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VW is paying dealerships to wrap slow selling plain Buzzes...

2.9K views 18 replies 10 participants last post by  Moe  
#1 · (Edited)

VW is going halfsies with dealers to pay the typical $3,000 bill to put a wrap on plain vanilla Buzzes.

The article blames the unloved single color specimens on "production constraints in Hanover." It's not clear if that explanation comes directly from the senior VP of US sales, who is quoted in the story, but it seems somewhat implausible that this was anything other than a miscalculation on VW's part.

So this makes me wonder if VW has an approved list of colors, or for that matter an approved list of vendors i.e. only 3M or Avery, and what the warranty situation is with a wrap. It also has me curious is this leaves the dealership with the latitude to negotiate with a customer who wants to do a custom wrap.

I'm kinda thinking I'd rather keep the 3 grand and direct it to a paint shop to spray my second color. In the long run, wouldn't that be more durable than vinyl?
 
#7 ·
I dunno. Without a second color below the beltline the Buzz is actually fairly ugly, especially the "stretch" version in the NA markets. VW's decision makers were wrong in thinking that the nostalgia/retro market would accept the monochrome versions in the US; the two-tone scheme was a big part of the look.

Wraps won't work. Not with that front grill, it'll start peeling within weeks. Gotta be paint.
 
#4 ·
That might work for the white Buzz vans but for the ones who are silver or black that I have recently seen it might be more difficult. I have denigrated VW's Teutonic disdain for anything other than black, white, 4 shades of gray, a few rare blues or reds(which usually cost extra). What happened to all of the Bug and Bus colors of my youth?
 
#6 ·
So this makes me wonder if VW has an approved list of colors, or for that matter an approved list of vendors i.e. only 3M or Avery, and what the warranty situation is with a wrap. It also has me curious is this leaves the dealership with the latitude to negotiate with a customer who wants to do a custom wrap.
There is a specific program with a vendor, quite a variety of options. See Wrapmate
 
#10 ·
Dealers here in Minnesota has been experimenting with combos, if the terrible pics on their websites are anything to be believed.

The red(?) over white one tries to account for the grille. TBD how effective that'll be.
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The teal(?!) over black one doesn't bother with the grille. I'll give points for risk-taking:
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Matte black over black also seems to work with the grille instead of ignoring it. I suspect this'll do better than red/white if only because the colors match.
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Oh! I haven't seen this one yet. Matte olive(?) over black with grille untouched:
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#13 ·
Here's a real example that was shared with me. Thoughts? I think it's a sharp combo.
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#17 ·
I am wondering now whether it would be better to put on a Syncro badge or a 4Motion badge. Volkswagen seems to be using the 4Motion marketing in Europe, but the system seems more like a Syncro setup if you count the computer dividing torque from front to rear by software as being similar to a viscous center limited slip differential.
 
#18 ·
I decided to get a 4Motion badge (13 bucks) because that is the feature name used in the ID.4 literature.

Why there is no badge for it is a mystery. Most cars have multiple badges on the trunk, almost always at least one, and often four. I get the idea of having a nice clean "debadged" look, and I get the point that nobody cares whether I have AWD or a 5.0 litre engine, but those badges have been a feature of cars since at least as far back as the 1950s.