Just last week I was looking at a Volkswagen Tiguan, and thought it was pretty nice. Now it has been revealed that VW added software that tricked emissions tests for diesel vehicles, and that the cars were emitting 10 to 40 times as much as the tests revealed.
My inclination now is to look at something else. Would I have confidence that the safety devices will work properly, for example? If this becomes a big enough deal, will there be a VW dealer to service a car I buy now?
On the other hand, should I go to the dealer and demand a huge discount on the car, in the light of the horrible PR they are getting? (My wife is against this idea.)
I like the looks of VWs but feel they are overpriced for what you get, and repairs are more costly than similar Toyotas/ Hondas/etc. There aren’t as many dealers around either. With their current issues, I would avoid them. I don’t really think dealers are going to bargain much more than usual on the price anyway- maybe offer a better maintenance package or some extras instead. My first car was a used 1970 VW squareback that I bought for $750. I had it for almost 10 years until it was totaled. I loved that car and even more so because it was so simple to work on. The only thing that ever went wrong was that the fuel injectors would get clogged, and I quickly learned how to fix pretty much anything that was malfunctioning. Wish I still had that car.
I don’t think you can buy the affected diesel models – my understanding is VW and Audi suspended sales of those cars – but if you want a major deal – and the resale value doesn’t matter to you – asking for a huge discount on a different model may not be a bad idea.
I had two VWs right after college and both sent me to the poorhouse with repairs.
Now that they’ve been outed as cheaters (emiissionsgate?) I won’t go near them. There’s no way that was one corrupt individual that corporate wasn’t aware of, and it makes me ask what else they’re cutting corners on.
“On the other hand, should I go to the dealer and demand a huge discount on the car, in the light of the horrible PR they are getting? (My wife is against this idea.)”
The discount I care about is on the stock - is it worth buying VW stock at this point? That’s the big car question chez Pizzagirl!
I wouldn’t. The company is now revealed to be untrustworthy liars. Who knows what else they are hiding?
If we ever get the inside story on the falsified tests, it will be interesting to find out how it happened. Who in the company came up with the idea? Who pushed it? Why did higher-ups agree to the fraud? What was happening internally as the fraud unravelled?
In this price range you would be better served buying an Acura RDX either new or the most recent model change where they went to 6 cylinders and patterned after the MDX look. I drove an Audi Q5 for several years, it is the same platform as the Tiguan and while it’s a sporty car it’s not worth $50k and repairs/maintenance are very expensive. I don’t think the VW thing was a safety issue, it was an ethics issue which reads like a corporate level conspiracy. If you could buy a Tiguan (which I understand you can’t right now) it would be entirely appropriate to drive a very hard bargain. If the opposite situation existed and Tiguans were selling for $10k above sticker price, VW would have no issues making you pay right?
This is pretty much where I’m coming down. The main competition (if anybody wants to give me advice) is a Subaru Outback (I drive a 2008 Outback now and like it), or maybe a BMW X1 or X3 if I decide to spend that much dough. I’m picky about visibility and seating position, and some of the others (like the Acura and the Lexus) don’t work for me. The Honda salesman annoyed me by calling and e-mailing a zillion times (call me shallow).
GM has problems with the faulty ignition switches which they knew were defective but didn’t recall. Owners of Takata equipped airbags in their cars have to worry about getting blinded or killed if those bags deploy. Lots of bad news for car owners these days and navigating the minefield of problems.
I am also in the market for a new car and was considering looking at the Tiguan or Touareg, in additional to a few others (Outback, Audi, BMW X1). Given the recent scandal -I am not going to consider the VW or Audi anymore!
I am ready to get rid of my large SUV (which is 11 years old) but I do like sitting up higher so a sedan is not an option. I do love the look of the Outback but am concerned it doesn’t sit high enough. Guess, I will have to start some test driving…
Agree with #9. While this scandal really makes VW look very, very bad – and they should be punished for it very, very severely – this isn’t the first nor the last time an automaker lied, scammed customers and put us all at risk. As an aside, I will just say that it does amuse me that this particular scandal comes to us courtesy of the law-abiding Germans.
The BMW X1 doesn’t sit very high–the X3 is higher. I think the Outback sits reasonably high; the Forester is a bit higher, but the car doesn’t seem as nice to me.
@Hunt - I agree that the Forester doesn’t seem as nice although does seem higher. I am hoping to love the Outback as I’ve heard nothing but love from those who drive it.
With the GM ignition switch problems and the Takata exploding airbags which were in Hondas and Toyotas, people died. At least with the VW situation no one died or will die. Not that it is excusable though.
I wouldn’t buy a diesel equipped VW right now (even if they were for sale) until the mitigation is known and I don’t think it’s known yet.
The main reason for the ‘emissions testing mode’ behavior, i.e. the fraud, is to make the emissions testing equipment think it’s less polluting than it actually is. There could be a couple of reasons why VW would be motivated to do that -
Possibly the vehicle can't meet emissions requirements so it's a matter of either performing this fraud or no sales of the vehicle.
Or the vehicle 'can' meet the emissions requirements but only if it gets de-tuned either in the computer settings or in added emissions equipment. Either of these could result in the vehicle performance being lower as well as the mileage being less than it currently is.
If the mitigation results in a lower performance vehicle and/or one that gets worse mileage then you may not want it even if the fraud never happened because it wouldn’t compare as well to the competition with the lower performing attributes.
From a perspective of buying the stock - consider the potential (inevitable) lawsuits against VW by all the buyers of those vehicles. They likely have just seen the resale value of their vehicles drop precipitously due to this fraud. That’s an almost automatic lawsuit or a huge ‘payoff’ VW will need to offer to the buyers to offset the lower resale value. This type of thing has already happened with some other manufacturers. In addition, if in the mitigation of the issue (ex: reprogramming the onboard computer to meet emissions for real) the mileage drops or the performance is noticeably lower, then that’ll likely result in owner lawsuits against VW as well.
VW as a company is faced with -
Fines by the US government and possibly other governments for the fraud. These will likely be huge unless the conclusions are unfounded but I doubt will be as large as the maximum possible fines being bandied about.
Cost of mitigating the issue in reprogramming the computer or the addition of smog control devices on all affected vehicles.
Lawsuits by owners for the extra depreciation due to the fraud as well as possibly lower mileage figures and a lower performance.
Loss of sales revenue due to the stop-sale’ currently in effect.
Loss of sales due to the changes they’ll need to make in the vehicles (due to mileage/performance).
Loss of sales due to the bad PR and loss of consumer confidence in VW where people have now written them off the contender list for their next vehicle.
There are plenty of other choices for a vehicle besides VW - many good choices and many may say better choices. VW will be hurt by this as even the VW advocates will likely have been left with a sour taste of disappointment by this.
A Seattle law firm has already announced a class action lawsuit. And VW has already set aside more than 6 billion euros to deal with this – an amount that appears to be more than 1/2 of all their profits last year.