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Auto Consumer Education, VW, CARveat Emptor: The Volkswagen Junkyard
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<DT><A HREF="http://www.igs.net/carsecrets/info12.html"><B><IMG SRC="cartips.gif"
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<P><B><FONT SIZE=-1>CARveat Emptor: </FONT></B><FONT SIZE=-2>Car Buyer Beware
-- Consumer Education </FONT><A HREF="http://www.marinternet.com/rknox/car1.5.html"><IMG SRC=
"cemain1.gif" WIDTH="81" HEIGHT="47" NATURALSIZEFLAG="0" ALIGN="TOP"> <FONT
SIZE=-1>go to <B>Main</B></FONT></A><BR>
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<P><A HREF="MrVWd.gif"><IMG SRC="MrVWd.gif" WIDTH="118" HEIGHT="112" NATURALSIZEFLAG=
"0" ALIGN="LEFT" ALT="Mr.VW?.gif" BORDER="3"></A></P>
<P><B><FONT COLOR="#FF0059" SIZE=+3>"My Other Car Is Not A VW"<BR>
</FONT><EM><FONT SIZE=+1>Volkswagen: Just One "THING" After Another?</FONT></EM><FONT
SIZE=+1> <BR>
<BR>
</FONT></B><FONT SIZE=-2>key reload for animation...<BR>
</FONT>©</P>
<P>Ultra sporty power wheels, optional, extra, very special order.<BR>
Mr. VW-Head?<BR>
or The UnaBUGer</P>
<H2 ALIGN=CENTER>The VW Junkyard</H2>
<P><IMG SRC="vw4.gif" WIDTH="210" HEIGHT="242" NATURALSIZEFLAG="0" ALIGN=
"BOTTOM"> <B>Unreinforced brittle fiberglass bumper snapped like a plastic
spoon upon minor impact</B> when the vehicle was backed from a stopped position
at a parking space into a vertical light post (see vertical crease in rear
deck), shattered bumper (glued together by owner). VW did not provide the
minimum 2.5 mph rated bumper required on standard sedans, because it is
not required for mini-vans or sport utility vehicles. Note that the Plexiglas
window is duck-taped in place because the young family could not afford
repair work with high deductible as they had just relocated to secure employment.
Had they known that VW was shorting customers on bumpers they would not
have bought this vehicle for use in the city where it is subject to parking
uses. Note, bumper caps popped off at ends of bumper exposing ugly electrical
wiring and VW "craftsmanship". $5,000 (+/-) to replace bumper,
rear deck and window. Fahrvernugen? Peeyew! Take the duck-tape option. Oh
yeah, that's duck-tape holding the third brake light in place behind the
Plexiglas.<BR>
<BR>
<IMG SRC="byline.gif" ALIGN="BOTTOM" WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="6" NATURALSIZEFLAG=
"3"><BR>
<IMG SRC="vvw6.gif" WIDTH="158" HEIGHT="193" NATURALSIZEFLAG="0" ALIGN=
"BOTTOM"> <B>VW has had an ongoing problem with bumpers.</B> Bumpers used
to be to protect the chassis or body of the vehicle from minor impacts.
No more. VW has been investigated for poor bumper construction on several
of its models and years since 1988. Is that why they call the Jetta a Jetta,
because its bumpers jettison spontaneously in traffic? The NHTSA was investigating
VW because its vehicle (Jetta, GTI and GOLF) bumpers were falling off in
traffic making steering difficult and causing damages to other vehicles
on the highway. Apparently VW is still having bumper problems. Well, at
least VW consumers are having VW bumper problems, eh? The droopy bumpers
on the Jetta, and GOLF are not happy expressions. <BR>
<BR>
<IMG SRC="byline.gif" ALIGN="BOTTOM" WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="6" NATURALSIZEFLAG=
"3"><BR>
<IMG SRC="vw5.gif" WIDTH="154" HEIGHT="164" NATURALSIZEFLAG="0" ALIGN="BOTTOM">Pick
it up, turn it over and shake it. <B>This is a picture of the gas tank under
the vehicle beneath the front seat.</B> The front tire is at the lower left
of the photo. Note that the fuel (gasoline) tank extends outside the front-to-rear
rectangular chassis frame, unnecessarily exposing it to side impact on the
driver's door side of the car. This may be the only family mini-van besides
the Mazda MPV which continues to place potentially explosive fuel tanks
in a position outside the chassis frame. Other car manufacturers apparently
believe that placing the gas tank between the front and rear axles and between
the chassis frames near the sides of the vehicle might be more protection
from the majority of garden variety of 35 mph to 55 mph side impact collisions.
