Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2015 13:03:43 -1000
Reply-To: "SDF ( aka ;jim lahey' - Scott )" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: "SDF ( aka ;jim lahey' - Scott )" <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Organization: Cosmic Reminders
Subject: Re: NVC Re: VW gave diesel drivers what they wanted!
In-Reply-To: <20151001171721.3JWCA.154226.root@eastrmwml105>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8; format=flowed
Why the love of VW's...?
in the 60's and 70's VW was a major Cultural Icon ...
think hippies ..
think a 'large club' with very alternative funky, inexpensive cars
.......that you could rebuild its engine on your kitchen table.
a whole huge following ..
which dispute VW's mostly ignoring that history , especially in the US.
still exists strongly.
It's a 'club' ...world-wide.
Name another brand of car ...that has such a broad and long-time
following, world-wide ..
that appeals to the common man.
That you can tinker with in your back yard , that doesn't take a lot of
special tools or knowledge.
I'm thinking older air-cooled VW's , not the electronic modern
ones...but that foundation is there, and very solid still.
"Location' is a factor ....definitely a California thing .....
traditionally......... not that there aren't air-cooled VW lovers
everywhere.
' more maintenance' ....don't' get me started. Back in the day ...70's
...VW Bugs got their valve clearances adjusted and an oil change ( no
oil filter, just a screen ) every 3,000 miles.
Of course some people never bothered. Cheap cars and cheap people
traditionally go together.
And we did that valve adjustment and oil change for 20 bucks ,
including oil and new valve cover gaskets.
the manually adjusted drum brakes were supposed to get adjusted nearly
that often ...and usually were not ..
lol...left too long..this is very 'german' and very VW ..
the parking brake button would pop out...making it not work .... if you
let the rear brakes go too long with out adjusting.
I have seen VW drivers let brake adjustment get so overdue that pushing
the brake pedal all the way to the floor, and hard, would result in
partial brake application and 'some' slowing down.
I love this saying I read once...during VW's 70 year anniversary I think :
"VW, 70 years of turning drivers into mechanics."
these days, VW's like all modern cars require very little service and
maintenance.
of course..the penalty for letting a diesel VW timing belt, of any year,
go until it just fails is very very high .
We'll see what turns up with the other manufacturers being looked at
more closely now too.
scott
I got my first VW, ( and first van ..a 56 Comercial Bus ) in 1973 I think.
It's possible I have never been vw-less since, and continuously
since, then. Still got 12 I think.
On 10/1/2015 11:17 AM, Dave Mcneely wrote:
> 1. I have encountered a good number of people who spoke favorably of the VW diesels because they were "clean." When they were not being imported, people argued that if we could just get the "clean" diesels over here, our air would improve. VW heavily advertised the "clean" aspect of the engines, and people bought it. That's not to say that they weren't hoping for a winning combination of clean, fast acceleration, and good gas mileage. But in the aftermath of the fraud becoming public knowledge, lots of people with these cars have stated that their reasons for buying them were the good mileage and the low emissions.
>
> 2. It doesn't seem to be impossible for other manufacturers.
>
> Why the love of VW? Their cars, like most European cars, require more maintenance than most.
>
> I have the camper because it is unique in what it offers, not because it is VW. I have no brand loyalty for any manufactured product. When I buy something, I'm in it for me, a real free libertarian type in that regard (though not otherwise).
>
> mcneely
>
> ---- James <jk_eaton@HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
>> The opposite argument to this is that they did it for the faithful VW loving diesel owner.
>> Let me explain this alternate argument.
>>
>> If you have a VW diesel, you probably value its fuel economy and power most - not many people outside of the LA and Frankfurt 'smog basins' or the EPA care that much about NOx. By running with this 'trick' software, VW gave owners the best of both worlds - a car that will pass emissions tests as required by governments, AND a car that gets fabulous fuel economy and great power in real-world driving.
>>
>> I know very few VW diesel owners who boast about their car's low pollution numbers. I know a lot of VW diesel owners who boast about their car's power and exceptional fuel economy - about how they get even better fuel mileage than the EPA/Transport Canada estimates.
>>
>> In that sense, VW was just giving its faithful diesel owners EXACTLY what they wanted.
>>
>> Pity that what VW diesel drivers wanted was technically impossible, and the VW solution to give it to them was thus illegal.
>>
>>
>> James
>> Ottawa, ON
>>
>>> Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:31:43 -1000
>>> From: scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM
>>> Subject: Re: NVC Re: VW, honour, and culture
>>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>>>
>>> it's a big deal because....
>>>
>>> 3. IT WAS INTENTIONAL DECEPTION.
>>> they tricked everyone ..apparently intentionally ...the faithful
>>> VW-loving owner...
>>>
>>
> --
> David McNeely
>
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