Today I went to have a look at VW EOS, thinking about replacing my 2nd car this year, currently a PUG 406 Coupe. More than one review has put the EOS at top of the pile of Coupe/Cabriolet class.
Only sat in it in showroom, but was not impressed at feel of it. hard plastics on lower door and around elec window controls, not as good quality as the VW Bora I had in 2003-5. Obviously lifted straight out of latest Golf...
but worse... something else bugged me, and took me a while to figure... eventually I twigged that the centre section is lifted 100% from the Skoda Octavias that I often carried around in as they are so popular with local taxi drivers. yes there is some brushed aluminium surround and button caps, but really.... I can;t be interested in this car which as a 2nd and rather un-necessary car purchase is being considered largely as a feel good excercise...everytime I get in it, i will just think Skoda Octavia taxi.
Skoda drivers benefit hugely from this sharing, they get the same quality of fit and finish as VW in a cheaper package, but does it harm VW? especially at the more exclusive end of the car range?
I will go and look at the new Volvo C70 soon, and from what I have seen, the interior is not lifted out of a Ford Focus... so this is not a universal rant over platform sharing, I just wonder if VAG group have taken it too far.
When a car like a coupe/cabriolet is sold, it is largely sold for its looks and the way it makes the driver feel, for outright sportiness you would chooise something else, and for practicality, you certainly would. So VW I think have missed a trick here.
Guy
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I was thinking about how muddled VAG brands were this morning. It's hard to see who is meant to be doing what and appealing to who in the mass-produced segments. I think VW should stick to vans only.
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I'm a fan of most VAG group cars but was in a new Volvo C70 a few weeks ago - it was a great car, well built, quiet and very very comfortable the only problem being that the 2.4 auto petrol is in the new highest band of road tax.
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Friends have an Eos - 18 months old. On Friday it will be going for the 20th visit to the dealer for a leaking roof to be looked at. Complaints have got to HQ stage and solicitors are next step.
The problem is down to the heavy roof mechanism - park on a slight slope when opening and closing the roof and the weight of it pulls it out of line slightly causing leaks.
Audi refuse to look at metal folding roofs, both the new A3 and forthcoming A5 convertible are fitted with a fabric roof.
I'd wait until the A3 convertible is out before committing to an EOS.
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"Volvo C70....the interior is not lifted out of a Ford Focus... "
No, just the rest of it. (That of course is no bad thing.)
It wouldn't matter to me if the interior of the Eos reminded me of an Octavia. It's bound to be similar to a Golf, and you'd expect VAG to share parts (or the Eos would be even more expensive than it is). Try driving an Octavia - at least in the higher-powered versions, there's quite a feel-good factor anyway.
The important thing surely is whether you like driving the car. I doubt if people buying Lamborghinis are put off by some interior fittings from the VAG parts bin: anyway as parts bins go they're better than most.
I can still remember seeing one of the few examples made of the ill-fated 1970s (I think) Aston Martin Lagondas (the one designed by Bill Towns) - the column stalks were from that exotic supercar - the Vauxhall Chevette.
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What would be good is a SEAT version of the Eos- surely it wouldn't be that difficult to engineer?
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