Well maybe you are a US citizen or maybe you live in Europe like me.

Either case, it’s important to know the differences between buying a VW in Europe or USA.

I have lived in the two places and I bought a VW from US and a VW from Germany.  I noticed the differences between cars with disappointment.

First of all, US is still driven by the conception that bigger is better. If you do a quick check-up of the VW North America website if you can notice immediately the differences between engine options with the ones you would have to choose from if you bought exactly the same car model from Germany or another EU state.

For example, in my case, I bought a VW Passat from both continents. I will come back at this subject lower in my article. I want to point out the other differences I spotted and noticed.

Living in the US is still a big advantage since gas comes cheaper. The price in Europe is almost double. So car dealerships in the US afford to import older European gas guzzling engines that in Europe would be total failures, since nobody can afford a compact car that has the running costs of a Mercedes.

Here’s a list with the base MSRP price range for the 2012 VW Passat in US:

2.5L (2500cmc)

• 2.5L S
  $19,995^*1
• 2.5L S with Appearance Package
  $22,690^*1
• 2.5L SE
  $23,725^*1
• 2.5L SE with Sunroof
  $25,625^*1
• 2.5L SE with Sunroof and Navigation
  $26,795^*1
• 2.5L SEL
  $28,395^*1
• 2.5L SEL Premium
  $29,895^*1

They also offer another TDI engine which comes from

• TDI SE
  $25,995^*1

Ok, so these are the two types of engines that come available for a VW Passat in the US in 2012.

This is what happens in Europe today for exactly the same car:

Below you can see a number of visual differences between the two cars:

Ok, so this is how my bedroom looks recently. I finally finished reconditioning my GOLF mk3 1,6 petrol engine.

When an engine needs major repairs, you are faced with an important choice: you can replace the engine with a new, remanufactured or used engine, or you can repair or rebuild the original engine.

Replacing an engine with a brand new one is usually too expensive for many people’s budgets, so the choices come down to a remanufactured engine (or short block), a used engine (and the risks that go with it), or overhauling or repairing the engine yourself. A used engine is a temporary fix at best, and only buys the current owner a little more time.

Sooner or later, most used engines experience problems of their own and have to be replaced or rebuilt, too.

Hope you guys like what I did with it since I spent the last 45 nights working in the garage, including Christmas Eve.

Now I am wondering if this is more than love..

Ok, so for me the answer is short, it was the only german car I could afford at that time.  Considering the fact that at that time – 2004- you could get a brand new Golf for about $10 000 it was the best option for me. I could have opted for an Opel – Astra- but I didn’t because of the design and I went for a Golf instead.

Now things are different,  VW became a premium-segment car, it does not stand with the Chevy’s and Ford’s anymore, it’s a premium german car like the Audi or the sweedish Volvo.  The cheapest VW car is about $14000 now and it’s a Polo, so things have changed a little bit in the company.

So, the question remains, why should you go for VW instead of any other car?

1.  You can’t beat German engineering, that’s a proven fact, Toyota and other premium brands know this. They are simply too clever and technologically advanced.  Maybe some nationalist persons will disapprove with this, but the germans are responsible for many innovations in the car industry.

2.   Number two reason is safety. Just open the door, look at the hinges and compare a Volkswagen hinge to any import or domestic puny stamped metal hinge. It speaks for itself. When I sold Volkswagens, I would hang from the doors, then dare the customer to hang from the competition’s.  Most Volkswagen Safety Ratings & Reports get 5/5 stars by the most respectable car review companies in the industry.   “We are extremely proud to announce that six of our models have earned the prestigious Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) Top Safety Pick award for 2011. ” – VW official

3.   Handling, fun to drive, and the fit and finish is well beyond anything in it’s price range . In my opinion, you just can’t go wrong with germans and for the money, VW’s just can’t be beat when it comes to how much you get for your dollar.

4.   Volkswagen believes that it can sell 800,000 cars in the US by specifically developing vehicles to meet Americans’ tastes: “VW has concluded that price-sensitive U.S. consumers simply aren’t willing to pay for the extras found in a mass-market European sedan”.  Automotive News.

