# Am I the only person that thinks VW markets to idiots? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 18, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-that-thinks-vw-markets-to-idiots/155774 "2003-02-18T01:40:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-that-thinks-vw-markets-to-idiots/155774/41 "2003-02-19T03:20:29Z")
I get 25-28, the lower end in winter. I have both a lot of highway and a lot of city traffic on my daily life. The fifth gear is certainly different from the first four. It _is_ where the top speed can be reached, but it is also much wider than the other four, ranging from 30 miles an hour to 115. Vertical speed on the tach is seventy, and it cruises happily there without any complaints or much input on the gas. At 110 the tail lifts a bit. The first VW advert I saw was “Ugly”, from 69-70. White background on a magazine. Picture of the Lunar Lander. “Ugly. But it works.” My dad had a 79 Super Beetle when growing up, which died sadly. Anyone here ever hear the story of the New Beetle, and the accident that it was? It all starts on a beach in California. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-that-thinks-vw-markets-to-idiots/155774/42 "2003-02-19T03:40:22Z")
25mpg? 30mpg? Sheesh. My 22-year-old Rabbit gets 50mpg. Okay, okay, so those are real gallons. My imprecise conversion puts that at around 43mpUSg. I don’t know what how current Jettas and Golfs do compared to their EPA estimates, but I can tell you this. Diesels kick ass for mileage in the city. They use much less fuel at idle than gas engines do. However, if you take advantage of every stoplight to check how much turbo lag the TDI has, I imagine mileage would suffer. ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-that-thinks-vw-markets-to-idiots/155774/43 "2003-02-19T04:32:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*Oh, sure. I was merely taking another mild stab at those who think a Golf with a different body is somehow an amazing car. 😉 \*\* I’m so bad about taking everything at face value. I even missed the wink. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-that-thinks-vw-markets-to-idiots/155774/44 "2003-02-19T09:16:08Z")
[Enjoy old VW commericals here.](http://www.theautochannel.com/media/vxtreme/volkswagen/beetle_historic.html) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-that-thinks-vw-markets-to-idiots/155774/45 "2003-02-19T19:50:22Z")
Regarding the “lick the handle” ad. If I was one of the other prospective buyers, I’d take the key from the salesman and lick that. Now that things are even… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-person-that-thinks-vw-markets-to-idiots/155774.md?page=2)