Mercedes VS Volkswagen?

[Evan]

What is everyone opinion on the difference between the car companies. I am interested on hearing everyones thoughts.

[manny]

After my last experience with a new ( 1997 Jetta ), it'll be a looooooooong time, before I'll ever buy a VW again.

[dtf]

Depends on the model. I've heard from friends that their Toureg (sp?) are awesome. I've also heard the V6 Passat is very problematic but the 4 cyl Passat is a good car. There is an overall decline (per the automotive media) in reliability, but hey thats happening everywhere right

[mpolli]

A good site to look at is www.carsurvey.org

People write in their experiences with their cars. It was pretty accurate re my C230. Once you read that you will probably not be buying any VW. I actually looked at one and it had some of the problems mentioned by other buyers. I went the other way.

MP

[TCG]

I recently had the opportunity to drive a Phaeton. It was a marvelous car. Powerful and smooth and everything else you would want in a $70+ thousand car. I loved it. That said I don’t think they will sell many. People aren’t ready to buy $70,000 VWs (That’s just the V8, the 12 is over $100K). Even Mercedes didn’t think people were ready to buy a $350,000 MB and they were already a luxury brand. Setting all that aside the real problem is the complexity vs. the imbedded service culture at Volkswagen. There is a significant difference in the way you treat a high-end customer and a high-end car vs. a mid line customer and car. There should be some great deals on 3 year old Phaetons though. They will probably depreciate like Yugos.

MB vs. VW. I’ve been a Mercedes guy since my dad’s friend bought a new 230 in 1967 but the Passat is a beautiful car. Maybe it comes down to front drive or rear wheel drive. I’ve read about some quality issues. Like MB they are mostly software/computer type problems. It’s no wonder when you consider the complexity of a modern car.

Anyway, my 2¢ worth.

TCG
92 500E
86 300E
74 450SL

[tvpierce]

The only thing a VW and an MB have in common is that they both happen to be made in Germany. It would be more fair to compare the VW to a Japanese car... and even then it would loose miserably.
VWs and Japanese cars are "throw away cars". Figure on 150K miles of pretty worry-free driving... but then they're pretty well worn out. They're simply not made to be maintained past that point. They're made to be driven, not maintained, then traded/sold with nearly no value. That is the business model that has made Ford and GM the most successful auto makers in the world. Sad, but true.

Jeff Pierce

[manny]

TCG

It is my understanding that heads are rolling/about to roll, at VW, over the Phaeton.

[itb76]

Originally Posted by tvpierce

The only thing a VW and an MB have in common is that they both happen to be made in Germany.

My ML is made in Alabama, my Golf in Mexico. They're very different cars. The "feel" of the VW is not on par with the Merc, and the Golf has the worst cheapo carpeting I've seen outside a domestic car. On the plus side, it's fun to drive, and stick shift (which is important to me and like five other people it seems). They share much of the same technology (electric coolant pump, filter element with no can, some others if I think longer). VW brakes and cooling systems are way overengineered. Generally VW engines and transmissions (the stick shifts anyway) last a very long time, no comparison to domestic or Japanese, but the rest of the car, especially electrics, will not last as long.

BTW Autoweek did a comparison test Phaeton vs S-class, with interesting results. The S was sportier and more economical, but the Phaeton was more luxurious, and still ran at the end of the test. The S had to be towed.

[TCG]

Manny

It’s a beautiful car but ill-conceived for the market and the mark (a very competitive market). Heads should roll.


TCG

'92 500E
'86 300E
'74 450SL