A dream come true for a german car guy

[Wireclimer]

Back in late 2011 my company asked if I could help them out by moving to Germany for a few years to help grow the business. After I said yes I moved in early 2012 out to Aachen Germany to work.

It took a few months to process all of the paper work and get settled in but one of the requirements of my job is lots of travel, and that necessitates me having a car...

As a kid who's first car was an old VW fox wagon from my older brother and favorite daily driver ever was a 98 TDI jetta I have never owned a "new" car in my life. For me the chance to get a German car in Germany was kind of a dream come true. As the process followed thru I was able to pick and choose between a ton of options and make my very own VW built in Wolfsburg. Ill spare the details for now but I was able to build in my range a 4 door TDI golf with quite a few goodies in it. Basicaly a GTD without the plaid seats.

Last week the deal got even more unbelievable for me when I got this letter in the mail:

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So i have been basically hopping up and down for a week because i get to go to VW AutoStadt and get my car out of the pez dispenser thing like a real German!

Today I went out and got my package of plates and paperwork to bring it home, So i actually HAVE euro plates. And they are SUPPOSED to go on my car!
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Tomorrow morning early I will get on a train to go to Autostadt and pick up my first new VW. So... I'm excited...:happydance:

[JUSTION337]

Awesome!



Also, +1000 scene points :)

[Digital K]

oh man, exciting! :D happy for ya!

[likes2party]

Who do you work for, and are they hiring?

[Stumanbmx]

Super rad. Keep us updated!

[Wireclimer]

I feel a fight club quote coming on here...

"What car company did you say you work for?" - Lady

"A major one." - Jack

I work for a paint, chemicals, and coatings company called Valspar. We are always hiring (-= Ill make sure I post picks tomorrow of the whole deal!

[isonic]

That is pretty sweet. Of course we will want all of the details about the car once you get it and have been driving it for a while.

[tattoo-freak]

sweet deal man happy for ya

[Aladinsane07]

Awesome. In for pics.

[derp]

awesome dude.

[Wireclimer]

I had a long day.

got on the train at 4 am after waking up at 315. Slept and ate on train, that was nice. took the ICE (fast train) to Wolfsburg to get the car. It was raining heavy all morning.
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I arrived at 920 am and walked from the train station to the plant and Autostadt (VW has the plant, pick up area, and the car disney land called autostadt in the area)
Registered I was there and was lead up a crazy escalator to the room where a group of people help figure out the last paperwork, check in your license plates to be put on your car etc. My paperwork was messed up so they told me to go play in Autostadt while they fixed it. Every person was good looking and tall, they all wore suites that matched or business power dresses. they all had the same glasses on and all used identical wooden desks with Imacs at each one of them and an ipad on the desk as well. (sorry no pics of this) Also walked past people running Touaregs (however you spell that damn cars name) running some offroad courses.
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I walked thru the autostadt museums and display areas and tried to notice what was new, They just opened the Porsche building so i spent some time in there, here are a few of those pics.
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[Aladinsane07]

Sounds like an awesome visit. But no update on the TDI?

[9jetta6]

sweet, really liking that quote too.

[Wireclimer]

Wolfsburg part 2:

Sorry for the delay, I was unable to say and post all I wanted at one time due to an early appointment today that required me to get my sleep on.

I was called back to the room of VW guys that looked suspiciously like an Apple store and received my ticket for getting my car, I was told that my paperwork had been approved finaly ! yay! They gave me this:
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So i was basically holding a ticket to my car in my hand. I immediately started wondering what would happen if I lost it :crazy:, Like when I had the check for the down payment on my house, it was kind of freaky to hold this kind of thing in my hand and worry over it until my 12:15 appointment. I don't think I let go of it the whole time.
I then ran off to the dealership building to eat a quick free lunch from VW (thanks VW!) and wait to get my car. The building on the map behind the ticket with the black writing on it was the dealership building.
After I handed them my ticket they lead me to a waiting area on the top of the building where you sat in very nice chairs in a very well appointed open air room and were waited on with cookies and coffee and drinks of whatever you wanted while your turn with a car guy to set up your car came up.
I met my car guy who later informed me VW actually sent out to a dealership in wolfsburg city to get him for me since they could tell I had an American accent and wanted to be sure I could talk and ask any question I wanted during the process. They were going WAY above and beyond. It was very cool. He then walked me down to "meet" my car. Germans use a different work for knowing a person vs knowing a fact or a city or something. They all used the term for knowing a person when talking about the cars here... My first view of my car
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They took pictures too. And yes Eurowerks was in the house. They made it a big deal for everyone, and although I know hyping the car is in the end good for them, They did things for people that was far more special than it seemed self serving. I think they truly believe they are making cars for people knowing, that for some, it is far more than a car. It was wonderful to see. They brought out Champagne and helped organize a wedding proposal for this couple's guy. They also had a real photographer show up and take some pictures. They guy was more than misty eyed over the fact they had done that for him, just because he bought a car from VW.
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I was waled thru every feature of my car, Told stories about the engine and development stuff, when I asked questions that were complicated a tech guy came over and told me more, They showed me my build sheet, asked if everything was good and told me I could stay in the place all day long and hotels were available at reduced rates for me and my family if I was interested.

