2004 Volkswagen Phaeton [Typ 3D]
2004 Volkswagen Phaeton [Typ 3D] in Motorweek, Non-fiction TV, 1981-2025 Ep. 2004
Class: Cars, Sedan — Model origin: 
— Made for: 
![2004 Volkswagen Phaeton [Typ 3D]](/i405138.jpg)
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Vehicle used by a character or in a car chase
Comments about this vehicle
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◊ 2015-04-29 20:45 |
I think US Phaetons are priced higher than EU versions as they failed so badly and are rare. |
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◊ 2015-04-29 21:03 |
Actually, US market Phaetons have depreciated severely. Though rare, it's not hard to get a Phaeton dirt cheap when you find one. |
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◊ 2015-04-29 21:04 |
Not really, americans just didn't want to pay $70k for a Volkswagen, while germans did and do. The Hyundai Equus and Kia K900 also failed beacause of that. |
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◊ 2015-04-29 21:09 |
according to my books, price for VW Phaeton in 2005 was starting at 99 600$ for the V8 and 136 500$ for W12. sad for VW fans but nobody will pay that much knowing that they can get a BMW, Mercedes or Audi or even a Porsche 911 for that money.... |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:00 |
No, the Germans don't do that either. Actually in Germany over 90% of all Phaetons do have their first registration on a VW-dealership or the Volkswagen AG itself - that it's sellable anyhow, in this case as a dealer's demonstration car or with the discount of a so-named "one-day-registration". Maybe the Phaeton will disappear very soon, since Mr.Piech is out of order now. This economical and disaster for Volkswagen was his favourite baby and only still in production for that reason. Anyways, it's already a very good bargain as an used car. Maybe I will buy one, too, when my Vectra will be out of function some day. -- Last edit: 2015-04-29 22:01:25 |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:03 |
Actually, the Equus hasn't been a failure. Hyundai never really intended the Equus to be a big mass-market success, rather they've expected the smaller Genesis to be just that, which it has. Plus, given the fact that Phaeton never sold more than 1,500 cars in a single year, while the Equus has had 4 straight years of sales over 3,000 per year, I'd say the Equus has been much more successful the Phaeton ever was here, and not a failure. |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:05 |
If you do, just be wary of maintenance costs. I don't know how they are in Germany, but in the US, it's pretty pricy to maintain a Phaeton, even in comparison to a Continental Flying Spur or A8, which are both related to the Phaeton. |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:10 |
P.S. The Phaeton got its popularity mainly, because this chavvy bloke Link to "i.auto-bild.de" chose it (with some ballyhoo) as company-car. For political reasons, because before he became our chancellor, he was the prime minister of Lower Saxony and in this function you are automatically a member of the supervisory boead of the Volkswagen AG. Actually Volkswagen is the far biggest employer in Lower Saxony. |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:16 |
I know, but some of my K 70-fellows are working at Volkswagen or a VW-dealership, so with some connections I could soften that topic a bit. And actually the Phaeton is indeed a very reliable car, made in excellent quality. The Audi A8, too, but as the Phaeton is much less popular than the A8 and not often used as a CEO's company car, there is a good chance to catch a Phaeton with a low mileage. A8's, also Porsche Cayenne and Panameras often have astronomic high mileages due the intensive business-usage. |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:16 |
The Phaeton outsold the W221 S-Class 2-3 years ago, when it was an outgoing model. Yes these were not actual sales, but the Phaeton is even older than the W221. But it still sold far less than the S-Class, 7-Series and Model S, which I thought it was supposed to compete with. Also Hyundai has a better reputation for reliability than Volkswagen in the US, I think. |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:19 |
VW actually loses 28,000 per vehicle if they sell one. http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/09/daily-chart-18 |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:30 |
28.000 € to be precise. Well, with the K 70 Volkswagen made a profit - 17 D-Mark (8,69 €) per car  |
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◊ 2015-04-29 22:40 |
True, but the Equus is a much less established model in the US than the S-Class and 7-Series, plus the Model S is an American car, so of course it's gonna sell well here. I'd say Hyundai does have a better reputation here than VW, considering that US market VWs that are built in Mexico are seen as lower quality than ones imported from Europe, plus the fiasco that was the Westmoreland Assembly plant in Pennsylvania. |
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◊ 2015-04-30 02:21 |
How Fiat lost money with the Stilo baffles me. |
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◊ 2015-04-30 02:36 |
Because Stilo sales were so poor against projections?? It bombed in UK, but still required expensive dealer/marketing/mechanical support while it was being offered plus spares etc after it was dropped. |
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◊ 2015-04-30 02:40 |
I think every Stilo in the UK began its life with Avis. Fiat even offered the platform to MG Rover to boost volumes: Link to "www.autocar.co.uk" |
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◊ 2015-04-30 03:19 |
Here also sold greatly well, and I know that was built with usual Fiat substandard assembly quality but at the time I hadn't realized that was even so expensive to maintain and thus sales were disappointing... Wonder also why Fiat put a lot of efforts to penetrate into UK market, I remember when Fiat's own newspaper published emphatic articles about the new Croma being chosen for taxis fleet in Bristol I think o the 500 chosen by the largest driving schools chain, but after that don't seems that they make such great numbers there. |
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◊ 2015-04-30 03:50 |
Taxis were the only people who would touch Cromas in UK - another on the list of Fiat fiascos here. But 500 a big hit - the driving school deal with BSM was a big coup - my niece learned to drive in a BSM 500 - and created havoc for Vauxhall who had the previous deal with Corsas, and crippled themselves to regain the deal 3 years later. |
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◊ 2015-05-02 21:06 |
At least in Hong Kong, Phaeton is very rare......only Golf is popular. |
