iDriveSoCal

Oktoberfest Car Show Preview

Oktoberfest and Volkswagen are both undeniably German.  And for the second year running Ontario VW is honoring its heritage with its 2nd Annual Oktoberfest Car Show.

Everyone is invited to this free event!  Great food, music, and soft drinks will be served.  Yes, Oktoberfest with no beer, but you can test-drive all the V-Dubs you want!

And there will be some incredible cars on display.  We get the details from Jimmy Willhide, one of the event organizers, in this iDSC Podcast.  Click play to listen and check out pictures from last year’s event in the gallery below.

***Transcript***

Recorded August 30, 2018, in Ontario, CA

Jimmy: Everybody is welcome to come out, check out the new cars and check out the old cars, it’s just a really good event. We want our Volkswagen people to come out and have a good time together.

We’re going to have food and drinks for everybody, we’re going to have music, we’re just going to have a good time and hang out and talk cars, you know.

Tom: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, the podcast, all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States, Southern California, Tom Smith here, with my good buddy, Jimmy Willhide.

If you’ve been listening to the podcast, you know that Jimmy Willhide is a VW guy, pretty hardcore actually, has eight VWs at home. He is one of the service advisors here at Ontario Volkswagen in Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, California, just off the 15 here. And Ontario is a great partner of iDriveSoCal and we thank you guys as always for that.

This here podcast that we’re going to be talking about is a really cool event that … easy for me to say. Ontario Volkswagen is going to be having in October and it’s actually called Oktoberfest and obviously, Volkswagen being German, it all ties in, it’s really cool and we’re in the automotive capital of the world here, so it makes sense that we are honoring the heritage of the brand that is VW, right?

Jimmy: That is correct. All generations of Volkswagen. Everybody is welcome to come out, from old-school classic air cooled to old school classic mark three to mark two, Jetta’s and GTIs and so forth, all the way to the new gens, we want everybody to come out and have a good time.

Tom: And just to clarify, if you are a Volkswagen person, you already know, but if you don’t, because I’m an appreciator but I’m still learning the specific lingo.

You heard Jimmy just interchange the word mark and gen, so generation is what gen stands for and mark is also so, for instance, well let’s go the Beetle, the old slug bug, what gen are we on on that one? It’s not being made right now, but what was the most recent?

Jimmy: That would be … Most recent would be the 1975 Beetle, anything from ’57 on is a classic Volkswagen air cool. The generation/mark situation, it started from mark one from ’75 on up, to the mark two is from ’85 on up and then the mark three is from ’93 and up. And then our four, five, six and sevens are newer generation Volkswagen’s, we’re all welcome to come out.

Tom: Okay. So you don’t have to be an old-school Volkswagen person, guy or gal, a new school Volkswagen … it’s everybody.

Jimmy: It is everybody.

Tom: And even, hey if you’re not a Volkswagen owner, but you’re an appreciator, if that’s a word, if not I just made one up, that’s cool, you know, come on out, it’s a good time and it’s going to be, of course, in October, which is… Isn’t it funny how so many Oktoberfest’s are actually in September?

Jimmy: Oh yeah, it’s crazy. But it’s a lot of fun.

Tom: Right. So, Oktoberfest… this is going to be your second year of the event. You guys did this last year as well, right?

Jimmy: We did it last year, we had a great turnout. A lot of folks showed up with a lot of nice cars and we want to do it again this year to show appreciation to everybody that drives a Volkswagen.

Tom: Where did the idea come from? It makes perfect sense and when I saw it on your website, I was like, duh, how is this not something that has been going on for the last 30 years in the United States?

Jimmy: Well, it’s something we’ve been working on for a while. We’ve wanted to do it, we just haven’t had the time to do it and last year I finally got the okay to do it. And the managers and everybody just saw how great the event went and how many folks showed up and how nice everybody was and it was just a really nice appreciated event.

So because of the turnout and the number of cars that showed up and the number of people that came out to check out the new cars and check out the old cars, it’s just a really good event. We want our Volkswagen people to come out and have a good time together.

Tom: So the way that you just described it, was this kind of your brainchild that you were pitching for a while and the higher-ups finally bit?

Jimmy: Well I was one of the brainiacs that was trying to get it done. Gabriel and Earl both wanted to get it done. We just… It was a time crunch kind of a thing.

We just were never able to jump on it and finally we said, you know what? We’re doing it and we got it done.

Tom: All right. All right. Excellent. So we’ll drop the date a few times but I don’t think we’ve done it yet.

It’s October 28th, coming up here, 2018, October 28th, from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM here at Ontario Volkswagen and the deal is come and bring your Volkswagen, of any year, come and bring your non-Volkswagen and check out the Volkswagen’s.

There’s going to be some prizes, cool prizes, but to be determined.

Jimmy: To be announced.

Tom: We were talking about what those were. We couldn’t actually make any decisions, we were like, “Oh, we’re just going to TBD this one.” To be determined. Or TBA, to be announced. But the broad categories are going to be air-cooled, which is the Volkswagen world is 1957 – 1975, and then water-cooled, which is 1975 all the way up to current, 19 … 2019.

Jimmy: Yeah, 2019 already.

Tom: 1919, what a minute, that doesn’t sound right.  So, Jimmy, this thing being your brainchild, and if you’ve missed the first podcast that I did with Mr. Jimmy Willhide here, he does, in fact, have eight Volkswagen’s at home.

He’s a huge Volkswagen dude and I love that. Part of your whole thing, with the success of the first year, from my understanding, was that you’re tied into a few of the local car clubs that Volkswagen’s part of or specializes in.

Jimmy: Well, basically it’s part of the generations that are here in SoCal, Northern California as well, we’re all over the place and we all try to meet every show that we possibly can. A lot of guys aren’t able to come south, a lot of guys aren’t able to go north.

There’s a lot of car shows here in Southern California that are just unreal. It’s always just such a big focus group and it’s really cool. I’ve always wanted to plan a show of my own.

We did it last year and it was a great success so the man up top said, “Let’s do it again and let’s get our people out here and have some fun. Check out some cars.” So, that’s our whole objective. As far as awards and stuff like that, that’s just a little extra.

Tom: Sure.

Jimmy: And we’ll talk about that later.

Tom: Make it fun.

Jimmy: Yeah. But we’re going to have food and drinks for everybody. We’re going to have music. We’re just going to have a good time and hang out and talk cars, you know.

Tom: Right on. Non-alcoholic drinks, of course, this a driving event.

Jimmy: Unfortunately no alcohol, sorry guys.

Tom: The only Oktoberfest on the planet that doesn’t serve beer.

Jimmy: Exactly.