The car is silver, has LED running lights, HID headlights, HID full fog, LED tails. The high end navi ( Germany is hard to drive around so that was a must) The GTD breaks and suspension same as GTI i believe and the 2.0 140 HP TDI engine with the lower 6th gear transmission. You can option this from the factory and forgo the Bluemotion body kit and subsequently badging if your companies purchasing guy asks for the best configuration for tax in Germany. I was not that smart. I was told 1000km no over 3K RPM 1000-2000RPM no over 4K RPM, the car will let you know when to change the oil based on driving history and re gen cycles. Go fourth and drive.

Then I finally got to drive the thing. Out onto the A2 Autobahn that goes from Berlin to Oberhausen and I was on my way home. The car was great. After 2 months in a Ford C-Max 1.6 Liter it was a dream. A Golf is nothing special but a golf is special. Everything was intuitive and well put together, easy to remember from American Mk 5's but the fit and finish was better. Things felt better in hand and were quieter by a ton from the Mk 5. IT could still do 185 KPH with a 3K redline and was solid on the Bahn. I ran back towards Aachen between 130-180KPH traffic allowing. Properly fast and smooth enough to ENJOY the Bahn. I spent the trip switching from 5th to 6th and back remembering what I felt was good sounding info from TDI club about ring sealing on the pistons. never the same RPM for more than 20 KM's or so during the first phase of break in.

I was tired but I was all smiles.

[3L3M3NT]

Sounds like an awesome experience:beer:

Yeah, you definitely wanna vary the rpms and a few full throttle blurps wouldn't hurt imo.

Now only if we could get that car stateside:thumbup: Better yet just bring it back with you when you return stateside.:biggrin:

[sprstu]

Its so unlike VW dealers here/They really took care of you and sales dept here are just that, sales. No grander experience.

Super pumped for you.

[Nico86]

That's awesome!

[CaRJoE0220]

Its so unlike VW dealers here/They really took care of you and sales dept here are just that, sales. No grander experience.

Super pumped for you.

You clearly have never been to Westside..... haha

half kidding. I think Westside understands the passion of the EW guys and quite a few of us have had our best car buying experiences through them. I definitely never had as smooth an experience as I did through them.

But your on to something. I will make my next car buying process through Westside require 100 balloons to fall from the ceiling as soon as I sign the purchase contract.

[Audiphile]

Sounds like a great experience! The opportunity to live in Europe for a couple years would be awesome.

[sprstu]

I wasnt trying to say there should be doves released with every car bought or fireworks when you signanddrive, but VWUSA has a pretty poor track record with customer service and loyalty. I have good experiences with WestSide as well as Burnsville, but it does help to know a couple of guys. It isnt all VW either, I think American have a general distrust of dealerships and cars sales. Maybe something a little more fun or interesting could help change that image, instead we sit in a tiny office where someone tries desperately to sell you an extended warranty or a 3 year oil change plan.

sadly I dont think we have a colective car culture here that would support something as grand as Autostadt or Pufenhausen (spelling?). German makers get away with having theme park like places for their customers to enjoy a car buying experience, if they choose to, GM and Ford couldnt pull off the same without looking like posers or over selling their importance. I mean look at our Autoshows, they are pretty miserable.

[magilson]

I wasnt trying to say there should be doves released with every car bought or fireworks when you signanddrive, but VWUSA has a pretty poor track record with customer service and loyalty. I have good experiences with WestSide as well as Burnsville, but it does help to know a couple of guys. It isnt all VW either, I think American have a general distrust of dealerships and cars sales. Maybe something a little more fun or interesting could help change that image, instead we sit in a tiny office where someone tries desperately to sell you an extended warranty or a 3 year oil change plan.

sadly I dont think we have a colective car culture here that would support something as grand as Autostadt or Pufenhausen (spelling?). German makers get away with having theme park like places for their customers to enjoy a car buying experience, if they choose to, GM and Ford couldnt pull off the same without looking like posers or over selling their importance. I mean look at our Autoshows, they are pretty miserable.

At the same time, I'd rather not pay for the fanfare just to feel validated. I think that's more of the driving factor. "Americans" may *want* to be made to feel good when purchasing a car, but they aren't willing to *pay* the cost the dealer incurs in giving it to them. So you end up with a good dealer like Westside doing with they can which is to have a nice staff be nice to you because it costs them maybe a bit more in wages to their employees so they get good people but not on the level of what German dealerships provide as far as fanfare.

