VW Scirocco to start at $42,576 - U.S. still misses out

How much is the Golf over there?

The base GTI is 27,360 euros. With DSG it's 29,060 so it's really not that bad of a price. We're just spoiled over here in the US paying nothing for cars...not that I mind.

It's 27,500 in Germany for the DSG...

You are right about one think Mikey, the brainwashed sheep car buyer in US would buy anything badged Toyota or Honda without asking any questions and pass on the superior engineered cars made by VW. More power to the more educated European car buyer for keeping VW the number 1 car seller in Europe.

MichaelTaylor,

to fully understand what makes a VW a better car than a Toyota or Honda you need to take a field trip to your nearest dealers that sell these brands.
Then just start comparing. Look at the exterior of the cars, notice how much better the quality of the paint is on VWs vs the Japanese "competitors", notice also how all the suspension elements are not visible from any angle with the VW but they are extremely noticeable when you look at the others. Now get inside the car and close the door. It feels like closing a vault. Certainly closing the door of a Honda or Toyota car doesn't give you the same feeling. Those doors are flimsy and cheap and you are wondering when(not if)they will fall off.
Take a look inside, notice how comfortable the VW seats are vs the uncomfortable seats in the Honda and the miserable seats in the Toyota. Notice how high quality EVERYTHING is inside the VW and how cheaply built the Japanese cars look and what huge gaps you see between the cheap plastics inside.

Now take it for a test drive. Notice how effortless the VW moves, ho much grunt it has a low RPM and how quiet and vibration free the idle is. Now take the other two. Notice the uneven idle and the lack of power at low RPM. Notice also how noisy and unrefined the suspension and engines are. Everything screams cheap in the Japanese cars. In the VW you feel like you are in a much more expensive car. The VW comes also with a longer, better warranty.

Now Mikey YOU tell me, what can posses somebody to choose a Honda or Toyota after experiencing this.

I just enjoy the ignorant comments coming from you 2 trolls. keep it up!!!

htay7500,

ignorant comments? Really? I'm ready to hear constructive criticism from you htay. How about you are writing your own impressions about the test drives. Oops, you never took any. Oh, Internet warriors, got to love them. Hear is htay the Panda Master who feels the need to bring something missing in this thread; insults, to spice it up.
This is NOT the way you make an argument, friend. You are free to disagree with anything and add your own version of reality but try to do it with class...like me.

oh my, I'm shaking in my shoes, I guess I have to be like you? who says YOU make arguements with class? lmao. this site is so entertaining. this is beyond funny.

htay,

you could never reach that high to be like me but you can at least try. It will make you a better person.

yeah, sure. rofl.

Children, this is your older wiser Agent 00J speaking to you. Let's keep the arguing to a mild roar. You both make valid points, and then go the distance to discredit yourselves by not citing any facts what so ever.

A smaller sportier Corolla would be exactly what a Corolla is, a VERY BORING CAR, great on gas, well built, BUT BORING.

Whether or not the Scirocco is your thing or not, it still is a great looking car, and sadly we here in the USA still are being denied the opportunity to buy it. I assure both of you however, that people longing for the Scirocco aren't saying to themselves, "darn it, now I have to settle for a Corolla."

Just for the record, Toyota has a sporty Corolla, it is called a Scion TC. I have driven the TC and VW GTI back to back (and for arguments sake, the GTI is as close to a Scirocco as we have so far) and can tell you the GTI is a lot more fun.

-00J

agent 00J--

i won't say you're beginning to sound like just another euro badge whore, but you and ALL self-described 'sports car enthusiasts' seem unaware of this maxim of TRUE car enthusiasts: IT IS FAR MORE FUN, DRIVING A 'SLOW CAR' FAST, than having to drive A FAST CAR SLOWLY.

the original euro sports cars of the '50s and '60s were GREAT FUN to drive. no one will doubt that. yet mechanically, most modern ECONOBOXES are actually even better as true 'sporting machines' in ALL the spec and performance parameters.

there are practically NO 'boring cars' to A TRUE DRIVING enthusiast. not even corollas.

if the tires squeal sooner when cornering, that just means one gets the FEELING of fast driving SOONER.

unless one is ACTUALLY RACING (or rallying), absolute speed is not as important as the FEELING of speed as far as the FUN FACTOR is involved.

i have as much --sometimes MORE-- FUN driving my honda cruiser as my kawasaki sport bike. at less blatant "arrest me" speeds! hence, fun MORE OFTEN.

great another VW that competes with Audi this time the TT, and they are both based on the same car....VW group has to be among the worst product planners

How does this compete with the TT? It's a hatchback. If anything, it competes with the A3 and 1 Series. And GTI.

$42,000 for a 120hp fwd car? this is a printing error right?

No it's not.. it is just converting that price inEuro to $.
If that car was to come here it would be about $15 to $20k less.

one would be far better off buying a HYUNDAI tiburon v6. AND a yaris or scion. two BETTER cars, for the same money.

