RE: Volkswagen Phaeton V6 TDI | Shed of the Week
Discussion
Looked at buying one from VW back in the day.
Absolutely useless beyond belief. As it happens, what made me quite upset in terms of 'do you not want me to spend money with you' turned out to be a blessing given what eventually turned out to be quite unreliable cars and costly to fix. So thank you Dealer That Shall Remain Nameless- you actually saved me a fortune.
Three things killed it in my view:
The VW badge - it desperately needed to have a different name (as Toyota did with Lexus and Hyundai has now done with Geneis)
The dealer network - what they needed to do was what Lexus did in the few years after 1989 - do everything possible to make the potential buyer look past the "its a vee dub", engage with the car and decide no, i won't go down to bmw or Mercedes
Audi A8 - essentially the same car and with the badge perception of Audi being above VW.
Loved them, have a 1/18 model of one, still have some of the dealer brochure packs but the nightmare of running them is a no for me
Absolutely useless beyond belief. As it happens, what made me quite upset in terms of 'do you not want me to spend money with you' turned out to be a blessing given what eventually turned out to be quite unreliable cars and costly to fix. So thank you Dealer That Shall Remain Nameless- you actually saved me a fortune.
Three things killed it in my view:
The VW badge - it desperately needed to have a different name (as Toyota did with Lexus and Hyundai has now done with Geneis)
The dealer network - what they needed to do was what Lexus did in the few years after 1989 - do everything possible to make the potential buyer look past the "its a vee dub", engage with the car and decide no, i won't go down to bmw or Mercedes
Audi A8 - essentially the same car and with the badge perception of Audi being above VW.
Loved them, have a 1/18 model of one, still have some of the dealer brochure packs but the nightmare of running them is a no for me
Shed was spot on in his write up when he said that you won't be happy in a VW if you've been used to a Mercedes for sure.
I had a 2023 VW Tiguan 2.0 TDi as a loan car the other week, and it felt so incredibly low rent inside for me. For what VW charge for them new, it felt like daylight robbery to me inside. It did drive well though, and I have to give it that in fairness.
I had a 2023 VW Tiguan 2.0 TDi as a loan car the other week, and it felt so incredibly low rent inside for me. For what VW charge for them new, it felt like daylight robbery to me inside. It did drive well though, and I have to give it that in fairness.
jfdi said:
Looks like the reliability has bit the dealer before he managed to get shot of it. It's currently up for £1,000 on autotrader as a "NON RUNNER+IMMOBILISER FAULT"
Ah. So you could use it as an actual shed. Be quite a comfy place to sit with a cup of tea and a gentlemen’s special interest magazine. Blackpuddin said:
Odd because it was clearly mobile for the ad pics, unless they went to all the bother of shiggling it around on skates.
I'm guessing it was working fine* when they got the car and the fault appeared when the first potential customer asked for a test drive.*fine :- Good enough for the previous owner to get rid!
Andy86GT said:
Premium cars are all about the brand kudos, VW is seen as 'the peoples car', perfectly decent, but not 'premium'.
VAG already have Audi, Bentley and Bugatti, so I I could never understand why VW did this car and the sales seem to echo that.
Definitely niche but I love the idea of high quality products that slip under the radar. It’s just a shame that it seems this particular one might be pre-borked. VAG already have Audi, Bentley and Bugatti, so I I could never understand why VW did this car and the sales seem to echo that.
Gad-Westy said:
Andy86GT said:
Premium cars are all about the brand kudos, VW is seen as 'the peoples car', perfectly decent, but not 'premium'.
VAG already have Audi, Bentley and Bugatti, so I I could never understand why VW did this car and the sales seem to echo that.
Definitely niche but I love the idea of high quality products that slip under the radar. It’s just a shame that it seems this particular one might be pre-borked. VAG already have Audi, Bentley and Bugatti, so I I could never understand why VW did this car and the sales seem to echo that.
) that it's potentially an easy fix. https://rmsmotoring.com/forum/threads/phaeton-immo...
Andy86GT said:
Premium cars are all about the brand kudos, VW is seen as 'the peoples car', perfectly decent, but not 'premium'.
VAG already have Audi, Bentley and Bugatti, so I I could never understand why VW did this car and the sales seem to echo that.
Where VW sit in the market has always been a bit difficult to pin point I think. When I grew up with Fords(and I love Fords) I saw VW as more upmarket then(back in the 80's), whereas as time has gone on they seem to have managed to get less and less upmarket though for some reason. VAG already have Audi, Bentley and Bugatti, so I I could never understand why VW did this car and the sales seem to echo that.
I guess the focus from VAG has been more towards Audi and Skoda in the intervening years though I think.
georgeyboy12345 said:
jfdi said:
Looks like the reliability has bit the dealer before he managed to get shot of it. It's currently up for £1,000 on autotrader as a "NON RUNNER+IMMOBILISER FAULT"
Nicely spotted! Was just about to write that this is likely an absolute money pit. Point proven
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