[Closed] Volkswagens

Errr, isn't vw the exact opposite of expressing individuality?
Aren't you buying into a cult?
A cult of cool?
Herbie, hippies, surf bums, vw festivals..
Aren't you just saying you identify with those groups?

VWs are cool... Get over it

Not quite as cool as my high mileage, underpowered, grey Renault Scenic though obvs 🙂

I shortlisted Civic, Focus and Golf after reading around and listening to the motoring fanbois about Focus handling. Previously had bought Seat then Toyota. Test drove all three. Decided sharp handling would be wasted on me on motorways, so the Focus wasn't nice enough in other areas plus you couldn't get cruise control without leather. Went for the Civic, based on engine and interior, but there were none at my price range when I wanted to buy. Went back to the VW dealer, the Jetta I looked at had gone, so was offered a Passat for less. Liked the performance, gearbox and interior.

In my mind all the "brand image" of the middle tier manufacturers is the same. Competent everyday cars, nothing really to choose. The next price bracket is the aspirational thing.

A bit of old Skool Cool..
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And New Skool too.
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Oh look, stance.

*yawn*

(the beetle pickup conversion is the only interesting one of the lot but still gets points deducted for the scene ornaments it's carrying)

Cars look really stupid lowered too much. Really stupid.

Wow - i thought the max power scene died in the 90s - 3 out of 4 look terrible.

The pick up is pretty cool- i do like a woodie.

trail_rat - Member
...The pick up is pretty cool- i do like a woodie.

It's pretty nifty. 🙂

I like the idea of doing a chop on a car and making a ute/bakkie/pickup.

I thought my Volvo S80 would be perfect for it - they're a sort of VW aren't they? 🙂

Volvos (especially old ones) would be exactly what I would use. Kinda like a P100 but tankier.

Unovolo: every vehicle in those photos is howking. I'd rather look at a ssangyong

Well if we all liked the same things life would be terrible dull, personally I like them and don't mind a bit of stance or a bash with the lowering stick.

The Splitty I'll admit is a bit ott but the point was there all Individual something which the OP was stating that owning a VW wasn't.

That Splitty looks like it's being driven left to right.

I owned a T2 Devon, it ran reliably for five years and I sold it it excellent condition for £1200 - probably worth over ten times that now if you could find one in similar condition.

The exhaust manifolds often leaked into the heat exchangers which meant you had the choice of freezing (Alps/Pyrenees in Winter) or being poisoned with carbon monoxide. The engine was gutless, clattery and used fuel as a coolant. Engine fires were common due to fuel leaks onto the dizzy so I fitted proper braided fuel lines. Stability in cross winds wasn't good and there were a few inches of slack in the steering when it was properly adjusted. It's the only vehicle I've owned where the lack of performance was dangerous; joining the Autobahn was quite exciting. Condensation was an issue, but as we often had to drive windows down to keep the screen clear it soon dried out.

On the plus side it was home and great in the snow, it's nice to look at the old photos but I wouldn't buy another.

Why do people buy any brand?

Pick the one that suits you best, personally I look for the right car for me considering a load of factors - almost by accident all my cars bar 3 have been VAG cars, a Toyota which broke (although it was the fault of the last owner) a Honda which broke all the bloody time and that was Honda's fault and a Ford which was so horrible it actually made me question where Id gone wrong in life.

I'm very excited to be getting my first VW for over 20 years next month. I like the neutrality of VW over the other German brands (or did until recently at least). It's going to allow me to do most of my driving on electricity, will cost very little to run, will go fast when I want it to and look nice (in my view). Can't wait. Still interested to know what the debonair Mr Sasquatch drives though?

Golf GTE?

Still interested to know what the debonair Mr Sasquatch drives though?

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Why do people buy Volkswagens? Are you buying into the adverts? Are all Volkswagens the same? By choosing a different colour are you trying to be an individual? I don't understand why people would buy a VW. Are you trying to tell a story? You think you're being individual but you're not.
Can someone please explain?

People buy Volkswagens because the brand appeals to them; same with anything else. The boring/safe/white//slightly snobbish middle classes, that's who they appeal too - just look at the way they're advertised/branded - completely different to the French/Italian/Asian brands. I've never seen anyone other than a white person in their adverts for a start

Even this one?

🙄

Sorry; I'm just ignorant!

Edit

Although saying that, that looks like an American ad; or did they do the same for the UK? Still, it says 2015 on it and it must be the first one they've done?>!

Golf GTE?

Yep. It's been a long wait.

Still, it says 2015 on it and it must be the first one they've done?>!

I can't be arsed to look but I bet it's not.

I've never seen anyone other than a white person in their adverts for a start

mmm well thats not true...