"ChicaneShooter",

I would not take the cars you mentioned if they were given to me for free. They are just that bad. I rarely seen somebody as clueless as you when it comes to cars. You don't have absolutely any idea what you are talking about.

who's clueless? the tiburon has classier styling AND a v6 for far less money.

scions can be customized as much as one's budget will allow. from dealer installed turbos to catalogs full of aftermarket goodies.

and both are more inspired looking than the warmed over golf/polo/whatever pictured. i test drove the ORIGINAL scirocco and it was FAR classier looking. (altho' still a cheap vw. there was not even a complete enclosure of the cam belt!)

Do you guys understand anything about car taxes and currency exchange?

What do you think?

no.

I’m Surprised that the U.S isn’t getting it. I mean look at the low HP numbers and mid 7 second 0-60 times. Cars like that are VW’s mainstay in the US. Will VW actually offer any real performance? The R32 is overrated and doesn’t count IMO. I’m talking about a solid 300hp car.

oh my, I'm shaking in my shoes, I guess I have to be like you? who says YOU make arguements with class? lmao. this site is so entertaining. this is beyond funny.

If anyone else compares the European price with the American price with a simple currency conversion I will shoot them. It doesn't work like that!!!

Just don't bother.

+100 for Rupert

Wow. That never happens. We should remember this moment.

By looking at average car prices, taxes, average incomes, all kinds of things. You know the Lexus LS600h costs over 150000 dollars in most of Europe? And the S65 AMG is over 300000? A Ford Focus here starts (for the 1.4 petrol which is very slow) at 20000 dollars. That seems insane to you, and while it is a lot of money, people in Europe on average earn more, but things are more expensive. Food, cars, houses, everything.

This Scirocco is perfectly priced for a sporty little car, it's not too expensive. A Civic Type R is only a bit less.

Even when the dollar was strong cars in the US were still significantly cheaper than in Europe.

when can we expect the first recall? first fires? a month?

We are not talking about Toyota...

So let me get this straight.Porsche, who is a smaller company then VW has hedged funds for leverage, will be able to hold the line on prices for a Porsche Boxster until 2011.A base Boxster retails in the US for around 46 grand.BMW can sell a 128 I for under 35 grand not loaded. Audi can sell a base line A4 Avant for under $29000. VW can sell a Base line Eos for under 30 grand. They can also sell an R32 for $36 grand. But VW are unable to sell the Scirroco for less then $42 grand! What the hell is wrong with this picture. Please explain this to me. This seems like total BS to me.

It's quite simple. Porsche, BMW and Audi buyers can afford to keep buying their favorite cars in spite of the economic situation. On the other hand not many VW buyers can afford 30K+ VW cars and probably not many people in general would be willing to pay more than 30K for a FWD 2 door VW.

The car is not $42,000. Please please please please please...people (especially those writing artciles at motorauthority) need to understand that this car would NOT retail for $42,000 in the US. That is simply a straight currency conversion, which is NOT how auto companies price their vehicles. Look at the Audi R8...retails for 66,000 pounds in the UK (equal to ~$132,000), but does it sell for $132,000 in the states? Nooooooo, it starts at $110,000. Why? Because nobody would buy a well-equipped R8 for $150,000+ when you could throw a rock and hit an F430 in a slightly higher price range...it's called product positioning and price point. A $42,000 VW Scirocco would price itself right out of the market. The corner office execs at top auto companies don't, believe it or not, don't log on to FXConverter.com to come up with prices for their cars. They actually use their brains to develop pricing strategies. I wish the authors of the articles would use their brains to develop their equivalent price estimates as well.

I've been preaching this logic since I became a member on this site, but people still use the spot rate conversion to come up with the equivalent US price of a vehicle....nobody ever learns.

Exactly, somebody else on the board said they could get a Tiburon V6 for less money. The Tiburon V6 is over 40,000 dollars as well here!

which means the hyundai people there HAVE PRICED IT against the scirocco, believing it is a comparable competitor.

and per their usual strategy, they expect to beat it in the marketplace by offering more features. v6 vs. a puny 120 hp Four.

incidentally Rupert, did toyota offer the Celica and the MR2 in the euro market?

how were they priced there? i suspect we Yanks never knew what bargains we had, until toyota pulled the plug on those models.

For that price, the Scirocco can stay in Europe. It's a good looking vehicle, but the GTI makes it look familiar and unnecessary.

I hope that after a 4 year run of this, VW will bring back the Corrado...and not price it out of reach for their fans.

A cheaper looking evo front end with a kia rear... nice.

Kinda disapointing, the concept looked better.

As usual, the ratio of moronic comments to intelligent ones is about 10:1.

Why do I keep coming to this site and reading the comments??? Must be something wrong with me.

I did, 20 years ago! And it was a REAL examination, NOT this "stop by and get your driver licence even if you cannot drive" that is done in America and Canada.

What about you Huu76, have you booked your psychiatrist appointment?

didn't the vw ceo express his DREAM of one day overtaking toyota in sales?

if he woke up and faced REALITY, he'd better concentrate instead on fending off HYUNDAI's closing in on him and threatening to pass!

fixing the reliability issues would be a good start.