VW With 80 MPG?, Made In America But Illegal To Purchase?

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
I will never buy an American vehicle, they are poor inferior quality cars compared to German cars. All three of my cars have been German.

I drive japanese cars only - you wouldn't drive an Audi or a BMW if you could hear from your repair shops the same stories as we hear it over here.

Mostly computer/electronic problems, of course - modern cars are way too much cluttered up with that. Buy an older (pre 2004) German car and you might be in safe waters.

Originally posted by vor78

Originally posted by Cassius666
In Europe distances to drive are shorter most of the time, so thats why our fuel is more expensive, because we use less of it on average. But yeah, if less fuel is consumed the price goes up, because of, supply and demand...

edit on 20-6-2012 by Cassius666 because: (no reason given)

European fuel prices are generally more expensive because you pay much, much higher taxes on it than we do. The underlying price of the physical gasoline isn't that much different than what we pay.

This. (around 6$ a gallon where I am)

Also: Demand goes down->price goes down!!!!

Demand goes down->price goes down!!!!

well its more to do with certain people (namely idiots in the financial districts) that speculate on the price of commodities like fuel / gas.

They can drive the price up or down and the worst bit about it is that they don't care if it costs you $100 or $1000 to fill up your car.

Wankers the lot of them.

Volkswagen doesn't build vehicles in the US. I believe they are building a plant down south but are not in production as of yet.

reply to post by diddy1234


Oil demand reacts very little to price changes. So there is limited power for the consumer right there.

But this is the 2nd time in a few days I came across this, and I am starting to wonder if the upside down world of voodoo economics managed to turn supply and demand curves upside down as well.

The Toyota Prius has a button on the dash for "Electric Only" driving. America forced Toyota to remove the button if they wanted to sell them in America.

Prius techies figured out how to put the switch back in and have been having challenges to get the best MPG. They have gotten +120 MPG.

If you want efficiency you have to build it/ tweak the vehicles yourself. They don't want America energy efficient.

Obama kept India from exporting their Mahindra 4 cylinder turbo diesel truck/suv to America. Those also get very high MPG.

reply to post by Bone75


About 4 years ago I baught a Citroen Berlingo 2 litre diesel, the car suited my needs and did around 50 miles to the gallon. I had heard that you could use cooking oil in a diesel car so that was why I opted for a diesel, I'd heard of a mechanic using nothing but cooking oil in his new VW Golf diesel so thought this had to be the way to go.

At the time I baught the car cooking oil was 30 UK pence per litre and more and more drivers seemed to giving it a go especially since used cooking oil was being given away and was making the newspapers.. Then the price of cooking oil suddenly jumped to around 90 UKpence per litre

Today cooking oil on the supermarket shelf is averaging £1.40 per litre around the same price as Diesel!!! I have infuriatingly watched the price increase every time weve had a dieasel increse over the past few years.

Now I can't even get in my car without thinking BASTARDS sending my blood pressure through the ceiling

I'm sick and tired of seeing threads about some cheap energy car and such they all just wither and die after getting our hopes up,.
ALL YOU INVENTORS OUT THERE LISTEN If you do come up with a way of running a car for peanuts either keep it to yourself or show someone else how to do it , do not make youtube videos do not try and make billions just do the right thing and bloody share or shut up !!

Perhaps this post should have gone in rant I now have to go and lay down

Originally posted by narwahl

Originally posted by vor78

Originally posted by Cassius666
In Europe distances to drive are shorter most of the time, so thats why our fuel is more expensive, because we use less of it on average. But yeah, if less fuel is consumed the price goes up, because of, supply and demand...

edit on 20-6-2012 by Cassius666 because: (no reason given)

European fuel prices are generally more expensive because you pay much, much higher taxes on it than we do. The underlying price of the physical gasoline isn't that much different than what we pay.

This. (around 6$ a gallon where I am)

Also: Demand goes down->price goes down!!!!

I know what the price demand relationship should be like, thats what the was fore, because I get the impression its the opposite with gas prices.

reply to post by ChristianJihad


Easy buddy, no need to blow a gasket over it. Bob Marley and the Wailers are good for times like these....

Originally posted by THE_PROFESSIONAL
I will never buy an American vehicle, they are poor inferior quality cars compared to German cars. All three of my cars have been German.

