Viper's 1988 Chevrolet Crapsica LT

Not being a sports car by any means, mine has a hanging gas pedal.

Then again the Dodge Viper has a hanging gas pedal too, but that's more because it has electric adjustable pedals.
 
rickhamilton620 said:
I'd arguably choose a Skoda over the equivalent VW offering if they had the brand here. The cars all look very nice indeed. :)

This begs the question. Maybe VW should offer Skoda here, as a budget brand. The Kia to Hyundai if you will. That way, VW could stay "premium" and "upscale."

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vortipor73/3368951864/in/photostream/ -> orange Fabia ftw!
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Only you would consider VW to be premium and upscale in the US. :p They're not, they fight it out with Toyota, Nissan, Hyundai *and* Kia.

They would have to *become* premium and upscale first. :p
 
narf said:
Simply offer Euro-spec Skodas as the premium version of a US VW.
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thevictor390 said:
Audi? :dunno:
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Yup. That's what Audi is for in the US market. There's no Chinese cars in the US market for Skoda to compete with, so there's no point to importing them... :p

Also, compared to what I see on the Euro VW sites, US VWs generally come with a lot more equipment standard here as opposed to over there, so it wouldn't work even if you ignored Audi. It would be the mid-90s Mercury of the lineup - pretty much pointless.
 
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Spectre said:
There's no Chinese cars in the US market for Skoda to compete with, so there's no point to importing them... :p
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There are no Chinese cars in Europe either. Considering you've probably never seen a modern Skoda in person I'll simply ignore your opinion of them, OK?



rickhamilton620 said:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vortipor73/3368951864/in/photostream/ -> orange Fabia ftw!
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Blue ones are lovely as well.

http://forums.finalgear.com/general...tomotive-edition-30047/page-1023/#post1607818
 
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Volkswagon is certainly not a cheap brand here. It's mid-market. Not a luxury car, but you ain't gonna get one for cheap really although that is changing somewhat.
 
Viper007Bond said:
Volkswagon is certainly not a cheap brand here. It's mid-market. Not a luxury car, but you ain't gonna get one for cheap really although that is changing somewhat.
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They're selling against Toyotas, Hyundais and Kias. See the "Rabbit" name they brought back. The Passat CC is their attempt to move to the midmarket from the lower tier.

Civic: $15605 - $23455
Golf: $17995 - $23885

Midmarket would put it priced significantly above the Civic at the top end. It's not. That's what the A3 is for, after all. Audi is their US mid-market-and-up brand. VW isn't bargain basement, but it's down in the low end of the market.

VW's traditional US marketing position has been "German driving experience on the cheap."
 
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Crazy. When I think "what's a good cheap car?" I certainly don't think VW. Good to see they're introducing lower priced cars.
 
Difference is our respective markets.

Over here VW had a reputation for well built but expensive, but they are trying hard to be competitive price-wise at least in the UK, mainly via volume and parts sharing within the group. As I understand it in the US they are trying to attract lower market buyers but their perception of build quality is already lower.
 
Viper007Bond said:
Crazy. When I think "what's a good cheap car?" I certainly don't think VW. Good to see they're introducing lower priced cars.
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Uh, that's not exactly a new thing, check the historical MSRP record. They tried getting a little lower in the market, but they're still solidly in the bottom third.

And, well, I don't consider them 'good' at that price point anyway - see all the problems they have in the US driving environment. :p
 
Congratulations on your new (to you) car and respect for learning how to drive a manual first rather than being lazy and just getting an automatic. And look at it this way, when you get that Viper, then you'll have a car for Lemons! :lol:

And, take the time to practice the hill starts on an empty road so you can get the timing down without worrying about rolling into someone behind you. You'll get the hang of it in no time.
 
Spectre said:
Uh, that's not exactly a new thing, check the historical MSRP record. They tried getting a little lower in the market, but they're still solidly in the bottom third.
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I'm talking lately. Obviously the Bug, Rabbit, etc. used to be cheap cars. :p

pink piranhas said:
Congratulations on your new (to you) car and respect for learning how to drive a manual first rather than being lazy and just getting an automatic. And look at it this way, when you get that Viper, then you'll have a car for Lemons! :lol:

And, take the time to practice the hill starts on an empty road so you can get the timing down without worrying about rolling into someone behind you. You'll get the hang of it in no time.
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I actually learned to drive and passed my test on automatic cars. My outlook was when you learn to juggle, it's easiest with one or two balls rather than 10. Now that I can drive, it's a lot easier learning to drive a manual because I can drive without thinking or focusing really hard like I used to have to. I don't have years of driving an automatic engrained into me though so it's no issue remembering to shift. :)
 
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Spectre said:
Uh, that's not exactly a new thing, check the historical MSRP record. They tried getting a little lower in the market, but they're still solidly in the bottom third.

And, well, I don't consider them 'good' at that price point anyway - see all the problems they have in the US driving environment. :p
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The EuroVan reboot in 1998/99 was a classic example of the opposite. A base GLS 7 seater, although very well equipped, was nearly 30 grand.

They paid the price dearly with that, and magically the 2000-2003 GLS became 25k, near parity with the Odyssey. :p
 
I don't even know if VW itself knows what they are doing. A few years ago they made a push to move upmarket with the Phaeton and Tourag but now they've dumped the Phaeton over here and brought out that awful new Jetta they are definitely moving more downmarket... I think I'm right in saying the new NA-spec Jetta is more comparably priced to its competitors than ever before.

So long as they don't muck up the GTI they can do whatever they want... move upmarket, move down, move to the moon, whatever.
 
Well, they keep trying to move upmarket, fail miserably, and go back to their lower-tier status. Before the Phaeton, before the Eurovan, before the stupidly high priced Corrado, there was the VW Quantuum AKA Passat B2.


Notice what VW was claiming the car was, notice what they claimed the competition was. Yeah, no. Just about nobody bought it here.

They have been trying and failing to go upmarket in the US (off and on) for literally decades.
 
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Viper007Bond said:
I actually learned to drive and passed my test on automatic cars. My outlook was when you learn to juggle, it's easiest with one or two balls rather than 10. Now that I can drive, it's a lot easier learning to drive a manual because I can drive without thinking or focusing really hard like I used to have to. I don't have years of driving an automatic engrained into me though so it's no issue remembering to shift. :)
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You know now that I think about it, I learned and took the test in an automatic too, a Chevy land yacht with a 425 in it. As my dad wasn't going to turn me loose in that, he got me a VW with a manual and then got really mad when I slipped the clutch too much. Finally I told him not to ride with me so I could figure it out without getting yelled at. :mad:

Really, I prefer a manual, but driving one in heavy traffic all the time makes your left leg bigger. So I went to an auto, bleh.
 
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I learned on a manual, but took my test with an auto. Made it a bit easier.
 
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