copperhead Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Why aren't they sold here? Seems like they would make a great economical alternative to what we have now. Top Gear called this the best car ever: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skoda_yeti It has a pile of engine choices, including turbo diesels and come with 6MT transmissions along with a VW DSG auto. and here are the fuel economy numbers: http://www.car-emissions.com/cars/model/skoda/yeti Sure, it wouldn't have the power we are used to, but would make a great, cheap daily. Its an AWD SUV with the same MPG as our current subcompacts. So why can't we buy it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Tons of cool cars under the VW empire over there. We'll never see any of them though. I was told that a whole new mess of diesels are headed this way though!!!! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wnaplay1647545503 Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Would you buy one if they were here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not Brian Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 so underpowered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 So why can't we buy it? so underpowered DING DING DING DING. It costs buttloads, and I mean BUTTLOADS of money to federalize and bring a new fleet of cars here. In order for it to be remotely profitable they'd have to have a huge audience of people standing by with deposits placed. This doesn't happen for 0-60 in 15 second 61mpg small SUV's. This is America. We get huge petitions signed to bring over specialty cars that get 10-15 and go 0-60 in 3 seconds, not for family haulers. The amount of people that would actually purchase that vehicle, after driving one and realizing they might die trying to get up to speed on 270 is so limited. This brings us to the other problem, the price of the car once imported, it WOULD BE HUGE. NOBODY would be willing to pay what it costs for one once they actually got over here. If you really really really want one, begin a Petition online on facebook and get signatures. It works, as a result, I should have a new car come springtime. No, it's not fuel efficient, but people cared enough to gather enough signatures and made it happen and were willing to put deposits down. GOD BLESS THE USA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted January 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Oh yeah, I forgot its our government's fault. Such irony And as for power, I've been driving an old beat up neon as a daily. For a commuter I could tolerate something like that, but only if its cheap to buy. If its expensive its no longer worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Oh yeah, I forgot its our government's fault. Such irony And as for power, I've been driving an old beat up neon as a daily. For a commuter I could tolerate something like that, but only if its cheap to buy. If its expensive its no longer worth it Well, it's partly due to inability to honor any real Euro NCAP standards vs sending a boat load of cars over to the US just to be slammed into walls. But, US consumers are are also to "blame" by not in reality wanting anything to do with these cars. Example: The cheapest AWD Yetis' are around £19,000, or nearly 30K in USD. This is for an SUV with 110HP. That is before importation, taxes, and whatever federalization costs. Assuming for a second that we have a wizard that can transform them into LHD cars, and conform to all us emissions with no price increase so we can have them for $30k. :dumb: :dumb: Who on CR would buy a Small SUV with 110HP for 30K that consumes Diesel which is $1 more than gas? Probably nobody, seeing as you can get a variety of small SUV's here from Kia, Hyundai, even GMC that get 30-32mpg and run on $1 a gallon cheaper gasoline. Cost, $8-10K cheaper than our "Wizard Provided" Yeti. Factor in real-life costs of bringing that car over here and it would be at least 10-15K more than your Kia Sportage, be slower and suckier at everything and you see why they don't exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 It's just a lower-quality VW. Wait, is there such thing ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copperhead Posted January 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Ahh, see i was assuming they would be considerably cheaper than that. Stupid exchange rate. It just surprised me that they sell all over the world (and I'm sure in some LHD countries already), but not here. Sucks that the gov regulates so much shit out of the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avenger1647545502 Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 Well, the left-hand drive thing isn't really an issue, only England does theirs that way. I THINK that most of the various RHD cars (other than Asian imports) are actually produced or assembled in England at factories there. They sell LHD in the rest of Europe from factories set-up for that. But yeah, it basically comes down to having enough market to be worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10phone2 Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 It's just a lower-quality VW. Wait, is there such thing ? Isn't that audi? Sorry, I couldn't pass that one up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWW$HEEET Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 It's just a lower-quality VW. Wait, is there such thing ? +rep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizbang Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 so wait, did that facebook petition to change it to 15 years thing work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 comparing US prices to EU prices is tough. EU uses VAT system to tax which drives prices up, whereas we advertise without tax. More often than not, prices in the U.S. are dramatically lower than Euro counterparts. However, it is a huge cost to manufacturers to certify cars for U.S. safety standards. The first problem is the amount of lobbying (back to government) that needs to be done to omit certain results. Ford Fiesta gets a 5-star NHTSA rating for rear passengers when they observed that spinal forces up to 87 g's were measured on test dummies, yet that metric was not included in the evaluation of the car's crashworthiness. Many Euro cars have a much harder time getting that coveted rating, unless they build their vehicles on U.S. soil. Jones mentioned Euro NCAP standards being accepted here, but its frankly not possible. Their standards are way too weak for the number of big trucks we have in this country. Another issue is that the gas engines in Euro cars are meant to run on 91 at the very least. Our gas here is toxic runoff compared to the Pellegrino they're putting in Euro cars. All that said, I'd love to see Skoda, Seat, Renault, Citroen, and to appease the James May fans, Dacia all in the U.S. Competition breeds excellence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 How is this different from a Tiguan? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 How is this different from a Tiguan? He wants a 300hp awd sub for $15,000 new. Tiguan is too pricey for his needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg1647545532 Posted January 21, 2012 Report Share Posted January 21, 2012 He wants a 300hp awd sub for $15,000 new. Tiguan is too pricey for his needs. Just admit that you all forgot the Tiguan exists. The Yeti and the Tiguan are built on the same platform and share a lot of the same engine options. If you want an AWD VW compact SUV based on a Golf, you can go buy one right now. You can't get a diesel or a manual, but what else is new. If VW wanted to sell a manual diesel AWD compact SUV, they wouldn't need to introduce a new brand or certify a new vehicle, they would just slap their existing bits into the Tiguan and call it good. But that's not going to happen, and nobody wants to buy Tiguans anyway, which is why you all forgot about them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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