Do Ford make better cars than VW
Discussion
I'm talking normal everyday cars here, passats and mondeos, focuses, golfs, polos and fiesas. Was chatting to a friend earlier and we couldn't think of a single VW that an equivalent ford didn't better. The new golf advert got us talking if anyones seen it? "the new golf, sometimes the only people you have to beat are yourselves" or something along those lines, hmmm.
Quality certainly isn't what it was with VW's, anyone had the missfortune of being driven in a VW Touran recently? Horrid, woeful, cheap interior. Fords though, are really quite nice now. The quality and build is very good inside, design too. Anyone sat in a new mondeo or fiesta? Dynamicaly though, driving wise, I don't think there's any argument. IMO ford run rings around VW here and any other maker of normal everyday cars. Never driven a new focus, but the old one is sooo much better to drive than anything else of that ilk of the same vintage. The mk4 golf in just dull, nothing more.
Reliability too, Ford comes out ontop of VW here too in the surveys.
I'm expecting the badge snobs to rip into this one, but what do we think? I'm not at all biast, I love certain VW's, I just don't think they're that hot anymore.
Quality certainly isn't what it was with VW's, anyone had the missfortune of being driven in a VW Touran recently? Horrid, woeful, cheap interior. Fords though, are really quite nice now. The quality and build is very good inside, design too. Anyone sat in a new mondeo or fiesta? Dynamicaly though, driving wise, I don't think there's any argument. IMO ford run rings around VW here and any other maker of normal everyday cars. Never driven a new focus, but the old one is sooo much better to drive than anything else of that ilk of the same vintage. The mk4 golf in just dull, nothing more.
Reliability too, Ford comes out ontop of VW here too in the surveys.
I'm expecting the badge snobs to rip into this one, but what do we think? I'm not at all biast, I love certain VW's, I just don't think they're that hot anymore.
Edited by lee_erm on Saturday 17th January 23:58
Modern Fords are, in my opinion, the equal of German stuff now. I can't believe how well screwed together they are. Problem is, nearly all VW's have always been well put together, whereas older Fords were woeful, both in build quality and interior materials used. I say this as a fan of neither marque.
All but one of my personnel cars have been fords (1 BMW), drive VW's through work and i've never understood the hype that VW's get. Driven Passats, Mk 4 and 5 Golfs and Tourans and non have had the build quality of the recent Fords i've had, then as you say thers the drivability, Fords Rule!
I'm talking more about the nomral stuff, those are both excellent but you can't really draw comparisson with anything ford because there isn't anything to compare. Scorpio maybe haha
VW seem to do the slightly more specialist stuff very well, personaly I just don't think the normal stuff is all that. Ford probably don't have enough cash to do anyting specialist to be fair!
VW seem to do the slightly more specialist stuff very well, personaly I just don't think the normal stuff is all that. Ford probably don't have enough cash to do anyting specialist to be fair!
Edited by lee_erm on Sunday 18th January 00:10
Ive always put VW on a level with Ford and Vauxhall to be honest... Vectra/Mondeo/Passat, Fiesta/Corsa/Polo, Astra/Focus/Golf.
Ford have always been underrated in terms of build quality - but why do they have to look so s
t!!!!!!!
Mondeo is hideous, give me a Vectra/Insignia/Passat anyday.
Ford have always been underrated in terms of build quality - but why do they have to look so s
t!!!!!!!Mondeo is hideous, give me a Vectra/Insignia/Passat anyday.
IMO when ever i see a VW on the road, i see a person that knows feck all about cars and watches too many glosy TV commercials. VW were always reliable back in the day because they were so simple (read basic), but horrid cars to drive. The only decent car they have ever made was the MK1 Golf GTI
Given that a large number of Fords are now built in Germany it probably explains the leaps they've made in terms of build quality.
I had a MkIV Golf V6 4Mo prior to the Focus ST and I have to say the ST is better in pretty much every way. How it'd fare against the new MkVI is another matter though. Interior quality is higher in the Golf. I did test drive the MkV GTI as part of my decision process and it was very good. Didn't justify the £4k premium over the Focus though IMO.
Where I HAVE seen massive gains is in the 1-series I've just ordered. You can tell where the extra money's been spent.
I had a MkIV Golf V6 4Mo prior to the Focus ST and I have to say the ST is better in pretty much every way. How it'd fare against the new MkVI is another matter though. Interior quality is higher in the Golf. I did test drive the MkV GTI as part of my decision process and it was very good. Didn't justify the £4k premium over the Focus though IMO.