Tom: But bratwurst will be had I understand.

Jimmy: Yeah, we have bratwurst, hot dogs, hamburgers, we’ll have some pretzels out, some drinks. It’s a good time.

Tom: Right on. And all kinds of VWs. So let’s go back to when I was talking about the clubs. I brought up the clubs. You were talking about we, as if it was a family and what I want to get to is kind of the Volkswagen culture that you and your eight cars are a part of. But you don’t have to have eight cars, you can have one car.

Jimmy: Right.

Tom: You could have a skateboard, not have a car at all, right?

Jimmy: Correct.

Tom: But tell me a little bit about… ’cause there’s more than one club that you’re part of right?

Jimmy: Well, it’s essentially not part of a club but have friends at all VW clubs, you know, I’m not just part of one kind of club society. I’m part of four or five different clubs that I have friends with, not particularly in one certain club but in all general aspects. There’s probably a dozen car club members in different car clubs that I’m friends with all.

Tom: I understand. So you’re the great connector.

Jimmy: Yeah, I guess you could say great connector, yeah.

Tom: And I suppose that it doesn’t hurt, you being an expert in the service realm of the vehicles, so you gotta be a popular guy amongst all the VW lovers, ’cause, “I got a 20, 30-year-old VW and I need a wrench turned or something, I want to do it myself but I’m not quite sure how to do it, hey Jimmy, how you… you want to come over for a sandwich?” You ever get that one?

Jimmy: We get that quite often, yeah. Yeah. But that’s what it’s all about. I mean, even though I work at Volkswagen, we’re always here to help. And I’m willing to do anything to whatever we gotta do to help, get information, a part, or if you need service. I’m here for the whole thing, so …

Tom: So what … name some names, as far as these clubs go. Unless it’s like a secret society and you can’t. You’d have to kill me after telling me.

Jimmy: I would say first off you have Renner, you have-

Tom: Renner?

Jimmy: Renner.

Tom: R-E-N-N-E-R?

Jimmy: And then you have Scrappy Dubs, you have-

Tom: Like Scrappy V-Dubs.

Jimmy: Correct.

Tom: All right.

Jimmy: You know, it’s hard for me to name all of the groups. There’s so many of them. But just the two that I kind of spend most of my time with lately.

Tom: Are Renner and Scrappy Dubs.

Jimmy: Right.

Tom: And these are Volkswagen specific? Or do they open themselves up to vehicles-

Jimmy: No, well I mean, we stick with the VW brand, but part of that VW brand is also with Audi, so we also have Audi’s that we have in our car clubs.

Tom: Sure.

Jimmy: And that’s pretty much it, Volkswagen, Audi.

Tom: Okay. All right. So, Scrappy Dubs, I get that name. Where does the name Renner come from?

Jimmy: Renner. Okay, so Renner-

Tom: Is that a German name?

Jimmy: It’s a German name for, I believe it’s for something to do with being very fast, I’m not sure. Or for motorsports.

Tom: Okay.

Matching Vans and Volkswagen :0)

Jimmy:  I’ll have to define that for you.

Tom: Okay.

Jimmy: But Renner is a car club that was basically started way back in the 90s, way back when, and it was a club that a couple of friends of mine and myself started back up and it’s not like a full-on car club like you gotta meet every Sunday or whatever.

It’s a friend thing, you know, when you have the time, come out. So it’s a very cool set up and it’s a good society, you know. And especially now that we’re getting older and we have kids and we have responsibilities, we can’t always do what we want to do of course.

So this is the opportunity to come out and bring your kids, bring your friends and have a good time.

Tom: And if people get into the whole vibe, the whole scene, and they want to participate in either of these clubs, is that open to people?

Jimmy: It’s completely open.

Tom: Do you have Facebook groups? Or do you have a website? Or do you have …

Jimmy: You can look up on our Instagram page, it’s called Renner Performance.

Tom: Okay.

Jimmy: And it has all the club member’s cars in it and it’s mainly older generation Volkswagen, from the mark two era, which is ’85 and on and to the mark three era, basically from ’93 on.

Tom: Okay.

Jimmy: So it’s more of a classic water-cooled club, but everybody is welcome to come out and join and have fun.

Tom: All right. And you guys get together weekly, a couple of times a month?

Jimmy: Maybe once or twice a month if we’re lucky.

Tom: Okay, so it’s not a set thing, it’s just something that you determine online and-

Jimmy: It’s basically like-

Tom: …go from there.

Jimmy: Yeah, it’s just like a long-lasting relationship that when you have time to hang out, we’ll hang out.

Tom: That’s very cool. Anything similarly that you want to note about the Scrappy Dubs?

Jimmy: Scrappy Dubs is another-

Tom: I just like that name, Scrappy Dubs.

Think Rob Is A Volkswagen Enthusiast?

Jimmy: It’s catchy.

Tom: Yeah.

Jimmy: Scrappy Dubs is another club that I hang out with these guys. I went to high school with these guys and they live close by and he actually makes performance aero kits, you know body kits and stuff for Volkswagen and Audi.

Tom: Oh, okay.

Jimmy: So I got a pretty close relationship with them as well and we hang out all the time and just have fun.

Tom: All right. Cool.

Jimmy: Yeah.

Tom: So, you want to get yourself, you want to get into the tinkering with it kind of, so would your buddy that you referred to, do you want to drop his name by chance? Does he have a little business that might get a-

Jimmy: Oh yeah, his name is Mike Fleming, he owns basically a body kit shop, mostly fiberglass automotive, European parts.

Tom: Okay.

Jimmy: Really cool dude. You should look him up. I can’t remember the name of his new company. He’s just changed his name, so I’m sorry about that, Mike, but you could drop me a text and I’ll be able to get the to you out there.

Tom: Right, right. So what you want to do is you come here, buy your Volkswagen from Ontario Volkswagen, have Jimmy Willhide be your service advisor and then have Jimmy’s buddy, Mike, give it a body kit and away you go. You are set for Oktoberfest’s here at Ontario Volkswagen for many years to come.

Oktoberfest Car Show Preview

So again, the event is the second annual Oktoberfest right here at Ontario Volkswagen in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, California. The date, October 28th, the time from 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM. There will be food, soft drinks. I understand they’re going to open up the morning with some coffee and pastries and then kind of transition into lunch as lunchtime gets closer.

Jimmy: Right, right. Yeah, we’ll get everybody a little snack while they’re rolling in, getting set up and we’ll get started.

Tom: Come to see a bunch of cool cars. Meet and chat with a bunch of cool car people. Pick yourself up a new Volkswagen here at Ontario Volkswagen while you’re at it. Jimmy, thank you as always. It’s always fun talking cars with you my friend.

