Post: #1

So I'm car shopping. Due to an onerous commute, in the construction industry, my disdain for hybrids, etc, the best choice for me in terms of a car would be something with a diesel engine. While gas/electric hybrids are amazingly efficient when certain criteria are met, diesels are efficient all the time.

Unfortunately in the US your options for diesel cars (not trucks) are pretty limited. VW is about the only viable option. So I go to the VW website. Normally when you go to a car makers site, one of the things you do is use their "build and price" feature. This has been a staple of car maker websites since around the year 2000.

So I'm on VW's site and I'm looking to build and price a Jetta TDI. I spent about 15 minutes scratching my head and wondering why I couldn't find anything to allow me to start "building" my ideal car. Then I notice something that "match". I click on it. It takes me to something that kind of resembles a build it now feature, but not really. What you basically did, was enter in search criteria through a list of options they provide you with, and then it shows the available inventory in your area.

At this point I'm annoyed and I go back to google and search for anything that makes mention of this new website format from VW. I stumble upon this article:

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/05/02/vw-ne...d-reviews/

Quote:The new site has a simplified, tablet-first concept that reduces the number of necessary clicks to find a car. The biggest change, though, is that it replaces the traditional configurator to build and price with "Find a Match."

This really sucks. But you guys are going to love what comes next.

Quote:Paige Parrent, Digital Platforms Manager at Volkswagen Marketing, guided the design process for the new site. The goal was to "take away the intimidation and make buyers feel empowered," she told Autoblog. That meant making the build process more transparent and giving users immediate feedback. It's no longer about what's possible, but what's available. "We want to match people with the cars they love."

How does a buyer feel empowered by having information obscured? Only a woman would think that way.

Quote:Online dating and e-commerce websites inspired the layout. Like dating, logic plays a role in buying a car, but it's an emotional decision in the end, Parrent believes.

We take a step backwards and hail it as progress.

Post: #2

(08-30-2014 01:06 PM)porscheguy Wrote:  

Quote:Paige Parrent, Digital Platforms Manager at Volkswagen Marketing, guided the design process for the new site. The goal was to "take away the intimidation and make buyers feel empowered," she told Autoblog. That meant making the build process more transparent and giving users immediate feedback. It's no longer about what's possible, but what's available. "We want to match people with the cars they love."

How does a buyer feel empowered by having information obscured? Only a woman would think that way.

That's exactly the type of nonsensical, meaningless word salad that women gravitate towards.

Quote:"We want to match people with the cars they love."

When I started dating more in my 20s, I started hearing girls throwing around sentences like these when they were out shopping. They kept talking about being "in love" with a certain thing. It always struck me as rather poignant that these emotionally damaged creatures could proclaim their love for a commercial product.

Well played, corporate overlords.

Post: #3

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Post: #4

(08-30-2014 01:15 PM)IvanDrago Wrote:  I have owned a lot of VWs in my life. My opinion, they stopped making decent vehicles with the mkIII stuff.

Hecho en Mexico.

Post: #5

Hecho?

Post: #6

Jeez - you are right, but that is only in the US as far as I have seen:

   

Obviously Volkswagen is so much a woman's car in the US, that they geared their entire site towards the snowflakes.

For example German site is as always. Still - a bit astonishing to do it that openly - saying thus - FUCK YOU MEN - we are creating a website, that makes women & You Emasculated Betas feel good, so that you can use it comfortably on your Iphone or Ipad.

Post: #7

There is a reason I only buy cars made before 2000....

Post: #8

"It's like a dating site. Except it's for cars."

Post: #9

(08-30-2014 01:06 PM)porscheguy Wrote:  So I'm car shopping. Due to an onerous commute, in the construction industry, my disdain for hybrids, etc, the best choice for me in terms of a car would be something with a diesel engine. While gas/electric hybrids are amazingly efficient when certain criteria are met, diesels are efficient all the time.

