Mercedes vs. VW

[nahtnoj]

I'm sure that they can manufacture a motor.

Right now, not really.

[nahtnoj]

The new Honda Fit is pretty awesome.

[SteveP]

Right now, not really.

really bad, huh?

[Gordon]

Get the Golf, it's a very well done car. The CLA is a very poorly done car. That car has brought the quality ratings of Mercedes down.

Consumer Reports: Mercedes Benz CLA Worst Car In Lineup - Business Insider

I agree completely with Justin. I have a 2010 Golf TDI and it's been great. Apparently the VII (2015) are the cat's pajamas. Probably my next car ~2016 (I hope for a GTD). A very generalized rule would be that VW does small cars well Mercedes does large cars well.

[theflashunc]

The CLA is built to hit a price point. One of the main complaints I've seen in reviews is a god awful interior by MB standards.

I've had a 2010 GTI since new off the lot and outside a bad sensor within the first 5k its been a gem.

[Mr B]

A very generalized rule would be that VW does small cars well Mercedes does large cars well.

+1 to this. VW probably pay more attention to the Golf/Jetta than any other car in their lineup, it's pretty much perfect (especially in GTI form).
That said, there's a Mercedes A45 AMG parked around the corner from me and I really, really want a go!
No idea why the A-Class isn't listed on the MB USA site any more. It's the Merc most similar to a Golf.

[FSonicSmith]

I just bought one of the last remaining 2014 Golf TDIs with sun and nav for under 25,000. Keep in mind that the TDI is a different animal than a base model gas Golf. The TDI comes with the same seats as in a GTI and a similar sport suspension. And the diesel drives differently due to the low end torque. I've owned a lot of VWs, the Jetta, Passat Wagon, and Touareg in that order. The Golf TDI drives more like a nice, but sporty sedan and has the hatch.
You can't and shouldn't buy a Golf TDI for dollars and sense a la Consumer Reports. Sure, buy a Honda or a Toyota if you want "safe and characterless". I hate to be crass, but going through life driving Hondas or Toyotas is like only having sex in the missionary position. Up to you. You only live once. VW fans buy VWs for the character of the car.

[znfdl]

I am patiently waiting for this car to come to the US.

2015 Volkswagen Golf GTD First Drive on Edmunds.com

[j44ke]

Ok I am sold.

My wife sent me this by email (she is in Stuttgart for work - part of the reason I asked about MB) this morning. I guess she saw a new one in this shade of blue drive by. May is car shopping month. I am sure they will be able to find one for us then.

Meanwhile I have 3 people on a waiting list for our current Golf - the snow plow guy, the car inspection guy, and the parking garage guy.

[dashDustin]

Know what I don't understand? When I talk to VW owners in person, they hate their cars and vow to never buy one again. This has happened on numerous occasions over a number of years...2006 when I ended up with a Mazda 3, 2008 when I ended up with a Tacoma, and again in 2013 when I ended up with an Outback. I really wanted to be persuaded to go with a Golf, but each time, after talks with people "IRL", the VW ended up losing out due to reliability, durability, and customer service after sale.

[j44ke]

I am patiently waiting for this car to come to the US.

2015 Volkswagen Golf GTD First Drive on Edmunds.com

Yeah, that one and the VW-R - both a tempting. But in the NYC area, the driving is so frequently stop and go, that how a car drives at 35mph is more important than 75mph. I mean not really, but my left hip is asking me to get an automatic because bumper-to-bumper with a clutch is wearing it out.

[Brandon White]

Know what I don't understand? When I talk to VW owners in person, they hate their cars and vow to never buy one again. This has happened on numerous occasions over a number of years...2006 when I ended up with a Mazda 3, 2008 when I ended up with a Tacoma, and again in 2013 when I ended up with an Outback. I really wanted to be persuaded to go with a Golf, but each time, after talks with people "IRL", the VW ended up losing out due to reliability, durability, and customer service after sale.

I owned a 2001 VW Golf 1.8 Turbo for 11 years. I sold it with 79K on it a few years ago. I never had a major part failure. The biggest annoyance were the interior finishings rubbing off or the ceiling liner falling. It was 11 years old though - it could only withstand so much. If I were looking for another car in the same pricepoint, I'd get a VW, no doubt, hands down. I can't think of one time I received poor customer service at the dealership/service center post sale.

[BShow]

Seems most of you are happy with your VW's... I've got a good friend on the other side of that camp. He's sort of a VW guy, in that he had a mid 80's GTI when he was growing up and has always lusted over VW's since. Actually, his dad still has that GTI and it's got something sillly like 300k miles on it now. His old man still drives it instead of his truck. That's a fun little car that just goes and goes forever, apparently.

Fast forward, he bought a used, late model TDI jetta wagon (2010-2012) about a year ago with ~20k on it. He really wanted to like the car, but he's had more problems with this Jetta than all other cars he's owned combined. I don't know all of the issues, but some of them were poor engineering/design like the sunroof leaking into the interior or the fuel door latch mechanism which fails, locks closed and is very difficult to fix.

Not that I'm in the market, but his experience is enough to make me look somehwere other than VW if I were.

[j44ke]

Know what I don't understand? When I talk to VW owners in person, they hate their cars and vow to never buy one again. This has happened on numerous occasions over a number of years...2006 when I ended up with a Mazda 3, 2008 when I ended up with a Tacoma, and again in 2013 when I ended up with an Outback. I really wanted to be persuaded to go with a Golf, but each time, after talks with people "IRL", the VW ended up losing out due to reliability, durability, and customer service after sale.

