Despite clever ads, is Volkswagen a Lemon?

Does Volkswagen quality and service create long-term brand damage?

I have been teaching marketing and advertising classes since 1996 and using Volkswagen advertising and marketing as positive examples in my classes. The clever Volkswagen ads from creative legends Bill Bernbach and Helmut Krone in the 60's and 70's changed the face of design and advertising to usher in the "Creative Revoulution". 

I now have new reasons to speak about Volkswagen to others.

Despite the clever ads, the recent unpleasant Volkswagen experience of a friend has me asking the question "is Volkswagen a lemon?" 

My friend recently purchased a deep black 2009 Volkswagen CC Luxury edition which starts at $32,350 U.S. dollars.  She travels a lot and wanted a car that is safe, reliable, and looks great. If you click here you will be taken to the Volkswagen website and you can see all the rave reviews about the appearance, safety, and performance of the CC. I agree with the reviews and think that the car is beautifully designed inside and out.  I have always admired the design of Volkswagen. 

However, attractive design is not enough if the product fails. My friend has had the CC in to the dealer four times in four months with electrical and mechanical problems. The dealer has always provided friendly service and fixed the problems but the failures should not have occurred in the first place. 

Is Volkswagen selling lemons or are the following details of her experience the exception to the rule?

Volkswagen CC Electrical / Mechanical Failures - Not what you expect from a German engineered entry-level luxury sedan?

The first time, the blue tooth did not work and they had to keep the vehicle over night to fix the problem. Next, the radio mysteriously quit working (died) and had to be replaced. This problem required a second visit as a new radio had to be ordered. Finally, the interior flooded with water from the air conditioner drain tubes on the driver and passenger sides because the drains were installed improperly at the factory. 

When is Volkswagen Carefree Maintenance no longer carefree?

Volkswagen markets their Carefree Maintenance program, a no charge scheduled maintenance program,  on its entire 2009 model line but there is nothing carefree about my friend's experience with the time and travel invested in these repairs.  

My friend lives in a rural area and had to travel 100 miles each way to the Volkswagen dealer for repairs. She has traveled a total of 800 miles so far and has had to spend three full days away from work to fix problems that should not have occurred in the first place.  The dealer service was friendly.  However,  she finally expressed her frustration with the quality of the Volkswagen vehicle to the service manager after her fourth repair visit to the dealer.

The Volkswagen response to Quality Concerns?

After reviewing the records for the four repair visits, the service manager did not acknowledge her vehicle quality concerns or inconvenience of travel and lost time from work. He shrugged and asked, "Can you plan other activities around your visit to the dealer?"

Would the service manager have said the same thing to a man in that situation?

During this time, he also implied that she acted incorrectly on a repair visit by keeping her vehicle instead of leaving it at the dealership for several days while the radio was ordered.  He did offer to have someone pick up the car in the future if there were additional problems.  However, he acknowledged that this would not prevent additional miles on the vehicle for the repairs.

He also stated there was nothing he could do regarding the Volkswagen quality problems. He agreed to mention the problems to his Volkswagen representative but said the representative "would not do anything." Implying the four repair visits were not enough for the representative to worry about, he said "Let's wait and see if there are any other problems" before actually doing anything.

My friend likes the looks and performance of her Volkswagen CC and would like to recommend it to others when asked about her attractive car.  However, she would not have purchased a Volkswagen had she known it would be in the shop for repairs each month.  She is the more confident about the need for the extended warranty than the quality of the vehicle. She said, "It's hard to love something that has required more repair in just 4 or 5 months than the Pontiac I owned for the previous nine years."

I personally was considering purchasing a Volkswagen because I admire the design but I am also reconsidering the Volkswagen brand after observing her experience.

I shared this story with another friend who was ready to purchase a Volkswagen and she stated "Thank you for sharing this information. I am THIS close to buying a VW Jetta Sport wagen TDI. This has given me pause...."

I am now sharing this experience to allow others to decide if they should purchase a Volkswagen.

So I ask again, is Volkswagen selling lemons or is her experience the exception to the rule and will you purchase one to find out?

What do you think Volkswagen should do to repair this long-term brand damage?

I look 4Ward to your feedback.

Keep Digging for Worms!

Comments

[Karin]

OVER-ENGINEERED! Yes indeed. My 2003 passat wagon has over 120,000 miles and we have not had much problem with it aside from normal wear issues but the excessive suspension and the ridiculous lengths needed to fix simple things like headlights etc, that require the whole front end to be disassembled, for instance make me insane. Once the dear passat that is great to drive moves on to greener pastures we will be an exclusively Japanese devotees.

[Bill (Dr. William J. Ward) a.k.a DR4WARD]

Steve,
Thanks for sharing your comments on your Volkswagen experiences. I have owned VW autos myself. Although I have had mechanical problems with VW, like many, I still find myself attracted to the styling and personality that they have crafted.
Maybe it is just wishful thinking to hope that in the future I can trust the brand to also be reliable.
Thank you,
Bill (Dr. William J. Ward) a.k.a DR4WARD

[steve]

* brought home another vw jetta sportwagen tdi.

[steve]

My dad works on vw's, they are all horrible. He always brings home brand new vw's that have less then 1000 miles and broken down. he told me a 2010 vw cc wouldent start 4 times and only was a week old. and he just brought have a jetta sportwagen tdi with 1000 miles and it keeps saying check engine. this is a common problem. there really bad.

[dr4ward]

Thank you for the comments.
This adds a new perspective to the discussion.

[funkcoaster]

Hey Dr- I currently own a Golf and an Audi A6 and I will say, they are the most trouble-prone cars I've ever owned, and that they are about 35% more expensive to repair than the same level of Japanese or domestic car.

HOWEVER, VW makes cars that are very fun to drive. I've never had quite the enjoyable experience with any other make of car (other than BMW's or Porsches).

I guess it's about what you want out of a car. Highly reliable/trouble-free is not how I would describe any German vehicle. I think in a lot of cases they are over-engineered and it causes problems.

I've never known anyone personally who had a recent VW/Audi that didn't have some kind of recurring issues with them. Does that make them junk? Not really. Their cars are still an utter joy to drive and there's a lot to be said for that. For many, it's worth it.

That said, I'm no VW fanatic. I recently passed up buying a Toureg and got an Acura MDX, mainly because of my recent headaches with the VW family and my need for a reliable vehicle to take me the 35 miles to work every day. I won't be selling my Golf though.

Would I recommend a VW to a friend? Certainly, but along with the question, "you like to abuse yourself, yes?"

--funk