Posted on 06/22/2016 10:11:25 AM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
Dennis Gaudet has had some loyal VW customers.
One of them bought his past four vehicles from Gaudet’s Volkswagen store, part of the AutoServ Dealer Group in Tilton, N.H., and had been back to the VW dealership three times since the diesel scandal erupted in September for guidance on what to do with his diesel vehicle as trade-in time approached. Each time, Gaudet says, his dealership told the customer to hang tight until more was known.
“He didn’t show up a fourth time,” Gaudet said. “I happened to run into him, and he was driving a Honda.”
Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/vw-diesel-scandal/tdi-toxic-vw-customers-are-moving#ixzz4CKLeP4qa
(Excerpt) Read more at autoweek.com ...
In earlier reporting in advance of the then looming 6/21 settlement deadline, the NYT reported that lesee's would be allowed to terminate leases, penalty-free. Anyone have any information on that? I hope they leave the door open for an extended lease option. At the right price I would be glad to lease it again/extend the current lease. Since emissions recalls are voluntary, and not mandatory like safety recalls, I could simply refuse to allow the installation of the fix whenever I went in for routine service.
VW should have as its priority, maximizing brand loyalty. As a financial matter they will be getting abused by whatever combination of regulatory settlements and class action suits play out. They should be thinking of doing whatever it takes to keep people happy enough to drive another VW, rather than swearing them off for life.
It's interesting to see this play out. You just do not see precipitous corporate mistakes like this that often. Maybe RCA's choice of the stylus and groove technology (as opposed to an optical/laserdisc), or Kodak's burial of the first patent on digital photography. But this is huge, and the only thing for VW to do is recover gracefully.
I have owned and driven VW’s from the Scirocco, to the Jetta to the Passat.
They screwed customers a few years back with the engine sludge fiasco in the 1/8 l engines I believe. Many engines burned up due to this and they never issued a recall.
The last two were my wife’s cars, I’d never buy a VW again after being involved with the sludge non-response.
Non-diesel VW's are excellent cars generally and built to last.
I can just guess what the standard excuse was that they used for the sludge issue.
IMO, the VW/AUDI 1.8T is one of the finest engines ever produced. Small but powerful at 180hp. Good gas mileage, too.
If you proved you had regular oil change service they provided 70% of the new engine replacement cost - but that was never advertised.
I though they should have fought it in court for 15 years. Time for mine to wear out.
PS Calif will prob make updated manditory, or no dmv renewal.
Like my Jet-A just like it is!
If this old customer went from VW to Honda so quickly, then it’s sufficient to say that his “customer loyalty” flew the coop with 3 mpg more efficiency.
If a customer is willing to turn it’s back on you for a few pennies, then there is no customer loyalty.
People who welcome car payments to “save” 30 or so bucks a week aren’t really worth having around anyway.
I have a 12 year old BMW that cost me $5000. 35mpg, 2.5 liter I-6 and autobahn acceptable demeanor. I win :)
Yup, VW love n hate relationship here as well.
80’s Rabbit Diesel blown head gasket at 110K miles
2000’s TDI Turbo “carbon’ed up” replaced at 65K mi due to conservative driving $2800
Oil pan 3.3 inch road clearance - ridiculously design & damage / replacement.
$900 timing belt replacement service req’d every 90K mi
$90 VW dealership only oil changes mandated because of special VW 0 SAE oil
Eff VW and disgraceful German clever toy maker bleed-you-dry service revenue model.
VW, BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche are for people who don’t mind pissing away money.
What good is fuel economy savings when your overall cost of ownership gets screwed over in excessive maintenance expenses??
RE: “I have owned and driven VW’s from the Scirocco, to the Jetta to the Passat.
They screwed customers a few years back with the engine sludge fiasco in the 1/8 l engines I believe. Many engines burned up due to this and they never issued a recall.
The last two were my wife’s cars, I’d never buy a VW again after being involved with the sludge non-response.”
“Non-diesel VW’s are excellent cars generally and built to last.”
Hasn’t been the case for almost 20 years now. I say that as someone who’s been around VWs for years and as someone who does consulting work for import specialist shops that service out of warranty VWs. No, no, they aren’t built to last.
Exactly the same. My third VW owned was a 2003 Passat with the engine sludge problem. They weaseled out of all responsibility for that despite my having records of all the required oil changes. It was an absolutely terrible car maintenance wise, and their non-response convinced me never to buy another one. I tell everyone who asks me also to avoid them at all (exorbitant) costs.