Jimmy: Appreciate the time.

Tom: And thank you guys, Ontario Volkswagen, for being a fantastic partner to iDriveSoCal.

Jimmy: Thank you and thank you, everybody, else for coming out.

Tom: Yeah, we’re looking forward to it. We’ll be out here as well. For iDriveSoCal, I’m Tom Smith, thank you for listening.

The Latest Volkswagen News HERE.

Volkswagen Team

Shant Bashian has been a Volkswagen guy, thru and thru, for nearly his entire adult life.  And sure he’ll help you get the best deal possible on one, but perhaps more importantly, he’ll detail from his own experience what makes every VW special.  He’ll point out the very little things that make the biggest difference when it comes to what’s referred to as the ‘fit and finish’ of a vehicle.

In this iDriveSoCal Podcast, we profile Ontario VW’s newest team member.  Formerly of both Puente Hills and Pasadena Volkswagen; Shant shares his love or the VW brand and why he chose Ontario VW as his new home.

***Transcript***

Recorded August 21, 2018  in Ontario, CA

Shant: I’ve had three Touaregs, two Jettas, one Passat, two CCs. And, just recently in September, I surprised my wife by replacing our Touareg with a 2018 Atlas.

Volkswagen has always been softer rubber materials on the dash, the doors, the buttons of the windows, the way they feel, the material. It makes all the difference.  These are the little things that VW looks at, but it brings out the quality.

When you drive a Volkswagen, and you drive a different brand vehicle, you definitely immediately feel the difference.

“I’ve had three Touaregs, two Jettas, one Passat, two CCs. And, just recently in September, I surprised my wife by replacing our Touareg with a 2018 Atlas.”

Tom: Welcome to iDriveSoCal the podcast, all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States, southern California. Tom Smith here, out in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, California at our good friends, Ontario Volkswagen. And, joining me for this iDriveSoCal podcast is the newest team member of Ontario Volkswagen, Sales Manager Shant Bashian.

Shant: Yes, sir.

Tom: Welcome to Ontario Volkswagen, and thank you for joining me for the iDriveSoCal podcast.

Shant: Thank you for having me, it’s a pleasure.

Tom: Ontario Volkswagen’s a fantastic partner of iDriveSoCal, and Shant is a fantastic VW guy, has been a long time here in southern California. Previously at a couple of other Volkswagen stores, Volkswagen Pasadena, as well as Volkswagen Puente Hills. So I know the team here is very excited to have you, and again, welcome.S

Shant: Thank you. I’m excited to be here.

Tom: So why don’t… What we wanna do with this podcast is really let people know, this is a profile of you, right, dealer people. Car buying, quite honestly … You’ve been a buyer, right?

Shant: Absolutely.

Tom: Before being in the business.

Shant: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I’ve walked into dealers.

Tom Smith: Yeah, and so you know having worn that hat, it can be a scary proposition, it can be anxiety-filled.

Ontario Volkswagen, as well as everybody that we work with at iDriveSoCal, we’re all about kind of pulling down those walls, pulling down those barriers and creating that level of comfort.

Let’s talk a little bit about your background in the automotive business. I know that your first entry into the automotive business was actually on the service side, which is pretty interesting.

First he sold VW’s then started driving them and hasn’t looked back! | Shant Bashian of Ontario VW

Shant: You can say throughout the midway in my career because I went through 13 years in sales, then I tried service for several months. So I wanted to experience the service side, and I’m glad I did, I learned a lot back there.

Tom: You know, I think, this is my personal perception, but also as a consumer, I buy a car… And I work with dealers, so I’m a little bit different. But, I buy a car, and all consumers, they buy, and they do a lot of research. They work with a salesperson for a handful of hours, but then they work with the service advisor for years.

“I wanted to experience the service side, and I’m glad I did, I learned a lot back there.”

So let’s talk a little bit about what brought you, your steps before coming to Ontario Volkswagen. I know you wanna let all of your former customers from the other stores that you are now here.

Shant: I think it is important that they do know I’m here, because having a relationship with someone business-wise at a dealership, it’s helpful. It really is, because there’s a level of trust, and you get to know someone for a while, and you can count on them.

So if you need another vehicle, if your kids need a vehicle, if God forsakes you make have totaled the vehicle for whatever reason, the car buying experience can be overwhelming. But, when you know someone, they’ve treated you fairly, and you keep going back to that same person, that’s really who I am.

That’s why I’ve stuck with Volkswagen, 16 years now. Four years at Pasadena Volkswagen, I’ve been at Puente Hills eight years, and that was a long commitment. But, I have a lot of good followers, I’ve made a lot of friends, I’m made friends, people I’ve gone mountain biking with that have bought cars from me, gone to many sushi dinners with that have bought cars from me.

“…when you know someone, they’ve treated you fairly, and you keep going back to that same person, that’s really who I am.”

And just, we’ll text each other out of the blue and say, “Hey, how are you? How are the kids? Did you go to church Sunday? Did you go off-road and camping?”

It becomes a relationship. So I do want people to know that I am in Ontario because you can lose touch with some people. People get new cell phones, email addresses, things happen in life.

So I’m at Ontario Volkswagen, I started here just earlier in August. I’m very happy to be here, it’s a great team, and we’re gonna do well over here.

“It becomes a relationship. So I do want people to know that I am in Ontario because you can lose touch with some people. People get new cell phones, email addresses, things happen in life.”

Tom: So you are not only a long-term Volkswagen professional but also a Volkswagen driver yourself?

Shant: I am. I’ve had, I’ll tell you exactly, my first car was a 2003 Volkswagen Passat. My father helped me co-sign for that vehicle. I drove the car for about a year, and then I leased myself a 2005 Volkswagen Touareg, which I had been eyeballing.

And plus, I come from a backcountry world, and I love four-wheel driving and camping, and Volkswagen had told me that’s the best off-road car on the planet.

So I had to put that name to the test. So I’ve had three Touaregs, two Jettas, one Passat, two CCs. And, just recently in September, I surprised my wife by replacing our Touareg with a 2018 Atlas, to help transport our four-year-old and our six-year-old to school and back. Plus, it was time for her to get a new car anyway.

Tom: Nice.

We love Ontario VW too!

Shant: Yeah, I’ve had some VWs in my life.

I had the Jetta, 2005 Volkswagen Jetta, I sold that, 180,000 miles on the odometer, and the only thing I’ve ever done to that car was probably replaced brake pads, rotors, tires. I think the trunk latch went out one time, for 180,000 miles, I’m good.  No problem.

