vehicles - poor build quality vs good

[Iggle Piggle]

I have often wondered how much money car manufacturers make from building sub-standard cars.
Take an example, you buy a Volkswagen brand new for £12,000, run it for many years with no faults or problems.
Or you buy a same age and specification Ford for £9500 thinking you got a bargain, only to spend a small fortune on repairs, parts and other cr4p over the years.
Surely a blind man on a galloping horse can see the rip-off on this one and why poor quality cars make their manufacturers a fortune due to ill-informed people buying this tat.
Thanks for letting me vent !

[tali1]

Sorry but that is a very very simplistic theory -VW ? -why not just buy a Skoda then? - same car and a lot cheaper as it doesn't have the "VW Tax"
Oh and VW parts prices are a rip off (i'm not pro ford , anti vw btw)

[Hymie]

Although only anecdotal and based on one owner; I owned a Ford Mondeo from 6 months to 11 years of age. Besides having it garage serviced during the warrantee period; thereafter I only had the oil and oil filter changed each year. When I sold the car, it had just under 80,000 miles on the clock.

Besides a battery and a number plate bulb requiring replacement, I cannot recall anything else (besides the usual consumable parts) needing replacement.

The car was without doubt the most reliable car I have (or ever will) owned.

Although VW once had a reputation for reliability – not anymore.

[Hymie]

Before you all rush out to buy a Mondeo based on my experience – I believe that the current base model list price is circa £19k, about £6k more than I would be willing to pay for such a car.

[tali1]

Mondeo like other similar cars overpriced to factor in big fleet discounts -even in 1996 it ws poosible to pay 24k for a top spec Mondeo
Iggle Piggle - which VW dealership to you work for?

[Hopkirk]

I had a VW Golf once.

It had it's fair share of problems.

I've got a little old Ford Fiesta at the moment.

It's an absolute gem.

[Toureman]

Bit out of date piggle !

New ford focus £15,555

New golf £15,888

Don't see much difference except the ford focus has been car of the year for three years running.

I know which I would rather have, it's not the golf and I can't see any "ripp off"

[Frankieola]

Its all about customers perception. I worked for a fleet department which ran VW's Sharans and Ford Galaxy's. For those of you who don't know, These are effectively the same car, built in the same factory with a different badge stuck on the front. The people who had them who previously had Ford's thought they were fantastic and the build quality was excellent. The VW owners thought they were not that great and the build quality wasn't that good. Just goes to show what marketing can do eh?