VW Australia in for a right Screwing "Das Image" does - not match the reality.

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Originally Posted by Marco

Interesting trend here in this thread - how many of us LS1.com.au guys also own air cooled Beetles?

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My first car was a 62 beetle from memory can't remember exactly what yr but was around that vintage
But fitted 225 fronts and 245 rears back 25+ yrs ago and had a ball in the dunes

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Originally Posted by Marco

Interesting trend here in this thread - how many of us LS1.com.au guys also own air cooled Beetles?

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Unlike VW's problems nowadays, the Beetle was very reliable. air cooled kept it simple. The Beetle made VW's name in America as a well made reliable economy car. VW have traded off the reputation of the Beetle ever since.

Cheers, Matthew

Yeah. I only bought mine a few months ago but the fact that I wasn't short of specimens to choose from says a lot about how reliable - and easy to keep running - they actually are. Even today they're surprisingly not a bad drive (well, a 1600cc Superbug with mac struts anyway) and reasonably accommodating too; I just don't want to crash one :)

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Originally Posted by Marco

Interesting trend here in this thread - how many of us LS1.com.au guys also own air cooled Beetles?

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you never know whats hiding in peoples sheds!

1954 type 1 http://www.shannons.com.au/club/enth...beetle-type-1/

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Originally Posted by matthewfnorbert

you never know whats hiding in peoples sheds!

1954 type 1 http://www.shannons.com.au/club/enth...beetle-type-1/

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That is one fantastic vintage beetle, love it when people keep the old ones in such fantastic condition.
Cheers - thanks for sharing.

http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor...605-2np8x.html

& the Comments in the age - For those who know what a Trabant is:

“Has the Trabant been revived? CommenterKingZ0g LocationZwickau Date and timeJune 05, 2013, 1:37PM “

come on, the Trabby was more reliable than this. CommenterTin Location Date and timeJune 05, 2013, 5:41PM

and que the Trabby Jokes......

A Trabby runs of the road into a Ditch next to a cow pat.
The cow pat asks .... What are you ?
The Trabby replies to the cow pat " I'm a car"
The cow pat replies "if your a car - then I'm a Pizza!"

Question, how do you double the value of a Trabby
Answer: Fill it up with 2 stroke fuel..

Check out Go Trabby Go films 1 & 2 for more fun than one can handle about a Plastic 2 stroke car
oh and if you bought the delux version - it came with wait for it "Chrome trim" - to really impress the neighbors.
Wartzbergr's were better (At least it had a steel body).

So is the new Das Auto the new Trabby for Australians with VWA's dealing with existing customers?
LOL!

The Trabant is legendary! It was voted the worst car in the world back in the day.
I can still remember the photo of the journo's in complete understeer with the look of terror on their faces.

Clarkson quote: "In a unified Germany, Trabants were sharing the roads with Audis, and it was a mix as devastating as Baileys and lime juice" :lmao:

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Originally Posted by Ausmartin1

So is the new Das Auto the new Trabby for Australians with VWA's dealing with existing customers?
LOL!

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DSG Auto buyers , please factor a 40% Devaluation immediately. I have one 2012 Passat sitting here that is nothing but a pig…( 3,600Ks ) but within accepted guidelines as per VW Australia ..I truly was expecting a little more than help ...( we are waiting on a software upgrade ) ..Either falls in a hole at the lights or burns rubber until the electronics take over ..a little like the new BT50 DT Mazda without the tyre burn
.

Well it's hitting the fan now - or clutch and other useless bits.
http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/...-1226659527998

Note VW Australia's head Madam (who is gagged by the way) is flying back to Germany - apparently next week VVW Germany may open their mouths when the Spin cycle slows.

BTW I know of one person that received a full refund for their < 1/2 year old diesel Jetta and yes it was the injection system packing up.
For him it was some work though shaking the top of the tree - VAG didn't have leg to stand on as the Jetta spent most of the owners life in the dealership workshop.
Sadly they also had a brand new 4WD and that after 20K broke a lever for the intake manifold - pathetic plastic ball arm lever which rotates from short to long intake runner - requiring the replacement of the whole intake manifold under warranty due to the $hit design and quality. VWA paid for that though.