And the Touareg I got rid of at 135,000 miles, the same engine as the Atlas has, 3.6. I love that vehicle. But, I needed that third row.

Tom: So did your passion for Volkswagen bring you to the brand professionally?

Shant: Not even close.

“My professional Volkswagen experience made me a Volkswagen driver, believer, and I stuck with the brand.”

Tom: Or, did your professional Volkswagen experience bring you to Volkswagen?

Shant: My professional Volkswagen experience made me a Volkswagen driver, believer, and I stuck with the brand.

You know, I did sell Honda for one year. Volkswagen, we sell, you can say anywhere from 60 to 100 new cars, depending on the location.

When you look at volume-wise, the entire world knows if you go to Japanese like Toyota and Honda, they sell 400, 500 cars plus.

Tom: Sure.

Shant: So I wanted to experience that, and I did. I worked for Penske Honda for one year in 2008.

But, selling Hondas was not as exciting for me as selling Volkswagens, because when I would demonstrate a Volkswagen product, I would point out all the little things, all the differences that make a Volkswagen a Volkswagen. And, I had to come back, I just had to come back.

Tom: I just did a podcast with Jimmy Willhide, who’s one of the Service Directors here at Ontario Volkswagen. I believe he has eight Volkswagens currently.

Shant: Wow.

Shant Bashian @ Ontario Volkswagen

Tom: We were talking about Volkswagen, you and I were talking about this as well off-mic, just kind of the value overall, but specifically the fit and finish of a Volkswagen product. To me, they just pay attention to detail at a level that is significantly higher than the price would suggest.

Shant: I call that, not just me, but it’s quality over quantity. Volkswagen has always been softer rubber materials on the dash, the doors, the buttons of the windows, the way they feel, the material. It makes all the difference.

“…it’s quality over quantity. Volkswagen has always been softer rubber materials on the dash, the doors, the buttons of the windows, the way they feel, the material. It makes all the difference.”

The gap in between the doors, you have 3.5-millimeter gaps all the way across top to bottom, all the panels match. These are the little things that VW looks at, but it brings out the quality. So we don’t look at selling 18 million cars in one year, we look at how that car’s going to look, the design.

Now, when I say we, I really feel like I’m part of Volkswagen, but I’m definitely not the designer, of course, I just sell them. But, I just speak of we, because I feel like I belong to VW for some reason.

When you drive a Volkswagen, and you drive a different brand vehicle, if it’s a non-German brand, you definitely immediately feel the difference. Just driving on the freeway in Southern California, go on the 60 Freeway. This is a local podcast, right?

Tom: Yep.

Shant: 60 Freeway, Interstate 10. How many semi-trucks in the morning? In the right lane alone, within a mile, you probably have 35 semi-trucks. Try driving past those semi-trucks at 70 miles an hour in a Volkswagen.

By the way, people, don’t speed, the limit is 65, versus a non-German product, you pass that semi-truck doing 65, you’ll feel your vehicle being kind of pushed to the side a little bit by that wind resistance.

“…the aerodynamics, the weight of the vehicle, the weight of the material, it all comes into play, and that’s what they design. It’s quality.”

And Volkswagen doesn’t have that, because the aerodynamics, the weight of the vehicle, the weight of the material, it all comes into play, and that’s what they design. It’s quality.

Tom: Shant, you already mentioned the family life to a certain degree, but when you’re not here at Ontario Volkswagen and helping current and future customers, what are you doing? Obviously, spending time with your family.

Shant: I’m swimming with my kids, I’m wrestling with my kids, letting them beat me up. I am cooking, I love cooking. My wife and I both cook, but when I have time off, I like to cook for her, and I prepare all kinds of meals for her, different flavors and spices.

Tom: Nice.

Shant: And she loves it, or I believe she does. I do a lot of that, again, I’m a big-time outdoorsman. Hiking for me, take my kid’s hiking, let them get used to the outdoors life, especially nowadays with all the electronics. It feels like everyone’s on their phones and iPads and whatnot.

Tom: A lot.

Shant:  We leave everything at home. I give them two hiking sticks, even the four-year-old when he was three, “Let’s go,” take them out, let them walk through the woods. “Let’s climb the tree.” People don’t climb trees anymore. So I still do that kind of stuff. Mountain biking, camping, four-wheel driving, a lot of outdoors stuff and activities.

Tom: Anything else you’d like to add before we kind of wrap this up?

Shant: Come on out to Ontario Volkswagen. I gotta tell you, I love this auto mall.

Test drives around here, there’s really no traffic. It’s a very spacious auto mall. If you need to shop from one vehicle to another, you literally just drive just right next to the other store.

Shant Bashian hard at work and always ready to help!

Tom: Right.

Shant: So it makes things a lot easier for people too, to come out here.

Tom: Excellent. You mentioned email address and phone numbers. Do you wanna drop your email address-

Shant I do.

Tom: …and phone number here?

Tom: Well, Shant, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you and the Ontario Volkswagen team for being a great partner of iDriveSoCal, and I look forward to working with you a lot on various pieces, podcasts that we create to really educate and inform, and help people make the best buying decisions that they can.

Shant: Thanks, everyone for joining, and thanks for having me.

Tom: All right. Thanks. For iDriveSoCal, I’m Tom Smith, thank you for listening.

The Latest Volkswagen News HERE.

Automotive design studios are where the gorgeous creations you and I see rolling down the road are initially conceived.

Every manufacturer has them.  And here in Southern California, we have a high concentration of them.  And that concentrations of design studios are yet another reason that SoCal is the automotive capital of the United States as well as the automotive capital of the world.

Listen to this iDSC podcast for more details, which further solidify Southern California as the automotive capital of planet earth!

***Transcript***

Recorded August 15th, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA

Clinton Quan: The other reason is Southern California, this is where the trends start, whether you’re talking about design trends or fashion trends. So, it’s not surprising that so many design studios are located here in Southern California.

Tom Smith: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, the podcast all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States, Southern California. Tom Smith here with our good, buddy, pal, chum, the professor Mr.

Clinton Quan. Say hello Clinton.

Clinton Quan: Hi, Tom.

Tom Smith: Thanks for joining me again, my friend. Today’s iDriveSoCal podcast is going to be a continuation of that fine statement and justifying it: what makes Southern California the automotive capital of the United States as well as the world?

And our good professor always coming up with different ideas and angles and justifications why, in fact, SoCal is the automotive capital of both the US and the globe, this little blue planet that we’re on, and that is design studios. Literally many, many manufacturers have design studios up and down the coast, and inland, of Southern California.

Clinton Quan: Well, primarily Ventura County, LA County, Orange County, and San Diego County.

