Reuters had access to a message published on Volkswagen's intranet site in which brand chief Thomas Schaefer admitted partial and early retirements are planned.
I mean, sitting in a few of them recently, he’s right. That “German fit and finish” in their current lineup isn’t class leading anymore, all while VW still charges a premium for it.
I was cross-shopping a GTI with a Civic Si and a Mazda 3 Sport Turbo, and the GTI, each in their top trims, and the final prices came out to $38,000 for the Si, $40,000 for the Mazda 3 Turbo, and $45,000 for the GTI (prices in Canadian). The GTI had the cheapest feeling interior of the three, all while likely having the highest cost of ownership and weakest long term reliability of the three. I went into it thinking the GTI would be the front runner, and honestly it left me feeling pretty disappointed.
This goes through their entire lineup. Each vehicle in each segment costs a couple grand more than the competing Mazda, Honda, and Toyota, but it just doesn’t feel like you’re getting more car for that extra money. The Tiguan doesn’t feel noticeably better than a RAV4, CRV or CX 5. The Atlas didn’t feel like a step up from a Highlander or Pilot. VW still costs you a little bit extra for the “German premium tax”, and I just don’t see what that tax gets you, asside from generally weaker long term reliability and resale value.
Sitting in the new golf, it sucks. The clutch is too heavy and the shifter feels like absolute shit. The infotainment is awful and the seats were very uncomfortable. Every other sports car I sat in was better.
Volkswagen interiors somehow feel like the worst of the bunch.
That being said, it’s easily the most refined/best looking and feeling of the 3 you mentioned, and the stick is better than anything south of a Porsche. The current civic really reminds me of the old e46 in many ways. It’s just a great little car. Meanwhile the gold is disqualified IMMEDIATELY thanks to the interior “button” choices and infotainment.
That being said- god is it slow. I came from a long line of BMWs, the last two were 335is… This thing is just so fucking slow.
But hey! Besides that and the INFERNAL rev hang that nearly all manual specced cars have these days, it’s great.
If you’re used to 5 seconds to 60 (or faster), you may very well be regretting your purchase
I don’t think you even need to have gotten used to cars as fast as that. Depending on the outlet, the 0-60 can be closer to 8 seconds than 7 seconds. That’s average car slow, that’s Mazda 3/ Corolla slow. I know the Si has always been about the sports experience more than raw speed, but that’s just crazy especially since it’s been the same since like 2009.
yeah towards the end of the mk7 run, VW was already going hard on cost cutting. then the mk8 came out and it was even more so. a 2015 mk7 vs a new mk8, the quality feels worse on the new mk8.
Thing is the new EA888 is quite reliable. For the amount of power and fuel economy that it makes it’s great. All three of those cars are reliable enough that I wouldn’t worry about the minute differences of which one is slightly more reliable.
I had a 2013 VW CC and the EA888 wasn’t all that good for me. I had to spend $1400 one time to fix leaks everywhere, $700 on a new radiator bc the car would leak coolant like crazy, was leaking again after only a 2 years since the leak fixes, burnt oil, and my gas mileage was crap even though I had replaced all the ignition components, often ran fuel system cleaners, ran premium gas, and drove fairly slow/moderately. Plus the car had enough shit break that could only fixed at the dealer that I went japanese and traded it in
I mean, sitting in a few of them recently, he’s right. That “German fit and finish” in their current lineup isn’t class leading anymore, all while VW still charges a premium for it.
I was cross-shopping a GTI with a Civic Si and a Mazda 3 Sport Turbo, and the GTI, each in their top trims, and the final prices came out to $38,000 for the Si, $40,000 for the Mazda 3 Turbo, and $45,000 for the GTI (prices in Canadian). The GTI had the cheapest feeling interior of the three, all while likely having the highest cost of ownership and weakest long term reliability of the three. I went into it thinking the GTI would be the front runner, and honestly it left me feeling pretty disappointed.
This goes through their entire lineup. Each vehicle in each segment costs a couple grand more than the competing Mazda, Honda, and Toyota, but it just doesn’t feel like you’re getting more car for that extra money. The Tiguan doesn’t feel noticeably better than a RAV4, CRV or CX 5. The Atlas didn’t feel like a step up from a Highlander or Pilot. VW still costs you a little bit extra for the “German premium tax”, and I just don’t see what that tax gets you, asside from generally weaker long term reliability and resale value.
Sitting in the new golf, it sucks. The clutch is too heavy and the shifter feels like absolute shit. The infotainment is awful and the seats were very uncomfortable. Every other sports car I sat in was better.
Volkswagen interiors somehow feel like the worst of the bunch.
The SI only has one trim you silly goose.
That being said, it’s easily the most refined/best looking and feeling of the 3 you mentioned, and the stick is better than anything south of a Porsche. The current civic really reminds me of the old e46 in many ways. It’s just a great little car. Meanwhile the gold is disqualified IMMEDIATELY thanks to the interior “button” choices and infotainment.
That being said- god is it slow. I came from a long line of BMWs, the last two were 335is… This thing is just so fucking slow.
But hey! Besides that and the INFERNAL rev hang that nearly all manual specced cars have these days, it’s great.
I don’t think you even need to have gotten used to cars as fast as that. Depending on the outlet, the 0-60 can be closer to 8 seconds than 7 seconds. That’s average car slow, that’s Mazda 3/ Corolla slow. I know the Si has always been about the sports experience more than raw speed, but that’s just crazy especially since it’s been the same since like 2009.
Rude :(
yeah towards the end of the mk7 run, VW was already going hard on cost cutting. then the mk8 came out and it was even more so. a 2015 mk7 vs a new mk8, the quality feels worse on the new mk8.
Yep it all went downhill after they killed the analog gauges.
Thing is the new EA888 is quite reliable. For the amount of power and fuel economy that it makes it’s great. All three of those cars are reliable enough that I wouldn’t worry about the minute differences of which one is slightly more reliable.
I thought they had water pump issues.
Is that still going on? I remember it being an issue over a decade ago
yes
Lmao damn
I had a 2013 VW CC and the EA888 wasn’t all that good for me. I had to spend $1400 one time to fix leaks everywhere, $700 on a new radiator bc the car would leak coolant like crazy, was leaking again after only a 2 years since the leak fixes, burnt oil, and my gas mileage was crap even though I had replaced all the ignition components, often ran fuel system cleaners, ran premium gas, and drove fairly slow/moderately. Plus the car had enough shit break that could only fixed at the dealer that I went japanese and traded it in
that was an older generation of the ea888, different from the mk7 and mk8
Makes sense lol I expected worse to be honest, I heard so many bad things about VW that I was fully counting on needing a few water pumps