VOLKSWAGEN PROUCTS

A refreshing wind of realism is starting to blow through the pages of CAR. I am referring to the letters of Johan Burger and Vickus Pieters in recent issues of your magazine, concerning the quality of Volkswagen products.

Like your journalists, I also once was intoxicated by the VW badge. My infatuation with Volkswagen started 60 years ago when, still at school, I learnt about the Beetle. My first car was the same: a 1964 Beetle, out of the box. This car placed my feet solidly in the real world and I soon discovered the meaning of burnt valves. It took another four Beetles to cure me once and for all of the false perceptions relayed to unwary public

by ruthless journalists trying to promote the VW badge.

Take, for instance, your write up on the VW Up! in recent issues. This car should have been called the Volkswagen Down!. How can you compare the 1,0-litre Up! with the 1,25-litre Kia Picanto? Ask any Picanto owner about defects and mechanical problems, and you will stand in awe of this car’s reliability. But, your journalists still think the overpriced, underequipped, bland and most probably unreliable Up! is a better buy than the Picanto.

Many years ago, Volkswagen corrupted the name of its products. Its cars were initially intended to be affordable and reliable cars ( wagens) for the people ( volk). They have, of late, become overpriced, over-valued, underequipped with a suspect record as far as quality is concerned. PIET OOSTHUIZEN Ermelo

[Sounds like those burnt valves really did scar you, Piet. As always, though, it’s great to hear passionate arguments from a real petrolhead. Perhaps just avoid our test on the new Polo on page 62… – editor.]