Volkswagen XL1

keithclancy

Anyone heard about this ?

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/03/11/2014-volkswagen-xl1-first-drive-review-video/




I think its perfect for a commuter, low emissions/fuel usage/tax

And fills the range issue I have with full electric cars.

Back of it looks a bit weird though.

Matt Simis

keithclancy wrote: »

I think its perfect for a commuter, low emissions/fuel usage/tax
And fills the range issue I have with full electric cars.
Back of it looks a bit weird though.

Given it uses diesel, with its associated hidden emissions problems, I would question how good a choice that fuel was over a smaller, light and efficient petrol block.

It also costs as much as a spec'ed out A6, making the cheapness to run a moot point as no one that could benefit from that aspect could afford it.

keithclancy

Matt Simis wrote: »

Given it uses diesel, with its associated hidden emissions problems, I would question how good a choice that fuel was over a smaller, light and efficient petrol block.

It also costs as much as a spec'ed out A6, making the cheapness to run a moot point as no one that could benefit from that aspect could afford it.

Isn't it that expensive because its a hand built production run though ?

Over here it would be perfect for me .. petrol is expensive.

Matt Simis

keithclancy wrote: »

Isn't it that expensive because its a hand built production run though ?

Over here it would be perfect for me .. petrol is expensive.

Other articles put its pricing at EUR100,000 for each of the 250 samples being made. Whether EUR45k or EUR100k, it still makes little sense though doesnt it? In your case, buy a 2002 530D and spend the remaining EUR35,000 on fuel and poffertjes!

keithclancy

Matt Simis wrote: »

Other articles put its pricing at EUR100,000 for each of the 250 samples being made. Whether EUR45k or EUR100k, it still makes little sense though doesnt it? In your case, buy a 2002 530D and spend the remaining EUR35,000 on fuel and poffertjes!

Well while their hand built no .. but if they were mass produced then maybe.

I don't really think the manufacturing cost is really a thing though.

How much do you think it would cost to custom manufacture and hand built 250 passats ?

Joe 90

Matt Simis wrote: »

Other articles put its pricing at EUR100,000 for each of the 250 samples being made. Whether EUR45k or EUR100k, it still makes little sense though doesnt it? In your case, buy a 2002 530D and spend the remaining EUR35,000 on fuel and poffertjes!

Make that 530D and M5 and yer talkin sense.:)

Joe 90

keithclancy wrote: »

Well while their hand built no .. but if they were mass produced then maybe.

I don't really think the manufacturing cost is really a thing though.

How much do you think it would cost to custom manufacture and hand built 250 passats ?

Your right about that bit. Once upon a time Ford built very serious rally cars called Escorts. These cars were very loosely based on and resembled a road car called the Escort that Ford built in huge numbers for the masses.

They reckoned that the cost did not matter when you built one or two of a specific type of car. They reckoned that if you built a specific car by the hundreds of thousands you optimized the build process to get the cost down. But when you had to build a few tens or a couple of hundred of a car to homologate it the costs were astronomical.

Matt Simis

keithclancy wrote: »

Well while their hand built no .. but if they were mass produced then maybe.

I don't really think the manufacturing cost is really a thing though.

How much do you think it would cost to custom manufacture and hand built 250 passats ?

You have me wrong, I'm not questioning the cost of hand built or limited production anything, Im questioning the idea of spending 45k on a car (the suggested mass produced rrp) to "save costs."

I would also question the entire validity of such a product other than a PR stunt (for a car maker). It's not fit for any particular purpose.

A near 50k car is useless to people who actually need low cost motoring.

_Kaiser_

Matt Simis wrote: »

You have me wrong, I'm not questioning the cost of hand built or limited production anything, Im questioning the idea of spending 45k on a car (the suggested mass produced rrp) to "save costs."

Sure why not.. how many people spent that on 520D's in the last few years to save a few hundred in tax?

They'd sell em by the boatload here :rolleyes:

Guy:Incognito

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

Sure why not.. how many people spent that on 520D's in the last few years to save a few hundred in tax?

Very few id say. Whereas a lot of peiple were probably buying new cars and took low tax cost into the equation along with lots of other factors.

promethius

the answer to the question no one is asking.....

Matt Simis

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

Very few id say. Whereas a lot of peiple were probably buying new cars and took low tax cost into the equation along with lots of other factors.

We would all like to believe that, however some of those same people come on here and sometimes actually openly make the case they moved from a say a pre-2008 1.8 petrol with 35mpg to a brand new 520D at 50mpg as they save money every week now...

They take out loans at CU, Banks, Car Finance deals etc to do so and somehow work out they come out on top financially.