VAG Ireland

lafors

Interesting article in the business section of the IT with the new head of Volkswagen group Ireland. Impressive CV.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0120/1224310513334.html

The Seat brand is well dead at this stage which is a pity. They are in a tough place with skoda filling the value market and over speccing their cars, VW filling the middle mix of value and brandname, and audi with the high end.
The major thing that VAG need to tackle is the unrelability of their cars since about 05 on. Since 05 I've had Seat Ibiza, Skoda Octavia, Audi A3 sportback, VW Sciroco, and now a Skoda Yeti. I like my VAG cars but every single one of them has had a manufacturing fault at some stage or another, and by manufacturing I mean something that was not a 1 off but that was a problem across the whole VAG range of cars. That needs to be sorted and they need to bring in a goodwill/gesture system like they have in main dealers in the US/UK that will fix these problems without excessive cost to the owner of the vechicle.

Leonard Hofstadter

No disrespect to you, but as long as we and everyone else (they are the most popular brand in all of Europe) continue to buy them in such numbers they're not going to give two hoots about quality and reliability. They had record sales in Europe last year.

If people stopped buying them because they're not well made, then they'd have to do something. Personally I never saw what was so wonderful about a VW over a Toyota or a Ford. At least about 10 years ago they did feel a lot better made than anything else (even though they weren't) but VW don't make the same effort with the interiors any more and at the same time everyone else has caught up so now there is absolutely no difference between the feel good factor of the inside of a Passat and a Mondeo or Insignia or 508 etc.

Sadly, most modern cars are built to be disposable lumps of metal these days so that you have to replace them more often than before.

BrensBenz

We always make decisions which give us the most satisfaction or, put another way, we make decisions which give us the least dissatisfaction. We pay our road tax (very little satisfaction there) because the alternative might give us even less satisfaction. You bought a series of VAGs because the factors giving you satisfaction outweighed the known VAG reliability problems. If or when this balance flips for you, you will opt for another manufacturer.
As a non-VAG driver, I must admit I was unaware of the falling standards mentioned above. My impressions of VAG was of beautiful lines (Passat, Scirocco and Audi), great value (Skoda) and stylish alternative (SEAT) and all with great history and ability to survive the threat from the Far East. If my view is average, VAG will see these as their “hooks” and, until the market rejects them for more reliable products, they will continue building them as is.
Also, just think how many mass-market but outrageously beautiful cars come from European manufacturers with known or anecdotal reliability problems – Alfa, Citroen, Fiat, Peugeot. They still sell and you can’t argue with success…...allegedly!

JoeA3

I've been driving various VAG's for about 8 years now and I've never had a single issue that warranted concern, outside of routine maintenance.

Tea 1000

JoeA3 wrote: »

I've been driving various VAG's for about 8 years now and I've never had a single issue that warranted concern, outside of routine maintenance.

That's kind of cryptic... Do you mean nothing that concerned you went wrong, or nothing at all went wrong? Everyone with a VAG group car that I know had at least one issue. Many were minor, some were not exactly major, but a sign of half-assed design and the likes of a problem that many VAG owners used to smugly smirk at Alfa owners for having.

JoeA3

Tea 1000 wrote: »

That's kind of cryptic... Do you mean nothing that concerned you went wrong, or nothing at all went wrong? Everyone with a VAG group car that I know had at least one issue. Many were minor, some were not exactly major, but a sign of half-assed design and the likes of a problem that many VAG owners used to smugly smirk at Alfa owners for having.

It's not cryptic at all. It's perfectly clear! I never had any significant issue that I can remember and I am one fussy fecker, I can assure you. The local Ford dealer used to hate the sight of me coming into him with the latest stupid problem I had on a Focus I once owned.

My previous car, a MKV GTI was a brilliant all rounder. I had a very minor issue with the aircon (needed re-gassing I think), a while after the warranty had expired, and VW looked after it promptly, no problem.

