 Jettas and a Tiguan and my old Jetta is parked there too. Between all of them (297k miles total) and aside from routine maintenance and tires we have had to replace 4 sets of rear brake pads, 1 cooling fan motor, 1 ignition coil, 1 refrigerant control valve and 1 coolant expansion tank. The cars that they replaced (3 Fords and a Toyota) each required that much work every few years.

cuz they're all driving them Subis up there in the hills

Hahaha! I hated working on my wife's old Civic.

John, how about a 240Z/280Z? :)

Our VW models are for all practical purposes different cars than what they sell in Germany. Different engines, different suspensions, different interiors, different platforms.

I'm pretty sure that's somewhere in the middle east, between the srtipey curb and the road sign in Arabic.

There are tons of VWs around here. Our CC is still doing great, but it's a little troubling seeing how many early-creeping into mid 2000s ones I'm seeing at LKQ. Audis too. It's a 2010 so it was made in Germany - I'm not sure if they still come from there or somewhere else now.

VW is so far away from what first attracted me to them 30 some years ago. Im out.

Saw this on a pic hosting site the other day. :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1438775847.jpg

The Golf and the Polo sell well here in Japan. I bought a 1999 Gti with less than 50,000 miles for the equivalent of $500. It's been pretty reliable. Depreciation on VWs is absurd in Japan. Plus cars are super well maintained and driven gentler and less distance than in the States.

It's been a nice driving family car, though slightly lacking in personality, it gets the job done as we only need the one car.

See a lot of VW's around here.

Guess we've been lucky? Wife's '06 Mark V Jetta has been bulletproof. It has seen the dealer exactly 2 times: a recall on an airbag and they replaced all the coil packs on a recall. Only complaint I've really had is I had to replace the headliner as it came unglued at the 7 year point. Apparently there is a big YMMV re: VW's..

We have two VWs in the driveway right now (97 Cabrio, and a 03 Jetta) I have never been a fan of most VWs, but I do like the Siracco, and the GTI.

A new VW dealership just went into my hometown of about 50,000 people, so I went out and kicked some tires, and came away with sticker shock.

They're in my back yard

https://i.imgur.com/pfMJ9FN.jpg

Discarded to Acapulco as taxi's. They know how to keep them in service, even if the floorboards are completely gone! No joke ~

All the old bugs/Vans in SoCal are locked up in garages... they are now classics and being horded as collectables.

^how many millions of those POS bugs exist? Hitler had a visionary of the car collector market~ haha

For awhile there was just about everything available in the Beetle aftermarket to build one. Recall JC Whitney was a big supplier in the States.

You got that right!
Many of them are on Samba.com being sold for ungodly prices.
I had a absolutely mint '67 Type 2 Kombi Transporter Dual Cab for many years...used it as my first crew truck when I first began my business.
It sat in my back yard for years thereafter...sold it in the '80s for $2,000 to a collector in Sacramento.
What did I know?
.
Here's its brother...exactly like mine w/o the top rack. $34,000????
.
TheSamba.com :: VW Classifieds - 1967 Double Cab Transporter Pick-Up Truck

Exactly! It's frustrating but they get what they deserve. We were in Europe a couple of months ago and I found a Scirocco parked on the street. I just walked around the car for several minutes admiring it. Pisses me off that they won't sell it here.

Why would anyone buy a new Jetta? Looks like a domestic car (from ten years ago) and I think they are made in Mexico.

We used to joke that VW parts were so ubiquitous you could get a distributer cap for a 67 VW at 7-11!

Wife want a beetle bad... I would rather have a 996 for the price!

You do see a LOT of the old bugs in Mexico and Central America, but they didn't come from US imports (Unlike the H2 Hummer). A plant in Mexico continued to manufacture the old bug up until 2003. I think Mexico made a couple million of them after we stopped seeing them in dealers in the 70's.

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There are quite a few in Chicago. I bought my 2003 Passat with 58K miles in 2011.

I have put some money into it: (3) o2 sensors, the CCM module located on the drivers floor (it got wet when my drains were clogged), CV joint on the drivers side plus the usual maintenance items.

The cars drives nice, I'm at 80K miles and it still has the original clutch (5 sp manual), The interior is stellar. I can't speak for the newer models but the 03 has been good to me.

If I need to buy a car again, I would look at at VW diesel.

BTW, there is allot of truth to the check engine light. I was in Mexico a few years ago and every VW taxi I was in had the light on.

My wife loves her '13 Tiguan. It's small quick and nimble. No problems yet with 40K on the clock.

We bought the extended warranty just in case...

I sometimes wonder if my '06 Jetta TDi (Mexico built) is the only reliable one in North America.
I have about 270,000km on it and VW is in the process of repairing wheel arch rust under warranty. They already replaced the trunk lid and both front fenders.
I have had to replace brake discs, pads and callipers and I had a seat harness which caused an airbag light to come on.
On the other hand, I drove a new Subaru Impreza while the Jetta was in the shop and had a literal PITA within a half hour. Different strokes...
Best
Les

I've never had any problems with any of the water-cooled VWs I've owned over the last several years. Best cars in the world!

BTW, my father's VW dealership in the Bay Area is selling VWs like hot cakes.

My second paragraph has no bearing (ie: bias) on the first paragraph. I really have had no problems with any of our VWs.

How many of you would turn down a Golf R if you could get a good deal on one?