Anybody knows the cost?

None made in US or Canada.

VW tried making cars in the States, but they tanked the factory because of 2 key issues;

1. American Build Quality stunk
2. Labor issues with the workers

Actually, the Jetta is built in Mexico and the Golf is built in Brazil. The Jetta has been built in Mexico since 1990. The Golf has been built in Brazil since 1999.

- Peter

I had a 95 mexican made Golf...and found no difference in quality from other VW's I owned before or since.

Actually Jettas sold in Canada have been built in Mexico since model year 1993, except that only a very few were produced in 93. I had a

1992 Jetta TD, it was one of the last German built.

It was, unfortunately, a piece of crap. It holds the award for "most often towed", and in fact was probably towed more times than all of the other VWs I've had in the last 25 years combined. I bought it because it was "one of the last German built", and did I get tricked. It had faults everywhere from a leaky head (gasket done 3 times in

100,000KM), runs/sags in the paint, defective fuel gauge, to belts which it threw regularly. That happened so often I ended up learning which belt it was OK to operate without.

On the other hand, I've had 4 Mexican assembled Jettas since then. All have been very reliable, and well put together. None has ever been towed or left me stranded.

Back to the original question, I doubt VW even has an exact answer. What is interesting is to compare the selling price of cars in different places. On the VW.COM site do a "build your own" for Canada, and then built the same car for USA. Compare the prices accounting for exchange. Last time I did that we were getting a MUCH better deal in Canada. Why would VW sell cars in Canada for less than they do in the USA? Because the competition does is the only answer I can come up with.

Anyway, it's clear that selling price is NOT determined strictly based on manufacturing cost. Some cars probably sell as loss leaders, while other models bring a substantial profit.

I don't know if this is even possible...would you include the costs of materials alone? Materials plus labor? How would the labor costs for outsourced parts be calculated? How about costs for employee benefits...I add this because I read how GM is getting buried by pension and healthcare costs for former or retired employees...it would be a massively complex calculation...well beyond me!

I think at one time, when pretty much one company made all the parts under one roof...or at least in one area...such a calculation would have been a lot easier.

It's very hard for me to believe that there is any manufacturer that has no precise idea how much its products cost to produce. For the parts which are made elsewhere, that's exactly why they're made elsewhere, because they cost less to produce, so they know the price of every little screw. A saving of only $0.30 per car means $300k per million cars, which no car maker would toss out the window. $5 less turns into a whopper 5mil. And this is valid in any manufacturing business. In cost I'd include labor & materials & depreciation of assets. Cost of labor I think includes benefits. So the question was "How much Mr. VW coughs up to fabricate a Bug"? Let's keep is simple and not start another never-ending thread.

T> I don't know if this is even possible...would you include the costs of materials

The Jetta Wagon is made in Germany. According to a recent "Ward's Automotive News," VW apparently is looking at moving all Jetta/Bora production to Mexico, using some production space formerly used for the "classic" Beetle.

sd

Hey Tony, what ever happened to that 95 Golf you had? Did you ever figure out why it would run like crap with hesitation?

Might want to add that everyone including the managers were thieves. Our dealer was less than 20 miles from the plant and you should see what showed up at the auto swap meets in my area. Can we say "new & unused parts" by the box! Granted it's my opinion...

Mexico.

Not necessarily. High-quality cars can be built anyplace management decides to support it. Honda's Marysville, Ohio, plant builds Accords that are exported back to Japan. My ex had a Mercury Tracer (a re-badged Mazda 323) made in Hermosillo, Mexico, that was every bit as good as my sister's Japanese-built 323.

But VW's Pennsylvania plant was operating at a time when VW wasn't as fervent about quality as they are now. And Americans (at least at the time) didn't work that cheaply -- certainly not as cheaply as Mexicans.

sd

The VIN on my '89 Jetta indicates Wolfsburg but underneath the driverside carpeting I found some wrapping from a VW factory in Mexico!?

Maybe the Wolfsburg emblem was >>

I drove it off a cliff!!...no...I sold it to a young lady from out of state, who was well aware of the problem. She worked at a local VW shop and they took a look at it. I never did get a lot of details, but she said the problem was an "idle stabilization valve" which was cleaned out or replaced. They said they spent about $20 on parts. The car now runs great. I heard she has lowered it, new exhaust, new wheels, and a few other goodies and drives it daily...and has been for about 6 months.

If you remember, the dealer told me it wasn't worth fixing.

So even though this bugged me for a while, it turned out to be a very minor problem...just one that was hard to find.

You have quite a memory!

I should add, it sold cheap!

Tony