I've read that Volkswagen want to be the number 1 auto group in the world by 2015, and to do so they need to make the best cars in their class. They currently make some great cars but I reckon that in australia at least they have to improve their dealerships and make servicing a bit more reasonable,what do you reckon? Reliability seems to be on the improve but theres a little way to go in my opinion.Or is the world economy that stuffed that we will all be driving great walls?

yes dealers are high priced with vastly varied service and capabilities

In terms of the Australian market, I think that VW still need to make their cars a little bit more affordable. The introduction of the Up will be interesting for sure, to see how many people are tempted away from a Hyundai by a sub-$15,000 VW.

My T5 is everything that I need in a vehicle, but - after being seriously ripped off by my local VW dealer - I will NOT be visiting them ever again.

VW Australia will need to improve their image in the service area, as well as providing good cars, if they want to be leaders in this country.

While a lot of VW dealers are OK (not great), some do fall a lot short - I certainly agree that their dealership network is the weakest aspect of VW in Australia at the moment.

Their new cars are great, but with the average to poor dealerships, proper repairs and maintenance CAN be frustrating and expensive, which doesn't reflect greatly on the cars which aren't necessarily the problem.

It's actually 2018, not 2015, that VW is aiming for to be the #1 car company in the world. http://www.autoweek.com/article/20100929/CARNEWS/100929846 

They aim to do that by making 10 million vehicles a year. Currently they make about 7 million, while Toyota and GM are around 8 million (VW is in front of Toyota for the first six months of this year). Most of these will come from VW's factories in China, already VW's largest market with over 1 million sales per year. In a few years time VW is aiming for 3 million a year in China. There are already nine (!) VW factories in China, and a tenth one being built now will have a capacity of twice the entire Australian auto making industry.

Also the VW US market needs a major boost to achieve this - from around 200,000 a year now to at least 800,000 or a million. Hence the new VW factory in Chatanooga, and huge expansion works at the Mexico plant.

Australia is small potatoes in this. Last year VW sold 38,000 vehicles, highest total ever, and boss Anke Koeckler has said they are aiming for 60,000 a year within five years. But that's only 0.6% of 10 million global VW sales.

Yes as you chaps have noted, our Australian VW dealers leave much to be desired. Here's a few things I've noticed:

* Almost all of them are just additions to existing franchises, not REAL VW-only dealers. Obviously Fred Bloggs Holden thinks he can make more money by selling VWs in addition. Others are 'European Classic' or whatever. The dealer at Penrith (with those annoying radio ads) sells no less than 8 brands. How can a VW buyer / owner feel exclusive and properly looked after? Only Barloworld is VW-only, at least in Sydney (they're South African owned and have VW dealers there)

* Some VW dealers sell cars only (eg Hornsby); some are commercial vehicles only (eg Blacktown). A ridiculous situation. ALL VW agencies should be able to sell/support ALL VW models.

* There are no 'landmark' VW dealers. Look at the huge Audi centre on Southern Cross Drive at Rosebery for example. There's even a new giant Skoda dealer at Taverners Hill (Rick Damelian). But no modern impressive VW dealer like that.

* In the '60s VW had over 320 dealers in Australia, but now there is only a third of that. Better than the '80s and '90s when there were almost none, but not good enough for a company hoping to double local sales. There is no VW dealer in Sydney's wealthy eastern suburbs or northern beaches, none in Hurstville/Kogarah and none in Bankstown/Canterbury. Many large country centres have not had a VW dealer since the '60s.

* The ones that do exist seem to treat new VWs as just another commodity to sell, like a fridge or a vacuum cleaner. There's no passion there, there's no knowledge of VW culture or history or enthusiam. If they make a sale great, of not another customer will come along. We can't seem to interest ANY of the Sydney dealers in sponsoring the VW Nationals, or participating in any VW club activities at all. VWGA sponsor us, and their execs often come along, but the dealers don't give a stuff. In the '50s Lanock Motors made it compulsory for their staff to join the NSW VW Club.

you guys make our relationship between club/enthusiast & dealer sound great - note to other dealers - THEY approached the club asking to sponsor, made sales directly from the sponsorship too... thats gotta be worthwhile right?

vw should have stands at our shows offering test drives of the new models.

Promotion i say

have a hot ass prototype to show off to the crowd at the shows :P. They do little to participate with the enthusiasts.... apart from enthusiasts driving their classic cars....
preech to the lovers!

chris - enter the baja at action day

VAG need to get involved and open some dealerships, it's the only way the current dealers will lift their game.
Right now they know they can treat people however they want as their is not much competition amongst vw dealerships.

If suddenly there were more really great dealerships with brilliant customer service (and price!), customers will taken their business there,
unlike now where potential customers taken their business to a different brand (ie Toyota, Subaru and etc).

In a nutshell:
The product is right, but the salesman is dodgy.

Exactly Rob, especially when he can buy another brand from the same dealer.

