Yeah I was gonna say, the euro trash part is a tad bit ignorant, considering the Germans take automotive engineering very seriously. The amount of power they can develop from smaller V8's and straight six donks, without resorting to underpowered 6-7 litre lumps is astounding. You only need to sit in a VW Golf or Audi A3 to realise the superior build quality they can produce compared to any GM product.
Street trim M5 versus development mule with roll cage
Having experienced a Mark V Golf from brand new, there are a couple of points I would like to make.
There can be no denying the standards of engineering achieved by the Germans, out of all the Euro manufacturers - in my opinion, Germany is heads and shoulders above France, Italy,Britain etc.
But from my experience, which obviously has since ceased, I was disappointed with various quality control issues.
In two and a half years, the Golf, a 2 litre FSI Comfortline manual, suffered the following faults.
1. Brake switch failure twice. The second time, I was fortunate that a replacement was available - the fault was so common that stocks were exhausted in Aus at that time. The first switch would not activate the brake lights unless you flattended the brake pedal to stop. Not adjustable, naturally. The second switch would short out at night when the temperature dropped, leaving the brake lights on for hours. Resulted in a flat battery - not impressed. By this time, Golf's lustre was wearing thin. Replaced under warranty.
2. Rear electric window switch failure - faulty from day one. Warranty.
3. Faulty trim on front passenger door. Warranty.
4. Persistent knocking sound when clutch was depressed, particularly noticeable at idle. Never attended to despite repeated requests. It turned out that this noise is common to all manual 2 litre Golfs. Hardly acceptable in my opinion. One of the reasons the car was traded.
5. Constant gear clash when changing from second to first at very low speeds. This was a common exercise because of the number of bloody roundabouts in this area. The car had little bottom end torque and as you had to almost stop so frequently, first gear was necessary. Crunch, crunch, crunch, nearly every time. Not fixed. The real reason the car was traded.
6. Ill fitting trim around rear window. Broken or bent clips during manufacture. Warranty.
7. Absolutely pathetic AM radio reception only 50 km from Sydney, because of the stupid aerial being stuck on the rear window. I noticed not long after selling our car that the factory had reverted to a whip aerial on later Golfs. And yes, I do listen to AM - can't stand the pathetic simpering of the male/female combos that the FM stations use for announcers/d.j.'s.
That was all within the 32 months we owned the car. It was bought brand new. A disappointing experience.
Sorry to hijack the thread.