I love Car Cults.

My Celica was a wonderfully car (like all Celica owners will tell you) but those were bleak and soulless years... nobody LOVES their toyota

Something weird happened to the VW cult in 1998 when the "NEW BEETLE" came out. In 1999 I was in high school driving a 1972 Beetle that was not a show car but a nice daily driver. Every Pre 98 VW would wave. Strangers would come up to me and share stories about their beloved Volkswagen.
If I may stereotype, New Beetle owners were mostly souless trend trend followers. They would look the other way if I tried to wave. They wouldn't dare talk to some kid they didn't know driving a ugly old car.
They seemed to have infected the Jetta owners of the time too.

The golfs (especially TDI and GTIs) seemed to keep the cult alive though.

I can't wait till I have a place where I can finish restoring the Bug (they frown on that at my apartment complex)

 

the VW cult is very segrigated. there are the traditionalist cult members who love the history and everything the car stands for. these people wave/pay their respects to all VW's no matter what generation of watercooled or what type of air cooled. these are the people that make the community like a family. they will help out when you have an issue, stop on the side of the road if you have a flat and are usually all around nice people. When driving the newer generation cars you can identify them because you will see traditional styling cues with a modern twist on their cars. these are the people that have a general respect for any and all cars (for the most part) and seem to be what the MINI crowd is full of.

the down fall came slightly after the New Beetle. it came around 1999.5 with the introduction of the 1.8t. this is when the new group came in, mostly from the JDM crowd and started the VW nut swinging/fanboyism. these people dont like anything besides watercooled VW's. old muscle cars are crap, japanese cars are crap, V8's are crap, VTEC is crap, VW is the best thing ever, nothing out handles VW, the R32 was created by the hand of god, types. i cant stand these people. they have infiltrated the entire community and are the reason i want out. they are the few rotten apples that spoil the bunch.

dont get me wrong, the MKIV and the 1.8t are fantastic platforms to work from, but there are better motors/platforms out there. anyway, that is my essay on the crap that has been ruining VW for the past 9 or so years.