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Voltswagen of America

media.vw.com

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Re: Voltswagen of America

#291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is respectful to at least attempt to pronounce names from different cultures. In many cases, I totally understand it is difficult. In those cases, an attempt is great. In this case, the syllable F exists in Latin and I don't see why it. I must say, I have seen many many times a lack of interest to even attempt to pronounce of even write a name properly. One example which comes to my mind is Ghandi instead of Gandh…

To re-iterate my point, it's not about 'respect' (respect for whom, exactly and why?) it's about communication. If I were trying to say the word 'Volkswagen' to a German speaking person, I would do my best to pronounce it in a way they would understand. As most of the time I ever say the word 'Volkswagen' out loud it's to my fellow English speakers, pronouncing it in the expected English way seems way less pretentiou…

>seems way less pretentious

Or you could help do your part in normalizing pronouncing things correctly instead of perpetuating the perception that it's somehow "pretentious".

Re: Voltswagen of America

#292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How isn't their brand tarnished around the world? Besides the emissions scandal, their vehicles are just expensive and difficult to maintain. I've got a diesel VW Jetta. It has been nothing but a money pit. I'm in the US for reference.

Here in the UKs, VWs are considered reliable and among the easiest to find parts for

Agreed, also compare the failure statistics with e.g. Ford and you will see VW outperforms for example Ford in reliability. Not sure about other cars.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#293
post #179

I previously owned a VW, but swore on my life that I'd never buy another one after the emissions cheating scandal. There are plenty of reasons why a VW likely wont be my next choice, but I'm softening my stance a bit. What they did was absolutely reprehensible, but I later learned that the more accurate story is that they bore the brunt of media attention for something that nearly every auto manufacturer was later fo…

When you are in an environment where all your other competitors are cheating, I used to think you had only two options - join in or quit. Now, it occurs to me that there is a third - blow the whistle. If VW, or any other manufacturer, had made a quick call to the authorities and told them exactly what to look for, they would have dealt a huge blow to their competitors and maybe even done a victory lap along the way.

... and make themselves the enemy of the entire industry.

That's the reason almost nobody ever blows the whistle: the prisoner's dilemma variant here is the iterated one, and there are more than two players. If you defect, you get blacklisted. It doesn't matter if you're an individual abused by an employer, or a big company that, for a brief moment, grew some conscience. The only time when blowing a whistle makes sense, from a self-preservation standpoint, is when you have a backup plan for what to do when the whistle gets ignored, but everyone knows who blew it.

The corollary to that is, to allow for whistleblowing to be an option, the defector needs to be protected, and this must be public knowledge. If people have any perception of personal risk here, most will stay silent.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is respectful to at least attempt to pronounce names from different cultures. In many cases, I totally understand it is difficult. In those cases, an attempt is great. In this case, the syllable F exists in Latin and I don't see why it. I must say, I have seen many many times a lack of interest to even attempt to pronounce of even write a name properly. One example which comes to my mind is Ghandi instead of Gandh…

It is respectful to at least attempt to pronounce names from different cultures In many cases, it is unnecessary and only makes the speaker look foolish. "Hyundai" is pronounces its own brand name differently in American and Korean TV commercials. Is Hyundai being disrespectful to Koreans? The goal is to communicate. Making communication more difficult is the opposite of the goal.

> In many cases, it is unnecessary and only makes the speaker look foolish.

Comedic skits touch on this [1][2] and though a caricature, I think they capture the gist of how it's perceived when attempted.

I think it stems from a desire for "cultural wokeness" which is a good thing and has its place, but as you say when communication is the goal, speak the language of the receiver.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKGoVefhtMQ

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWMp_z7Jnxw

Re: Voltswagen of America

#296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same boat here, I had a VW and sold it about a year and half ago. I will not be buying one again, they've lost me. But also, I don't really appreciate what any of the car manufacturers have been doing (location tracking, internet connectivity, subscription services, etc). Since I sold the VW, I haven't bought a car, and am currently without a car. I don't plan on buying one anytime in the near future.

Me too, only owned a used old Toyota (pre ABS and OBDII) since and right now nothing. The VW I leased was a 2014 so I just managed to miss out on the era of rearview cameras though

D00d, pre ABS and OBD II? My 13-years-old car feels state-of-the-art! :))

Re: Voltswagen of America

#297
post #79

403 ERROR The request could not be satisfied. The Amazon CloudFront distribution is configured to block access from your country. We can't connect to the server for this app or website at this time. There might be too much traffic or a configuration error. Try again later, or contact the app or website owner. If you provide content to customers through CloudFront, you can find steps to troubleshoot and help prevent t…

> site was probably just hugged to death.

That's highly unlikely, given that it is on CloudFront. Also that error is not a "too much traffic" error, it's a specific config change.

More likely is that someone accidentally pushed a bad config blocking your country for a little bit.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#298
post #179

I previously owned a VW, but swore on my life that I'd never buy another one after the emissions cheating scandal. There are plenty of reasons why a VW likely wont be my next choice, but I'm softening my stance a bit. What they did was absolutely reprehensible, but I later learned that the more accurate story is that they bore the brunt of media attention for something that nearly every auto manufacturer was later fo…

>What they did was absolutely reprehensible, Okay, this is a bit much. I know you came to realize all the car companies were doing it, so relatively speaking, it evens out when it comes to image. But this concept of hating a company over false marketing, it's a "and cows moo" moment. All big companies lie about their performances and benefits. Every. Single. One. Who would have guessed people would lie to make money.…

How about we stop accepting this status quo? People will lie to make money, but we don't have to make it a socially acceptable practice.

In fact, to make money, people just do whatever makes money. If they lie to make money, it means lying is making them money. If we could raise the costs of lying, for example by being much more eager to punish deceptive advertising with high fines, people would lie less.

Re: Voltswagen of America

#299

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same boat here, I had a VW and sold it about a year and half ago. I will not be buying one again, they've lost me. But also, I don't really appreciate what any of the car manufacturers have been doing (location tracking, internet connectivity, subscription services, etc). Since I sold the VW, I haven't bought a car, and am currently without a car. I don't plan on buying one anytime in the near future.

Me too, only owned a used old Toyota (pre ABS and OBDII) since and right now nothing. The VW I leased was a 2014 so I just managed to miss out on the era of rearview cameras though

Aftermarket rearview cameras are dirt cheap if you really want one. Tons of kits less than $100.
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