Competitors
I recently attended a VW training camp where both the Jetta and Passat Wolfsburg Edition were weighed against the competition. In one corner was our Jetta surrounded by the Honda Civic & Accord and Toyota Corolla. On the other side of the room was the Passat along with the Toyota Camry XLE, Volvo S40 T5 and Acura TSX. All cars were automatics.
At first sight I thought the competition would be though, but after 8 hours of hands-on fiddling with the various imports my perception quickly changed. Makes like Honda and Toyota must be doing something right to be selling the numbers of units they do each year (see below), and there are things they probably do better than VW, but as the day went on I started to wonder what that was and how much perception had to do with it all.
Annual Sales
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Honda Civic EX: 316,638
Honda Accord LX: 354,441
Toyota Corolla: 387,388
Volkswagen Jetta: 103,310
Acura TSX: 35,000
Volvo S40 T5: 75,000
Toyota Camry XLE: 448,445
Volkswagen Passat: 45,129
Note: if you want to drive something fun, youthful, and comparatively rare on the road, a VW is probably for you. Oh yeah and let's not forget SOLID... read on.
So, how do you shop for a car? If you're looking at my website you must have picked up my business card and are seriously considering a VW. Let me point out five key areas that might help you make your decision when looking at a car, any car.
1. Up front/Under the hood
Let's first open the driver door and find the little handle, pulley, lever or whatever is used to open the hood, because you will most likely fill up your windshield washer fluid or check your oil once this year. You will be surprised to see that these handles are not always easy to find, let alone access in bad weather. In the Volvo for example, you just about have to get on your knees to open it; it is so far back under the dashboard. The Volkswagen hood release is on the left most side of the dashboard and can easily be reached even from the outside through the driver's side window when the door is shut.
Once the handle is found and pulled, the hood has to be lifted in the up position. I was surprised to see that the Jetta was the only car with the assisted automatic shock that lifts the hood for you. The hood can be lifted with one hand as opposed to the other three cars which necessitated the use of a prop rod and both arms. The Passat's company did better and only the Acura still had a prop rod. Strange I thought, since it is supposed to be a higher end car.
Things got interesting when looking at the engine compartment. The hood latches were of especially poor quality. You may be one of those people who don't care much about the layout of an engine compartment but again if you're looking at a Volkswagen you're probably a bit more discerning and may be interested in this.
Many of the cars had exposed wires, no skid plate underneath the engine, way too much unpadded space between the bumper and the engine, none had battery covers, all used low quality battery terminals, and metal caps for hot fluids, sometimes very hot fluids. The Civic had a bonafide plastic dipstick, which generated much giggling among the trainees.
The position of the dipstick to check your oil level was also dangerously close to the exhaust manifold in a couple cases, and much knucle skin will inevitably be burned there.
The number of exposed wires and hoses was frightening. Not just that, the Hondas and the Acuras have a belt pulley that sticks out in the open. Most had radiator fan blades poorly positioned. To use words I heard that day, "We're talking farm/combine type of injury if your tie, scarf, long hair or fingers get caught in that!" What a lack of design I thought, which would manifest itself throughout the whole vehicle.
You may not worry about under the hood "stuff" but you probably should. The engine compartment is the heart of the vehicle. Much like in your body, it plays a crucial function and much of your driving experience derives from it. Lack of design there is probably a sign that there may be problems elsewhere.
While germans engines are notoriously compact, organized and covered, which adds more room in the cabin/trunk areas and much needed protection from the elements, the competitors were wide open, naked in the case of the battery, exposed to water and slush, salt, rocks, etc... and downright dangerous in some cases.
Wiper blade and washer nozzles are second-rate on most cars while VW uses Bosch's top quality Icon wiper blades. VW's washer nozzles are heated and hidden under the hood.
2. Side
A lot of these cars have steel wheels of smaller diameter, with drum brakes on the rear wheels. All VWs have four wheel disc brakes. None except for the VWs had turn signals in the mirrors. The Volkswagens also use a felt type material in the rear wheel wells which considerably reduce the amount of road noise generated by rocks, gravel, hitting your trunk and resonating throughout the car's interior.
Examining the door seals was another revealing experience. A little bit of freezing rain and your door seals would be attached to the frame of the car and not the door.
Opening the doors and slamming them shut never provided the sound you get when closing a VW door. Door hinges were also of poor quality. While you can rest your whole weight on a VW door I wouldn't try this on any of its competititors if you still want to be able to close it afterwards.
The size of the b-pillar which is between the two doors was thin and your hands could easily grasp it. The VWs have a b-pillar that is thick all the way to the top to protect you from SUV or trucks hitting your car from the side. I thought the black tape on the side of the Corolla was an especially thrifty touch.
3. Front Interior
Once seated in the front seats, you can examine the dash and seat materials. The Japanese have always been a bit gimmicky I think regarding cockpits. Just take a look at the latest Civic to see what I mean. VWs are always simple and driver oriented. Dials are simple and easy to use.
The use of plastic that sound hollow when tapped on was prominent in the imports except for the Volvo dash which felt as richly textured as the VW.
The VWs and the Volvo were the only cars with the one-touch up and down feature on all four windows.
4. Rear Interior
The seat material was not properly attached to the seat cushions in some cars. The rear seats in the Toyotas were flexible, which is not exactly reassuring when carrying stuff in your trunk and kids in the rear seats in case of an accident. The rear center armrest was limp and cupholders were of a different size. There were no vents for the rear passengers.
The rear seats in the Camry do not fold down at all, and most cars where the seat did fold had a narrower opening to the cabin's interior. The VWs have a much better design as far as rear folding seats.
Most cars seemed to have adequate room for larger passengers.
5. Cargo
In the VWs the rear seats can be folded down from the inside of the car and not from the trunk as all of these other cars did.
This knob to fold down the rear seat was actually better positioned than most. Some levers were deep into the trunk and completely inaccessible would the trunk be full.
The VWs offer a 60/40 split rear seat which allows you to carry persons in the back and longer cargo on one side of the car. Most cars had adequate room in the rear seat. The Volvo had a particularly small trunk opening being used to the gargantuan VW trunks.
Even on the most expensive cars the trunk hinges were incredibly thin, as opposed to the ones found on VWs. Wires were also commonly exposed. Speakers in the trunk were no exception.
The inside of the trunk door is sometimes not padded or covered at all, which can be hazardous.
Another common occurence was the doughnut in the rear and simply lack of attention to detail in the most expensive of sedans.
In the trunk, the material used in the Camry for example is a piece of loose felt thin carpet and a piece of equally loose cardboard to cover the doughnut.
When shopping for your next car, give VW and the competitors a good look. You will quickly notice the value the Volkswagens have to offer. Post a comment if you have any questions.
