The idea is there. VW can do it! i see so many Touregs on the road and i thaught those wouldnt sell but they do. i know VW can come up with a nice lux car. like i said before i liked the original Phaeton. and if the new one goes in the direction of the Passat CC then im gonna love it!

VW might make the ****tiest cars in the industry, seriously. They are way over their heads with this car

They got balls, in automotive circles the Phaeton is considered among biggest flops in history. They should definately give the car a chance by going way down market and renaming it to distance itself from previous disaster.

I’ve just checked the Vancouver area Buy & Sell:6 Phaetons for sale. Low is an ‘04 4.2 asking 39k Cdn. High is an ‘04 6.0 for 64 large. All dealers. Not sure what original msrp was up here, but I’d put that at least 50% depreciation in 4 years or less.

VW badge just dosent have the cred of the other german brands…………….its the people’s car

VW plans on selling the new Phaeton for $55,000 Dollars. Are they crazy? The last Phaeton was a great car and in some ways better than the Audi A8 but not for 70-100,000 Dollars. The long wheelbase is not the reason why the last Phaeton failed. The new car should come fully loaded and be priced under $50,000. If not, I think VW will have another flop on its hands no matter how good the new Phaeton is.

I saw low mileage 04 and 05 4.2’s here for about 30-33k US which puts 3 to 4 year deprec at 60% – a tough pill to swallow, but now at 30k I am almost tempted to buy one used.

VW, as for the new Phaeton riding on a shorter wheelbase than an A8, that pretty much puts it on par with an A6 or Passat, and we all know about how well the W12 Passat sold at 40k. So at 55k I’m going to cross-shop this with a A6 or a 5-series and guess what I’m going to do, VW? I know, yeah, it’ll be a tough call.

VW needs to remember it is and always will be *Veee Double-Uuuuuu* and put out a high quality version of the A8 for about $45 to 50k tops, and then it will move some units. But with their well-earned reputation for not being able to get the quality details right on their mass production units, how the hell do they expect a lot of buyers to pony-up luxury car cash for their junk against well-establish luxury junk like BMW, Benz, or Audi? Maybe that makes very little sense, but people are buying the brand. Even Infiniti, Acura, Caddie, and Lincoln have problems getting people to lay down more than about 45k out the door for their wares, and I’d rather drive any of those than a VW. Sheesh.

Nobody wants to pay big bucks and experience headaches to have a relationship with a high maintenance, unattractive girl … why would this be any different?

With Audi, there is no point in having an expensive VW. It’s really not that complicated. If someone is going to spend $55k, they would prefer it to be a premium brand, unless the car is offering something truly unique like extreme performance or something (e.g. Nissan GT-R, Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Viper, etc.). The Phaeton didn’t offer anything unique, and it still doesn’t. And once again, I would rather have an Audi A6, Merceded E, or BMW 5 than a VW Phaeton.

Besides the shortcomings of the car there may be more serious problems in the dealer network which precludes high-end cars from being sold and serviced from those lots.

the original car was amazing, I’m sure they wont screw this one up.

the car flopped because nobody wants to spend 60K+ on a VW.

The reason the Phaeton failed is b/c of two things.

Poorly marketed.

Dealers. If you have been to a VW dealer you know what I’m talking about. They are retarded. Often the cuctomer knows more about the car than a the saleperson.

When you are buying a car as expensive as the Phaeton, you want to tbe treated a little better than the 22 y/o who just bought her first Rabbit.

Good car though.

Many compare this car to the A8, but really it has/had more in common with the Bentley Continental.

I never see a Touraeg on the road.
There is NO DEMAND for a $40-60k VW.
2 lbs. of bologna in a 1 lb. bag!
Maybe VW should talk to Hyundai, and have like a U.N. Conference of bad ideas.
VW ignores the obvious.
It didn’t work because it is a bad idea.
When you execute a bad idea well, or poorly, it still bad.
UUURRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!
DrFill

Well done doublearon21. No one wants to spend 60k on a VW. End of story.

If they have the same quality car – even the exactly same car and price it around $50k then it will sell. Their is a cap on what people will pay for a VW. Once you start to get into Audi territory people in the US dont see the purpose of buying a VW.

If VW makes the car smaller then they better lower to price to the $40k range. The old one was A8 sized. The new one will be slower to A6 sized. Look slike they are pricing it too high again. $55k for an A6 sized VW is way too much.

DrFill, if you execute bad idea very well it is still a bad idea (Phaeton!)

I’d have to say it failed based on looks. I looks like an extended Passat, but much uglier.

The interior wasn’t that exciting either. It needs to have it’s own look.

The previous Phaeton was stunning inside but just seemed like an alternative to (the much prettier) Audi A8. But if I had to pick its number one drawback, I would certainly go with: dealers. I know from experience that VW dealers offer the worst buying experience + the worst service experience when you spend $20K. Multiply that dollar amount by almost 4 and I can see why it bombed.

It failed because its a VW

What I do find so amusing is that the majority of you guys is, I’m guessing, people not in the age group of say… me. 18-22. We happen to like VW’s and simply put, we don’t havev the same problems you guys either, have noticed first hand, or have completely no base for. The way we see it is VW is for the younger crowd and Audi for the older. Personally if I was a young business exec, which is what I’m going for, I’d look at the Passat CC and if the new Phaeton is well improved I’d say I would move up to that afterwards. My Jetta VR6 is the best car I’ve owned. No problems, ever. So gear head, next time you spill a retarded comment like the one above just keep your mouth shut.

Dude, your 20-ish. Your POS jetta is probably the only car you ever owned outside of a 1988 Toyota Starlet.

A Passat is a younger person’s car? Please. It’s a bitchmobile family woman’s heap.

BTW, if you live in a warm climate, avoid VWs and Bimmers like the plague. When it gets warm around my area about half the breakdowns on the road are VWs or Bimmers. I still haven’t figured out why the same doesnt seem to hold true for Audis.

I actually think that the answer to the Phaeton’s problems (at least in the US) is a bit of both points made by A True Gear Head and EclispedStar53.

The basic flaw is that this is an understated luxury car. It can be defined as a Bentley wearing a VW badge. Now, this idea in and of itself isn’t bad. I think the problem in the US market is that VW is simply not an invisible manufacturer. Everybody seems to have their own opinion about the ethos of VW. Regardless of whether the car is a Rabbit or a Phaeton, it’s still a Volkswagen.

So, is there a market for an “invisible luxury car”? Probably. But is Volkswagen capable of building any car (badged as a VW) that would be invisible? Probably not.

good luck!