Dave can give you the details, but every year he has to go to VWGA's head office and pretty much beg for sponsorship for another year. The amount we ask for hasn't changed in 20 years but we are afraid to ask for more in case they say no. We need their $$ capital to organise the Nationals and pay for everything in the setup. Every year we ask them how much space they'd like for a dealer display and what they'd like to do. This year their answer was that they were too 'busy with new product launches'. Hello - the VW Nationals, No1 VW show in Australia and a thousand of the already converted there to look at your product ! (slap forehead). I notice that VWGA also sponsors the Vic DOVW, and the Warwick drags, which is great.

So no complaints with VWGA, it's their dealers' job to sell the cars and look after them. And no, none of them in Sydney are interested. We got a bite from McGraths at Liverpool but they weren't interested in trucking new VWs to Fairfield and setting up a stand. Denlos at Parramatta were really keen - or rather their floor manager was - joined the club and everything. Brought a new Crafter to Boris' Picnic Day year before last. Then decided he didn't like working at Denlos and left...

Glad the QLD dealers seem a bit keener to get involved; I wish Sydney dealers were more switched on. I do note that the Canberra dealer Slavens at Belconnen (and also Lennocks at Phillip) have sponsored the Canberra chapter and put on new car displays at the ACT Action day. Good on them.

Historical point - some oldies might remember the VW Nationals at the Soccer Federation in the early 1990s when the land behind was still bush. Muller and Muller, VW dealers then, brought along a syncro T3 and gave rides to the public along the rough tracks and up and down hillocks behind the show. They were driven by some of the guys from the Goulburn Police Academy (including the late Dallas Tidyman), who were also VW enthusiasts. Everyone who went for a ride in the syncro was amazed and impressed. I understand there was a surge in sales afterwards. The sales rewards are there for VW dealers who want to get involved, if they want.

Quote:

Originally posted by STIDUB you guys make our relationship between club/enthusiast & dealer sound great - note to other dealers - THEY approached the club asking to sponsor, made sales directly from the sponsorship too... thats gotta be worthwhile right?

The service and so called services I got in the past from so called proper places makes me sick,I could not believe it.
Shonky bullshit and lies upon lies, where do I start.....It is too much for me to remember all that was wrong.

I am embarrased to have a VW and stand by the name, as they are good cars but dealerships suck arse and am amazed how VW aust let it slide.

Just look at how lame vw adds on TV are in AUS, it is sad.
So much could be done in so many ways.
Shame.

Mcgraths a Kirrawee are almost finished there"new" dealership.
I went there a couple of weeks ago(Sunday morning),on my way to work,to have a look at an Amarok.
I had a good look,walked around and around the car,looked underneath,took some photos,was there for about 20mins.
Not one salesperson came to me and asked me if I needed help.
The yardy saw me and eventually told me I would have to go into the Holden dealership to get service.
I went to work.
A friend had a similar story at another dealer when he went to look at the Amarok.
When he asked the salesman,how much was the vehicle going to be,the salesman said as he walked away from him,"same as the HiLux mate".
Very poor service,if I was like that or didnt know about the products I sell,I would have no customers.

The DOVW in Vic has had dealer representation for the last few years. They provide a range of new cars for people to look at and either last year or year before they demonstrated the self parking feature on the Tiguan.
I am proud to own a vdub but don't stand by the dealers. Other friends I know with either vdubs or Audis I advise them to take them to the people I use to service the cars. So far all have been happy with the service and price.

It's hard to be passionate about anything when $$$$ appear to be priority number 1. I can comprehend that a company as large as VW Audi group have shareholders and are responsible for meeting targets etc.. Blah blah (my money is in gold by the way not VW AUDI PORSCHE shares) but really...your bread and butter lies (tongue in cheek) in customer service and satisfaction, being open in your communication and not having a first year apprentice carry out work they are not certified to do and being charged master tech rates....a certain dealer on the gold coast whose slogan is 'we look after everyone' if you know who I am referring to then ask your service manager whether or not they have a FULLY qualified mechanic servicing their vehicle....1st service or not, the hourly rate they charge should be commensurate with experience or am I being too harsh? Please consider independent VW services, that's where my money would be going at the moment. Adios muchachos!

I recon all car manufactures should stop selling car altogether and concentrate of spare parts lol. That way it would force people to restro old cars, stop wasteful scraping of cars and reduce environmental impact by shit loads. Would solve traffic issues too.

And for the people that cant fix up old cars, well they can ride a bike around. This would be awesome but its just too wishful thinking

Aiming for for 10mil cars a year! thats disgusting Throw away society written all over it.