Tom Smith: So, pretty much up and down the coast?

Clinton Quan: Yes, correct.

Tom Smith: Just not the Inland Empire?

Clinton Quan: There could be some in the Inland Empire. I’m not sure of every …

Tom Smith: That’s what we were just talking about. I’m like, “Well, professor, is that all of them.” And he’s like, “Well, I don’t know. No one curates a list of them.”

And I think that’s gonna have to be the responsibility that we here at iDriveSoCal take on. We’re just gonna put together a little list of these design studios and say, “Hey, this is yet another reason why we here in Southern California are the automotive capital of the world.”

So, how do you wanna do it? Do you wanna go from Ventura County and head south, or do you wanna go south or head north or do you wanna go alphabetically by the manufacturer?

Clinton Quan: No, let’s go down the coast. Let’s go Ventura County, LA County, Orange County, San Diego County.

Tom Smith: All right. Take it away, professor.

Clinton Quan: Well, the first on is Volvo out in Camarillo. I think that one opened up maybe seven or eight years ago, so that’s one of two I know about in Ventura County.

Tom Smith: Before we dive in, let’s get back to Volvo in just a second, first let’s identify what compromises a design studio. What does it look like? It’s a building housed with what departments of people, about how many people, what goes on there?

I’m sure it varies there for each manufacturer. I’d assume so, but is this something where they’re taking clay and molding it into different concept-type vehicles?

Clinton Quan: That’s definitely part of the process, but every manufacturer is different. So, I don’t think we can say there’s a standard for all design studios throughout Southern California.

Tom Smith: Being in design, this is the artistry aspect of creating automobiles, so it’s however you create, right?

Clinton Quan: Yeah. I think it would look very similar to what you would see at ArtCenter College of Design, and that’s another reason why there’s so many design studios here in Southern California.

Tom Smith: Good point.

Clinton Quan: You have some of the best and brightest alums here in Southern California right out of the school.

Tom Smith: Coming right out of that school, so they’re like, “Hey, we’re already here. We might as well just go work up there, down there, over there, and with [inaudible 00:03:09].” There you go.

Clinton Quan: Absolutely. The other reason is Southern California, this is where the trends start, whether you’re talking about design trends or fashion trends.

So, it’s not surprising that so many design studios are located here in Southern California. And the third reason I think is the weather. You have beautiful weather here. We’re known for having the best weather in the country and San Diego probably the best climate in the country.

Tom Smith: Yeah, I don’t think the word’s gotten around yet because the highways and roads are so wide open all the time. It’s easy to get around.

Clinton Quan: Yeah.

Tom Smith: Okay. So, it varies for every manufacturer, but I mean these are probably departments of the manufacturer of the OEMs that house a couple hundred to a couple thousand each-ish.

Clinton Quan: It’s possible, yes.

Tom Smith: What we do know is the design studios are actually here.

Clinton Quan: Yes, the design studios are here. Some of them, they might be incorporated with the corporate headquarters and some are completely separate.

Tom Smith: Have you toured any of these yourself?

Clinton Quan: Well, the next one I actually got to visit.

Tom Smith: The next one you’re gonna talk about? So, let’s go back to the beginning. So, Volvo’s the first one, and that’s up in Camarillo.

Clinton Quan: That’s up in Camarillo.

Tom Smith: And they’re putting out some really good looking product these days.

Clinton Quan: Oh, Volvo, that is one of my very favorite automobile manufacturers now.

If you look at all of their brand new cars, they’re putting some fantastic cars out there in terms of both exterior design and interior design.

Whether you’re talking about the Volvo XC90, their midsize crossover; the XC60, their compact crossover, which just one the North American Utility of the Year Award.

And then, their all-new XC40, the subcompact; and then you have the brand new S60, their sports sedan.

Tom Smith: Now onto the next one after Volvo.

Clinton Quan: The next one is Design Works in Newberry Park, and that’s BMW’s design studio, and I actually got tour that. Well, I actually got to visit it during a special event for the unveiling of the latest seven series, so that was a couple years ago when I got to visit…

And it’s not something that’s normally open to the public, but because they threw an event, that’s how I got the opportunity to visit this design studio.

Tom Smith: Another question that’s probably gonna be different for every manufacturer, but the design studio’s that are here, is that the only design studio for the whole global platform?

Clinton Quan: No.

Tom Smith: So, there are design studios in other places of the world as well?

Clinton Quan: Correct.

Tom Smith: We just have a high concentration here for all the reasons that you mentioned early, especially the Arts Center.

Clinton Quan: Yeah. Now, some automobile manufacturers, they may only have one, but some they may have several. BMW I believe they also have one in Germany. So yeah, a lot of them they would have one in their own country as well.

Tom Smith: Now Volvo is Swedish, right?

Clinton Quan: I’m pretty sure they would have one in Sweden as well.

Tom Smith: So, the North America design studio hub is definitely here, and because of that also we have a huge concentration from a global perspective as well as US? Okay. Carry on.

Clinton Quan: So, now we’ve done the design studios in Ventura County. Now we’re gonna move into LA. General Motors has one in North Hollywood.

Tom Smith: Really?

Clinton Quan: And Honda actually has one here in downtown LA. I just found out recently that it used to be in Pasadena, and now in the heart of downtown Los Angeles.

Tom Smith: Well, there you go.

Clinton Quan: Yeah.

Tom Smith: We should nose around, see if we can’t get some invites to go and get tours of these places. That’d be pretty cool, huh?

Clinton Quan: Yeah.

Tom Smith: Tell them, “Hey, I’m with iDriveSoCal.” They’ll be like, “Hang on a second. Let me get the red carpet out. Caviar and violins and champagne.”

Clinton Quan: I’d love to see a mockup or a prototype of the NSX. That’d be really cool.

Tom Smith: There you go. There you go. Okay. So, we got Volvo, we got BMW, we got-

Clinton Quan: General Motors, Honda. Yeah, that’s in the valley in North Hollywood. And now we’ll move down to Orange County and, in Irvine, there’s Hyundai, there’s Kia, there’s Mazda, and there’s Ford.

Tom Smith: Got it.

Clinton Quan: So, that’s right there in the heart of Orange County. Irvine, California.

Tom Smith: And that Mazda-Ford parking lot is where the original Cars and Coffee migrated from Crystal Cove to I think there was a stop before they got to that parking lot. Is that where they disbanded from, too? The really big one?

Clinton Quan: I think so. It just got so big.

Tom Smith: Gosh, I wonder if there’d be some way to get that back.

Clinton Quan: I remember going there; I was completely amazed at how many people were there early in the morning at 7:00.