No wonder VW cost so much in this country - to pay for some of the successful warranty claims - I don't think the peoples car in Germany is considered anything "Luxury" ?

As to the DSG the whole dam clutch design is a big FAIL. Watch a rebuild if you ever can .. Whole suit case tools to replace a DSG clutch and the shimming involved to get the tolerances required are all BS, because once some clutch wear occurs the "tolerances" perfectly shimmed are out the window and shuddering etc. can occur. There simply is not enough "ANY" "self adjustment" to make this easy for the factory to assemble, for the owner to get some decent life out the clutches in city driving conditions and the dealer servicing department to easily replace it.
Does anyone know of any other manual trans vehicles who's new clutch pack comes with two sets of markings to 2 decimal mm places requiring careful shimming for both for a manual? - I don't !

It appears to be another Ba$tard$ Inc. design - great on the drawing board but later on hard to live with, so even though when working well the DSG performance is IMPRESSIVE - The DSG Clutch system is just idiotic for those who want extended reliable driving in a majority of conditions.

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Originally Posted by markone2

DSG Auto buyers , please factor a 40% Devaluation immediately. I have one 2012 Passat sitting here that is nothing but a pig…( 3,600Ks ) but within accepted guidelines as per VW Australia

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Originally Posted by Ausmartin1

The DSG Clutch system is just idiotic for those who want extended reliable driving in a majority of conditions.

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When were the first VW DSG released in Australia? Would be interesting to see what they are selling for now. Wonder if 10yo DSG equipped VWs will just get taken to the crusher?

Cheers, Matthew

thats what i was thinking.. isn't re-sale value of these going to absolutely plummet?

My managers polo went back on Friday for an oil top up AGAIN - 1000km, and low on oil FFS how can this be acceptable?

What happens if you go on a 3000km drive from Margaret River to Darwin?? seize halfway there in the middle of nowhere, with no effing help??

VW is a bloody joke.

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Originally Posted by heavyduty1340

My managers polo went back on Friday for an oil top up AGAIN - 1000km, and low on oil FFS how can this be acceptable?

What happens if you go on a 3000km drive from Margaret River to Darwin?? seize halfway there in the middle of nowhere, with no effing help??

VW is a bloody joke.

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My Beetle uses less oil than that! It's really quite surprising to read through this thread. I'd always been under the impression that VW was one of the top manufacturers for reliability. I guess that shows how effective marketing can be

Tight budget + high output from small engine = trouble.

Will keep my 6.0L thank you.

It amazes me how they plug the sales of these things through great fuel economy, yet does anyone stop to consider the service costs and depreciation? Makes modifying commodore seem like great value.

JJW

and GOLF / PUSSAT styling is 10 years behind they look like an old rio

More Interesting news on false neutral VW DSG
http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/f...607-2nvlc.html

Reluctant VWA
http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/a...607-2nvl8.html

From Singapore ... What's wrong with the VW low power DSG DQ200
http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/writeup.php?AID=180

"Trouble at mill" VWA mangers will have plenty to attend to.

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/f...607-2nvlc.html
Bastards. To think I almost got a VW a year or so ago... To lie about dangerous problems, then blame customers and threaten them... Scumbag company...
All they had to do was to fix it in "goodwill" because of all their "nice customers" and they would have had PR success and their imagine retained...

Good news for companies such as Volvo though, can pick up some cross shoppers. I have a v60 T5 (Ford focus ST spec 2.0 ecoboost with a ford dual clutch gearbox) and love it.

Brings me to another thought, with the low oil issues in the VW's... Turbo issues down the track will be common place.

Surely there has to be some come back - they should refund purchasers their money as far I'm concerned.

http://www.news.com.au/business/comp...-1226660535219

Pressure is obviously building.

http://www.carsguide.com.au/blogs-an...ill_dent_sales

It annoys me that the media were raving about Golfs, Polios etc for years while poo-pooing simple reliable "dated" cars like Corollas; now they're all too happy to jump on the veedud bashing bandwagon... I guess it sells papers.

