I have noticed this for over 25 years that some people have a soft spot for Volkswagens.
Why is this? Because the Germans are smart and worked so hard after the war to get back on their feet or the cars are unique and functional (they certainly aren't the most reliable which are Japanese or the best riding or quietest riding which are American cars) and some older VW's aren't the best looking cars or maybe people remembering old VW's they had when they were young or getting laid in a VW bus in college or farvegnugen or something of a combination of these or what?
Its interesting but maybe no real way to actually put your finger on this....
Because when I drive by the showroom (or go in it) or look around at the autoshow they are some of the only attainable cars I would actually want to own.
My short list of cars I could make the payments on: Golf GTI Jetta mk4/5 Passat (base) Volvo S40 2.4i
Mazda 3 has been deleted due to me actually taking it for a drive and realizing it offers no improvement over my Golf except being able to fit my requirement for more rear passenger room.
These are the only two reasons people buy a car? And as for that last reason you gave - every single person who's ever been in my Passat has commented on how well it rides and how solid it feels. Can't speak for reliability as it's just a baby (2.5 years, 12K miles). German cars, including VWs, tend to be sporty, taut, solid, and fun - which you can't necessarily say about Japanese cars (except the ones that are trying to be like German cars, like the G35) or American cars (except the ones that really Mercedes or Opels in disguise).
Not only that, but with proper care and feeding other than a few known trouble spots they will last indefinitely, at least the older ones - which you can't say about a lot of other cars. I sold a 'roccet with
240K+ miles almost exactly a year ago and it was still running strong - even after having been parked for almost a year. I just had too many projects going, and I still regret selling it sometimes.
Mine has 216K on it now, but it's on it's way out. Well, the body is, I should say. The engine, transmission and suspension components (and a lot of other parts, I'd been doing an inside-out restoration) are on their way into another '87 Scirocco that's being restored for me right now. The other one was stripped of engine, trans. and so forth. My current one, unfortunately, had a fair bit of rust when I got it, and had already been in both a front end and a side accident. With the addition of second side accident last October, it would be just too expensive to fix. On the other hand, 216K on it, bashed to hell, and it's still a joy to drive.
That says it all. It was built to be be a car for the people. No frills, Easy to maintain. Most repairs are simple and can be done by anyone with a little mechanical ability. Why should anyone wonder why it has been such a success? Anyone who has had major repairs done to other vehicles would be amazed that the same repair could have been done by themselves at a fraction of the cost. The volkswagen is/was a do-it-yourselfer type vehicle.
It's probably the only Euro brand in the US that isn't accompanied with the impression of exclusivity of a BMW or Mercedes. It's a Euro car that the masses can own. Sure VW has tried to go up market with the Touareg and Phaeton of course, but the rest of the model line is affordable. After all, what BMW or Mercedes can you get for under $25K? None that I know of. But there's still a plethora of Golfs and Jettas and GTIs under that price. VWs aren't exactly the "people's car" they once were but they still are plenty (and favorably) competitive with Mazdas, Hondas, Toyotas, etc.
I doubt that's going through any VW buyer's mind. "oh those poor Germans having to rebuild their country and all that...honey, let's buy a German car from those poor German's they need the sale sooooo bad". :)
No but what seems to plague German cars today (VW, Mercedes, and BMW) are electronic glitches. I'd say that the Japanese still know and do electronics the best. When it comes to mechanical engineering, the Germans still do it right, IMHO. Seeing as the engine and transmission and suspension are the "soul" of a car and all the electronics are somewhat secondary, I'd say that many people are willing to overlook spotty electronics in order to get the engine/suspension/transmission that the Germans do very well.
well that really depends. American cars are *softest* riding, but I don't think they're the best riding unless you reall count "best" as soft and "worst" as hard. American cars are cushier, yes, but they tend to pitch a bit more, sway a bit more, etc. I'd argue that best riding are German ones because they strike a good balance between smoothing out the big bumps and keeping the body motion under control.
But what older car *is* good looking? By definition most older cars are "ugly" because they're just old/dated and were styled based on trends at the time. most any car from the 1970s or 1980s would look out of place on today's showroom floor.
I'd sum it up that VWs (and German cars in general ) don't do a single thing perfectly but they do all things at about an 8 or 9 out of 10 scale and that's why people like them. They're near perfect in every category, have some flaws or mild compromises in every category, but are rarely terrible in any one category. Asian and American cars are more polarized from one category to the next.
This was all more or less true of the classic beetle and it's kin.
From what I've seen of the current (or even not so recent) crop of VW's, it's no more true of them than of any of their contemporaries.
BUT...
Going back to the OP's point about "soft spot," you may have a point. Even though it's really no longer true, there may well still be that perception that they're easier to repair that the average Toyota, Nissan, Lexus or whatever.
When I owned a brand new Rabbit, it was just as expensive to repair as the brand new Datsun I owned just before it. But I worked on my freshly out of warranty Rabbit myself more often than I ever worked on my freshly out of warranty Datsun. And not because it was really any simpler. Economy eventually forced me into working on the Datsun, and it wasn't any harder to do periodic service or even minor repairs. It just never occured to me to do it on the Datsun, whereas it never occurred to me NOT to do it on the Rabbit. Because, I think now, it was a Volkswagen and I'd just always worked on VW's myself since back when they really were simpler.
I don't know how much your observation is true of the general public, but it may have some impact on those of us old enough to remember when tinkering a beetle really was a simple shade tree mechanic job.
Amen.. I'm still on the honeymoon with my 2004. Seems like a major project just to change some of the bulbs. I have to laugh at the excellent online DIY procedure I found that shows the replacement of the timing belt. It starts with removal of the front bumper from the vehicle! On a GM car, you wait until it breaks, which is an expensive endevor on the 1.8T.
I think that is true. However I think that even changing an air filter and oil filter on other cars of my same vintage tend to be significantly easier.
Completely stock '95. The oil filter cartridge is almost as easy as you say, but you also should open a drain screw first to let the oil drain out. Then you unscrew the big screw, etc. However in contrast to a spin-on oil filter, it is much messier and more time consuming. I have to go fish the cap back out of the dirty oil.
The air filter is very tricky to maneuver the cover free and back on. I once had my oil changed at an oil change place. They had a check list of things they did as part of the service. One of the items was to check the air filter. As I was paying the manager I asked if they really checked the air filter. He said yes, and I said their mechanic must be a better man than I am. He then checked with his employee who said no, he had not.
They spent about 25 minutes with two, and sometimes three, people trying to get it out. It's up front where you can see it, but still tricky.
Even older cars can be a pain. My '91 A2 is harder than it should be to replace the air filter mostly because the airbox has a clip or two in a hard-to-reach area. I always end up with bloodied fingers when replacing the air filter in that thing.
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