Ramble (Why why why)

[kriskros]

Just some random ramblings about things i've noticed today.

Why does the Passat forum always seem to have most viewers? Does this reflect the poor quality of the car or the nature of the owners, i.e to scrimp and save where-ever possible. I know that i would rather poke myself in the eye with a red hot poker than fork out at VW dealers.

On that subject, why do VW dealers give such poor service (in my own opinion, that is).

Why is it that despite all the electrical gremlins I have suffered. All the usual leaks, CCM, Alarm mallarky, I am still really enjoying my Passat (1.8T btw). As an aside i used to own a BMW 323i SE (2.5 straight six no less) which was quick. I don't miss it though (probably something to with it's chav image) and the smooth, responsive nature of its replacement!

Finally, i would like to commend Stuart on a superb site, although i must say it looks remarkably like the Passat worldwide one ;)

Kriskros

[skyeman]

Ah yes there it is the big question!
Why do we pleasure from our cars? That illogical attachment to a lump of metal. When we can answer that one we will know the secrets of the universe.
We only have the Bora at the moment, I'm looking for a new Passat, I like the Bora and its the smallest things that please me, the fan shape of the washer jets, the way the interia light fades and the cool blue dash lights!
Go figure why such small details make me enjoy this car!:Blush:

[rallymaneddie]

I have one or two ideas as to why the Passat area is used a lot. There are lots and lots of high miler Passats about, ex fleet cars that have passed down the food chain to the likes of me, people who want comfort, space, economy and performance but are too tight/too poverty stricken to buy year old low milers from some plate glass VW emporioum. Passats are good, but there's lots to go wrong so we like to get them fixed as cheaply as possible. We all like to save a few quid and get a warm feeling when some scarily expensive repair gets done for the price of the parts and a few skinned knuckles.

[devonutopia]

I guess that must be the answer why the Skoda forum is the least viewed. Just keep on going and going. :D :p

I guess passats are fairly common though. I saw a "classic" the other day. I passat "GT 16v" on a H plate. I can remember my Dad having one of those from brand new.

[MalcQV]

Must admit only owned mine for a few months. Some of the things I read makes me think when will it be my time?

I have a 12 months warranty through VW dealer I bought it from. To date the problems have been:-
New Key fob (spare) - not the car's fault the Dealer.
New water pump - The car :p
Repaired to the brand new CD changer - The car :p
Tango with a signpost - The idiot driver :D

I never had so much bad luck? or issues with my previous Jap car. I only hope that I am just getting my long overdue share of bad "car" luck.

I will see how the next 9 months pan out :D

[Snowdance38]

Back when I was a kid (Before dirt :biglaugh: ) I was a Ford fan.. Drove several Fords.. Then went into the military and went to Germany.. My first German car was a 52 VW.. Loved the thing.. I also love to repair and restore cars.. So found, Bought and restored a 1937 BMW 327.. Great car.. When I came home from Germany I bought home a New 1959 Porsche.. From that day on all daily drivers have been German Cars.. And we have been thru a lot of them..

Like others I have had problems over the years with one or the other but still drive them.. Would not trade any of them for any thing else..

As far as Dealers.. Around here the VW is far better than Porsche or Mercedes.. Reason I am now driving VW's..

I also think the reason the Passat area is so busy is because there are lots of high mileage Passats around.. People that buy used cars in general are trying to save over buying new so really not into paying for more than needed.. And may not do as much maint. to save money.. (Taken from a Survey done here in the North West of the USA .)

Most all my life I have always done all the work on my cars.. However now that I am older than dirt.. :Blush2: I buy my cars from a dealer that gives me life time oil, filter service.. (Drove one Passat 278,000 miles and they serviced it no change all that time..) every 3 months or 3,000 miles whitch ever comes first.. They also do a complete inspection of the car, refill any thing else that is needed, and give me the inspection sheet so I can see what needs looking into.. I also get the 10 year fix any thing except , Battery, tires, brake pads ect. Guess I am just getting lazy..

[MalcQV]

Snowdance, it sounds like you have it made :biggthump. This is my first German car, well sort of. I owned an Opel Manta (GM) though never sure where they were built.

I have had Japanese cars for awhile, Honda and Mazda mainly. My wife has a Mazda MX5 or Miata as it is known in the US. She has had that from new (98) and it is absolutely solid. Never a problem with this car. The Hondas have been the same. The last two Accords built here in the UK too.

German has always meant reliability to me. I think the Japanese maybe doing it better though :(. The Honda Accord forum US based that I still visit has the general consensus that Euro cars are crap :aargh4:. Mind you they are not all US car fans either. I wondered what you thought of the onslaught of Japanese brands being made in the USA. I believe the Accord is the best selling sedan :dunno:

[Snowdance38]

There is little question the Japanese brands are most common here.. But I think here the Toyota Camery is the big seller followed by Honda Accord. Sad to say the US cars are bottom of the line.. The German Cars are top line. With Mercedes then BMW.. VW does not really sell a lot of cars here in the US..

The Japanese cars get better fuel mileage.. But the German cars have far more weight with steel and sound proofing.. The Jetta is 700 lbs or so heavier than the Civic or Corolla.. The Ford , GM and Dodge cars have had such bad saftey that most buy them only because they are cheap.. There really seems to be little difference in the reliability between Japanese and German cars that I see.. However some of the Japanese cars are built here and German cars built in Mexico.. But they seem to hold true to the quality of their countrys..

The real big difference around here is the noise level in the car at speed.. Our roads are redone by putting hot tar down then 1 inch of chipped rock and another layer of hot tar.. We call this chip seal.. (Great place to put chips in the windshield and paint to as they do not sweep the extra off but just let us drive thru it to clean the roads..) They usaly do this for 20 miles at a time.... It does wear well but the tire noise level in most cars is so loud that most Japanese car drivers wear ear plugs.. Add to the fact we run winter traction tires with carbon steel studs.. That just makes the roads worse and the cement roads have only the gravel showing as the cement is softest and wears out.. Many of our roads have groves worn down where the tires run some times several inches..

The New Jetta and New Passat have less inside noise than the Mercedes and BMW on our roads.. A few Amercian cars are next. The big gun boats.. And all of the Japanese cars bring up the rear with even their top of the line cars being very noisy inside..

So for us we want the inside of the cars quite at speed so we can talk and enjoy the music.. The cars we drive are the only ones on the list that will do that with out buying the Big American Gun Boats with 13 to 15 mpg..

[MalcQV]

Been over to the US twice this year, the 2nd time I owned the Passat, so noticed one or two. I agree VW's did not seem very common place.

We have something similar to the Chip Seal. They tend to do it on lesser used roads, such as those in a housing neighbourhood or some "country" roads get it. I agree about the chippings, they tend to end up in the gutter next to the pavement (side walk).

About the cement roads, there are a great many in the US from what I have seen. I have only visited Texas and Florida, where the temperature is quite high. I assumed cement roads were used because the heat would damage the tarmac. I also thought cement roads would last longer as it is harder than tarmac.

as some of the guys will comment we too get the grooves in the road. Caused by HGVs and alike.

Last two hire cars were Chrysler 300c 3.5L V6. Beautiful looking car but a little boring after a few days. Last time we had a Chevy Impala. Not over keen on its looks though it was OK. The plastics used on the dash were nowhere near the 300c but the 3.9L V6 felt pretty quick. As it turned out I liked the drive in the Impala better than the 300c. Though the 300c as I have said is one gorgeous motor to look at. The Hemi would do fine ;)

Pictures of the 300c we had in August.