(Or at least this placement lessens the risks of consumer lawsuits in explosive
collisions?). <BR>
<BR>
Even General Motors stopped making its infamous saddlebag style pickup truck
gas tanks in 1987, in which hundreds of consumers have been incinerated
after side impact collisions. Check the gas tank placement and assure yourself
that the manufacturer has placed it such that it is as protected as it can
be from front, rear and side collisions. Volkswagen apparently is too big
to merely retool and reconfigure this plastic gas tank, even though it has
had three or more model years to phase in this minor change, as it continues
to ship its EuroVans with gas tanks placed as shown. Also note the rough
edge of the bottom of the door finish. This was supposed to have been a
new car, or at least it was represented as new. Is this what in Germany
is called a "Monday car"? <BR>
</P>
<P><B>November 1997 </B>-- The VW Jetta and Golf were reportedly rated by
the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) as "marginal"
in IIHS's crashworthiness tests. The rankings include "poor",
"marginal", "acceptable", and "good".</P>
<P> </P>
<P><B>May, 1999, </B>Volkswagen was featured in the "Bad" column
of a recent mainstream media carried report by JD Powers Associates regarding
customer satisfaction. Apparently, Consumer Reports' recent but earlier
suggestion that the Passat surpassed the Toyota Camry as the best family
car may be premature. Leave it to VW to assume that increased unit sales
gives it carte blanche to run down consumers. There were rumors that VW
had mended its ways in order to increase market share after falling to fewer
than 50,000 unit sales in the US in the early seventies... false rumors
perhaps (likely?).</P>
<P> </P>
<P><B>(April / May 1999) </B>An acquaintance recently bought the way over
priced EuroVan-Winnebagoed Camper. He went to the VW dealer with which we
made our last VW mistake. He reported that the salesperson said that it
was against the law to put the gas tank between the chassis frame... He
walked and bought his vehicle from another dealer, apparently less inclined
to think him a fool enough to believe a stupid or liarly sales remark. Oh
yeah, and its been back to the dealer already twice for inoperative factory
installed parts.<BR>
</P>
<P><IMG SRC="byline.gif" ALIGN="BOTTOM" WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="6" NATURALSIZEFLAG=
"3"></P>
<P ALIGN=CENTER><A HREF="vwd.gif"><IMG SRC="vwd.gif" HEIGHT="80" WIDTH=
"100" NATURALSIZEFLAG="0" ALIGN="BOTTOM" ALT="VW'd" BORDER="3"></A></P>
<H3 ALIGN=CENTER>Be Very Wary (VW?)</H3>
<P ALIGN=CENTER>"My Other Car Is Not A VW"<BR>
</P>
<P>Perhaps Marge Schott (Former Cincinnatti Reds Owner) meant VW, when she
mentioned that, 'Hitler had some good ideas in the beginning, you know,
before he went crazy...' [sic-k] (?) <I>At least Ford put his name on his
cars...(:-)<BR>
<BR>
</I><B>"Book casts shadow on Volkwagen's Past,"</B> an Associated
Press (AP) featured newswire story about a book VW reportedly commissioned
about its Nazi past. AP was reported to have written "Volkswagen and
Its Workers During the Third Reich," by Hans Mommsen, 'has renewed
discussion of VW's use of slave labor during World War II.' 'Complete with
photos of Der Fuehrer admiring a Beetle model, it is the most comprehensive
-- and potentially damaging -- history ever written about the Nazi-era birth
of the company.' <BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<B>NEW VW AD?</B> <BR>
<BR>
An AP photo of Der Fuerhrer standing on a stage behind a line of 1938 VW
Beetles (Buggies?), flanked by Trench coat draped SS (Jackbooted Thugs?),
published with the AP story, is available from World Wide Photos, (212-621-1939),
50 Rockefeller Center, New York, N.Y. 10020. ($100 for license to web-publish
this historic image of VW's co-founder and first salesman? ... for VW afficianados
only? Finally a car that David Duke and Pat Buchanan could support, if not
drive? Check out those fancy turbo-powered hub-caps...<BR>
<BR>
To be fair, it has also been reported that Porsche, Mercedes Benz, and BMW
or people associated with these companies also may have either turned a
blind eye to the Nazi/SS and their insectlike ways, or actively assisted
their anti-social agenda.<BR>
<BR>
(Oh, goodie! More reasons to pay too much for your next new or used Volkswagen,
Porsche, Benz, or Beemer?) Beware the bugs in the New Beetles. Give them
a model year or two or three before making your next VW mistake.<BR>
<BR>
Now lets be fair? The Nazis tried to take over the world. Toyko thought
it would be nice to help. This leaves us with Detroit? It bought Manhattan
Island (New York) for $25.00 wirth of zirconium and marked it up several
million percent. Choices, choices... decisions, decisions. Such a deal?</P>
<P><IMG SRC="byline.gif" ALIGN="BOTTOM" WIDTH="600" HEIGHT="6" NATURALSIZEFLAG=
"3"></P>
<P>Even consumers are catching on that the New Beetle is not the Beetle
of yester-yore... as VW would have them believe... Even the remaining Beetles
apparently refused to do the ads...</P>
<P><B>Check out <A HREF="http://www.marketplace.org/">Marketplace Radio</A></B>
(Archives 3-16-98)</P>
<P>'SEGMENT</P>
<P>Look-Ahead</P>
<P>Coming up on 3/16/98: Volkswagen's new "bug" is in</P>
<P>showrooms now, but hardcore lovers of the quirky car aren't</P>
<P>fooled. Next time on Marketplace, beetle lovers pay tribute to the</P>
<P>automotive legend that sounded like grandma's sewing machine.'<BR>
</P>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>CARveat Emptor: </FONT></A></P>
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<DT><P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE=-1>CAR BUYER BEWARE </FONT>
<DT><P ALIGN=CENTER><FONT SIZE=-2>Tricks of the Great American Car Deal,
<BR>
CARbooRATOR, Rand Knox <BR>
(e-mail - rknox@marinternet.com). (415) 457-0592. <BR>
© Copyright 1995 - 1999, R. Rand Knox. All Rights Reserved. <BR>
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