A bit off topic, but those VW TDI's hold their value incedibly well. I would put some work into finding a used one that is five or six years old and drive the hell out of it for the next 10 years.

Then, take the cash that you save on such a reliable, fuel-efficient car, and use it to buy a 'fun' car.

Post: #10

Post: #11

Quote:It's like a dating site. Except it's for cars. And it's better.

What is it with feminists and sentence fragments?

Post: #12

In five years all consumer websites will be like pinterest.

But what can I say, these are corporations trying to turn a profit. They go where the money is or lose market share. They see a surge of unmarried women with disposable income and they want their money. Can't really blame them. I still drive a mkIV and have no regrets.

Post: #13

Every website looks like a crApp now. Twitter just changed. Google maps just changed. (classic view here) Facebook has changed a dozen times and gets worse each time.

Post: #14

Toyota changed their website to this method too.

It fucking sucks. Is there a way to get around it and build the car I want?

Post: #15

It's obvious these days that most marketing is directed at people who can't be bothered to think too hard. Why? Because that's the bulk of the consumer base.

Even many of the men I know are now making their decisions based on how they feeeel rather than thinking things through and taking the most logical course.

Post: #16

Well VW is feminine car (except golf r32) in U.S.... am i wrong?

Post: #17

(08-30-2014 08:13 PM)Sebastian Wrote:  Well VW is feminine car (except golf r32) in U.S.... am i wrong?

I wouldn't go that far. The only overtly feminine models are the Cabrio(I think it might be called something else now) which was always wildly popular with gays like the Mazda Miata, and the Beetle. The recent redesign though looks a bit more masculine though. Although I drive a VW, I'm not much a fan of their lineup anymore except for the GTI/Golf/R32 and the Passat CC which is sick:



Those are the only two of their offerings I would actually want to drive anymore.

The mkIV Jetta was a great design that has a held up well for a car designed in the late 90s and a favorite of auto tuners.

Post: #18

What makes a car feminine? That's not rhetorical, I'm curious what people think.

I've heard all kinds of things like that about cars. Subarus are dyke cars. Miatas are chick cars. Et cetera. Well I own a Subaru, and I'm going to be buying an NA or NB Miata in the next 18 months or so. BMW owners are supposed to be pretentious douchebags, and, well, I own a BMW motorcycle anyway. I'm not a dyke or a chick, and I'd like to think I'm not a pretentious douchebag either.

I knew a guy who was super insecure about what he drove. He had a mustang that was either an automatic or a V6 (can't remember) and guys in my unit ragged on him for it, so he went out and bought one of the newer 6.0L GTOs. Then he traded it in for a 3/4 ton diesel pickup that he had absolutely no need for. That was all about image; he was trying to appear more manly. Never really figured out why, he was slightly effeminate I guess but he had a smoking hot wife, he was wealthy, he was smart, and he wasn't a pussy. Just really insecure.

Cars, for the most part, are tools to do a job, whether that's just hauling groceries or road racing. You do your research, and pick the right tool for the job. I have a number of reasons I wouldn't buy a newer VW, but I can't say concerns over its femininity factor into it.

In my opinion the line a car has to cross to become "feminine" in general is not even being offered with a standard transmission.

Post: #19

These companies probably know their demographic targets fairly well. They pitch accordingly.

The other thing is that even in marriages, women supposedly control 70% of the disposable income. Whenever there's a joint decision, it probably means it's the wife making the decision.

Why buy a new car anyway, unless you're rolling in money? Most cars depreciate something like 50% in the first five years. That's throwing money away. That's what all the middle class rubes do and it keeps them chained to a desk, a long commute and self-medication. Don't end up there.

Instead, buy something five years old that is in good condition. Then, take the money you would have spent and start a Latin America/Eastern Europe/Southeast Asia fund so you can get the hell out of the U.S. for good even sooner. Then you can say goodbye to all of this corporatism posing as feminism and the damaged demographic it's marketed to.

