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There's Vorsprung but nee Technik for a Geordie couple with a new £30,000 Volkswagen.... because the SatNav cannot pronounce local place names.

Christine and Edward Shields bought their dream 66 Reg Tiguan from a dealership in Durham. But as soon as they left the forecourt, they noticed the car’s in-built satellite navigation system struggled to say key destinations.

Bizarrely, the polite Oxford English accent of the automated voice system pronounces ‘Bishop Auckland’ as ‘Bee-Pee Accue Glan’.

Picturesque Barnard Castle becomes ‘Barrdian Castle’.....and nearby Consett instead comes out as ‘Can’t Set’.

(Image: MDM)

The grandparents complained to the dealership, and German giant Volkswagen’s UK HQ in Milton Keynes.

Both told them they would have to put up with it because the ‘SatNav was working’. The Chronicle went for a test ride around the Shields home in Cockfield, Co Durham. It was an assault on the ear drums.

The difficulty is the repetition of the place names when the Shields head for home... ‘at the junction, take the exit for Bee-Pee Accue Glan’.....repeated time and time again.

Incensed Christine has kept a log of calls and complaints made to VW, Milton Keynes between December last year and January. She was asked to take it back to the Pulman dealership in Durham where they bought it on October 27. But there is no sign of any improvement.

(Image: MDM)

“When you pay £30,000 for something, you expect it be right,” said Christine, who takes regular trips around their home. “But it has been a problem from the start. When we went back to the dealership in December, they listened to it on their stupid machine.

“They did not even take it out for a test run. So they say there is nothing wrong. But it is all right for them. They don’t have to drive around in it. They keep saying it works but it drives you mad.”

Retired joiner Edward, 70, dreads the drive over the Tyne Bridge from visits to their daughter Clare, 36, and twin grandchildren Jessica and Sophie, three, in Newcastle as the SatNav kicks in.

“We keep getting directions to ‘Can’t Set’.....then ‘BP Akee-land’ again,” he said. “It is the right spelling when we put it in. But she keeps pronouncing it wrong. And it is the same when you change it to the male voice.”

A spokesman for Pulman explained they had carried out various tests and the Satnav was found to be working.

“Pronounciation is down to the software,” he added. “It is operating as normal, but it is an electronically controlled which is in-built on the car so it is one for Volkswagen.”

A Volkswagen spokesman said: “We regret that Mr and Mrs Shields are unhappy with the pronunciation of certain place names within the satellite navigation system. The Volkswagen brand does take considerable care to try to ensure names are pronounced appropriately right around the world, and uses “text-to-speech” in an effort to achieve the best possible information is provided to the driver in a timely and accurate manner. We are pleased to hear that the function of the navigation system remains accurate and reliable.”