A Volkswagen customer from York has recently reached half a century of owning and driving a wide variety of the manufacturer’s vehicles.
With the total now standing at 16 Volkswagen over those 50 years, Mrs Karin Wilson has been looking back over her half century of motoring, which began when she purchased a cream-coloured Volkswagen Beetle from North Riding Motors in 1967.
“I loved the Beetle right from the beginning,” said Mrs Wilson. “It was brand new and it cost £585, I remember other Beetle owners would wave at you as they drove past. We drove it to Austria and Germany on holiday. It was slow up the mountain passes, but we knew it would get us there and back.”
Another model that stands out for Mrs Wilson is the Danbury Caravette Campervan: “It was a 1968 model and we bought it in the 1970s. We took it on quite a few holidays, my daughters really enjoyed it, too.”
As well as the Beetle and Caravette, Mrs Wilson has owned another Beetle, three Golfs and 10 Polos, making a total of 16 Volkswagens. Her current car is a four-year-old Polo R-Line with a 1.2-litre TSI engine.
“Volkswagens are safe and secure, and they feel safe and firm to drive,” explained Mrs Wilson. “That’s the case with my Polo, and I love the panoramic sunroof too. Volkswagen has a reputation for making reliable cars and that is what we have found all these years, it has kept us coming back. And they always look good.”
Mrs Wilson’s local Retailer is JCT600 Volkswagen York, where she was recently invited for coffee and cake to begin her half-century celebrations, which also included gifts and a letter of thanks from the Director of Volkswagen Passenger Cars in the UK, Alison Jones.
“I’ve always had really good service from all the Volkswagen dealerships,” added Mrs Wilson. “They’re nice and friendly and when you walk in they remember your name, and the salespeople don’t put pressure on you to make a sale. They don’t need to because of their confidence in the cars.”
JCT600 Volkswagen York Head of Business Andrew Exon said: “This is a fantastic story. We’ve obviously known Mrs Wilson for a long time and we wanted to celebrate her landmark.
“We look forward to seeing her again in the future and I think this is a tremendous example of customer satisfaction. It really illustrates the value for money that we offer to our customers.
“JCT600 has a rich history and, ultimately, this is what we try to do every single day: we want to ensure our customers are happy so that they enjoy their cars and continue to return.”
Volkswagen has long enjoyed strong customer loyalty and the manufacturer’s UK customer service team is aware of similar durations of ownership and of many high mileage cars in use every day. But Mr Wilson’s feat is particularly impressive.
Alison Jones, Director of Volkswagen UK, said: “It’s heart-warming to see and hear Mrs Wilson’s affection for the Volkswagen brand.
“With our Retailer partners we work incredibly hard every day to meet our customers’ justifiably high expectations and, clearly, brand loyalty such as this shows we’re doing just that.”
For more information about the Volkswagen range, and the Volkswagen ownership experience, please visit www.volkswagen.co.uk.
