Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watdcsu.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!watdcsu!haapanen From: haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) Newsgroups: net.auto Subject: Re: That's Japan with a capital J Message-ID: <950@watdcsu.UUCP> Date: Tue, 12-Feb-85 18:19:21 EST Article-I.D.: watdcsu.950 Posted: Tue Feb 12 18:19:21 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 13-Feb-85 02:00:27 EST References: <315@terak.UUCP> <25300007@siemens.UUCP> <525@tpvax.fluke.UUCP> Reply-To: haapanen@watdcsu.UUCP (Tom Haapanen [DCS]) Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 38 Unbelievable! I'm off the net for ten days, and this is the fourth article ... In article <525@tpvax.fluke.UUCP> inc@fluke.UUCP (Gary Benson) writes: >Oh really? The vw people are well-known for their propensity to put absolute >junk on the road. Oh. How come I haven't heard about it? >So too with cars. The germans will never build anything to compared to what >Toyota has been doing all along. vws are known for their schlocky design and >their use of cheap materials that fall apart if you look at them wrong. The >germans have no concept of the term 'appropriate technology'. If plastic >will work til the car is a year or so old, then plastic it is. Not just any >plastic, mind you, but plastic specifically chosen to rot with continued >exposure to air. When the Japanese use plastics, they choose nylons and >other tough materials that will stand up to the task. Ahem. I have friends with VWs from model years 1968, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1984. None of them have suffered the 'cracked dash syndrome' so common in US cars, not to mention the durability of the seats or miscellaneous plastic parts. Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places. Or I haven't stared hard enough. What gives? > A guy finds a bottle on a beach, and when he's cleaning it up, > a genie comes out of it. The genie tells him that for a reward, > he would grant one wish. The man thinks for a while, and says, > "I'd like a car dealership in a major city." POOF! He finds > himself with a vw dealership in downtown Tokyo. Not *that* funny. VW is in fact the best-selling import in Japan. Also, VW has a joint venture with Nissan in Japan, building Santanas (aka Quantums) for the Japanese market. \tom haapanen watmath!watdcsu!haapanen