I also know lots of people with VAG's who are very happy with them. Sure we all know people down in the pub who can support one side of the argument or the other.

bazz26

My uncle had two Passats, a 07 and a 09. The 07 broke his heart and was back to the dealer numerous times. The 09 was the opposite so go figure. They are hit and miss.

bambamky76

hiya have recently bought a passat 00 1.9tdi 90bhp, few problems with it was wondering if ye mite have idea or advice of whats wrong
problem 1. very slow to start could be turning for at bones of a minute and then cloud of smoke when she starts and shudders for cpl of minutes then is grand
problem 2. shes as slow as a wet week, took her on motor way last night and max id get out of it was 80 possibly 90 going down a hill (dont laugh) it kinda feels that she will go so far on rev counter and speedometer and thats it if ye try n go over it it just refuses and kinda feels like she reaches her peak and slows back. dont know if anyone has had this problem is it a big one ?? thanks in advance for help

Gazzmonkey

Love my A4, astonishing to drive... but I hate Audi, robbing b@st@rds they are.

€600 to put out a dash light :mad:

The12thMan

i also love my A$, BUT i knew it was expensive to fix before i bought it. but it is a lovely place to sit behind the wheel. excellent interior.

VW Group (VAG was dropped in 1992) have a very loyal following in Ireland. as long as they keep making nice looking cars, passatt, golf, A4, A6, and they dont have major faults people will keep buying them.

FGR

I'd have to agree that they started cutting corners in 2004/2005. Small things like not doing a full right hand drive conversion for the interior (handbrake in particular) and this is coming from a man who's owned two VAG cars from new.

Comhrá

Most annoying VAG feature I find is the multifunction steering wheel which has the volume button on the left side of the wheel close to the actual radio's volume button. No great advantage using the wheel volume as the radio's button is adjacent anyway.

Audi on the other hand, has the volume on the right side of the wheel which is so easily accessible to the right thumb (for r/handed drivers) so the you can use either hand to adjust volume...wheel or fascia vol. control.

I wondered if the VW wheel is the same as used on the LHD cars?

tmg

yup - VW and Skoda (not sure about seat) have the volume on the left hand side of the wheel in both LHD and RHD cars.

audi have it on the right hand side of the wheel in both variants.

to the OP's point, one thing that drives me nuts about VAG here is the usual conversation:

me: so this is a recall item in the US and the UK.
audi: nothing on our system here
me: so the car that they shipped here was somehow completely different then to the one in the whole rest of the world and the same thing doesn't break here like it just did in my car, and exactly like it did in the TSB states it does in the UK?
audi: nothing on our system here

Bpmull

I don't know how you would say vag cars have been seriously unreliable since 2005. Considering the amount of cars they have on the roads worldwide and the amount of different engines and models the odd ones had certain specific problems but overall I think they've proven very reliable. I've had no issues with golf granted I've had it just under a year. My parents octavia being a modern vag is 2011 and in 3 years 100k km that has literally never caused even the most minor problem has got serviced every 15k km and that's it the garage never have to replace anything. I don't have much experience with Audi seat but certainly vw and skoda are well built cars that have a quality feel and are reliable overall.

colm_mcm

old thread alert.....

Guy:Incognito

tippman1 wrote: »

Most annoying VAG feature I find is the multifunction steering wheel which has the volume button on the left side of the wheel close to the actual radio's volume button. No great advantage using the wheel volume as the radio's button is adjacent anyway.

I always find that ridiculous on fords too. Big bloody radio controls on the steering column low down on the left. Its almost more awkward than using the radio buttons.

galwaytt

colm_mcm wrote: »

old thread alert.....

Hilarious really - a new thread today would make the exact same comparisons.

Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose, oui ??? :pac:

JohnBoy26

Bpmull wrote: »

I don't know how you would say vag cars have been seriously unreliable since 2005. Considering the amount of cars they have on the roads worldwide and the amount of different engines and models the odd ones had certain specific problems but overall I think they've proven very reliable. I've had no issues with golf granted I've had it just under a year. My parents octavia being a modern vag is 2011 and in 3 years 100k km that has literally never caused even the most minor problem has got serviced every 15k km and that's it the garage never have to replace anything. I don't have much experience with Audi seat but certainly vw and skoda are well built cars that have a quality feel and are reliable overall.

The examples you've had might of been very reliable for you. That doesn't mean that vag cars are very reliable though. IMO they are massively overrated on the reliability front.

A look at the issues with their older petrol engines, the newer tsi engines and the issues with the 1.9tdi pd and 2.0tdi PD tells it's own story.