I will never buy a VW Jetta (Commercials)

The BBQ Pit
1

I understand that you want to show how safe you cars are. Good go with that. I understand that you want to sell you cars. Great, buy some more TV spots, but why the hell do they see the need to scare the hell out of people in order to show how safe the cars are? If you have been in a side impact collision, your first thought is not–Damn that is a solid vehicle, it is usually–Oh shit, is everyone ok? Do I have a spare pair of pants? A car that seems to be a magnet for crashes is not the car I really want to own. A car maker that has to show that as a safety feature is not the car I want either.

Really, what ad wizard came up with this crap?!?!

Sgt Schwartz

2

Well, one concern people might have about buying a compact car is safety.

That said: Don’t not buy a Jetta because of that ad, don’t buy one because of how VW handled oil sludging on the 1.8T engine and because their quality has gone to shit in recent years.

3

This is actually the second campaign built around crashes. The other one has from Allstate was pitted here before, and I’d thought they were talking about these VW commercials. I can’t say I hate them, but I do find them really disturbing. Especially the one with the car backing out of the driveway.

4

In one of the European countries they have (or used to) an ad that is exactly like these commercials.

-But instead of trying to sell cars; it’s an ad against drunk driving. The whole time in the commercial the passengger keeps nagging at the driver who is apparently drunk: “When are going to quit D&D? When are you going to start acting responsible? When are yo…” CRASH!!!

5

The only thing that would make this commercial even BETTER would be a bunch of crying Smurfs.

6

Speaking of bad car ad ideas, what brand is that one that has what looks like an oil slick pouring out behind the car as it drives? What braniac thought of that one?

7

I dunno. What’s a car supposed to do for you? Make you look really hot while breaking the speed limit? Or save your ass when you eventually aren’t paying enough attention, do something stupid or someone else does something stupid?

I like the commercial. It’s blunt, and it’s right on. There’s a reason they’re called “accidents.”

8

I agree that car makers need to demonstrate safety. I have seen many ads where crash test dummies are used. I have also been in several collisions, and do not respect a car maker that will use that fear to sell their cars. I don’t drive fast. I try to pay attention when driving. I don’t even use my hands free cell phone when driving. I know that accidents still happen, but I don’t need to see that demonstrated so violently.

Oddly enough the ads at the bottom of the page are all for the Jetta.

Sgt Schwartz

9

Don’t buy one because of a commercial. Buy one because this is a jetta after a 70 MPH roll. mrAru walked away with bruises, very minor scrapes, and only one fairly minor nasty cut on his arm.

10

Of course, one might decide not to buy a Jetta (again) because they had a known defect in their electric window mechanism that caused the window to simply come loose and fall down in the door thunk, and they calmly charge ~$400 to fix it. In theory, they fix it right, replacing the junky plastic widget with a brass one.

Not that I’m bitter or anything.

Of course, when the third window went a couple of months back, I did ask the kids to go inside the house so I could better express my feelings for Jettas :mad:.

There’s one window left. Another $400. I wonder when it will go.

Heck, maybe one might decide to not buy a Jetta because the wiring is crap?
Gotta admit, I like driving it when it is working, though.

11

I thought BMW had a similiar commercial–but instead of the cars crashing, the driver seems to sideswipe guardrails and the like, but the car suffers no damage.
Hmmm–must be nice drugs.

12

You completely missed the point of the commercial. It wasn’t saying that VW cars will get into accidents, it was saying that if you do, you’ll want to be in a Jetta if an accident does happen. Instead of that rusty-ass pinto with the coat hanger keeping the tie rods connected to the knuckle, ya know?

13

And this wasn’t covered by the warranty? Or had the warranty expired by this time?

14

70 MPH?? Damn. I will keep that in mind next time I need a car. Glad mrAru’s OK. :slight_smile:

15

I like the campaign.
So many car companies spend time trying to convince people to buy cars based on speed, sex appeal, or implausible physics, so I like it when I see something accentuate the wake-up call of what is ultimately important in a vehicle. And recreations of real people communicate it more effectively than slow-time elapsed mannequins.

My husband is a patrolman and it’s always good to hear about the horrific accident that people walked away from (“what kind of a car” “a jetta” “cool”). Although, he reminds me all the time that there isn’t much to do about a 60mph T-bone.

We may be biased as we both of our vehicles are vws. Yes, the VW corp is not-so-great, but we have a relationship with the VW service and sales staff that makes us happy. We also read up on our make specific communities, so that’s another thing which fosters the idea of “we know what’s up, and it’s all good.” (I have a TDI wagon and he has a GTI) All vehicles have flaws, maybe VW drivers just take more interest.

We even had a window drop on the GTI happen the night before our wedding, but it was under warranty (ooh, and a gas line leak,although that may have been a separate San Diego end destination roadtrip thing) and the techs took care of it. Although I admit I had lemon law thoughts over the coil problem. Still, for the fun of the car, the price of the car, the safety of the car, it was worth it.
It was recently traded in and he has the 06 version, very cool.

One thing I think is funny (but almost completely unrelated to this thread except for “marketing”) is that when he bought his first GTI, they sent him a detailing kit. When I bought my mom-mobile fuel efficient diesel wagon…nada. When he bought his 06 GTI, well, he just got that stupid “myfast” rabbit which reeks of skunk weed and has four interchangeable tails. I can’t decide if it’s “supergay” or diabolically clever. The hype, and then, the packaging of this thing is fantastic, perfectly cut foam for its shape to rise from the box, and if you are a thirty-something who doesn’t get the appeal of a hunk of plastic but has a kid…it’s a marketing ploy that covers the bases as far as I’m concerned.

VW’s marketing is genius–they used to have a radio station, before it became a big thing with all the online venues.

Also, OP-specific, there’s that oh-so-clever hint of ooh-we-almost cussed! :rolleyes: Quite like it, it encourages empathy. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

16

Can you point me to some info on this? I’m actually really considering a Jetta and every VW I’ve seen recently seems very well made.

17

This was one of those secret service bulletin things: if you knew to ask, you could get the work done for free. I poked around the Internet the first time it happened and found that many folks had had the work done for free.

Of course, when I went to my dealer to have a recall fix done, I casually asked if they could do the free fix for my taped-up window. The guy did some serious calculations, involving the cube root of pi and the date that Easter fell on when the car was made, and smiled as he said, “Your car isn’t eligible for the free replacement.”

And that was that.

Now completely off topic, I think the karma came back to me, two months ago: my wife’s Subaru developed a fatal engine disease and Subaru replaced the engine, free of charge, even though we weren’t the original owners and we hadn’t purchased any kind of warrantee.

18

Or something that has to be started with a spoon. :slight_smile:

I loved my Jetta - but it had too many mechanical problems. Great car, put together by monkeys with ADD.

-Joe

19

Any commercial that can get someone staring open mouthed at the TV screen for 10 seconds after it’s over, gets a big thumbs up from me.

20

What BMW was trying to convey was the improvement in handling of their car as opposed to another. The guardrails being crashed into, etc, represent the course another car would have taken but BMW’s agility allowed it to avoid all those potentially life threatening accidents.