Where I HAVE seen massive gains is in the 1-series I've just ordered. You can tell where the extra money's been spent.
ingham said:
why is it then that vws are worth more second hand?
because they are the cheapest way into German badge ownership. Its a club for aspiring salespeople and other such "executives" up and down the country. Cant afford a poverty spec BMW? OK buy a VW. This makes people think they are somehow worth more on the used market so helps keep prices higher.FWIW The mondeo (as far back as the mk1) has always bettered the driving experience of the equiv 3 series
Hollywood Wheels said:
Modern Fords are, in my opinion, the equal of German stuff now. I can't believe how well screwed together they are. Problem is, nearly all VW's have always been well put together, whereas older Fords were woeful, both in build quality and interior materials used. I say this as a fan of neither marque.
I've done pretty much back to back comparisons between the current Passat and MkIII Mondeo. The Passat wins hands down in terms of quality.Haven't compared a Golf with a Focus II, but I've had a couple of Focus II hire cars and thought they were crap compared with the Golf V courtesy cars I've had.
However, I appreciate that for most people, any differences are splitting hairs - so buy on price and brand preference.
I would suggest to anyone they take a ford or VW apart a bit and see how well they are made.
I stripped my brand new transit and was shocked at the low quality and poor assembly, lack of paint and any stone chip protection. Its done 1900 miles and there is rust on the chassis and rear of cab, the diff is bare metal and rusty and the bolt heads rusted under the bonnet. Also I found wet bags of sponge stuffed into the inner wing cavities that had been put there to aid the rusting process possibly timed to rust through after the end of the body warranty.
The most recent VW I have taken apart recently is my wifes 52 plate golf TDi but that was well put together and had paint and protection where it needed it, all the bolts were easy to get to and they were not rusty.
So to recap, 58 plate transit was poor and rusty 52 plate golf not rusty at all. *Idiots edit: Not comparing the two, just the state of the parts in relation to the age of the vehicle*
The VW gets my vote as better built based on my experiance with other models in both makers ranges on a day to day mechanic basis.
I have no badge snobbery about VW at all, they are just a car make who happen to be better than Ford and vauxhalls current offerings.
I stripped my brand new transit and was shocked at the low quality and poor assembly, lack of paint and any stone chip protection. Its done 1900 miles and there is rust on the chassis and rear of cab, the diff is bare metal and rusty and the bolt heads rusted under the bonnet. Also I found wet bags of sponge stuffed into the inner wing cavities that had been put there to aid the rusting process possibly timed to rust through after the end of the body warranty.
The most recent VW I have taken apart recently is my wifes 52 plate golf TDi but that was well put together and had paint and protection where it needed it, all the bolts were easy to get to and they were not rusty.
So to recap, 58 plate transit was poor and rusty 52 plate golf not rusty at all. *Idiots edit: Not comparing the two, just the state of the parts in relation to the age of the vehicle*
The VW gets my vote as better built based on my experiance with other models in both makers ranges on a day to day mechanic basis.
I have no badge snobbery about VW at all, they are just a car make who happen to be better than Ford and vauxhalls current offerings.
Edited by Getragdogleg on Sunday 18th January 01:48
Edited by Getragdogleg on Sunday 18th January 14:46
Well if anything I would expect the Transit has the hardest life and I would expect the quality to echo that.
Anyway the priciples of manufacture are the same, the actual assembly processes and the design of the two will be carried out in very similar ways.
I grant you it might seem like a leap to go from cars to vans but the manufacture of the components is the same, its only the final shape of the thing that makes it what it is.
The focus cars that come through my work are terrible, the Ka I saw this week had bags of foam in the doors too, Fords quality is terrible no matter if you agree with me mentioning vans or not.
Anyway the priciples of manufacture are the same, the actual assembly processes and the design of the two will be carried out in very similar ways.
I grant you it might seem like a leap to go from cars to vans but the manufacture of the components is the same, its only the final shape of the thing that makes it what it is.
The focus cars that come through my work are terrible, the Ka I saw this week had bags of foam in the doors too, Fords quality is terrible no matter if you agree with me mentioning vans or not.
Edited by Getragdogleg on Sunday 18th January 02:22
Agreed great comparison, will remember that if I ever go into a VW dealership
"Ah sir, I see you like this new golf"
"Why yes, I do, I hear the build qaulity of these is better than a transit"
If I was to buy an every day car out of the two marques, would have to buy a Ford, they are cheaper, look good and just as well built, wouldnt buy a VW hold there money well, but they cost to much in the first place. Not only that, they havnt made a car thats made me go "wow, that looks good" since the mk2 Golf
"Ah sir, I see you like this new golf"
"Why yes, I do, I hear the build qaulity of these is better than a transit"
If I was to buy an every day car out of the two marques, would have to buy a Ford, they are cheaper, look good and just as well built, wouldnt buy a VW hold there money well, but they cost to much in the first place. Not only that, they havnt made a car thats made me go "wow, that looks good" since the mk2 Golf
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