Diesel is on par with gasoline in Louisiana. In fact, local station has it at $1.99/gal with gasoline at $2.09/gal
My TDI gets about 35miles/gal so it’s terrific.
“If a customer is willing to turn it’s back on you for a few pennies, then there is no customer loyalty”
Are you loyal to companies you buy products from?
If so, why?
As an aside, I dislike VW’s switches, controls and ergonomics. I’ll take a Honda any day.
There are only 2 fixes possible, 1 lower the engines performance, basically the fuel burns at a lower temp and less efficiently... so less performance and less NOx created..
The other is adding a DEF system where chemicals are injected into the exhaust which break the NOx chemicals down.
That’s your only options.. barring some radical new solution no one has thought of... IF VW lowers the performance of the cars, they lose the gas mileage which was really the thing folks bought these cars for, not so much the reduced NOx.... and the other would be close to impossible to retrofit a DEF system into a passenger car these days...
Personally I think this is much ado about nothing, not that VW didn’t break the rules about air quality, they should pay the price for that... but I think most owners bought the car for the mileage benefits, and any air quality claims were secondary... I am sure some it may have been a factor in their original decision to purchase, but the main thing is the gas mileage for most.
I think most drivers feel the same way you do, I get 40+ or 50+ MPG highway, that’s why I bought this thing.. NOx wasn’t even a consideration.
Of course if NOx is a major consideration for a VW owner, they could always have someone reprogram their cars computer to step back the compression and heat, to lower the NOx, but the downside is going to be lower MPG and overall performance.
If I had one of these cars (and I did seriously consider a TDI for a while, because of the mileage, and I had had a good experience with a VW I owned in the past) I would probably just want to be made square on the resale value hit at most... but I tend to drive cars until they fall apart anyway, so even that’s not a huge deal for me.
My biggest concern would be the State inspection for emissions would start to declare my car was not legal to drive on the road at its annual inspection, because if that happens I would be literally screwed out of the car.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t be losing sleep over the NOx issue.. VW’s represent such a small percentage of cars on the road, and when you futher limit it to TDI models, in America anyway, the output over the lifetime of these vehicles is not something that is going to destroy the planet.
Yes VW should pay a heavy price to governments for their deceit on this issue, but other than that as a customer, where the main concern was mileage as the reason I chose the car, as long as I can keep driving the car as is, I personally am not going to get worked up over it.
My first car was a Scirocco. 1975. I bought it in 1981. Ran it into the ground and sold it to a guy at college. He said it cracked in half one day sitting in his driveway.
I really liked that car and still prefer smaller, more nimble cars. I have a company pickup truck but still drive my Manual Pontiac Vibe often, just because it’s fun.
A friend has a TDI and loves it. He will wait as long as possible before getting rid of it. Alas, we live in Maryland and they will probably come confiscate it at some point.
I have 2 VW TDI’s and also await the final terms of the settlement.
I spoke with my dealer the other day, and if I understood him correctly, the settlement offered to owners or lessees will be based on the car’s value as of Sept, 2015 (before the scandal), plus a significant incentive if you decide to buy or lease another VW.
Because I love VW’s, I will probably wind up with another 2 whan all is said and done.
VW committed the ULTIMATE CORPORATE SIN.
They proved in a very public way that they were SMARTER than the people who regulate them by an order of magnitude.
They are going to PAY and PAY and PAY for that until the end of time.
Unfortunately, you're correct. Most people are indeed ignorant and unable to do math.
I like your question about loyalty.
I’m not generally all that loyal to a company, unless they do something above and beyond.
There is a camping gear company that offers huge discounts to registered youth outdoor groups to support our mission.
I buy as much gear as possible from them and pass on my knowledge about their products to friend who purchase at retail
Our troop has about ten of their tents and I have one personally, plus a half dozen sleeping bags.
I like a local Firestone Auto care just because the counter guys are great. Another place that I go to infrequently knew my name the second time I came in, months after the first time. I think he has a camera tagged to read license plates and pop up on his computer screen. I don’t care, that’s kind of cool.
As for cars, My 2006 Vibe is so good, with virtually no repairs over 250,000 miles, that I’ve had both of my daughters buy Vibes too.
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