[Wireclimer]

So Day two i took the car out with a guy from work and we tooled down to the Nurburg ring to see the big Truck races going on. The ring was a cluster so we slipped in the back entrance to the town of Nurburg (under the straight away by the end of the nord loop) and went up to the castle and looked around. Saw some really nice race preped cars hanging out by the tracks camping areas on the way and a Killer STI from the UK.
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Made it up to the good tower view and looked over the part of the track you can see.
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Drove up back past Koln and on to Oberhausen north of Dusseldorf to crown off the mileage needed to open it up by the time I got home.
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So that breaks the red line cherry :cookie:

[isonic]

I think American have a general distrust of dealerships and cars sales.
I agree.


sadly I dont think we have a colective car culture here that would support something as grand as Autostadt or Pufenhausen (spelling?). German makers get away with having theme park like places for their customers to enjoy a car buying experience, if they choose to, GM and Ford couldnt pull off the same without looking like posers or over selling their importance. I mean look at our Autoshows, they are pretty miserable.
The best thing that GM has is the Corvette Factory Tour and delivery option. You can go and watch your Vette being build and if you are buying a Z06 you can watch them hand build your motor. Pretty sweet. Not totally the same thing as what VW has aus Deutschland but cool non the less.

[sprstu]

Did you get a chance to watch any racing while you were there?

Keep us updated on milage and what not!

[TTaM]

So did the car come out of that giant tower thing or what? No pics of that?

[Wireclimer]

first tank was 758.9 km on 49.18 liters mixed bahn/B roads nothing over 185 KPH that comes to 6.48 Liters/100 KM or 36.48 mpg thus far.

The car was in the tower but they took it out while I was waiting on paper work since they had to get it out of the way:jerkit:

even the tower has a tight schedule I guess. movie of racing (-= just a short one.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27089326@N06/7599236452/in/photostream

Ill dig up the tower pics tomorrow.

[drewbob]

jealous! Nice write up, I felt like I was there instead of you.
oh, and congrats on the new custom company car!!!

[Wireclimer]

fuel economy and other "news"

Ok so, been busy no time to post until now.

Mileage so far :
Tank 1 36.42 mpg
Tank 2 38.36 mpg

I was well on my way to tank #3 when i walked out to work Wednesday morning with this having happened:
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So then I got to go to the police and fill out German insurance forms all day. Apparently the navigation unit in the car is a cherry target, middle of a crowded street nothing in the car etc. The police were no help other than to give me more papers the insurance needed. So the car is down, messed up door card, the interior metal and plastic support for the HCON and radio needs to be replaced so the dash will partly come out to do that. I have a fear that the car may never be safe on a German street again after how fast it happened and how no one really cares that it happened but I just have to hope it was random and bad luck /-= The VW dealership in my town was awesome. They INTRODUCED me to who would work on my car. The mechanic and tech service rep guy talked to me about what they would do and everything in front of the car. I think we could learn something in the US from this.

Getting your new car violated and messed up by stupid street thugs outside your apartment sucks dick BUT dont feel to bad for me. I get a sweet replacement until its back on the road.
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Ill just pound the gas turbo and try and feel better about it for now. Interesting side note: The golf feels better, drives better and has a way better interior then the A3 does. the A3 however is much faster (-=

[sprstu]

2.0T in the A3?

Did you alarm go off? seems like something that violent would set the alarm off.

[Wireclimer]

it is a 2.0T in the Audi, the alarm did not go off that I know of. the door was not opened and i was so shocked i don't remember if the red light was blinking still.

they knew what they were doing for whatever that's worth so I bet it never did.

[Stack]

I lived in Germany for 6 years and loved every min of it!

If you need any advice pointers or whatever... hit me up.

Tchuss!!!

[vweezly]

Awesome read Logan! Sorry about the break in... that blows.

[SLK]

Time to invest in a better security system...
http://assets.pakwheels.com/forums/2008/5/20/blaster-flamethrower_58M_PakWheels(com).jpg

[reverend]

which nav system is the "high end Nav system" that got stolen out of you car?

[Wireclimer]

just the R510. its not like its worth breaking into a car, but apparently its worth breaking into a car.

Funny thing about the security system is that when I asked the cops what to do, the responded with it doesn't matter. security system, alarms whatever, they will get it. I agree with you though I do want to try something (-=

[urgti]

I wish we could go back to choosing every option you want or not type of ordering on new cars instead of "package" ordering.

[sprstu]

That would be nice but is very costly for dealers. I think Volvo lets you piece together your own options (mostly) for a $350 fee.