Bloomberg Reporter Seeking US Overlanders: Could VW or Audi Win You From Toyota, Jeep or Ford?

[William Wilkes News]

Hi — William Wilkes from Bloomberg News. I’m reporting on Volkswagen’s plans to move into more rugged SUVs and pickups in the US and would love to speak with owners who actually use Bronco, Wrangler, Tacoma, 4Runner etc. off road or for overlanding. I’m particularly interested in what capability and credibility a new VW/Audi entrant would need to earn your consideration. Brief 10–15 minute calls. DM me or email wwilkes1@bloomberg.net.

 

[MOAK]

I don’t think it possible to win over the many folks that have been burned by VW over the past decade & 1/2. I’ve used an 04 Jeep Rubicon, then a ‘96 Landcruiser, each for 11 years. Now we travel full time in a Ford F-350 with a Fourwheelcamper Grandby Flatbed. The Landcruiser was/is by far and away, the vehicle to which all others are measured. When I sold mine to a collector it had 382,000 miles on the original drivetrain and is now 30 years old. We had a VW gasser. Since new, the check engine light came on constantly. They knew the problem was a bad design, they couldn’t fix it. Once out of warranty I could not get it inspected because of the CEL. We traded it in on a RAV4 and never looked back. Earn consideration from the overlanding crowd that VW hadn’t burned? Solid front axle, body on frame, simplicity, ie- the less electronics the better, the ability to repair breakdowns in the field and last but not least, payload.

 

[grubworm]

"Volkswagen" literally means "the people's car"

it was designed by the German government in the mid-30's to be a simple and affordable car for the average citizen. it was great at that...the air cooled engines were simple and easy to work on and good on gas since most of the engines were in the 35-40 hp range up until the 70s. when I think about the VW Beetle...I think about Herbie the Love bug and all the dune buggy versions of it. I see the Beetle with big rear tires blasting down the beach and the VW van as the stoner hippy van that made it so iconic here in the states.

of course VW has evolved over the years, but I know my view of it has not evolved. I had a friend with a VW Rabbit and it sucked and what few VW Sciroccos I saw, never had much praise associated with them. all I've heard about the newer VWs are that they require more maintenance than Toyota, etc and the maintenance cost (especially parts) cost more. maybe not as much as Audi or BMW, but I've never heard of VW spoken of in the same context of those brands, either. personally...I don't see where the newer VWs would fit in. as far as posting on here and evaluating the VW as a travel and/or off-road vehicle...I sure don't see it.

"Jeep" was invented and designed as a military recon vehicle and evolved from that. it was originally and specifically made for off-road, not to be an affordable car for the average citizen. so yeah, "Jeep" is going to be associated with that even after years of design changes. from what I can tell, the newer VWs for offroad, are the unibody design that crossed over into off-road, like Subaru did. Subaru didn't start out where they are now...they took quite a few years for people to consider them as an off-road platform. Subaru always had a very high quality engine, more so then VW...so maybe get the engines and drivetrain to be seen on the worldwide stage as extremely reliable and go from there, like Subaru did...