Tom Smith: So, we’ve covered this one, folks. If you haven’t heard the Cars and Coffee talk, it’s… there’s just so many reasons.

Clinton Quan: Speaking of Irvine and Cars and Coffee, I’m planning on going to another Cars and Coffee this coming Saturday in Irvine. It’s called RCC Cars and Coffee.

Tom Smith: RCC?

Clinton Quan: Yeah, RCC Cars and Coffee. I just saw it on Instagram. I don’t know anything about it. This will be my first time going, so I wanna check it out.

Tom Smith: Okay. All right. Well, RCC Cars and Coffee, you’re getting a little plug here from the professor.

Clinton Quan: As we’ve said, there’s always new Cars and Coffee.

Tom Smith: There are always new ones. There are.

Since we did that podcast, and I think we posted it already, yes we did, perhaps just a couple days ago, but we still haven’t come up with a solution for keeping track of all the Cars and Coffees, because they just move around.

They come, they go, they get successful and have to move into the bigger spaces.

Clinton Quan: And this RCC Cars and Coffee, I guess their headquarters is in Irvine, but they do a second Cars and Coffee in another location. I believe it’s in Coto de Caza, which is also in Orange County. And, I think it’s just northeast of this other location. I wanna check it out.

Tom Smith: All right, professor. You go check it out. Full report. What’s next?

Clinton Quan: There’s also Toyota in Newport Beach.

Tom Smith: Toyota in Newport Beach. Okay.

Clinton Quan: And that one is called … I believe it’s called Calty, C-A-L-T-Y. I’m not sure what that stands for, but I know that’s the name of their design studio. Next would be San Diego. So, there’s Mercedes Benz in Carlsbad, so that’s in north San Diego County, and they took over the former design space that was occupied by Chrysler.

Tom Smith: Oh, really?

Clinton Quan: Yeah.

Tom Smith: Okay.

Clinton Quan: Just read about that. And then there’s Nissan Design International in La Jola, and that’s very close to where I went to school, UC San Diego.

Tom Smith: So, the professor here is a transportation engineer, but I’m wondering why, because you’re a smart fellow. I’m sure your transcripts were pretty impressive, and you probably could’ve gone to school wherever. Why didn’t you wind up at the Arts Center College of Design? Am I saying that right? Arts Center College of Design?

Clinton Quan: That’s correct, yes. It is Art Center College of Design.

Tom Smith: So, why didn’t you wind up going that path? You’re more of an engineer than an artiste?

Clinton Quan: That’s a whole nother story. Yes, I was very good at math in school, and I was always interested in science and engineering and architecture. So, that’s the field I ended up pursuing.

Tom Smith: So, there you have it.

Clinton Quan: Yeah, structural engineering.

Tom Smith: I was really on the edge of my seat wondering why. What’s going on with the professor and his career here? So, does that put a bow on this one?

Clinton Quan: Yes, that puts a bow on it, and as you can see, we covered manufacturers from Germany, Mercedes Benz, BMW; from Sweden, Volvo; American, General Motors; Japanese with Mazda, Toyota, Honda; Korean, Hyundai, and Kia. Oh, also Ford, American as well. So, we’ve covered pretty much from every country. Well, almost every country.

Tom Smith: So, there you have it. Design studios up and down the coasts throughout Southern California. Yet another reason, another justification, that old Tom just isn’t blowing smoke over here when he calls Southern California the automotive capital of the United States, and also the automotive capital of the world.

We have lots of those justifications. This is just yet another one. We’re gonna keep coming up with them, and hey, if you have any ideas as to why Southern California is the automotive capital of the United States, automotive capital of the world, please hit us up. My email: [email protected]. Tomatidrivesocal.com.

Tom Smith: I’ve gotten a few inquiries through the contact page of iDriveSoCal, and people saying, “Oh, boy, jeez. From a production standpoint, the guy’s in Detroit or the people”—where’s it Alabama or something like that where there’s a lot of production that happens, a lot of manufacturing?

Clinton Quan: Alabama’s one, yeah.

Tom Smith: Okay. But yeah, I’ve gotten some comments such as that, and I’ve replied back, but then it’s kind of gone quiet. It’s like, “Well, come on. Let’s have this debate. Let’s have a spirited debate about this, but no. Good stuff. Professor, thank you as always and until next time, I’m Tom Smith. Thank you so much for listening. This is iDriveSoCal.

Volkswagen Enthusiast

Some automotive brands have an enduring quality about them. They cultivate a passionate following building a common bond between consumers; a shared appreciation and culture for all that the brand represents. Volkswagen is undeniably one of those car brands.

VW, Fahrvergnügen, Beetle, bug, slug-bug, mini-bus, Jetta, Golf, Rabbit… the list of iconic Volkswagen automobile models goes on. And when any of them are uttered, read, or even come to mind they generate an image that’s both highly distinct and practically unforgettable.

Ontario Volkswagen, the premiere VW dealership in Southern California’s Inland Empire, not only attracts Volkswagen diehards (and converts newbies) but the location also employs some of the most extraordinary and passionate brand ambassadors in the automotive world.

In this iDriveSoCal Podcast, Jimmy Willhide – a long-time service advisor at Ontario VW, who’s had VW pumping through his veins for decades – shares his passion for the brand. He also talks with me about the eight VW’s he currently owns and maintains and explains how to keep yours running for hundreds of thousands of miles.

***Transcript***

Recorded August 15, 2018, at in Ontario, CA

Jim: Something about a Volkswagen is always funner to drive than whatever else I’ve driven.

Each generation that comes out something else new, something else that has that same feel, but has a different look, but once you get in that car, you can tell this is a Volkswagen. Just by shutting the door on the car, you can feel the difference.

Tom: Welcome to iDriveSoCal, the podcast all about mobility from the automotive capital of the United States, Southern California.

Tom Smith here out at Ontario Volkswagen in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, California and Ontario Volkswagen is a great friend of iDriveSoCal of the program and with me today is Jimmy Willhide.

Now, Jimmy is an employee of Ontario Volkswagen, a long time employee, about a decade, but he’s also like he drinks the Kool-Aid, ladies, and gentlemen. He is a Volkswagen guy through and through. I don’t see any tats, but I would assume that if he did have tats, the VW logo would probably be pretty prevalent.

Jim: It’s coming.

Tom: And so Jimmy is a Service Advisor here at Ontario Volkswagen. The Volkswagen brand, some of you know exactly what we’re talking about ’cause you’re in that passionate VW, fahvergnügen groovin’ thing.