Well my managers polo has to go back to have its first service next week - we actually caught the service blokes out "over filling" it last week to try to "fudge" the consumption test

Would it be worth grabbing a sample to have a filtergram done to see what parts of the motor are ending up in the oil?

It pisses me off that they blow her off as a stupid female - she is single and in her 40's and the pricks treat her like shit.

Last week when it ran low for the 4th time, it was a freezing cold day - they didn't offer her a lift anywhere, loan car was $30 plus costs to use. They left her standing in the bloody cold for nearly 1.5hrs ffs what the hell is the industry coming to??

Time to talk her into selling this pig asap before the resale goes any lower

my missues has a Passat and the trans is shagged. the clutch in first when taking off is rooted it just slips and shudders, you have to accelerate really slowly to avoid it. forget it trying to take off on a incline or when the car is heavy loaded it just revs until it some how grabs gear and slowly starts to move. I have to put it in sports shift and and keep moving the selector forward until it selects second gear.

we did replace the oil and filter in the trans and that did help the the shuddering and shaking to stop a little bit, but I cant wait to get her out of that car and into a Cruze SRiV ASAP. Don't get me wrong the Passat is nice and has done a very good job for its life, but now it seems like its a time bomb.

Appalled at the way customers were treated, the only way to send a clear message to them is a significant drop in sales volume.

Or drive the piece of shit back through the show room window and tell them you want your money back

"Stops like a Golf"

... farkford

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Originally Posted by cfour

Appalled at the way customers were treated, the only way to send a clear message to them is a significant drop in sales volume.

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I guess the same case for most manufacturers, but I guess their overall Australian sales v's global sales (other markets) would be bugger all - which may have a care factor adjustment. Probably need to target the entire group, Audi, Skoda, Seat etc etc. I'd go out on a limb and say perhaps the Commercial side (which includes MAN, SCANIA etc) here may be the reason they're dabling here in the first place. I'd love to see what % of the market we actually are.

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Originally Posted by shucks

It annoys me that the media were raving about Golfs, Polios etc for years while poo-pooing simple reliable "dated" cars like Corollas; now they're all too happy to jump on the veedud bashing bandwagon... I guess it sells papers.

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AGREE ! - Well this because we reward so called "Motoring Journalists" like the Holden bashing Joshua Dowling - read on ....

Which TURNS OUT VOTED FOR THE GOLF CAR OF THE & AT THE SAME TIME TELLS FRIENDS TO SELL BEFORE THE WARRANTY RUNS OUT and not reliable.

man what an A-hole - I nearly fell of my chair as he tries to justify it .....

"My motoring media colleagues and I see it every day. A friend, a family member or someone in the office wants to buy a VW or another posh brand. Most of us warn them about the feedback we regularly receive about iffy reliability and high service costs. But few of us can change their minds.

So if you're asking me if you should buy a Volkswagen, here is my standard answer (which it has been for some time now). Try to sell it before the three-year factory warranty period expires -- and budget on a few days of inconvenience each year until then as you're likely to be taking the car in for unplanned maintenance. If you still want to buy a new VW after that advice, you have my blessings. They're great to drive. But I wouldn't buy a secondhand one without having a mechanic you know and trust go over it. And reading the countless blogs of disgruntled owners."



http://www.carsguide.com.au/blogs-an...ill_dent_sales


Proves All facets of Journalism are corrupt and dressed up BS.

Been watching this unfold from across the ditch. There has been limited media coverage on it here however. We own a 2007 GTi with 6-speed DSG, and it's a fantastic car to drive. It's been pretty reliable, no major issues. However it does use oil, not excessive but around 1L per 5-7000 km. Ironically the harder it's driven the less it uses - we took it for a 2 week tour over 3000 km of good driving roads and oil consumption was nil. There is an emerging theory (google will find it if you are interested) that the oil use is linked to the FSI direct injection-caused carbon build up - but that certainly doesn't explain oil consumption of 1L/1000 km experienced by some.

Lo and behold I got the following email from VW NZ yesterday:

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Dear Richard,

Volkswagen NZ is today announcing a voluntary recall for 2639 vehicles fitted with a 7-speed DSG gearbox (DQ200), produced between June 2008 and September 2011. We don’t believe your vehicle is included, however wanted to inform you as a matter of courtesy.