Fair call on the apprentice thing, Maybe in S.A they check their apprentices work but when you drive your vehicle out of a service centre and not far down the road your car overheats and when you pop the hood to discover oil and or coolant everywhere due to the oil cap not being done up or replaced and coolant hoses not clamped appropriately, maybe you might get testy and frustrated after having paid X amount of dollars for work 'performed or carried out by a fully trained mechanic' on your vehicle....' yeah mate, just bring it back and we will fix it for you' isolated incidents happen I understand and humans make errors and this is definitely not an attack at mechanics but shit mate! I would like to think that an ounce of common sense would prevail.... Anyhoo... lesson learned, i do not take my vehicles there anymore, that is why I try to do as much for myself as possible, but when you don't have expensive diagnostic tools or the aptitude (me) to work on fuel injected cars with ecu's and the like sometimes you have to bite the bullet and go to an authorized workstation. To conclude, I only intend to drive air-cooled dubs from now on,at least they are a bit easier to repair on the side of the road at 2 in the morning when it is pissing down, that failing, you can always sleep in the back of most dubs till someone more knowledgable comes to bail you out. I hope that clarifies my intent and highlights the fact that I am not having a go at any particular individual/s. If I have offended, please feel free to PM me and set me straight. Cheers

Quote:

Originally posted by HappyDaze My T5 is everything that I need in a vehicle, but - after being seriously ripped off by my local VW dealer - I will NOT be visiting them ever again. VW Australia will need to improve their image in the service area, as well as providing good cars, if they want to be leaders in this country.

Interesting thread certainly going to make me think twice before venturing out to buy my next car as I was thinking about a Golf, sirocco or new beetle.

Vw's are tops cars but find a good place to get it serviced.
There are plenty of non vw shops which still include the warranty repair and service deal.

It would appear that there are incidents where workmanship is not always checked, guess it pays to shop around and always ask if they have a policy where you can keep or at least view the parts that have been replaced, keen to see where this thread goes..hmmmmm

Hey Paul,
For the next service book it into Peter Atkin Mec at Maroochydore, this is my step fathers shop and he will look after you.

Quote:

Originally posted by h Quote: Originally posted by STIDUB you guys make our relationship between club/enthusiast & dealer sound great - note to other dealers - THEY approached the club asking to sponsor, made sales directly from the sponsorship too... thats gotta be worthwhile right? yep i got a golf blumo recently and was happy with it - the sale etc BUT... unfort servicing will fall short as dealers price themselves outta the mkt for me my experience with my T5 stands to reason for the comments coupled with my wifes jeep, several of the same branded dealerships looking after vw n jeep ive had servicing with for both dont seem to be able to justify WHY it is sooooo fookin expensive for a service an example of this has happened with both vehicles, a recent one was; i had a 40k service and it was a "BIG" one in the words of the dealership, so more $ granted n when i enquired about the cost for the next service (not big i was told) the costing was several hungee more than the 40k BIG service.. when i asked what the! n why so much, i was told two things: a) "thats the price on the screen" ?? that old chestnut.. b) "lets break it down, a regular service inc oil n filter n check everything, a lot of checking and also changing the box oil.." but i ask i just had the BIG service n now the box oil is changed at the next service?? huh?? so how do u justify several hungee more for box oil change?? well funny enuff im still waiting for the 'call you back with that one' ffs give me a break who pays over like $500 over a standard service for some BS how dumb are some ppl who just wear what the 'dealer' tells em it will cost UNBELIEVABLE BS for a stamp in a book the oil would want to come in a gold 10l drum for those $$ anyways im still waiting for em to call back with some weak as piss BS looks like my vehicle wont going genuine next service.. funny that

We were going to buy a Golf at our local VW dealer, but the general lack of interest from the sales staff, after several exploratory visits to their Self-Service yard was palpable. (Eventually found one quite helpful person.) Asked about on-going service costs, and after attempts to evade, extracted info. from grudging 'service' desk staff; it's not something one enquires about apparently.
Went to the local Toyota place eventually on a whim (have avoided Japanese cars), and what a difference in attitude!

The golf is currently the no.4 selling car in australia which means people must love these cars and 'accept' ordinary dealerships. Wouldn't it be great if all dealerships concluded that " hey shit, we are on a roll lets really clean up the market by improving our service and pricing" (yeah right! dream on). I dont think VW pricing on their cars is too high because people WILL pay extra for a better car, but its a shame that you get stung afterwards. BTW, Whipples in toowoomba were very helpful when I enquired about a test drive of an amarok, they made a time that suited ME. They didn't have the 2wd model that I wanted to try but thats a supply problem not theirs.

I spoke to the VW corporate guy who was at the nationals about all their problems. I think they know about them, dont know how you fix them.

I've loved every new VW I have driven (other than dsg gearboxes). Pretty much every version of golf and polo on the market other than the polo gti. If there were enthusiastic knowledgeable salespeople selling them and they were available for delivery they would sell ship loads more.

Its very sad that I can download a few brochures and know significantly more than a salesperson who has just spent a week long in product training.

People are ordering and getting on the waiting list for polo gti's and bailing out after waiting 6 months. Just last week a guy I work with managed to get his as a canceled order after waiting 4 months. He had to pay for the metallic paint and xenons but saved himself an indefinite wait. There are lots of people cancelling orders for the VW's they want. How many people are not bothering to place an order in the first place and buying a mazda 3 (for example) instead? VW will never be big in this country while we seem to be the place to sell surplus cars when they are available. Even the dealers dont seem to be able to get spare cars for demo vehicles.

I told a Lady friend to buy a 1400cc twin charger Golf.

Its less than 12 months old but the gearbox has failed already...


What a joke