And I got buddies that are, and I totally appreciate it. I’m a universal car guy personally. So, Jimmy’s worked here for ten years. He’s a Service Advisor, but he has how many Volkswagens do you own?

Jim: I have eight Volkswagens,

Tom: Eight Volkswagens.

Jim: Eight Volkswagens.

Tom: That’s more than one for every day of the week.

Tom: And so, the way you got into it. You were a car guy it sounds like as a young man.

Jim: Right. I was into big mini truckin’ stuff. I liked trucks at the time.

Tom: Okay.

Jim: First time I got a ride into a nice GTI, 1991, shows my age. I took a ride in that car, and I was just sold. That car handled so well. The way it just drove was just awesome. And ever since then I’ve been hooked.

Tom: And was that car relatively new. Had your buddy done anything to it? Was it tuned up at all?

Jim: It had a slight little modification here and there. Some sport suspension. Wheels and tires, you know. Just looked nice and handled well.

Tom: Okay.

Jim: So, I guess you would call it a modified stock car.

Tom: Okay. And so, Volkswagen as a niche for enthusiasts. How does one … for you, you just drove one. How do some of your other Volkswagen people find their way to the Promised Land that you live in with your eight Volkswagens?

Jim: I would say they… basically, it’s like a friend in hand kind of relationship. Say a friend of a friend comes in and says, “Hey, I’m interested in that car. What can you tell me about it?” “Well, I can tell you a lot of things about it. I have that car, and let me tell you what’s going on with it.”

And from then on if you know the product and you know what you’re talking about and you sell what you’re telling them, it’s a done deal. I mean, once you get in that car.

You get the feel from whatever else you’re driving, something about a Volkswagen is always funner to drive than whatever else I’ve driven.

And I think that’s what sells most of it is the feel on how to drive that car. And it just, the surrounding, it just feels surreal. It’s just awesome.

Tom: And you have a spread of solid 15 years pushing 20 years of vehicles, right?

Jim: Correct.

Tom: So, that means that the Volkswagen DNA is what it is. And it’s in each of the models, each of the years consistently over and over.

Jim: Right. Right. There’s a big like from 1985 Mark 2 Jetta GTIs to 1991, body change kind of stayed the same, but it added features here and there. And then from ’93 to ’98, they came out with a Mark 3 Jetta, which everybody was just like, “What is that?”, you know?

And once that got on the market, it sold like hotcakes. They had a small thing with Corrados for a couple of years. That was a hot car. That’s a hard car to find now in good condition.

Jim: Each generation that comes out something else new, something else that has that same feel, but has a different look, but once you get in that car, you can tell this is a Volkswagen.

Just by shutting the door on the car, you can feel the difference. It doesn’t feel like something just started to echo when you shut the door. It’s a solid shut, you know? It’s just one of those things.

Once you’re used to that product and you know what you want, and you want an upgrade. You know it’s the same car. It might have a little bit of a different look, but it’s the same feel.

Tom: And so, you’ve been here at Ontario Volkswagen for ten years, and before we turned the mics on you mentioned that before you were a Service Advisor, you were actually a technician yourself.

Jim: Got my hands dirty, yes.

Tom: And I jokingly said, “Oh, you don’t have to miss that too much, because you’re doing it on your own eight cars at home.” Right?

Jim: Correct.

Tom: Or probably bringing them in here to work on them at work.

Jim: It makes it easier bringing it here so I’m not on the ground. Yes.

Tom: Yeah. So, let’s go through your stable that you have currently, and then anything that you might want to comment on that you’ve … ’cause I know when we first met, you were telling me about one that got away that you got back.

Jim: Yes. So, my ranch of cars, I had a 2003 Volkswagen Cabriolet that I came across. Needed some work. Got it for a nice little deal. Put some work into it and one of my technicians needed a car for his daughter’s 16th birthday. Ended up selling it to him.

I didn’t want to, but I didn’t really have the time to work on it, so I let him have it. And then a year later, I guess daughter couldn’t drive the manual transmission, so I got it back.

So, I picked that car back up and it’s back in my lot.

Tom: Thankfully.

Jim: Yes.

Tom: Whew. Glad you got that sorted out. So, what are all of them? Let’s rattle off everything you have.

Jim: Okay. So, first I have a 1990 Jetta that I’m working on now. I have a 1991 Jetta that’s complete with a conversion kit on it. It has a VR6 engine. Everything’s been modified.

Tom: Okay, what is a conversion kit and a VR6 engine? Just high level.

Jim: Basically those cars never came with a VR6.

Tom: Okay.

Jim: They only came 4-cylinder, 8-valve, or if you’re lucky get a GOI 16 valve. Never came with a VR.

Tom: And a VR is?

Jim: VR 6 is a straight single six-cylinder head.

Tom: Do you know what the V and R stand for?

Jim: I could tell you, but I don’t remember.

Tom: But VR6 is a straight 6 engine.

Jim: Correct. So, I did that conversion and basically, all the items from that conversion actually came from a Mark 3, which would be like a ’94, ’93, ’95 Jetta GLX.

Tom: And in the spirit of explaining everything, ’cause even I had to ask the other day, Mark, what? That just simply means the generation?

Jim: The generation of the…

Tom: So, a car first comes out, like for instance the Altas just came out this year, so this –

Jim: That would be Gen 1.

Tom: Gen 1 or Mark 1.

“I would say it would be a fit and finish item, because if you have something moving around it’s gonna cause a noise.”

Jim: Correct.

Tom: Okay. Carry on.

Jim: Okay. So, that modification has been complete from a Mark 3 to a Mark 2. It’s kind of like a Frankenstein car. You just put it all back together the way you can. Modify it as much as you can, and then get it running.

Tom: Okay.

Jim: And then I have a 97 GLX VR6, which is one of my favorites as well. That one is modified. It’s got nice wheels and tires on it. Custom suspension. European bumpers. They’re European spec, not the U.S. spec, so a little bit shorter. Then I have a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta Mark 4 Wagon, Mark 4 GOI, two of those. We have a 2014… Yeah. I’ve got a bunch, man.

Tom: So, was that all of them?

Jim: Pretty much the ones that, well I have a 14 Jetta. I have a 13 Golf. I have a 2002 Golf, and that’s gonna do it.

Tom: But all in you have eight?

Jim: Yes.

Tom: And it sounds like all Jettas except for a couple of Golfs.

Jim: Correct. Two Golfs, Mark 4 generation, 2002 and a Mark 6 generation Golf.

Tom: So, right now, in 2018, not long ago, we did the 2019 Jetta launch party.

Jim: Correct.

Tom: What generation is that? Remind me.

Jim: That would be technically, I think it’s the seventh generation.