A lot of people keep buying Apple computers even though Apple won't warranty their iPhones, iTunes keeps deleting their music, graphics cards keep choking on videos, Airports are often bog slow for no discernible reason, Retina displays fail more frequently than regular screens, the new MacBook has one port + multiple adapters to do the simplest tasks and the company sucks every scrap of personal info it can onto huge servers where it does whatever with it all.

Something about the feel that makes the $1000 you just spent on an oil change seem like a good idea. And I am being serious here. I don't understand it either, even though I am subject to it.

[Nierman]

I have the same experience as Dustin - folks I know with VWs can't wait to get rid of them due to reliability/maintenance $$$. Maybe that has to do with lousy dealers around here - I don't know... but I've always leaned toward getting into the most refined version of a model I can afford (think Focus ST), rather than the corner-cut offerings of any luxury brand.

[theflashunc]

Know what I don't understand? When I talk to VW owners in person, they hate their cars and vow to never buy one again. This has happened on numerous occasions over a number of years...2006 when I ended up with a Mazda 3, 2008 when I ended up with a Tacoma, and again in 2013 when I ended up with an Outback. I really wanted to be persuaded to go with a Golf, but each time, after talks with people "IRL", the VW ended up losing out due to reliability, durability, and customer service after sale.

I mean, at the end of the day, the data is the data. VW as a whole makes cars that feel really nice but can't touch the reliability and dependability of the Japanese brands. Heck, I think you could say that about every German marque.

And don't get me wrong, the worries my six year honeymoon period may end with mine at any time due to all those little niggling things that pop up -- electrical Gremlins, carbon buildup, etc etc. But then I go for a drive through the hills out here or even give it the beans on the on-ramp in third gear with a hatch full of crap I got a Target and I'm reminded why I love hot hatches in general and this one in particular. (I'm currently in lust with the MKVII Golf R that's coming and the new Focus RS.)

If you're looking for something that's not totally 20 year old boy racer with giddy-up under the hood and a refined interior with usable cargo space for day-to-day living, its really, really difficult to beat a GTI, imo. And if I've got to roll the dice a bit with it, well, I just stay up to date on the maintenance schedule, keep my fingers crossed and smile every time I get heavy with the right foot.

[Nierman]

(I'm currently in lust with the MKVII Golf R that's coming and the new Focus RS.)

Hopefully my '02 ZTW will make it another 3-4 years then I'll be looking at a used RS. I can't say 'gently used' because there likely won't be any.

[theflashunc]

Hopefully my '02 ZTW will make it another 3-4 years then I'll be looking at a used RS. I can't say 'gently used' because there likely won't be any.

Not when it comes with a button that says "Drift Mode."

I can't wait for all the failed AWD clutch packs, blown turbos and insurance premiums through the roof on that thing.

[j44ke]

The thing about VW's is that the dealership never has the best mechanic. Our 2002 Golf started doing weird things. Head lights would come on, running lights, horn, total weirdness. Drained the battery, killed the alternator, burned out bulbs. We tried dealers and non-dealers - no luck. Then I just started reading all the VW forums, and I found a guy who was an electrical engineer who had all sorts of know-how and diagnostic data, and he had parsed out that there was a relay spec'd in the Central Control for Comfort Systems for Type IV Golfs within date X and date Y that went bad around 140K and that VW had made a running change to that relay for later Type IV's. He did all the testing and figured out why it went bad, and how to get a new relay and solder it in place, etc. Genius stuff. Brilliant. So I took it to my mechanic, showed him all the print outs from the forum guy, his jaw dropped and then he order a new Central Control and put it in the car. Now everything works. The control was $900 and the relay would have been $50 or something, but whatever - modern living.

I am definitely figuring that sort of issue into the operating costs, just like any other car with known tendencies. Seems insane - cars should just work, right? But Toyota can no longer claim bullet-proofness, not after the accelerator debacle (which my Acura mechanic buddy says was actually a lot worse than Toyota ever admitted) and the Tanaka airbags. My father's Prius is a great car but it still seems to have an infinite number of weirdnesses that spring up and require a dealer's grudging intervention. I think when the accelerator became a button under a pedal and the carburator became a series of wires and computer chips, cars stopped being mechanical things and became computers on wheels.

Hold power button and home button until the screen goes black and the white Apple reappears.

But that's the way things work these days.

Ford makes a big pick up truck out of aluminum!

[sine]

So we've been looking at a VW Golf TDI SEL and the price runs into the $32K range. Talking to a friend about it, he pointed out that Mercedes CLA250 with all wheel drive is about the same price or only a couple thousand more ($35K approx.) It even has rack attachment points built into the roof. A lot of standard features in the Mercedes are options in the VW, so while there might be a few things that one might want added on, there isn't much. No diesel but the all-wheel drive is appealing. The gas mileage isn't amazing but it doesn't suck too horribly.

Who has a CLA250? Any knowledge? Is it totally underpowered and stripped down just to hit a price point?

We own 3 MB's, the oldest a '98 with 180K. Over the many years I've learned which MB models to avoid.

I sat in the CLA when the local dealer received the first shipment. I was unimpressed. The current CLA is one of those MB models to avoid.

The 204 C Class (current is 205 and made in AL) is very well built, is a bit larger than the CLA and a bike (mine) fits in the boot with the rear seats folded down. Older styling but if you like it and find a low mileage CPO' 14, it is a good one.