SteveH wrote:
Andy Champ wrote:

SteveH wrote:
George wrote:

What possed you to buy her a FIAT?
Perhaps because he doesn't believe in 30 year old stereotypes?
2007 J Power survey, care of What Car? Magazine. My bits in [brackets]

"29 Fiat Punto [out of 31 in class]
Rating 74.9%
Overall ranking 106th [out of 113]

...

The Punto scored poorly across the board, but its real Achilles heel was
its quality and reliability: every part, from the switchgear to the
seats and stereo, caused an above average number of complaints, and the
suspension and engine were particularly weak points."

Ahh, yes, that's such an accurate survey.

That's the one that placed the Skoda Superb in the top 10 with the
mechanically identical B5.5 Passat way down in 50th-ish place.

For that reason alone, I take absolutely no notice of it.

Maybe, just maybe, the Skoda is easier to build properly than the
Passat? Later design than the Passat it's based on, and the Czechs
appear to work a bit harder than the Wolfsburg crew.

From what I've been told, the VW's that are built away from Wolfsburg
tend to be better made than the German ones. The Mexican built Beetles
tend to have less faults per car than the German jobs.

That and Skoda drivers expecting more problems than VW ones, but getting
better made, simpler cars that don't tend to break as often would quite
possibly account for the JD Power results.

I'm always impressed when I drive a late model Skoda, but very rarely
impressed with a new VW.

--
Pete M - OMF#9
Range Rover V8 Turbo
Range Rover 4.6 HSE
"Professional Petrolhead"