Tom: Seventh. Okay. Have you driven that one yet? Do you have opinions on it?

Jim: I have driven the car. I haven’t got a lot of behind the wheel time on it yet, but it does have a little bit of a kick to it for what it has as far as the engine. It’s a 1.4 Turbo engine. It has a nice acceleration on it, and I think the main goal is to get the feel, but also save the money on the gas.

Tom: Now, speaking of money. Volkswagens overall, the value has just always consistently been there. The quality of Volkswagen DNA has always been there. And I love you analogy about you close the door and it a solid door close, right?

Jim: Correct. Right.

Tom: I have a vehicle right now. It’s not a Volkswagen. Mid-size SUV. Not an inexpensive vehicle. I shut the door, and I hear that sound that none of us like, and it’s just … the car’s great. Great safety rating. It’s a high-end brand. But it’s just like, really? Really? You’re gonna give me that?

You know, and I love everything else about it, but it’s you know, do you consider that a fit and finish thing or is that not technically not fit and finish.

Jim: I would say it would be a fit and finish item, because if you have something moving around it’s gonna cause a noise.

Tom: So, that brings me to Volkswagen. It’s just a tight quality car for a great, great value.

Jim: Correct.

Tom: And that covers the gamut of their models. Now, you being the service guy and having this stable of Volkswagens on the ranch.

What recommendations do you have for Volkswagen drivers when it comes to maintenance? So, bring it home to your day to day here at Ontario Volkswagen ’cause I’m sure you have… if I’m a hardcore Volkswagen driver, and I stumble across you, I’m like, I’m on you like you’re my Service Advisor for life, man. That’s it!

Jim: Sure. Sure. Yeah. And I have a lot of friends now, which are my clients that come in looking for me asking questions. They’re not sure on something, which we’re always helpful, answer any questions.

But I would say, for all the newer cars and stuff like that I mean, I know things have gotten a little bit different. Things are a little expensive. You know, everything’s expensive nowadays. If you come into us and we recommend a service on the car, you know.

We’re doing that because we want to make sure that car stays in tip-top shape. Yes, a lot of times we can’t do everything we want to do, but we’re there to help.

Tom: Right.

Jim: So, if there are any questions or we have any information or if you come in just say hi, you want to check out your car, we’ll be happy to help you. But usually on these newer cars too, you know, we do have all these new car care packages when you buy your car.

You can get up to 40, 50-thousand maintenance service maintenance guides, you can pre-pay that when you buy your car. You don’t have to worry about paying for an oil service or anything for 50 thousand miles.

Jim: Beside the oil changes, there are other things that are involved with that too, you know? You have your cabin filters that need to be replaced every 20-thousand miles. Your tires need to be rotated every 10 thousand miles. Just keep everything up to date and make sure everything’s doing what it’s supposed to do.

Tom: And the reason why I bring that up is because I did a talk with Jim Straley, your Service Director, and we talked about the value, the quality, really the quality of Volkswagens and that you don’t have to do a lot and you’re gonna get hundreds of thousands of miles out of the vehicles.

Jim: Right. Right. It’s like one of my older Volkswagens, my 2004, its got 260 thousand miles on it.

Tom: 260?

Jim: Tell me that’s not a good number, you know? And it still runs strong. Yeah, things fail here and there, but she’ll keep running if you take care of her.

Tom: Yeah. And that’s the key thing, right?

Jim: Yeah.

Tom: Just do the maintenance that is bare bones needed and as you pointed earlier, you can’t always do everything you want to do. What you were referring to there is simply an economic thing, right?

Jim: Sure. Sure.

Tom: I mean, none of us have unlimited dollars, bottomless pocketbooks, so we can only do what we can do. But that’s the really cool thing. Personally, I lease my vehicles. And so I like having one that’s just… but I’m you know, I like the newest tech and innovation or whatever.

But I love the older stuff too, but with that in mind, when I was buying and driving forever I maintained it… you know.

Jim: Stayed on top of it.

Tom: Ridiculously. Yeah. My Service Advisor loved me.

Jim: Right. And the cool thing with you now, see in most of these newer cars now, they will tell you when it’s due for service. You can’t forget.

Tom: Right.

Jim: It will tell you every time you start that car. Ding, ding, ding… Time for service, it’ll say “service now”. That’s your cue.

Tom: Yep.

“…a lot of guests that don’t do ten-thousand miles, they’ll come in their normal six thousand miles. Make sure this is tip-top shape…”

Jim: You know, like on the older cars, “Oh, man. I forgot to do my oil change. Oh, my God. How many miles have I done since I did my last oil change?” Not anymore. Everything is right there in front of you. If you don’t know, it’ll tell you.

Tom: And oil changes, you can go forever without an oil change these days. If I went three thousand 50 miles, I was panicking. But now it’s like, I mean, what is it?

Jim: It’s every ten thousand miles or one year, whatever comes first.

Tom: Crazy.

Jim: Yeah. It’s crazy. And I can honestly tell you I have a lot of guests that don’t do ten-thousand miles, they’ll come in their normal six thousand miles. Make sure this is tip-top shape, you know?

Tom: Right.

Jim: I don’t believe in ten thousand miles. I’m gonna do it at six. Well, you know that’s great.

Tom: Comparatively speaking, back in the day, I had buddies that wouldn’t do it at three thousand, they’d do it at 15 hundred.

Jim: Oh, yeah.

Tom: Can you imagine how insanely unnecessarily redundant that would be these days.

Jim: Well, you figure back in those days compared to now, the technology and the oil, you know, it’s built around the engine to let you know it is being lubricated property.

Then it’s always too if you ever have an issue we have these new cars now have what is it? Seven years, 70-thousand miles or five years, 70-thousand mile bumper to bumper. That’s awesome.

Tom: Oh, yeah. The new Volkswagen, people warranty is crazy.  All right. Okay. Well, Jimmy. Jimmy Willhide here at Ontario Volkswagen.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with me. I could sit here and chat cars with you for a long time, but I know you gotta get back to work and help all the Ontario Volkswagen customers. So, unless there’s anything else that you wanted to add.

Jim: All I can say is guys just stay in your Volkswagens. Love ’em.

Tom: Stay in your Volkswagens and love ’em. Spoken from a true die-hard. Jimmy, thanks again. Again, we’re out at Ontario Volkswagen.

All of your Volkswagen needs are right out here in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario. OntarioVolkswagen.com, OntarioVW.com, and thank you guys again for being a great partner for iDriveSoCal.

Jim: Well, thanks Tom.

Tom: For iDriveSoCal, I’m Tom Smith. Thank you for listening.

The Latest Volkswagen News HERE.