How compatible are parts in Volkswagen cars made for US market (made in Mexico I guess) with their counterparts made and driven in Europe?

February 20, 2006 7:25 AM

How compatible are parts in Volkswagen cars made for US market (made in Mexico I guess) with their counterparts made and driven in Europe?

I plan to move to Europe next year and would like to ship a car (along with the rest of my stuff). I'd like to buy a Volkswagen car (they tend to be cheaper here) and use it overseas.
However, I've heard that some of the parts in Jettas and Golfs are different than those in European made cars. Obviously not all, but enough to give me headache when something breaks down. In addition, (supposedly) Passats are not made here but Europe and would be just fine in this scenario.

Can anyone confirm any of this?

I'm sure that any dealership in Europe would be able to special-order a part from US, but I would like to avoid waiting for a simple part to be shipped and paying top dollars if I don't have to.

posted by yabo to travel & transportation (5 comments total)

Mu understanding is that most, if not all, of the parts are basically interchangeable. The new Jetta and GLI are made in Mexico but the new GTI and the Passat are imported from Germany still.

Most differences in parts can be attributed to regional laws regarding impact tests (which result in different bumpers, ride heights, fogs lights etc) and many North Americans simply import parts from Europe to make their cars more "authentic" looking.

www.vwvortex.com might be the best place to get these questions answered.
posted by jeffmik at 7:35 AM on February 20, 2006

Most of the parts for Audi, VW, SEAT and Skoda are pretty much interchangeable because they use the same platform in most of the cars, but some are not part of the same platform specially the new lines which tend to be different form Audi to VW. SEAT and AUDI now share most of the same parts (except for the motor engineering or course), Skoda uses the old VW platform and VW is working on its new line.
Another thing to consider is the type of combustion it uses, is it diesel or regular gas? It further complicates things.
posted by bergan at 7:48 AM on February 20, 2006

A bigger question would be, is it even possible for you to ship your car and license/insure it legally? I would look into the details of that for your destination country as well.
posted by antifuse at 7:52 AM on February 20, 2006

Cross-continent-speaking, VW & its other, above mentioned brands are more similar than, say GM or Ford's domestic vs. export models.

A large part of North America's VW, et al tuner scene is into the "Euroing" of their, which is almost _always_ a cosmetic part ("e-codes" = European-spec headlights, Euro bumpers = built-in headlamp washers, etc.). Aside from these classes of parts, whether you have an MK4 Jetta built in Mexico, or a MK5 Golf built in Germany, drivetrains, chassis hardware, and the like come from the same parts bin.

As far as service goes, I don't think you'll have much of a problem. The biggest difference that comes to mind would be specific drivetrain offerings & pairings, but in every case I can think of, the Brits always seem to win the tossup when it comes to available combinations. For instance, US-spec Jettas/Golfs, except the R32, are all FWD; whereas [some] European born models come with the option of 4Motion+manual transmission, TDI+4Motion, or both. Euro models always get a more varied engine selection, on the whole, as well. Most are smaller displacement versions of the ones we get in the US, since fuel prices are so crazy high across the pond.

In any case, I think a bigger worry will be certifying a US-spec car for lighting, emissions, and bumper requirements...and possibly other things.
posted by porntips guzzardo at 8:47 AM on February 20, 2006

Prices on vehicles (certainly used to) vary greatly across Europe too. If you buy in the U.K. you're more likely to get screwed. A while back it was cheaper to buy a Japanese car (I think Toyota but I can't remember) in Japan that was built in the U.K. and shipped there and have it shipped back, than to buy the exact same car locally.

Belgium is/was really cheap for cars. I think Spain is too. In Brussels if you know someone who knows someone you can get all sorts of diplomat discounts too.

All the above is based on knowledge that is around 8 years old now though, so YMMV.
posted by lowlife at 9:23 AM on February 20, 2006