VW vs Skoda and SEAT?
All about expectations I suspect.
WE expect Audi/VW to be 99% reliable.. yes they are well built but have several built in design defects (coils, wishbones etc) which mean big repair bills. Buyers are critical of failure.
We expect Skoda/SEAT to be cheap and nasty based on history - and often based on history buyers are not so critical of failure.
Plus : usually but not always - Audi /VW cars are more complex so more to go wrong.
Vast generalisation I know and I no doubt have offended various SEAT/Skoda owners - apologies , NOT intended..- but after my Audi experiences and costs I will not buy another until their problems are past and prices fall a bit...
madf
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I had a string a SEAT's-Ibiza, Cordoba, Leon-all good.
Bought an Audi, thinking I was doing the right thing staying in the VAG. First Audi was replaced by the dealer with one with a similar number of faults. Oh dear.
Give me SEAT anyday.
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See
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3545909.stm
Excerp:-
Profits for the year are nevertheless expected to be lower this year than they were in 2003, Dr Pischetsrieder predicted, blaming tough price competition, the strength of the euro and the weak economy, particularly in its home market Germany.
Interesting that everyone except VAG are to blame for VAG apparent downturn.
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what is it that everyone has against VW especially the golf?
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what is it that everyone has against VW especially the golf?
Personally, nothing against the actual car, perfectly good bit of kit - just the fact that VW seem to believe any given example to be worth between 2 and 4 grand more than equivalents made by rival manufacturers, and also the fact that too many of the dealers seem to regard customers as a nuisance.
Agree that Mk2 was very reliable - but, if my Dad's 86-D 1.8 GL was anything to go by, that was because the sum total of the toys fitted to it seemed to be an automatic choke - no power steering or electric anything. Watching my mother wrestling the thing in and out of parking spaces is one of my abiding memories of that part of my childhood.
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I guess it depends which paper you read, - I suggest you read the third paragraph in the following URL :-
www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=6869&si...6
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Well I've had 3 VW cars from new over the past 8 years and I've been happy with all 3, and the service that I have received from the dealers.
Maybe I'm the lucky one?
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AM i wrong in thinking that most of the parts for VW AUDI SEAT SKODA come out of the same parts bin IE. switch gear, wiper motors,brake parts,and a whole host of other things including engines and gearboxes and if this is correct then surely they are all made to the same specefications. I do not understand why it is that VW gets all the stick for unreliabilty and yet SEAT and SKODA seem to have no problems when they are probably usng the same parts.Is it because more people own VWs. than SEAT and SKODA thus you hear of more people complaining, or is there another reason.
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Most Audi drivers = company cars and high mileage.
Skoda? Private owners.
Company car owners will not put up with unreliability.
And VW/Audi keep spending money developing W12 Passats and stuff that very few motorists in their right minds would buy.. and not replacing Polo/Jetta/Passat soon enough.
High tech is great when it is in a reliable and cost effective package: VW /Audi prices and service ensure that "cost effective" is not a phrase one would associate with them.
It's called trading on the reputation of the past...
madf
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I don't think it's Golf bashing. I think it's more the satisfaction of people who are able to say 'I told you so'.
Early Golfs were simply better built than their rivals and deserved to be regarded as a premiun product. By the time the Mark 3 came along others had caught up, But VW arrogantly continued on their merry way.
People who know a bit about cars started to say the Golf was overpriced and VW were heading for a fall. They knew cars, but not UK car buyers and I can imagine the sour faces when the Golf continued to make financial sense because of their high resale values.
UK car buyers have worked it out about now.
As many predicted years ago, the overpriced pigeons are coming home to roost in the below par dealers.
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So, if the golf was say 2k cheaper (same as rivals) would it be considered a better car??
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They have just announced 5000 redundancies. See
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3545909.stm
The Golf is dull, overweight, and overpriced. I was amazed to find the real world bootspace on the estate is hardly bigger than in the Pug 206SW. I guess the Brits like it because we are a conservative bunch. It seems the rest of the world does not.
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I think I've probably said this before, but the perception that Citroens are notoriously unreliable is not borne out by the number of 'problems' reported in the backroom - VWs and Fords, for that matter seem to give many more problems. Now I know some will say that it's simply because there are more of these cars on the road, so statistically, there will be more hiccups, but lets face it, even if Citroens have niggles, people are currently buying them by the bucketload, simply because they are good value for money (as opposed to just 'cheap' - eg I haven't seen a City Rover thingy on the road yet)
.......and this is the point, get a VW with niggles and you feel you've been 'done'. Get a Cit with niggles and you can put up with the inconvenience of a warranty repair, or even, at worst, pay for a repair - and still feel that you're 'quids in' compared to buying VW. In fact, get a good Cit (and there are many!) and you feel you've got a little bit of gold.
Psychology - no more, no less!
Graeme
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My 2001 Octavia 1.4 16V had been excellent until just after my warranty ran out! the water pump started leaking. Fortunately I had reported a noise at the front of the engine at my last service so all work was carried out FOC. I ended up with a free cambelt/tensioner and antifreeze replacement as well!!
PS If you have any VW with the 1.416V engine that has a funny rattle from the fan/cam belt of the engine get the water pump checked NOW before it takes your cam belt out!
PPS hated the 1.2 Fabia silverline that I had as a courtesy car. The seat caused my legs to go numb due to the cushion design, it was verrrrry slow (especially up hill ) and suprisingly thirsty ( 39 mpg - my much larger Petrol Octavia is averaging 43-45 on the same run!).
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Main problem with VW and Audi in my area is the dreadful dealer. Colleagues with VW and Audi either take them to the local SEAT dealer or drive about 40 miles to one in another town.
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It is not that Golfs have become that unreliable, but the rest of the world has caught up, and in the case of the Japanese passed them by. It isn't helped by a proportion of dealers who just don't care after they have your money.
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"Company car owners will not put up with unreliability."
What makes you think private owners WILL put up with unreliability? I would argue the opposite - company car owners are less bothered by reliability issues because they'll just send it in for repairs and presumably get a free hire car while they wait. Its more hassle for the private owner I would say.
Splodgeface
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And on a more practical note don't forget the investment made at each plant.
The Golf used to be known as the "cheapest hand-made car in the world when it was originally made at Wolfsburg", because all the retifications had to be made after complete assembly. I imagine that taking over SEAT and Skoda meant little of the original plant (and perhaps workforce) remained.
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