Korean Cars

[sh|tbmxrider]

So anyone buying an Alfa then...

Doesn't want to fall asleep at the wheel of a german snoozemobile?











Sorry, couldn't help myself

[Buller_Scott]

er, I'm on a VW forum because.....I drive VW's.
VW the Hyundai of Germany? I thought perhaps if anyone it'd be Opel.
The sleek looking designs of many Hyundais/Kias is because of the farming out of the job of design to California & German design firms.
A consequence of the very small world we live in because of tech & communications, makes it easy these days to be up to the minute, the snazzier designs don't make them the engineering equals of the German marques. Oops, I forgot, Oz Best Cars reckons the Hyundai is the best thing year after year in its class. Better not waste money on those pieces of junk the Polo & Golf.

i think you missed my point. your statement about penny pinching vs caring what you drive sounded elitist, which is why i made the comment i did - it'd be funny to think that anyone with a modern VW is elitist from any perspective. i love VW's but the simple fact is that they're rather bland to look at, dont really provoke any emotion until you've started modding/building them, they're not expensive CEO style cars, and their reliability of late is VERY questionable.

australia's best cars might be voting the polo & golf "best cars", so i guess they must have taken into account these modern VAG group reliability issues, then? if it says best cars, it must just be fact - just like when CNN reports the news, it must just be fact, too....

[greasykitchen]

i love VW's but the simple fact is that they're rather bland to look at

I politely beg to differ. I think the stand out from the crowd of most cars I see (Toyotas, Mitsibishis etc). Ok they're not Audis, Mercs or BMWs (which can have quite a degree of the 'tosser' look to them - not to mention some of the dirvers ), but I think the average Golf looks a lot nicer than the average car on the road these day and stands out because of it.

[Transporter]

+1

One look under the car at the components, at the details, the sound insulation and you know immediately why the VW car cost more than the average car on the road.

[tessie]

No, no, you did'nt read properly. The HYUNDAI is constantly voted best car. Elitist?? The V- Dub is the peoples car, they just happen to cost more than a piece of crap from Korea, oops, I mean a car from Korea. Germanys costs and wages are pretty damned high as you know.

i think you missed my point. your statement about penny pinching vs caring what you drive sounded elitist, which is why i made the comment i did - it'd be funny to think that anyone with a modern VW is elitist from any perspective. i love VW's but the simple fact is that they're rather bland to look at, dont really provoke any emotion until you've started modding/building them, they're not expensive CEO style cars, and their reliability of late is VERY questionable.

australia's best cars might be voting the polo & golf "best cars", so i guess they must have taken into account these modern VAG group reliability issues, then? if it says best cars, it must just be fact - just like when CNN reports the news, it must just be fact, too....

---------- Post added at 06:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:17 PM ----------

No, no, you did'nt read properly. The HYUNDAI is constantly voted best car. Elitist?? The V- Dub is the peoples car, they just happen to cost more than a piece of crap from Korea, oops, I mean a car from Korea. Germanys costs and wages are pretty damned high as you know.

....as for reliability being VERY questionable, our first VW is a 2005 Golf 2.0 FSI Sportline, bought new, now with 92,000km and touch wood, not a thing has gone wrong. So don't get too worried about all the sad stories on the forum concerning VW's, go to other marque forums and read their sob stories.

[Transporter]

OK, guys. Just keep it civil, please!

After all, we all like our V-dubs here, don't we?

[ryana89]

[kleung]

the simple fact is that they're rather bland to look at, dont really provoke any emotion until you've started modding/building them, they're not expensive CEO style cars, and their reliability of late is VERY questionable.

I think the 'blandness' of the styling is is by design. I like to think of it as 'understated class'. If you think about it, aside from the hi-po models, most German cars tend to be fairly conservative and understated in design. BMW tried to go a bit 'out there' with the Bangle designs, and got panned for it. Where the Germans really shine is in the details. I don't think any manufacturer sweats the details as well as the Germans do.

As for the reliability aspect, to me it seems like VW recognised that moving production of the Golf to SA for the MkV had panned out poorly, and have subsequently taken steps to reduce the manufacturing cost of the MkVI sufficiently to be able to return production to Germany. Of course this is not a guarantee of quality and bulletproof reliability, but I can't imagine that the build quality and reliability of a German-assembled car would be worse than a SA-assembled one.

And without trying to excuse any flaws in the design, I think VW have done OK considering the technologies they have introduced into bread-and-butter models such as direct injection, twin-charger forced induction and twin-clutch automatic gearboxes. Sure, these technologies may not be 'cutting edge', but until VW came along, most of them were limited to high-end exotica.

[Ideo]

To be honest I don't see the point in thinking you are somehow king **** because you drive a VW.

Wow. You bought a mid range car. A Honda from Germany.

It does not give you badge kudos.

And if your main factor is that, then I pity you.

[elephino]

A shame that Honda is no longer the Honda of Japan, though they apparently have plans to fix that.

[woofy]

Well the Euro, Odyssey and Legend still are Japanese but the rest are Thai. Honda have really lost their way and Mazda are all over it.

[Domel]

Well the Euro, Odyssey and Legend still are Japanese but the rest are Thai. Honda have really lost their way and Mazda are all over it.

Good observation. A bit off topic here, but Honda really messed things up by dropping both the Integra and Prelude from their lineup (Were they a failure commercially? They certainly worked in the performance and looks departments) and also not bringing the 'real' Civic coupe over to Australia as well - I reckon that car would have been a success here.



I think the Euro coupe and wagon would have sold here pretty well as well - wagons generally have become a lot more popular in Australia lately...

It's a shame the Japanese have moved away from the sporty coupes segment (especially Honda and Toyota).

PS - is that you Ryan?

[ryana89]

I think its a 12 year old Arj Barker

[Buller_Scott]

It's a shame the Japanese have moved away from the sporty coupes segment (especially Honda and Toyota).

apparently they're trying again, although i dont much like the look of this (yes yes i know it will have sti boxer turbo blah blah that will get all the fanbois honestly wholeheartedly believing that their sti/evo, a 4cyl 2.0T, is one of the fastest cars in the world etc etc):

[Bflat]

apparently they're trying again, although i dont much like the look of this (yes yes i know it will have sti boxer turbo blah blah that will get all the fanbois honestly wholeheartedly believing that their sti/evo, a 4cyl 2.0T, is one of the fastest cars in the world etc etc):

Apparently it won't be getting a turbo....