In isolated cases, an electronic malfunction in the control unit inside the gearbox of affected vehicles may result in a power interruption. If, in rare cases, the car loses power while driving the driver can easily remain in control to safely manoeuvre the vehicle to a stop.

Volkswagen NZ General Manager Tom Ruddenklau clarified that vehicles currently being produced and sold in New Zealand are not affected by this issue.

"As customer satisfaction and vehicle safety are our utmost highest priority, we want to ensure our Volkswagen customers can have absolute peace of mind. Volkswagen is extending the gearbox warranty period for all DSG gearboxes from 3 to 5 years (from the date the vehicle’s warranty first commenced) and are offering a free vehicle Health Check for any Volkswagen customer who has any concerns."

Not all Volkswagen DSG customers will be affected by this non-safety recall, and Volkswagen plans to contact all owners of affected vehicles directly about the voluntary recall from July onwards. Customers will be invited to schedule appointments with an authorised Volkswagen dealership to have their vehicle inspected, mechatronics unit replaced, and the latest DSG software installed. We believe your vehicle is not included in this recall however you are welcome to visit here or call 09 355-7776 (during business hours) for further information about which models qualify.

Volkswagen reminds owners that they can continue to drive their vehicles as usual before the inspection and upgrades.

Full details of the recall are available at here. Alternatively customers can contact the Volkswagen Customer Service team on 09 355 7776 (during business hours), or email info@volkswagen.co.nz
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Nice weasel words and makes them sound like paragons of customer service and responsiveness. in light of their iintransigence and push-back on their customers highlighted in Oz, VW have certainly made an absolute pigs breakfast of this issue and it will almost certainly damage the brand. This buyer will be very aware next time we consider a car replacement!

wow, i have only read about this, this morning. im amazed at how some automotive brands wont own up to there issues and fix it, vw has a big issue with all these problems by the look of it. its amazing that they can get away with it like they do, government need to get involved more often and stop these sorts of things from happening. manufacturers need to be forced to fix all safety issues asap, not beat around the bush to save a penny or two.

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Originally Posted by Roamin

wow, i have only read about this, this morning. im amazed at how some automotive brands wont own up to there issues and fix it, vw has a big issue with all these problems by the look of it. its amazing that they can get away with it like they do, government need to get involved more often and stop these sorts of things from happening. manufacturers need to be forced to fix all safety issues asap, not beat around the bush to save a penny or two.

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That should read – ALL AUTOMOTIVE BRANDS


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As I own one of these cars, I've done a bit more reading on the subject and it appears VW have upped the warranty on the gearboxes to 10 years OS to appease cranky customers.

One would hope that with all the bad press this will follow suit here. I don't think the free safety checks they are offering are enough.

Sales crash for VW passenger cars .... who could have thought that could happen ? LOL!
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-new...703-2pbye.html

PS just tonight - cnr Stud Rd and Burwood Hyw - Another Golf with Hazards on.

Nothing breaks down "like a Golf" mmmm Das Auto Kaput! schnell towie ~ schnell! and put it out the back out of site with the rest at the local dealer.

One does look very Euro trendy - standing next to your kaput flashing Golf maybe the owners do wish to get run over after the humility of owning a Golf?, seems popular round here these days, think I'll pass - rather be in a Holden or Toyota than end up dead in a Euro VW product or end up standing like a broke hooker next to it.

Morrre:

http://www.news.com.au/business/comp...-1226761008994

Interesting in that article and reported widely in the media
"The recall comes as the Victorian Coroner today announced there was no evidence of a mechanical fault with a Volkswagen Golf involved in a fatal crash in Melbourne in 2011."

I wonder how the coroner determined that to be the case.
To my way of thinking VW must have had a large part in the analysis of the car and any stored data.
Again VW would appear to be teflon coated when it comes to having the sh1t stick to it.
Although the key word from the coroner could be "no evidence". Maybe something will come to light later.
Hopefully not as a result of more fatalities.
Phil

At this point, VW is off my shopping list until these incidents are left behind with a solid 10 year record of reliability.

(Old arse engined air cooled ones excepted, obviously, given my sig...)