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Sorry; I live a sheltered life. Maybe it's just round here thast Volkswagens are viewed as aspirational cars; driven by people who do their weekly shop at Booths.

Or maybe that's just your perception of it.

Given david was presumably referring to the UK marketing I'm not sure any of those examples disprove his point - and you're certainly not disproving his suggestion that he'd never seen an ad with somebody non-white with adverts he won't have ever seen.

What a shock that VW tailor their adverts differently for different markets and don't feature white people when selling in India or Japan - I'm guessing in those other countries those ads are aimed at they probably don't have the same concept of aspirational middle classes.

Ermmm! They're VW ads with different races in, do you really have to then claim it has to be UK only?

Drac, stop feeding the trolls.

Pointless.

I'd think UK only is strongly implied by the mention of "middle classes" - though you could just re-read what he wrote and have a think about whether you're actually disproving his claim even without that.

Sorry Captain.

I'm not trolling at all - and david's is pretty mild given his usual output if it is a troll. It's an interesting suggestion to make given the google bashing which took place in an attempt to disprove him - I doubt the posters had ever seen those ads before they went searching.

Ermmm! They're VW ads with different races in, do you really have to then claim it has to be UK only?

Aracer has basically made sense out of what I was trying to say in my first post.

I'm not saying VW are racist or owt like that; but they just seem to have a certain way of marketing their cars the nice white uk middle class families, I think.

Nah, I'm not trolling either. Infact I don't think I ever do! I just think some people on here lack a sense of humour!

Though you're distracting me from a far more important point:

[quote=molgrips ]Went back to the VW dealer, the Jetta I looked at had gone, so was offered a Passat for less. Liked the performance, gearbox and interior.

remind us again about the reliability...

Nah, I'm not trolling either. Infact I don't think I ever do! I just think some people on here lack a sense of humour!

Ah! The Edinburgh defence.

😀

I just think some people on here lack a sense of humour!

Nah, some people on here own a VW and owned an Audi before that!

;ç)

Great cars for the money. Had my first a Mk1 Golf in 1984 and had numerous Golfs, Jetta, Polo since. Never had any significant issues with any of the cars over 100,000's of mikes and decades of ownership. A perfect combination of quality, functionality and price. Aside from VW (and Audi) I've had very positive experiments with Mitsubishi and Toyota. So any new / used car purchase would start with looking at another VAG or Toyota model.

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Chavtastic. 😆

VWs are generally quite well screwed together, are well marketed to appeal to whatever demographic they target. There are plenty of other marques which do similar. Why not?

As a slight aside, why do many T5 owners bestow their vehicles with registrations that begin T5 xxx etc?
They are not alone in this, BMW X5 owners seem to do this a lot also.
I genuinely dont get why?

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Because they're awesome and this awesomeness is bestowed upon the owners, obvious innit.

Once you're into VW's that's it, you'll never escape, I've had forays into the BMW and Mazda rotary scenes but there's 'something' about VW's that gets under the skin.

Another 2 VW family. 20 year old T4 is my daily driver. Wife drives a 2009 Passat TDI estate. Chalk and cheese really but both well built, solid, unfussy and understated.

I don't doubt that the reliability is not what it was but I drive them because I like them.

It's called choice, you may have heard of it.

pictonroad wins thread with the only interesting VW I've seen on this thread. 😀

It's called choice, you may have heard of it.

I've owned several VWs and have loved them all. When I bought my Mk.2 GTi, I spent ages looking for a car that was just like a Golf GTi, but was not one. Every other car I saw was either less well built, had fewer, more expensive spares, was less reliable or just less good. So, I bought a Golf.

I have _never_ regretted buying that car. It was awesome and, even with me driving it lasted for a long time.

The same with the Passat. Rock solid. Ok, not a hugely inspiring drive, but it was a diesel estate. It was, however, comfortable, economical and fast.

Other manufacturers? Well, the Fiat Panda I had was awesome, but needed spares just abut every three months. The Omega? That needed an engine rebuild. My Rover? Let's not talk about that apart from to say it was the shittest car I have ever had the misfortune to purchase, beating even the B plate Polo Coupe that replaced it and the Frontera that replaced that.

there's 'something' about VW's that gets under the skin.

I bring the clipart tribal.
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I want something to stand out from the crowd, but I have no imagination.

The badly spelled, badly drawn humourous one that we can all laugh at.

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The custom, where like it or not a lot of time effort and money has gone into it.

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But at the end of the day, they're all VWs and I wouldn't be seen dead in one. And you're right, it is about choice (and opinions), my opinion is that choosing a VW shows a lack of imagination. You're free to choose and I'm free to have an opinion.
😆