5.   Fuel economy (on a premium Passat ) :

• 2.5L 170-hp engine, 31 mpg highway and 573 miles/tank
• 3.6L 280-hp engine, 28 mpg highway and 518 miles/tank
• 2.0L TDI Clean Diesel, 43 mpg highway and 795 miles/tank

6.  When you choose the Volkswagen Vehicle Protection Plan that’s right for you, you can be covered for up to 100,000 miles, depending upon the age and mileage of your vehicle. You can select from a national network of over 5,000 authorized service centers.

7.  Not only you buy a car, you also get a little piece of history. Even Hitler drove one, Teri Hatcher drives one and Jay Leno drove the world’s oldest and newest Volkswagen Beetle in Wolfsburg, Germany.

8.  The engine is very reliable, the high-endurance internal components are designed and manufactured to work for an average of about 200,000 with no breakdowns. If you keep the car in a good state , you can easily reach 500,000 miles with it.  No wonder the Beetle was the most popular car in the ’40′s because of its price and reliability. The concept hasn’t changed a lot and the germans keep in mind  pretty much the same concepts.

9.  Design. Hate it or love it. Ok, it isn’t an Audi but it sure looks cooler than a Toyota.

10. Don’t forget to share this article if you liked it.

After many hours spent on the internet reading reviews about cars in the same segment like Audi, Opel, Ford, BMW, you decided about going for a VW. Well, believe me or not, or maybe you have seen this for yourself, the VW isn’t a people’s car anymore (“Volks”-german – people’s, “wagen”-car). It simply isn’t an affordable car for everybody anymore. Yes, it’s true. The German group VW-Audi-Porsche has achieved a high standard, setting high prices on their cars. So the cheapest VW available comes for about 14.000$ (~11k euros) , it depends on your country of residence and the car model.

So if you have decided upon driving a VW for the next couple of years read on carefully.

1. Think about your real needs, check up your real priorities. If you have a 4 member family you won’t go out at a local dealer saying “I want a coupe or a sportscar”, so if you have a big family, forget about the Scirocco, EOS or even the Golf VI, these cars are quite tight for 3 persons in the back of your car.  You should go for the Tiguan, Routan, Beetle (for a single mom), or a Jetta.

2. Consider setting up a budget for your new car. If you go into the VW car dealership and the sales staff will convince you to buy a car 5k over your budget, consider you have been ripped off. So be sure to set up a fixed budget for your VW. Keep in mind that you won’t spend over 15 k or 20 k for a new VW no matter what.

3. Do you care about the environment? Do you think about water running down on your sink tap while you are shaving or washing up your teeth? Well if you do, take in mind the green solutions for the environment. So the new VW TDI  engines mean clean diesel technology. So think twice before buying a gasoline fueled vehicle.

4. If you are married or have kids, think about consulting your partner or your children before buying a car, they will ride in it too. You don’t want your kids saying “Dad, I hate this car” everytime they ride in it with you. Or better still, your partner yawning about the smell of the leather or the dashboard design.

5. If you are single and ready to mingle and want to show off in your car, then forget about the Passat, Golf, Tiguan, Routan, Beetle, Touareg, Jetta or Polo. You must go for the GOLF GTI or R, Scirocco, Eos. It really is a matter of taste, but you don’t wanna show off in a 100 bhp car, don’t you?

6.  If your old car was a BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Audi, Porsche or Volvo forget about VW. You’ll be disappointed. (period)

7. “I have a car to trade in, how does that affect the deal?” , well you can reformulate this in “Can I throw away 2000-3000$ on nothing?” Again, settle on the price of the vehicle you’re interested in before you bring up financing — don’t let the rate of a loan influence the price of the car. Don’t trade your old vehicle at the car dealer, they will offer you a considerable lower price than the one you would get trying to sell your old car on the internet.

8. Don’t act at a car dealer like you’re desperate into buying that car or a specific model. This is a sign of weakness and the sales staff will surely be less flexible into offering you a bigger special.

9. VW’s are well known for their reliability. So it would be a pity if you go for a VW and sell it after 2-3 years or after 40k-50k miles. If you make the service check on a fix schedule and you don’t rev your car too much on the highway, you can leave a Golf or a Passat heritage for your children (this is no joke). There are plenty of VW’s running for 500-600 k miles and still running.

10.  Don’t forget to inspect the car before driving it home from the dealership. Before you take the car away, inspect it thoroughly. I personally own a Golf and before driving it home I noticed a scratch on the passenger front door. So they made some paperwork saying that they will have the work done on their expense.

(11*). Don’t forget to share my article if you find this advice useful.