Where did all the Volkswagens go?

[jyl]

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.

[HardDrive]

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.

[jyl]

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.

[motion]

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.

[Arizona_928]

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"...

[motion]

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

[onewhippedpuppy]

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.

[Bugsinrugs]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

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.

This x2

[Nostril Cheese]

Its actually pretty amazing how poorly built modern VWs are.

[jyl]

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.

[campbellcj]

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.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by motion

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.

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.

[Rtrorkt]

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

[Arizona_928]

V10, or one of the newer one? ^^

[aigel]

+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

[Mark Henry]

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.

[Jrboulder]

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.

[look 171]

Originally Posted by jyl

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.

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

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by jyl

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.

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

John, how about a 240Z/280Z?

[onewhippedpuppy]

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