Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008
2008 Golf Wait a minute… or year… US VW dealers still have 2005’s. The 2006 is the same as 2005 or 2000 for that matter. The new GTI has just arrived in the US but the regular Golfs are still on the way even though Europe has been driving the new design for years. I guess all buyers should hold off for another 18 months and skip the the 2007 Golfs.
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V-dubber Said,
March 30, 2006 @ 12:36 pm
Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008 – I also read that this morning. Could be the logical thing to do…if so, why did they wait so long to bring the MKV to the US? Oh well?
YupOldBull Said,
April 14, 2006 @ 8:21 am
Wonderful… – Rabbit again?
RedWings#1 Said,
April 18, 2006 @ 6:18 am
haha – Yea, they are changing the US Golf to the Rabbit. However, while announcing this at the Auto Show in New York, they forgot to change the badge of the car. So, the Golf that is supposed to now be called Rabbit, still had Golf written on it. Do you follow? The journalists did not miss this and questioned Volkswagen on this. I know it’s hard, but it’s Volkswagen. This company has really disapointed me lately, and it is sad. Their new lineup is not what a Volkswagen should be; they missed their mark. What about this three wheeled motorcycle? Wait, it’s not a motocycle, they couldn’t even get the number of wheels right! It has three wheels, so its a…trike? Who is going to buy that?
297 Said,
April 18, 2006 @ 6:49 am
Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008 – It has three wheels, so its a…trike? Who is going to buy that?
I’d totally buy that if I had the cash and garage space.
Of course, it’s not a VW. It’s the Vandenbrink Carver, and it’s three wheels of fun.
Post edited 04/19/06 2:23 AM by paultakeda
RedWings#1 Said,
April 18, 2006 @ 7:54 am
Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008 – with all the issues volkswagen faces, it’s stupid. they are going to have all sorts of problems: you need a motorcycle license, a helmet, then they will have problems with transporting it over to the US. dumb dumb dumb idea.
297 Said,
April 22, 2006 @ 2:52 am
Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008 – I think it’s ugly, but two years ago when the MkV came out in Europe, Fifth Gear awarded it their car of the year (YouTube video with inspiring driving).
Hopefully, the short lifespan means a MkVI that takes all the driving characteristics of the MkV (and that lovely DSG tranny) and puts it on a platform that’s cheaper and more reliable (the MkV has already proven more reliable than the MkIV, though I’m sure many can say that’s a relative thing and that it’s still sub-par),
Post edited 04/22/06 2:52 PM by paultakeda
peterd1965 Said,
April 22, 2006 @ 11:36 am
Rabbit season! Golf season! Rabbit season! – That made me laugh…
Bummer that we have to wait for the US to go standard with clean diesel before the next Grabbit TDI is released. I mean if the US trucking world can keep polluting and causing Asthma why won’t VW?
297 Said,
April 22, 2006 @ 12:19 pm
Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008 – They’ve developed an Ecoracer concept roadster. TDI doing 79mpg but still hits 60mph in 6 seconds (top speed 143mpg). Even has DSG. Too bad it’s just a concept. Why does fuel efficency have to be a dull ride?
As for Golf/Rabbit, they’re just rebadging in Europe, I see. Eh. It’s nice to see the rabbit badge again, though.
297 Said,
April 24, 2006 @ 5:39 am
Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008 – The Safety Happens ads freak me out more than anything else. I didn’t really dig the FAST ads, either but they are certainly appealing to the target demographic according to sales reports.
As for affordability and reliability, that’s the reason they are giving for the short MkV lifespan, so who knows, now that they’ve got the edge with DSG and FSI (these are definite edges, particularly DSG, which is nothing but a revolution in transmission technology, regardless of your personal bias for or against VW), they can stand to refactor manufacturing and bring out a cheaper MkV. The goal is a $16,000 Golf/Rabbit, right?
We’ll see.
V-dubber Said,
April 24, 2006 @ 9:17 am
Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008 – the DSG is getting lots of positive reveiws. Apparently, it is flat-out faster than the 6-spd manual.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/2006/04/21/video-dsg-vs-6-speed-manual/#more-2436
Personally, I’d prefer they had put more focus on building a more affordable, reliable car. I guess that’s what the “”Rabbit”" is supposed to make us think?
I have many fond memories of VW rabbits. My father drove a few diesel rabbits in the 1980s. They were dirt-cheap to buy, own, and operate. I learned to drive stick in his diesel rabbit. I remember they didn’t even have radios when he bought them, it was cheaper to just put one in himself. The last one he bought brand-new, he put well over 100K miles on it, gave it to his brother who drove it for years, who gave it to his daughter who drove it for years. It was finally jettisoned when the cluth burnt out at somewhere around 200K miles. Oh yea, the rear shocks were also shot.
The only nostalgic effect the Rabbit name will surely not be what VW is hoping to cash in on. The rabbit was a cheap car, and an economical car. Period. People who owned them will probably remember them as so. People who didn’t own them, may only remember how small they were, how slow they were, and the noise and smoke the diesels emitted. The golf has been far from that for quite some time. Now, if VW were to ship in the Polo, maybe that would be more suitable for the Rabbit title.
The other thing that has been driving me nuts, has been the fact that VW (and all mfgs.) seem to think AWD should be treated like a luxury feature, not a safety feature. Why do I need to buy an A3/A4, R32 or Passat if I want AWD? Why should I have to spend over $30K just to own a car that will climb hills in the snow? Mazda has done the same thing with the 6…why do I need to buy the 300HP Mazdaspeed6 just to get AWD? bullsh!t the only alternative seems to be buying a Subaru…which would be easy if they would only make a car with usable armrests (lol).
Ok, enough whining.
The one thing I will praise VW on is safety. I’m pretty sure side-curtain airbags are standard on all cars, as well as ABS. I don’t quite know where they are going with the “”Safety Happens”" ads, I really like them…but I don’t know if they’re the best way to sell cars.
V-dubber Said,
April 27, 2006 @ 10:30 am
Short shelf life: New VW Golf to be replaced by 2008 – Love the pics of the 3 wheeled bikes. VW has actually been working/testing with lotus to bring a 3-wheeler to market. Who knows if it’ll every fly, but this one is actually something I’d consider (why not just ad and extra wheel and I’d be BEGGING for one today).
VW Bike
Lotus Version to be produced in Malyasia?
Post edited 04/27/06 10:31 AM by V-dubber