Post: #20

(08-30-2014 07:58 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  Toyota changed their website to this method too.

It fucking sucks. Is there a way to get around it and build the car I want?

You have to buy a Delorean and go back in time to do that.

Post: #21

Could this change mean that in America more woman buy new cars than men?
The future of the used cars mean a lot of dent and lack of proper maintenance.

Post: #22

(08-31-2014 02:48 AM)Glaucon Wrote:  Could this change mean that in America more woman buy new cars than men?
The future of the used cars mean a lot of dent and lack of proper maintenance.

Not sure about that. Given that insurance rates are cheaper for women, I would say that's an indication that they are more cautious in driving then men. We are more aggressive behind the wheel.

Post: #23

(08-31-2014 03:12 AM)speakeasy Wrote:  

(08-31-2014 02:48 AM)Glaucon Wrote:  Could this change mean that in America more woman buy new cars than men?
The future of the used cars mean a lot of dent and lack of proper maintenance.

Not sure about that. Given that insurance rates are cheaper for women, I would say that's an indication that they are more cautious in driving then men. We are more aggressive behind the wheel.

In fact that has more to do with men spending on average way more time behind the wheel. When you discount for driving time women have more accidents per hour driven.

We are more aggressive especially when young and sometimes more reckless, but women are more absent-minded and often react wrongly in strenuous situations. While they are more cautious, they do plenty of minor accidents and the occasional mind-numbingly big one. Plus many more young women now drive under influence of alcohol, which was unheard of some decades ago. Equality - eh.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...cover.html
In the UK women are already overtaking men as the "car-crashers" - in fact they should pay higher premiums - US is probably similar.

The premiums are often not as logical as one might think - the only logic they adhere to is to have more profit.

Post: #24

@ speakeasy

Yeah, but he's talking about stuff like parking lot fender benders and not keeping up with ongoing maintenance, not avoiding major accidents. Men are way more likely to get into serious accidents than women, but if a car is in a serious accident it's going to get totaled anyway, so it doesn't factor into the normal used car market. Women are much more likely to forget there's a light pole next to them in the parking lot and scrape it on the way out, or go 15,000 miles between oil changes and never change their transmission fluid at all.

I don't have data to back this up, but my observation is women are involved in a shitload more low speed accidents than men because they simply lack good situational awareness.

@ Zelcorpion

I was just looking through the US traffic fatality data as it happens and men have a higher rate of fatal accidents than women here. 2.1 per 100,000,000 miles for men vs 1.4 for women.

A substantial chunk of that is explained by motorcycles, since men make up 91% of fatal motorcycle accidents. Obviously when a high risk activity is populated by mostly men, it will skew the numbers.

Plus men, especially young men, are just so much more prone to risky behavior like drunk driving, not wearing a seat belt, speeding excessively, etc that it doesn't surprise me that men die at a higher rate. Men are also probably much more likely to drive in really shitty weather and get in single car accidents as a result, and so on. We are just the risk taking sex, and I'm fine with that.

Post: #25

(08-31-2014 04:17 AM)weambulance Wrote:  @ Zelcorpion

I was just looking through the US traffic fatality data as it happens and men have a higher rate of fatal accidents than women here. 2.1 per 100,000,000 miles for men vs 1.4 for women.

A substantial chunk of that is explained by motorcycles, since men make up 91% of fatal motorcycle accidents. Obviously when a high risk activity is populated by mostly men, it will skew the numbers.

Fatal accidents are one thing and as you mentioned it - motorcycles would have to be deducted from it.

What insurers care about most is how much money it costs them and since women have more accidents - also a lot of minor ones - per driven mile, then it should be accounted for. The insurers simply use the fem-centric world-view plus the perception that men drive faster and sometimes more reckless in order to up the premiums for men.

Or this lunatic company that proposes whole lanes for women. Sometimes I truly wonder how much shit for brains you can have and still be the head of a multi-million-dollar company.