This simply isn't true. What is most important is how a person maintains their car. If they don't keep it up then it won't last long. All of my cars and trucks over the years have been American made and all had well over 100k on them and still ran like new when I sold them.

In one of my first Engineering classes at University, I learned that there was a man that designed and built a 100-mpg carburetor for engines decades ago. No one could afford the plans at the time for the incredibly efficient carburetor. Except, you guessed it. The plans were bought by an oil company and destroyed.

Something to ponder. Does anyone have the best interest at mind anymore?

I was thinking of doing a rant on compressed natural gas engines......is that why we don't have those in the US?? I am sure the gov could tax that also....why are we so behind Europe etc??? Because government keeps getting in the freaking way of business and progress....

Originally posted by mikellmikell
Volkswagen doesn't build vehicles in the US. I believe they are building a plant down south but are not in production as of yet.

The Chattanooga TN. Plant has been in operation since 2011 and is still producing cars, they build the Passat. There was another plant that was in operation in Pennsylvania from 1978-1988.

Bicycles! People that live in towns or cities should get off their lazy butts and start riding bicycles. My wife and I ride bikes. We spend about $5 a week on gas. We have nice tans, we lost weight, we are healthier, we have more money. Just yesterday I rode 5 miles to pay my electric bill, and then 5 miles back. It took less than an hour. Had I drove it still would have taken atlest a half hour.

Bicycles are the ultimate form of transportation. They need no fuel, oil, water, or food. Repairs are dirt cheap. They are very dependable and can go places no cars ever could.

reply to post by Erectus


Not an option for everyone..

reply to post by buster2010


I guess I am a bit biased in this as well as I like German cars and their handling. It is simply fantastic as there is no need to slow around corners, and marvelous interiors and lighting. I have owned 2 BMWs and one Mercedes and will upgrade to another BMW hopefully within the next year if finances permit..

reply to post by ManFromEurope


Had two older BMWs, both pre 2004, one did get computer problems still lol...as my previous post I still love em

I saw that VW Model it's like a station wagon. a few of them were auctioned here in the US. Whom the owner of these cars were I'm not sure, but it was one of those GSA state government auctions. ( This was a live auction) I did bid ,but did not win. Anyhow.,The people whom bought them took the cars home, drove them around etc. Then the cars were seized and given back to the auction house. with a full refund. The reason I know this is because the auctioneer is a friend of mine. He also sent everyone an email and made phone calls to all the bidders at that auction making sure he did not sell more. I asked why the recall ; is something wrong with them. he explained that it was illegal,because it did not have safety glass. That's what they told him. I don't know whom ( they ) is, but he did not buy the story . He did say that they can be sold in Mexico though.

So, now I know the whole story. thanks OP.

Originally posted by Hessling
Personally, I'm convinced higher-MPG technology does exist but is being suppressed. Why haven't we been able to blow by the 40 MPG mark when there were cars getting higher then that back in the 1980s?

Because the mass of the cars has been going up proportionally because all that fancy stuff is heavy and because the same line car has much more horsepower & acceleration.

I had a '84 Camry, which was about 2400 pounds. 2012 Camry is 3200 pounds. 2012 Corolla is 2800 pounds.

If you made a car today which has a modern engine and scaled it to have the horsepower of the '84 Camry (about 100 hp, compared to 200+ in a modern Camry/Hyundai) and put it in a 2400 lb car, it would get great MPG, definitely better than the old car.

Also, the MPG ratings from the EPA for the sticker have been downgraded (made more realistic) twice since then.

By the way, the "fleet MPG" rating used in government regulation has not been so adjusted and is actually much higher than the true MPG and latest sticker MPG.

Originally posted by assspeaker
My buddy is getting 50 mpg highway in a turbo diesel jetta.
What gets me is that the big American three refuse to give us good power, handling, and economy such as our imports do.

Sad!

edit on 20-6-2012 by assspeaker because: (no reason given)

Finally the Ford Focus in the USA is the same as in Europe (i.e. good).

Of course, in Europe it's considered a moderately large car and priced accordingly, but in the USA it's an "economy" car so the USA editions are cheapened out.

In practice, a $29k Focus diesel (which would get good MPG) isn't going to sell well in USA even if it could be standard in EU.