Odd Job(s)

[Rope-Pusher]

HEY YOU! WANT A JOB?
We’ve been following Volkswagen’s quest to become the largest car company in the world, but by one measure it dwarfs every other automaker. VeeDub plans to boost its global workforce to 600,000 people by 2018, which is about a 9 percent increase. Currently VW employs 550,000 workers worldwide, that’s more than General Motors and Toyota put together. At a time when every other automaker is constantly on the lookout to cut headcount, it’s amazing that VW continues to be so successful with so many employees.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/ ... 5U20130401

[tankinbeans]

it’s amazing that VW continues to be so successful with so many employees.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/ ... 5U20130401

I'd say it's even more amazing that a company with a bad rep for building garbage can continue to be successful. Gizmo is barely two years old and is starting to succomb to electrical problems, and the water pump on my aunt's bug went out at 55k miles.

[Rope-Pusher]

They say VW is more vertically integrated than most other automakers.
They still maek their own manual transmixers.

They also grant more autonomy to their business eunuchs.

[Bill B]

I am an old Aircooled VW enthusiast, but would not purchace a new one. Reliability problems as well as the fact that VwOA does not support the classic car enthusiasts the way General Motors, Ford and others do. This goes all the way back to the 1960's when Econo Motors was selling the EMPI GTV Beetles until VWoA put the brakes on that. Then they started suing people with domain names that had the letters V or W in them in the late 90's when the New Beetle came out. Treat your enthusiasts well and they will usually be loyal to current models when buying a new vehicle.

it’s amazing that VW continues to be so successful with so many employees.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/ ... 5U20130401

I'd say it's even more amazing that a company with a bad rep for building garbage can continue to be successful. Gizmo is barely two years old and is starting to succomb to electrical problems, and the water pump on my aunt's bug went out at 55k miles.

[potownrob]

I'd say it's even more amazing that a company with a bad rep for building garbage can continue to be successful. Gizmo is barely two years old and is starting to succomb to electrical problems, and the water pump on my aunt's bug went out at 55k miles.

what/who is gizmo (i thought he was a forum member??)?? i think the recent VW problems are only with certain models. I don't hear about people having many problems with the newer (even Mk5) Jettas and Golfs. the new Passat is good (old ones had issues). The Beetles and Tiguans seem to have some problems for some reason - The Beetles have had electrical issues and the Tiguans have problems staying on (luckily, not everyone is having these problems). The top selling models seem to be good though. When I turn around to look at my Jetta, I am glad I didn't go with a different brand or even a different model within the VW lineup; most other cars have designs that will look like 1950s spaceships within 5 years (if they don't look like that already). A lot of people who buy VWs keep buying VWs despite any problems. The service department at my dealer (hudson valley vw) goes above and beyond to make sure the customer is happy. There are of course other dealers with relatively bad service and sales departments. What I am trying to say is a lot of the problems are apparently blown out of proportion.

[tankinbeans]

Gizmo is my friend's Jetta. It's been in the shop at least once a month for something or other for about 6 months.

[potownrob]

Gizmo is my friend's Jetta. It's been in the shop at least once a month for something or other for about 6 months.

that sucks. which trim level is it?? what's been wrong with it?? mine has been very good and i haven't heard of many people having problems with any of the recent jettas (other than silly rattles mainly in the GLI).

[tankinbeans]

Gizmo is my friend's Jetta. It's been in the shop at least once a month for something or other for about 6 months.

that sucks. which trim level is it?? what's been wrong with it?? mine has been very good and i haven't heard of many people having problems with any of the recent jettas (other than silly rattles mainly in the GLI).

He has the 2.5SE and some of the things I've heard are windows that get a mind of their own, going up or down of they're own accord, random clips breaking, vinyl seats tearing, and a melted speaker. Along with electrical gremlins. The brakes failed at 22k, but the dealer said they were fine when he checked. I'm not sure if anything major has failed, but I'm waiting for it.

He's ended up needing to use Olie fairly often.

[potownrob]

Gizmo is my friend's Jetta. It's been in the shop at least once a month for something or other for about 6 months.

that sucks. which trim level is it?? what's been wrong with it?? mine has been very good and i haven't heard of many people having problems with any of the recent jettas (other than silly rattles mainly in the GLI).

He has the 2.5SE and some of the things I've heard are windows that get a mind of their own, going up or down of they're own accord, random clips breaking, vinyl seats tearing, and a melted speaker. Along with electrical gremlins. The brakes failed at 22k, but the dealer said they were fine when he checked. I'm not sure if anything major has failed, but I'm waiting for it.

He's ended up needing to use Olie fairly often.

wow, sounds like he got a lemon. i too have a 2.5 SE and the closest to any of those I've had happen to me is the speakers rattle/suck at higher volumes (higher than I usually have the volume set anyway).

[tankinbeans]

Could be. He's also not very kind to it. I'm not sure how he's had so many problems, but...

I have read that the 2.5 is the most stable engine/platform they make, but figured it was damning with faint praise.